Let me get to the good news first. This year is mostly a year of
transplanting things that have been shaded out by all the trees I
am growing. To move the rhubarb, asparagus, and various flowers
like peonies, tulips, lilies, etc. So there I was, and transplanting
is something I have done most of my life starting as a teenager.
But I bent the handle on my good spade trying to get a rhubarb
mass out. And then it struck me-- use a large pick axe. Although
it will break some roots. It worked great.

Now I have a pony and llama at work in the orchards and
backwoods, eating the grass and low lying brush and limbs.
And they do a good job without harming too much of the
landscaping. And it seems as though a pony is about the best
to use for that purpose of keeping a landscape and manuring
without damaging too much of the trees and shrubs.

So I tried a bull, a Scottish Highlander, a bull calf. And I should
have known better. But wanted to try it anyway. And the word
"bull headed" is there for a reason. It takes me all of a few minutes
to do something with the llama, pony, but hours for a bull.
And I do not think I can tether a bull, unless I get a chain that
can hold a bull, but it would take me too long to get the bull
from point A to point B. So I give up on bulls. The final straw
was seeing him rub his head horns on a prized cherry tree trunk.

I should have known better, that no orchard, no landscaping
is going to survive a bull or cow in the area. Unless someone
has had a different experience.

AP