March Chores Around My Farm

March 13, 2026

It's mid-March, the snow is gone, and every chance we get we're cleaning up and getting our pre-spring chores done around my farm.

The crew is busy with many projects, including raking the garden beds, pruning the weeping willows, grooming the beech tree hedge around my pool, blowing any old leaves and branches, washing my Polaris off-road vehicles, bathing the dogs, etc. I keep a running list of all the chores that need to be done at any given time. So far, it's a strong start to the season ahead.

Here are some photos.

: The snow has melted here at the farm and with refreshing, mild temperatures earlier this week, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew have been able to get a lot of jobs done.

: While work is being done above to trim the dead, diseased, damaged, defective, or deranged branches from my weeping willows along the edge of my pinetum…

: … Lots of raking is done below to clear away all the fallen debris.

: This day was in the high 70s. Here’s my driver, Andres, giving my trusted Polaris vehicle a good washing.

: And here’s Matthew cleaning the beds outside my greenhouse. All the beds look so much better after a fresh raking. More than two feet of snow covered the beds for so many weeks.

: Phurba rakes the beds outside my Tenant House – being very careful not to step on any emerging bulbs.

: Here’s Adan blowing underneath the dwarf apple espalier – debris and old twigs left over from last year.

: And Chhiring blows all the old leaves from the tree pits in my allée of pin oaks. Soon, spring croci will fill these areas.

: Before the coldest days of winter, I like to cover various gardens with evergreen branches. Doing this provides a protective barrier against freezing temperatures, drying winds, and heavy snow. They also help to insulate plants and reduce temperature swings that can damage certain plant roots. But it’s much warmer now, and Matthew can pick them all up.

: On the inside of my pool fence I have a hedge of beech trees, purple columnar Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple.’ I instructed Pasang to trim one foot from the top all the way around. It’s good to do this now when the hedge is still bare.

: I like as much pruning and grooming as possible done by hand. These Japanese Okatsune shears are specially made for trimming hedges. These shears are user friendly, and come in a range of sizes.

: To ensure the pruning is perfectly straight, we always use bright landscaping twine pulled between poles and placed along sections of the hedge. Here one can see what trees were trimmed and what still needs work.

: Here’s my gardener Ryan bringing beautiful plants in bloom to display in my home. These are forced white amaryllis.

: Down at the stable, my Chow Chow, Emperor Han, with his dense double coat also needs attention. Carlos gives Han a thorough bath.

: Carlos washes carefully around Han’s face and chin and around the outside of the ear canal – never inside.

: Chow Chows have a lot of coat around the head, giving it a lion-like appearance, so this area needs a lot of grooming. After a good and thorough drying and brushing, Han looks great. Now, don’t walk through any mud, Han!

: Inside, Ryan tends to the growing artichokes, which will be planted outdoors in the vegetable garden come spring.

: Matthew mists the tender seedlings that were started last week. Everything is growing according to schedule. I can’t wait until my giant half-acre vegetable garden is full with produce once again.

: And look – some of the first blooms of spring are coming up! Here is a bunch of crocus growing outside my Equipment Barn.

: And some of the first snow drops, Galanthus, growing outside my guest production house. Today’s temperatures will be colder – low 40s in this area, but don’t worry – spring is officially here in just one week!