Buds begin Spring mid-February in south Florida. While most trees do not molt, winter slows growth. With this year’s winter rains, the greens readily grew. After a three year intentional wildness period, this Garden House was due for the Big Trim. 
The “Barbados Boys” run by David knew the name of every tree and bush in my native Floridian garden. He heads the landscaping company that specializes in keeping things cool and lovely. I hired him because he knew the names and intended shape for my plants. For him, it was a rare delight since this homeowner also knows the names of the foliage. Most of his customers don’t.
Despite how wild the Garden grew, there were no weeds. I define a ‘weed’ as a noxious plant such as the ‘ficus’ or ‘carrotwood’ or ‘brazilian pepper’. Those kind of exotics are harmful not only to other plants but to the house. They sneak into the water pipes, upturn the house block and are toxic. What I planted 20 years ago are healthy and mature trees now.
While I might have trimmed the Garden myself, it was better to give it to David to trim. I would never have trimmed it with as much style and air flow as he did. My maternal protectiveness always stopped my loppers from cutting deep.
But when I saw what David had in mind when he denuded my plants, I gasped. He chose to open up the easterly ocean air paths by snipping off all the lower branches. The canopy is now very tall. I’d say 30 feet up are the delicate tops. Beneath the green tops stand the proud woods. That’s what David saw: the woods. The Floridian native trees have lovely wood. The Stoppers, for example, have a silky smooth bark with occasional bursts of light beige dapples. The smaller snipped-off branches were donated to birds inside cages.
All of my privacy bushes are gone! Those grew into the trees. Now I have the pleasure of raking over the cold earth and will plant again when the rains come in late May.