Dogwoods get their annual haircut

Before...

...& after.

Having missed out on the usual full on Saturday, I made up for it by being out before breakfast and pruning all the dogwoods (Cornus Sanguinea) this morning.  I was loudly serenaded by our resident thrush and closely accompanied by a robin!  Not only do the Dogwoods all look very tidy but I have now ensured plenty of stem colour for next season as only the young stems take on the bright colours.  The really big bonus is now I have plenty of stems with which to make plant supports for the borders.  The Midwinter Fire's are just too twiggy for weaving but the more common varieties are perfect and I must say that I really do prefer natural looking plant supports - even if some do look a bit rustic and wobbly. Less than perfect homemade supports look so much nicer than the dreaded plastic coated metal or even bamboo canes. All I need now is more time to make them all! 

Plant support material

Strange goings on..........

This Saturday, and unusually for me, I was a bit later than usual getting out and into the garden. Whilst I was otherwise engaged baking a batch of bread, making a vat of soup and also copying some vintage posters for the kiosk and rushing to finish; the men decided on the first priority before I could get out there.  A sunny day and I wasn't in the garden, Chris asked if I was feeling ill!  Their priority didn't look exactly horticultural.  There was much activity on the drive and various comings and goings.  Holes appeared and loads of hard core arrived. Spoil was taken away and then..................all evidence disappeared!! Was Chris burying something/somebody??  It all looked a tad suspicious until I discovered that the clay that had been oozing up from beneath & through the gravel had all disappeared!  The problem had been the site of some big Hawthorn roots and stumps and too much rain forcing up the soft clay to the surface.  Chris dug it all out, replaced it with hardcore levelling the area and raking back the gravel.  Oh well - no more muddy feet when getting out of the car!

There it was - gone!

Bovine Garden Invaders!

A small herd of cows has appeared in the Aspen Grove hiding amongst the Dogwoods!  All courtesy of Chris - needless to say!  We already had one: Clarissa, who lives in the Lower Border.  Now we have 5 more!  They have been re-homed having been dropped off with intentions of logging them up for firewood!  The very thought!!  I insisted they be rescued and repaired to live out the rest of their days peacefully under the shade of the Aspens!

Another little seasonal job.

My order of seed potatoes arrived the other day and they're now chitting in egg trays on a windowsill in the tool shed.  If it ever dries up enough to dig the vegetable patch, I might even be able to plant them!  Again, they're Lady Christl - it's a weird spelling but last year's were so deliciously waxy and cropped so well, they were even better than Arran Pilots and I never thought I'd ever say that.  They might not look very exciting but they're all part of the changing seasons in the garden.

Things are really waking up

What a difference a few hours of sunshine make! Things are really waking up and, even drying up - a little. The Bergenias are in flower with just a few Pulmonarias. Chris even found a solitary Wood Anemone.  More Hellebores are springing up, Primroses are flowering and the snowdrops look really lovely.  Shrubs are budding up and, if this keeps up, it won't be long before we have some Camelias in bloom.  Now that really is a cue for the appearance of Jack Frost so let's hope they get their timing right this year.

For a few more cheery photos checkout:

The Advent of Spring

Wallace is back in town!

Guess who I spotted creeping around in the lower border! Not difficult to spot with such colourful and smart plumage.  He might have avoided the winter guns but he'd better keep a sharp look out for Monsieur Le Reynard who doesn't have a closed season on wanton killing!

Back to Basics

Kiosk & Maureen's Harvington Hellebore

Soft colours in the Woodland Border

After the excitement of the arrival of the new kiosk and for the first time for a month, it was back to proper gardening!  Two sunny days on the trot meant that we could get on with lots of seasonal jobs which included pruning fruit trees, laying in cable for the kiosk light, pruning the Choisya and conifer around the kiosk, moving some stray snowdrops from the orchard to join all the others in the Woodland Border (whilst we could see them!).  Other stuff was done too such as turning and moving the compost from one bay to another.  Frankly, I think this is a lot of lumbering and heavy work for little reward!  Yes I know Monty Don rabbits on and on about stirring his compost every five minutes but, for goodness sake, it's going to rot anyway and what's wrong with having a little patience?  Anyway, I was out voted on this one and it so happens that it's actually easier to reverse up to the now empty compost bay with the ride-on than it is to the now full one so I didn't complain too loudly!

An Ashwood's special!

This (futile) activity left me able to work in the Woodland Border and cut off all last year's Hellebore leaves and dead fern fronds. I'm always surprised how such a seemingly inconsequential job makes such a transformation to both the plants and the border as a whole.

Tony's elegant brass plaque

Chris G. came and finished the glazing on the telephone kiosk ensuring it's now watertight and Chris P. planted Maureen's Harvington Hellebore to its side having removed all the shuttering from around its concrete base.  When the ground dries up a little more, I'll edge along the lawn so it all looks tidy but natural - well, as natural as an old red telephone box can look in a garden!