Poor little Red Tip

First thing this morning I got out my bow saw, my loping shear and my pruning shears and went to work cleaning up this misfit of a red tip bush. I am gradually getting it into shape. While I was clipping away I remembered the year I spent working at Cantrell Gardens when I got out of High School. One thing that I got very high marks for was pruning. The old man that was part owner told me I had the touch. He did not have to tell me, because I discovered it myself that I had a talent for shaping and bringing out the natural best of a bush. From that point on he had me doing all the pruning. I have to admit that I felt pride when I heard him bragging on me to the customers. It is just that he was bragging on something that he considered to be his property and not mine and that I found irritating. He was a pecker. But I am glad that now I can connect with that happy time and translate it into ability for the here and now.
I have been waiting a long time for the right time to do a little work on this one. I'll see how it comes through the winter.