A transplanted Southern Californian living in North Dakota Idaho, with some insights on life with deaf dogs, a gluten free spouse, and the occasional mischievous garden gnome. Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy.





Monday, January 18, 2016

Indoor Gardening and Pruning

It's been cold here in North Dakota, the third consecutive day where the temps haven't reached above 0. We're not complaining (much), that's winter in North Dakota.  Winter has some enjoyable activities, but it leaves a big gaping hole in our gardening yearnings. Some indoor gardening is in order.   
This is a ficus (ficus benjamina) tree that Alycia's parents had in their house for a number of years.  It belonged to Alycia's grandparents and is probably 20-30+ years old. It's been around for a long while. We've had it in our entryway for a few years and (as you can see above), it slowly grew to take over the East facing window in the entryway and leaving it looking really unbalanced.  Some pruning is in order!
I trimmed a bunch of unruly branches and rotated it. I don't rotate it very often as ficus trees can be finicky about being moved. They're prone to sulking and dropping their leaves if they get drafty or jostled around too frequently. After the trimming, you can finally see the nice window in the entryway with the leaded glass and tulip designs, I knew there was cool window behind all that foliage. 

Indoor gardening isn't as much fun as outdoor gardening, but it's a reasonable substitute for the next few months until the weather warms up and Spring arrives.  

2 comments:

Karen said...

Great job on the pruning, the plant and the window look much happier now. I am the World's Worst Indoor Gardener, I shudder when people bring me a gift of a houseplant and immediately feel sorry for the greenery. All future plants I receive should find a home with you and Alycia.

El Gaucho said...

Karen - That's very funny. Over the years I've become the repository of unwanted or lost or sick houseplants. I can't remember the last time I've bought a houseplant, they've all been gifts, people have moved and don't take them, or just bring them to me when they get "sick".