I went down a few days ago to look at the shade garden, and was dismayed, as most gardeners would be inspecting a garden that hasn't been touched, except for occasional mowing, for months. Not to mention that late summer in an unirrigated garden is rarely a beautiful season. In the last week we've been experiencing the hottest weather of the summer, and sultry, but yesterday I did get out for a couple of hours, and again today. I used the hori to cut the dead grass and shear bed edges; cut a little dead and old growth out of the roses, and cut back 'Felicite Parmentier', which is too close to 'Rose du Roi' and lowering over it. Today was more weeding and cutting of dead grass, and re-reducing the black locust to a stump after it sprouted messily this year. It was badly damaged during the ice storm of December 2017, and last year it was such an uncontrollable mess I just cut it all down to a post about five feet tall. This locust and its neighbor responded by suckering all over the area, but if I keep the suckers pulled and cut, and continue butchering the tree back to a post, I should be able to suppress the locusts entirely. I want to do this, as they're poor trees, brittle, short-lived, suckering (not staying put), and with a long ugly season during the winter. We have numerous young oaks that in time will give us all the trees we want, and more.

I brought down a ladder and cut back half the pyracantha hedge; the downhill, more difficult side, with roses growing up against it, remains to be done. This isn't a good way to grow pyracantha, which is a hard-wooded, hard-spined, fast-growing plant that requires frequent maintenance, but I planted it before I knew this. I also began shearing the yew hedge. This is a substantial task, but not a heroic one; it's the OTHER yew hedge that requires heroic labors to keep it in order. It's on a steep, rocky slope, and on one side is the pergola on which 'Treasure Trove' grows, and half the pruning has to be done on a ladder. I started pruning the second hedge months ago and never completed the job; well, now it needs to be finished.

There's a lot more work ahead, but it is satisfactory to see areas of order emerging.

Today is, most welcomingly, gray, fresh, and raining. We haven't gotten much precipitation yet, but there seems to be a fair chance of significant rain coming later today. I have my fingers crossed: if we can get a really good rain now, it will thoroughly cool our heat sink of a house, and the ground and plants, and it will water the garden, which is very dry. It will be difficult, at this time of year, for the heat to return really convincingly afterwards; the house will likely stay cool; and the garden will be in good shape for the later summer and fall flowers, including the repeat-blooming roses.