I’ve given myself a new challenge: post a tweet with a tip for the landscape and garden every day. You can see how I do by following me on Twitter: I’m @thegardenlady and I’ll be using the hashtags #yardandgarden and #tipoftheday at the start of each post.

Some people I know are overwhelmed by all of the social media options, and I agree that there are far too many choices for the average person to keep up with…especially if you want to get anything else done. Nevertheless, I love Twitter. I like way I’m forced to keep it simple. Composing a good tweet is similar to writing poetry; you need to be focused on using the absolutely perfect words. I’m continually blown away with how clever, informative or funny others can be with this concise format.

Many of my tweets will come from what I’m doing and seeing in the yard and garden right now. For example, my first in this series post was: #yardandgarden #tipoftheday If it isn’t beautiful, interesting, ecological, or tasty, what is it doing in your garden? This tweet originated from my resolve this spring to pull up all the under-performing or boring shrubs that I’ve just been tolerating and replace them with other plants. Some I donated to a plant sale…just because I was bored with the plant doesn’t mean someone else won’t absolutely love it. Others I tossed into the compost pile. “Thanks for coming…Bye!”

Todays message follows a weekend when we pruned the blueberries and crabapple trees. It’s my practice to bring some of the branches in the house after spring pruning. That way the plants get the rejuvenation and shaping they need, and I get to enjoy them breaking dormancy and flowering inside and out.

So the tip today reads: #yardandgarden #tipoftheday Pruning this #spring? Put some branches in a vase and bring into bloom indoors! Celebrate the season.

You can think of tweets as small bouquets…something that captures and displays the essence of life in bloom.