by Bill Dawson, UNH Cooperative Extension Natural Resources Steward volunteer

As I sit in the warmth of what I call my media room listening to a Roger Williams tape of some long-forgotten tunes, my mind flows back over the time six years ago today. I was standing about 50 feet from where I am now sitting, looking at a raw rectangular gash in the ground.

Bill the builder and Bill the man in need of a new house were standing side by side. They had similar agendas. Bill the builder was anxious to get started with this new project, and Bill the man in need of a new home wanted to see swift progress toward completion, because in about 20 days his current residence would have to be handed over to its new owner.

Bill the builder got right to work and the other Bill got busy emptying out the collected detritus of 30-some years, one room at a time.

Everything went swimmingly, and on May 9, 2006, we settled into the home where I'd seen only a dirty gash in the snow less than two months before. Even before Bill the builder handed us the keys at the closing, I got busy in the yard. I took my first trip to the State Forest Nursery in Boscawen in early April.

I secured 25 seedlings, an assortment of bare-root items all looking somewhat alike. Lucky for me, they were in bunches and labeled. I had five each of Norway spruce, crab apple, bayberry, silky dogwood and rugosa rose. And so started a process that has continued to the present.

I didn't realize then that I'd started something that has filled my retired life with a focus that has continued to pull me into the future. I seem to have more vigor than most men my age, because I know what I need to do through the seasons. I have a yard that differs from those in the neighborhood.

Sure, I have a grill and a picnic table with a lawn in the front, but I have focused my attention making my place friendly to the natural inhabitants that I displaced when I moved in and took over this particular acre.

In the front, I have a few decorative plants such as lilac, forsythia, flocks and hostas, but they have to share the space with the likes of bayberry, hawthorn and mountain ash. In the back is where the contrast to other places is most evident. There I've established crab apple, dogwood, elderberry, shadbush, elderberry and many other lesser-known species of native and critter- friendly plants.

I've created a water feature in the form of a waterfall-and-pond combination. Close to the house, I've sited my raised beds for home-grown vegetables and flowers for cutting and decorative beauty. When I need some inspiration, I visit with some other like-minded gardening friends to see what they have been up to since I visited the last time.

I must admit, there are days when I don't have as much vigor as I had at the age of 70 but as I approach 75 this April, I figure I can keep it up for at least another ten years. My new five-year plan will focus on converting more lawn to woody perennials and wildflowers. The final plan will have a 50 ft. x 100 ft. lawn in the front and just enough lawn in the sides and back to maneuver my little tractor and trailer. More raised beds and native species will cover all but my wildflower area over the leach field.

From my back deck I will be able to look over the tops of my little grove of dogwoods and other natives into the woods beyond. In this difficult season before spring arrives I have to content myself with the signs of it coming.

In early March, dressed to the nines in lined bib overalls, arctic boots, ski hat and a pair of snowshoes, I ventured forth with my pruning equipment. This is the best time of the year to get to the higher limbs. Later, I will get to those parts now covered by snow.

I gave all the limbs crossing over each other no choice; one of them had to go and I was the decision-maker as to which of them was cut. I agonized over my grape vines for more than an hour, and I still wasn't satisfied with the results. I am sure those passing by must have wondered what that old coot was doing walking around in circles, but it was the real me doing what I enjoy, and it was refreshing.

Before I went back inside, I found some daffodil shoots on the south side of the house. Spring is definitely on the way!

Photo credit: Bill Dawson (That's Bill pruning shrubs in his yard.)