The green and rolling countryside of Worcestershire, England, is home to the cider apple orchards which surround the gardens of Pear Tree Cottage. They enjoy a sunny south westerly aspect with sweeping views across to Martley Hillside, Woodbury and Abberley clock tower. The Teme Valley lies just over the hill and, not far away, is the Herefordshire border. Although our climate is temperate, our seasons are often uncertain and always a challenge to a gardener! This began in 2010 & follows the weekly ups and downs of garden work chronicling both successes and failures but, above all, demonstrates the fun enjoyed by three people who regularly garden in all weathers

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9 August 2016

WOT a WET Weekend!

Finished and now visible pond
One small piece of water lily
Rescued fish

Well, we had put it off and postponed and prevaricated over mammoth pond work for much too long - over a year in fact. That was until, Saturday and then we just...went for it! Chris donned on the waders and manhandled the biggest heaviest water lily in the deepest part of the pond. It was so big and heavy it had to be cut into lots of manageable pieces even for him! A single 8 year old plant had filled the entire pond sump. It was a GIANT! We hadn't seen the fish since the spring and couldn't feed them as their food sat on the lily pads out of reach of hungry mouths.  All of the white water lilies were removed and as before, 3 small pieces were tied to bricks and lobbed back in. None of those nasty plastic baskets for us! 
Clearing up was also pretty monstrous as Chris had pruned the surrounding trees and shrubs. High winds had taken their toll on the Dogwoods and many had broken off and so, at the expense of winter colour, they were reduced in height.  Chris pushed  barrows heaped high with water lilies off to the compost heap. I hosed off the mud and silt deposited on the surrounding grass. The following day, I edged, mowed, netted fallen leaves in the pond and weeded. Result! We can now see the pond again and the fish!! I promise that the pond couldn't be seen from the spot where the top photo was taken as it was totally obscured by vegetation.

A weeded beach!


Did I say wet weekend? Well the waders sprang a leak! New ones are on order. The only mistake was failing to take a photo of the aquatic jungle that we faced at the outset. Now we have exposed water, I'm expecting blanket weed to proliferate. Why is there always a downside?

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