My hands are a mess, so determined by my wife as I held a flower for her inspection in scarred and scabbed hands. I refuse to wear gloves, a long held stubbornness, so I must suffer the consequences. I own a pair of sturdy work gloves, but for various reasons they remain on the shelf.

Of the many ills prescribed to mahonias (Mahonia x media) the worst is the pain inflicted by the needle sharp, spined leaves while working in the evergreen’s proximity. A chilly winter following a dry autumn has resulted in many brown and fallen leaves, so injury will follow while pulling various weeds and remnants of the previous year’s perennials.

In the lower rear garden, the problem is older needles of Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria japonica) that are annually shed from the tall evergreens. The live needles are harmless when brushing against the tree, but when brown, and grasped while plucking a weed, damage will be done. Currently, the fingerprint reader on my phone is stymied by an embedded needle. Is swiping and entering a passcode more annoying?

Ostrich and Sensitive ferns bring similar peril, though it is the sharp edge of the frond’s stipe that cuts when pulled by hand. Here, the precision afforded by bare hands is not necessary, but the frequent on and off of gloves is annoying. No excuses are necessary except when it is mentioned that a smart person would protect himself.

I have good reason to avoid using pruners to cut rigid stems that are not easily pulled. More than once I’ve chopped the hand that gathers the stems. Each time, I’ve declined my wife’s pleas to head to the ER to stitch the wound. The self-healed scars are barely apparent.

While old foliage and flower stalks of daylilies and some others are easily pulled, others are difficult. I must give a test tug at first to determine if the entire plant will be pulled with a firm tug. Today, I was snapping the tall stalks of the wide spreading colony of mountain mint when a fat toad leaped for safety. From a few feet away he watched as I completed the task, with no harm done to this innocent creature, or myself.