A day off garden work meant a visit to the Spring Garden Show at Malvern with Al, Jan and Ash.  It was freezing cold with dark scudding clouds.  After tramping round, seeing beautiful botanical specimens at every turn, we eventually came across the star exhibits: Houses for Hens!  It should be renamed: Palaces for Hens because they were just so lovely and yet so utterly practical.  They are fabulously built and all four of us fell for them.

We all enjoyed meeting and talking to Edward Tate and even though we don't keep hens, discussions have taken place as to where exactly in the garden/orchard the new House for Hens should be placed.  As experts on hen keeping, Ash & Jan have advised on the practicalities as far as would concern us.  Our next step: consult Chris!  In the mean time check them out at http://www.housesforhens.co.uk/home and You Tube too!

May Day Gardening Ban

Injections into a hip on Friday means that gardening work is disallowed for 3 - 4 days.... sigh.  This meant that one wasn't allowed to test drive the latest piece of equipment or do any much needed weeding!  Anyway, Al's old (read: ancient) mower coughed and spluttered for the very last time on Thursday.  It had been slowly becoming more and more decrepit and Jake had already warned us that it wasn't worth servicing any more - and that was 2 years ago!  I ordered a nice shiny new one from Jake at http://www.powerequipltd.co.uk/main.html Not the most romantic of wedding anniversary presents but 'practical' and not a second too soon!  It was chosen because it had the biggest variation in cutting heights - enabling those nice artistic patterns in the grass.  

                                                                                                                                    

In the meantime Chris was on his hands and knees in the shrubs clearing out all the Goose Grass before it takes over.  I was only allowed to advise in the moving of an Acer and a little light lawn edging (no bending needed!)  Since the rabbits ate our lovely spreading conifers in the sofa border over winter; we have a couple of biggish gaps.  A pretty little Acer Palmatum has helped take the bareness of the area.

We've added 4 new occupants to the pond.  Four Golden Tench have taken up residence and join the Rudd.  We are advised by our piscean expert: Chris that they are bottom feeders!!  Mmm!  I think he means that they help eat the rubbish which collects.  Anyway, they look quite pretty and more importantly; they're native.

As dedicated watercress fans, we've also decided to grow some round the pond margins.  After all, how difficult can it be?  We planted a couple of healthy plants at a depth of about 4 inches and we'll wait and see and..... hopefully eat!

Ban Polystyrene in the Garden

Don't you just HATE these awful polystyrene seed trays?

The plant roots grow into and attach to the polystyrene and cannot slide out.  The cells then have to be broken in order to remove the plants. The wind blows the pieces ALL over the garden! They can't then be re-used and therefore have to be rounded up and  thrown away!  Why are they used at all?

The only possible use I can think of for broken bits of polystyrene is to put in the bases of large pots (therefore reducing their weight) for drainage instead of gravel but I can only use so much!!!

Saturday Sundowners

After a hard day's work planting around the pond and painting the summerhouse it was time for sundowners inside the summerhouse!!  And it was quite a sunset over Woodbury Hill!!  Another coat of green paint is still needed on the summerhouse and hopefully a final tidy of the wires/pipes in the pond (after Dave has repaired the a submersible light) next week to hide them all from view and it should look tidy for summer.

Looks like a Pagan fertility rite!

After removing and replacing 16 tons of soil; it was only fitting to have the Casting of the Soil Ceremony now that the vegetable plot is all planted and things are actually growing.  Not that we needed an excuse for a G &T!  The soil casting was the original sample supplied by David Marsh of Stownhall
http://www.stownhall.com/sh/default.asp 
We're now hoping for bumper crops!

First Cuckoo of Spring

HURRAH!  First cuckoo heard today at Pear Tree Cottage. It's been far too cold this spring to beat our previous record of 12th April but a really welcome sound after a long cold winter and a pretty cold spring!  Last year we had three sitting on the telephone wires simultaneously!  Listening to a cuckoo certainly made lawn edging a more pleasant job.

(This is what he would have looked like if I could have seen him!)  

http://picasaweb.google.com/PamsPhotographs/FirstCuckooOfSpring2242010#

Busman's Holiday?

The gardeners have been sneaking off again!  This time - visiting gardens in Cornwall and checking out bigger and much grander garden projects!  The pool and water feature above is being constructed at Tremayne http://www.wolseylodges.com/lodges/2990  and has been designed by Anthony who has the advantage of being a civil engineer.

The house beneath is Tregoose  http://www.tregoose.co.uk/garden.htm boasts a beautiful natural woodland garden with Triliums and Erythroniums all in flower beneath the trees.

Other gardens visited were (our favourite) Trewithen: http://www.trewithengardens.co.uk/home
Glendurgan: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-glendurgangarden

Trelissick and of course Caerhays: http://www.caerhays.co.uk/

Having had a brilliantly sunny 4 days wandering Cornwall's most beautiful gardens at the best possible time of year it's back home to mowing lawns, pricking out seedlings and potting on in the greenhouse!