Every year sometime in April we  have a day long brush burning here in The Burrow. Burn Day is one of the rare days that Wil  is actually a worker bee in the garden, but let’s be clear, that only ever  happens when there is the chance to use power tools ( like leaf blowers, chippers, and chainsaws) ….and  that most primitive and powerful of all man’s tools…fire.  Although I do not enjoy any activity that involves a gas powered anything in my hands or even worse, strapped on my back, I do love Burn Day. There is something about fire  that makes me feel like master of my universe ,even if I am only  conquering the brush pile .

For a week before Burn Day  I have to work like a crazy person to get everything pruned and all the branches and logs in one location ready to be further cut down and thrown on the flames

What goes on the pile?

All the water sprouts and suckers from the apple trees ( those willowy branches growing straight up into the air )

One third of the oldest branches from the colored dogwood bushes. The  bark  from these starts to gray with age and pruning them severely will stimulate new growth with brilliant color

The top 2/3 of the 4  ‘Limelight’ Hydrangeas( hydrangea paniculata )…they get enormous and only flower on new wood so get cut back hard

Any large shrub I am coppicing ( wiki definition here). In The Burrow I coppice smoke trees, willows, and any die-back shrubs like buddleia, caryopteris, and elderberry

Loads of branches that get cut  because of  winter damage and loads more that have had the bark stripped by the  voles and rabbits who hide under the snow and thwart all my efforts to erradicate them. The voles also happily live under trees in the ground munching their roots for sustenance and usually killing their host . This year I lost an 8 foot hemlock and a crab apple.

I also try to get any other pruning for size constraints or shaping done now , but inevitably miss something, so whatever got cut after Burn Day last year goes on the pile as well.

After wicked winters the pile is quite large, and this year was no exception.

To add to the fun of the fire, Wil got to use the chain saw to cut apart two very large willow trunks we took out last fall, the big leaf blower to clean up the mess he made doing that, and the little leaf blower  as a bellows to get keep the fire raging.  As if that was not more than enough in the tool-o- fun department, I  bought this beauty  at the Boston Flower Show in March. It is a Telescoping Ratchet  Lopper form Ironwood Tools.

While walking around to see the vendors  on my  break from the Q&A booth, I happened to overhear the young kid who was selling these giving his pitch to someone .I have a ratcheting hand pruner that I adore as the ratcheting mechanism saves lots of wear and tear on the hands and was instantly sold . This larger version is a dream and it cut through all  the  branches( even those  with very large circumferences) quite easily.

Wil was initially a disbeliever in my new pruner, but  was soon pleasantly surprised  by how effortless it made the work. He also wanted me to know  that it looks like it is making a face at us, frowning or maybe grimacing .  The effect  is ever better if you use the handles to repeatedly open and close it’s scowl while making scary noises like any eight year old boy ( in a 50+ year old body) would . Hmmmm….I should have videod that!  

For safety , we use a hobo barrel ( an oil drum with venting holes drilled  into it)  made by my brother and what may be the best  gift I have ever received.  All the brush needs to be cut to fit into it , and so there we stand by the pile  all day long cutting and stoking and getting smoke in our eyes .On the surface it may not seem like a great way to spend a spring day, but  starting with a massive pile of  brush and watching while it all disappears down to ash and embers…. that, my friends ,is a  rockin’ good time.

oh yeah, and I must admit that  spending the day in the garden with Wil at my side is pretty cool too.