Pruneophobia

This dreadful disease can render the aging Homo sapiens inhabitants confined to a cage of green that requires stooping at frequent intervals to avoid hitting their head. One sees them sweeping their arms constantly in front of them to advance! The light gradually dims and the view disappears. The wet becomes wetter! Animal droppings increase and if you don't step on them from below, they drop on you from above. The house windows eventually seal over and the vines penetrate your siding and enjoy the interior humidity. The plants no longer have to fruit or flower since reproduction is low on the agenda for the unrestrained. They don't need sex. I confess Pruneophobia has always afflicted me. The pianist and I have a continuing issue over this matter. I never promised her a rose garden. I have avidly read self -help books on pruning to cure my condition but I still debride plants in a surgical manner. Pruning and debridement are not the same. Gardening on the Wet Coast consists of controlling things from growing. Gardening on the Bald Prairie consisted of encouraging things to grow. Surgical debridement of plants would consist of, removing broken branches, diseased branches,crowded ingrowing branches, dead wood wounds and drainage of pockets of debris. That comes naturally to me. Shortening something to fit, or cutting to encourage fruiting or flowering is not part of my surgical lexicon. It seems anathema to me and yet I know,down deep, it's necessary. I still get anxiety if I have to cut for non debridement reasons. If the saw or clippers cut through normal tissue I hear a small still voice that says " Are you doing this for me, or you? Cognitive dissonance!