A section of the dry stacked stone wall that retains the edge of the koi pond has collapsed, so this must be added to the list of chores that must be accomplished before spring. There is no hurry to repair the wall, it leaned in recent years, and if it was structurally necessary it would have been repaired long before the succession of freezing and thawing toppled it over.

Rebuilding should not take long, though in the pile I see that at least one of the soft limestone slabs has broken. Somewhere around here is a pile of various stones, so if the broken piece cannot be used there’s a chance I’ll have a replacement on hand.

As often as I claim laziness and inattention to routine garden chores, there is a time when things must be done. The wall repair can wait until the weather is right, but then there is much to do before the garden begins to grow.

This is a practical deadline. Piles of leaves, over wintered stems, and debris must be cleaned up before new growth gets in the way. The garden gets larger each year (though by smaller increments after twenty nine years), and the gardener gets another year older. But the work gets done, sometimes later than sooner, and it will again this year.

An added challenge is that I am often determined to get along with new projects, that are decidedly more exciting than the same old clean up chores. Fortunately, once I get moving I find the energy to keep going, but this garden is not put back into order in just a day, so mild weather through the second half of winter will be appreciated.