Wintry Well Work

Don't be fooled by the sunshine - notice the layers!

With the drive all spruced up, it was time to move round to the well.  We removed an old stone trough which used to protrude from underneath the pump spout actually through the circular wall.  I say we but, it was of course Chris G. who singlehandedly manhandled this monstrously heavy trough up to the terrace.  He then bricked up the gap left in the circular wall and, where the pump handle is raised and lowered, Chris reduced the height of the capping bricks by building in a section of half round blue pipe.  This extra bit of cleverness has had the effect of increasing the gap between the bricks and ones knuckles!  Raising water to a height of 50 feet requires very vigorous use of the pump handle.  It was just far too easy to smash ones knuckles on the blue capping pavers!  Wouldn't 'Health & Safety' be proud of us!

Knuckle crushing prevention!

Arctic Easter

The remains of Matt & Sarah's snowman - in April!

A much tidier drive!

Most of the Easter break has been spent grafting in the garden with help from both Chris's and trying to keep warm.  Snow remains in sheltered areas and ferocious night frosts.  Undeterred, Chris P finished off the drive by levelling and raking gravel up to the newly laid retaining bricks and burying light cables.  It's all looking very tidy and a big change from a muddy drive, building materials everywhere and a skip full of rubbish. 

Refurbished Cold Frames

In these glacial temperatures, they should be called freezing cold frames!  Anyway, the old recycled window lights eventually rotted through and the panes of glass began to fall out - so, Al made new ones using Chris's patent design and reinforced safety glass.  Hey presto!  Very smart (freezing!) cold frames which actually allow even more light in!  We decided to retain the original methods of securing the lights open by using the nylon ties threaded through staples in the sleepers.  That way, they can be left open both individually and/or at any angle.

On Good Friday last year...........

.........we were enjoying what turned out to be our short summer!  Hosepipe bans had just announced, potatoes planted and seeds sown. The soil was warm and dry beneath a hot sun and we were being warned about a summer of drought.  Garden centres had sold out of water butts as we were being told in dire tones to conserve water as reservoirs were dangerously low!

Hand dried bricks beneath the blue pavers!

This year on Good Friday, I was sitting outside with an old hair dryer plugged in to extension cable defrosting snow covered bricks and then drying them out to enable building works in the form of Staffordshire blue pavers to be laid as capping bricks around the tops of the retaining walls surrounding the contorted hazel and 'chimney conifer.'  The weather has been consistently cold with daytime temperatures barely above freezing and night time temperatures well below freezing with -8 promised tonight!  Finishing off the brickwork between the gravel and the flagstones was today's main mission with keeping warm the big challenge!  The line of blue retaining bricks holding back the gravel were laid in graceful curves and then tucked up in layers of weighted down newspapers to keep the frosts at bay while the cement dries.  I was glad to use a sledge hammer to break up old bricks for use as rubble and to try (in vain) to keep warm.

Al came back from Costco with a hybrid Magnolia Wada's Memory from Seattle.  It's a lovely specimen covered in white scented flowers.  There is absolutely no hope of planting it in the garden with this very cold spell likely to remain until well into April according to the Met Office.  It's actually sitting in the conservatory until things look up.

Any Pond in a Storm

Mrs & Mrs D

Mr & Mrs Duck have returned again this spring (?) and have been enjoying stirring up the pond water and paddling in the snow!  If they decide to lay again, I'm hoping it's well away from both rats  and foxes.

Mrs D

Wallace II

For the past few very snowy days, we've had a visitor in the garden.  He's been seen foraging in the borders and he's certainly been heard trying to attract a mate.  Let's hope Monsieur Le Reynard doesn't hear his calls!!  

Grovelling in the Gravel

Chris avec new blower!

We didn't expect to have to blow the snow off the drive in order to spread the gravel - not on 23 March!  Hey Ho!

Sarah and Matt working hard

Global Warming Gripe!

............and while we're discussing the vicissitudes of the English weather: where exactly all those learned people who, not so long ago, earnestly extolled the virtues of drought resistant and drought tolerant plants?  The same people who advised us humble gardeners that we should be growing arrid Mediterranean loving plants??  The people who told us that, due to high levels of global warming, we would no longer need to worry about 'having' to grow hardy plants and shrubs. The very people who straight faced advised that the British climate was becoming hotter.  Not so very long ago, every T.V. gardening programme, periodical and magazine article lectured us all and actively promoted this style of gardening - in fact they positively preached until we were tired of hearing the same old drivel. I just have a couple of questions.

Did they heed their own advice?  If so...

                                  ..how exactly did their gardens grow???  

This link is definitely worth a second glance!    UK Plant Hardiness Map

Drive Work in Arctic Conditions

Chris at the helm

Mountains on the drive

Why did the weather have to take so many turns for the worse as soon as the digger arrived?  It was already far too cold.  The only reason snow can't be seen in these photos is because it has been all dug up!  Not that Chris or Nick were deterred by such meteorological downturns.  They set about scraping off several layers of old compacted gravel and mud, loading up Clarence and taking it up to Chris's wood.  The idea is to level the width of the drive for the first time and reduce the surface height so that the finished level of the 6 tons of new gravel (due to arrive tomorrow!) will lie at the original height and look smart and tidy.  Well that's the theory!

Hard at work

VERNAL EQUINOX

Frost on the Magnolia

Frost on the summerhouse roof

21st March and the first day of spring and what do we have?  A dusting of snow and freezing temperatures!!

More lighting.

The continuing freezing cold weather didn't put off the electricians and Owen and Roy finished wiring the trellis lanterns and also put in some uplighting for Chris's wall as well as moving the electric sockets in the greenhouse enabling the tank to fit snugly in the corner.

Pugh's Precarious Pondwork!

Testing the equipment!

Lowering the pump

The weather was freezing and the wind biting.  What was Chris doing?  Re-siting the pond pump by in the icy depths in middle of the pond!!  He was the hero of the moment by lying outstretched on a ladder placed over the water - wishing it could have been rather wider!  He managed to keep his balance despite the weight of a heavy pump attached to an even heavier concrete slab in one hand!  Instead of lying on its side with pipes on view, the pump now sits upright out of sight and, hopefully secure.  Excess watercress was cleared, repairs to the frog's pipework were carried out and dogwoods were pruned.  Hopefully, the king cups and water lilies will bloom and further work will wait until the autumn.

Success!!

.

Plantings & Stonework

New ramp & Fernery path

Well, it was another busy Saturday with both Chris's.  Despite early heavy rain, dark clouds lifted and things dried up a little although it was still bitterly cold and soggy underfoot.  Chris P slaved away, clearing the veg patch of the plants which had been laid in prior to their move and along with all the turf which was used to repair the verge on the lane.  Although later than ideal, he planted the healthier of the standard roses in front of the chicken feed bins (as a disguise) and the other (less vigorous specimen) by a gatepost.  A Lonicera Fragrantissima replaced a Daphne - now deceased.  The Gleditzia was planted in the summerhouse border and a dead/dying Spirea was partially removed in readiness for further planting on Monday.  Of course, all these jobs were done far later than planned solely due to the awful weather.

Meanwhile.........Chris G and I (after replacing a window pane) made a ramp from the terrace to the top lawn where there is a height difference of about 5 - 6".  We used pieces of stone on edge to ensure a non-slip surface.  Having done that, we began laying the stepping stones along the Fernery path.

The pressure is still on for, as well as 2 Open Garden weekends, 2 local gardening clubs have now expressed an interest in making evening visits and some fund raiser from the NHS has requested another opening for their charity - gulp!  It's only a little fun/hobby garden after all! 

Avian Arrival

Mr. Brown

PTC garden has a new resident.  Mr. Brown has come to live in the garden. Cleverly made out of chicken mesh, he perches on an old garden fork.  His sculptor comes from Weymouth - some people just have too much talent!

Micro Blizzards

Well, as predicted, winter came back with a vengeance and working on the trellis was freezing cold!  A single white Camellia braved the elements and opened all its petals only to have them all burnt brown by frost.  After a few days of gloom it was back to vicious frosts and snow!  Monday afternoon was spent moving plants in mini blizzards!  One minute the sun was shining and the snow melted away - the next minute, darkness almost fell, the wind got up and the sky was full of driven snow which was almost blinding.  We battled on half frozen  and looking like polar explorers and this was gardening!!!

Spring tried to muscle in....

Today may have had a frosty start but the warm sunshine and clear blue skies that followed meant that some parts of the garden thought that spring had arrived!  The Hellebores are springing up and Pulmonarias, Celandines and Narcissus are all stirring.  The furry Magnolia buds are swelling fast and Prunus blossom is opening.  Even the chickens enjoyed a spot of sunbathing after their dust baths.  We know it couldn't last and just made the best of it before the return of more grey skies and rain.

For more spring photos visit:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/FirstSpringLikeDay532013

Trellis lighting

£38 saved!

Buying little copper lanterns for each trellis post at £53 each was prohibitively expensive.  Luckily for us, the company was selling these smaller lanterns without all the little holes for £15 and even luckier, Chris Genever very kindly agreed to drill all the holes just like the £53 versions!  Whilst we were travelling to London, DSM and gang were left slaving away and this is what we came back to.  Obviously, when the climbers put on some growth, the overall look will be much softer as the light filters through the leaves and flowers so, a little imagination is needed right now.  It does highlight Chris's clever use of some old land drains in the wall.  What a team!!

Hopefully, the bare look won't last long.

No Chris Saturday!

Trains, Drains and Lanes

Potting bench gets a make-over

One Chris was sorting out a friend's drains, the other Chris was exploring the lanes of Suffolk and Chief Blogger was on a train en route home from London - all highly unusual activities for a Saturday!  Anyway, thanks to the nice man at Euston, we were allowed to catch an earlier train so at least I had the afternoon in the garden and the sun was shining and it was wonderfully mild and dry.  With birdsong for company, I set about tidying the Slate Henge Border and clearing the weeds.  There were quite a few nettles and creeping buttercup but, at last, the soil was dry enough for this job.  It really did look much better especially after edging.  We topped all the lawns and orchard on Thursday so things are beginning to look a little tidier.

There has been a certain difference of opinion over Dahlias!  Chris G was pretty convinced that frost was the cause of some mushy tubers.  I didn't see how this could have been the case as, I potted up all the others and they were all perfectly firm and healthy - as was the ginger.

Over time, the sections of wood on my little potting bench had shrunk leaving big gaps through which the potting medium kept falling. So annoying and very messy!  After a hunt round, Al came up with some ply exactly the right size and I found some bits for the sides.  Hey presto, an hour later a newly modified potting bench with sides - courtesy of Al!!  Perfect!