FLYING GARDENERS

After so much hard work in Pear Tree Cottage garden, all gardeners felt like a deserved day off and tried their hands at flying!  It all began with another Ebay purchase  of Chris's.



This time it was a beautiful old garden pump and it just happened to need collecting very near Duxford.  Well, we couldn't be so near to aeroplanes without another visit!  Actually it was a first for Chris.  As well as looking at lots of lovely aeroplanes, we decided to go up in a Dragon Rapide as it was such a clear day. A perfect view of all the local gardens!  As this aeroplane was covered in fabric, climbing in needed care - no one wanted to put their feet through it!  The take of speed was so leisurely and landing on grass was so soft.  Peaceful it was not.  Even noisier than a helicopter but despite the cramped seating, surprising comfortable.  The tank museum was excellent and one was reminded of certain excavations at PTC when looking at the tracks and ruts!

POND WORK - no plastic!

Putting in a pond with a natural look on a slope has proved difficult!  After all, not too many ponds occur naturally on sloping ground! All the Rud have survived the winter and are now very active as are the newts.  The water lilies have also thrived.  Amazing! We HATE those dreaded plastic plant baskets so much, we tied the lilies to bricks and just lobbed them in!  That was 3 years ago and every one has really thrived!  Absolutely NOTHING is planted into plastic (baskets or pots) anywhere in the pond.  Maybe we should start a campaign: "Who needs plastic in a pond?"

On Saturday, work continued around the pond margins.  We have been removing the turf and replacing it with planting - most of the plants have been moved in from other areas of the garden, namely: Lysimachias, Gunneras, Astilbes and Lobelias.  Others like Ligularias, have been acquired elsewhere. Hopefully the pond margins will take on a more lush and natural appearance when the plants become established, which, hopefully won't be too long - rabbits allowing!  

This winter the rabbits have eaten 2 mature conifers to their deaths and have been chewing at an Exochordia and a Holly.  All were/are mature shrubs and I desperately hope these last 2 survive.  It has served to spur us on to finish rabbit proofing on the lane side of the garden!

All the turf removed  has been re-laid on the verge outside the threshold to the Pear Gate.  

Whilst all this was happening; the Under Gardener has been  busy repairing 6 old solar powered garden lanterns - 5 successfully so far!

Mimosa in bloom.

I needn't have worried after all.  The Acacia dealbata (grown from seed brought back from Australia five years ago) is blooming (memories of Portugal) for the very first time  and after its very harshest winter. OK. So not too many flowers but, flowers they very definitely are - way up there! Unfortunately, at over 30 feet, they are too high up to enjoy any scent but - as they say, "Owt's better than nowt!" 

However, no takers in the  robins architect designed homes - all too busy fighting each other at their dining table!

Up the garden path!

Work continued on the stepping stone path on a very cold and windy Easter Monday.  Chris was in charge of laying and I was Chief Cutter Out.  Cutting around the rectangular pieces was easy.  Cutting round the smaller and more random shapes with a half moon edging tool was more difficult.  Laying them was also tricky as they were of very differing thicknesses and we kept hitting tree roots.  As the entire garden is on a slope, our path isn't flat as the camber drops off to the right (or left depending on direction).

We did get the curve of the path right and now need to lay a little more turf in order for the curve of the turf edge to follow the stone.  We were really pleased with our results.  It looks nice and 'cottagey'.  It fits in with the surroundings and is a ZILLION times better than the dreaded Indian stone and...... no more worries about worn patches.  Now I have to get more sharp sand to brush between the granite sets.

Al, in the meantime was thinking of security and found a perfect length of old chain to secure the Pear gate.  Some young riders on their little ponies went up the lane and were heard to say, "Oh look; a fairy gate".  Other people have likened it to a Hobbit gate. Haven't seen too many fairies in Witton Hill but, come to think about it, we haven't seen any Hobbits either!






Left: The gate keeper
Below: The finished path

Stepping Stone Path

With constant and frequent journeys to and from the compost heaps, the turf is wearing away yet again. We tried laying new turf last year and all looked well for a few months.  A combination dry shade and heavy footed gardeners has meant that we are reluctantly resorting to putting in a stepping stone path. We have left over York stone flags and a few of Chris's granite sets as materials.  The threshold is under Al's arch and it's a good use for naturally misshapen pieces of stone.  It will be laid just below the level of the turf ensuring that the grass can be mowed without worries of catching metal blades on stone - perish the thought!

The truth is, I was persuaded to buy some Indian stone slabs for the purpose.  When they were laid on the grass; they just looked so awful, I couldn't have lived with them.  Whilst they would have weathered, they looked unnaturally evenly cut, brash and completely out of place in that setting.  Their size was all wrong and they were FAR too big.  They have been set aside to provide a base for the new/old hut - when it's erected!  Phew!!

Sunny Easter Sunday.

It's really looking like spring despite the frosty nights.  Some of the the daffodils are bowing their heads after the gales and heavy rains but it's nice to see the Prunus in flower and the Euonymous has put on a lot of growth considering they were only planted the first week in February.  Rain forced us to retreat to the greenhouse and work pricking out Chris's Stocks has been done instead of laying the York stone flag path.  We did manage to do some more planting around the pond and used the turf to finish off by the Pear gate.

Force 11 gusts at PTC

As predicted - the daffodils bloom and along come heavy rains, freezing temperatures, vicious squalls and high winds!  Typical!!  The gardening 'experts' have been so VERY persuasive in their recommendations to plant Mediterranean type drought tolerant plants in readiness for all the predicted global warming - huh!  After a winter and spring like this - where are all these 'experts'?  Did they follow their own advice? What are they saying now?

Here at PTC our previous highest ever recorded gust of wind stood at 52.62 mph for 2 years.  Yesterday it roared up to 65.47 mph - check that out on the Beaufort scale!  Thank goodness the high winds were only gusting and the anemometer on the chimney stood firm!

Beaufort Wind Scale
Force	Wind Speed			Description	Effects Land / Sea
	mph	km/hr	knots
0	<1	<1	<1	Calm	Still, calm air, smoke will rise vertically. Water is mirror-like.
1	1-3 mph	1-5 kph	1-3 knots	Light Air	Rising smoke drifts, wind vane is inactive. Small ripples appear on water surface.
2	4-7 mph	6-11 kph	4-6 knots	Light Breeze	Leaves rustle, can feel wind on your face, wind vanes begin to move. Small wavelets develop, crests are glassy.
3	8-12 mph	12-19 kph	7-10 knots	Gentle Breeze	Leaves and small twigs move, light weight flags extend. Large wavelets, crests start to break, some whitecaps.
4	13-18 mph	20-28 kph	11-16 knots	Moderate Breeze	Small branches move, raises dust, leaves and paper. Small waves develop, becoming longer, whitecaps.
5	19-24 mph	29-38 kph	17-21 knots	Fresh Breeze	Small trees sway. White crested wavelets (whitecaps) form, some spray.
6	25-31 mph	39-49 kph	22-27 knots	Strong Breeze	Large tree branches move,  telephone wires begin to "whistle", umbrellas are difficult to keep under control. Larger waves form, whitecaps prevalent, spray.
7	32-38 mph	50-61 kph	28-33 knots	Moderate or Near Gale	Large trees sway, becoming difficult to walk. Larger waves develop, white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown.
8	39-46 mph	62-74 kph	34-40 knots	Gale or Fresh Gale	Twigs and small branches are broken from trees, walking is difficult. Moderately large waves with blown foam.
9	47-54 mph	75-88 kph	41-47 knots	Strong Gale	Slight damage occurs to buildings, shingles are blown off of roofs. High waves (6 metres), rolling seas, dense foam, Blowing spray reduces visibility.
10	55-63 mph	89-102 kph	48-55 knots	Whole Gale or Storm	Trees are broken or uprooted, building damage is considerable. Large waves (6-9 metres), overhanging crests, sea becomes white with foam, heavy rolling, reduced visibility.
11	64-72 mph	103-117 kph	56-63 knots	Violent Storm	Extensive widespread damage. Large waves (9-14 metres), white foam, visibility further reduced.
12	73+ mph	118+ kph	64+ knots	Hurricane	Extreme destruction, devastation. Large waves over 14 metres, air filled with foam, sea white with foam and driving spray, little visibility.