Nothing camera-worthy yet

The grass is green and buds are starting to swell, but not much else is going on in the yard... yet. I look at posts from previous Aprils and salivate. Must. Be. Patient.

Meanwhile, I'm doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Some of my tasks are geared toward making mowing easier, like pruning the branches that repeatedly get tangled in my hair and reshaping beds so the mower can cruise by. I also continue whacking at the barberry, to give the gold mop more room. The inner wood of the barberry is *really* yellow - maybe I can dye with it?

My one-person, four-pet household doesn't generate much filler for the trash besides dog poop and used kitty litter. We can put yard waste in the bin, though, so my goal is to fill it up each week with the trimmings and such. We do have a compost site which I have taken advantage of in the past, when there were literally truckloads of yard debris to dispose of. I have also brought home compost and mulch from the site, which probably explains the odd undesirable or six that have magically appeared over the years. For now, the trash bin strategy will serve.

I'm anxious to harden off the seedlings, and this seems like a good time to do that. Maybe some withstand frost? I'll have to research that. Meanwhile, their beds can be prepared. On each halfway decent day, I try to spend an hour in the yard. My gardening muscles have atrophied over the winter. It's hell getting old.