Things on the move.....again!

Mr. Robin in full voice!

Having done the pond, we then moved to all the Michaelmas daisies (Asters) and Golden Rod (Solidago) which all needed dividing up and moving.  I had this idea that an avenue of Michaelmas daisies either side of the path to Kay's arbour might look rather nice. These are a good (but unknown) variety with a good strong colour which never flop or succumb to the dreaded rust. Chris thought so too but pointed out that an Acer Shirasawanum was in the wrong place.  He was, of course right.  

Moving the Shirasawanum

It was there when we put in the path and was just too close.  I had been sneakily pruning branches that encroached too far across the path or in front of the arbour in the belief that it couldn't be moved as its roots would have grown underneath the path itself and, in any case, was just too big.  Chris however had other ideas and started digging, and digging, and digging and...... digging!  Eventually he freed the root ball which was big and, with wet soil, weighed an absolute ton!  It now sits on the opposing side and a sensible distance from the path and the arbour.  When moving the Golden Rod, we found that it had been invaded by bindweed in a BIG way.  Rather than risk further contamination of such an invasive and pernicious weed, we ditched the lot for burning.  With all the digging and removals going on, the path got very muddy and will need a better clean up and additional gravel adding at some point.  Throughout all this activity, we were joined by a robin who sat just a few feet away in the Wild Service Tree (Sorbus Torminalis) singing at the top of his voice!  Maybe I should just add that all this work was planned for the autumn but the world's wettest weather postponed such plans!

(Muddy) Michaelmas Daisy Avenue!

Major Pond Tidying

The weather had turned freezing cold and vicious squalls kept sweeping in followed by bouts of chilly sunshine - not an usual Saturday for us.  It seemed like that to Chris too as we read through the jobs list..........that was, until I presented him with a pair of rather fetching waders - in his size!  After some discussion, finding a pair of extra large blue marigolds and much fiddling with the straps, Chris advanced towards the pond with net in hand.  Now our pond is quite small but at 6'4" Chris makes it look like more like a small puddle!  In reality and if I was brave enough to test its waters, the deepest area would be chest height.  That said, he set to work in the icy water scooping out 5 years accumulation of dead leaves from the bottom of the pond.  I had assumed that there would be huge mountains of stagnant, stinky debris ponging quietly away on the the waters' edge but, in truth, there was not very much at all.  We do have some rud and another type of 'bottom' feeding fish (golden perch, I think) so, maybe they are responsible for such little accumulation.  In the meantime, I tip toed around the edges dragging out excess watercress which we didn't want invading the King cups just as they are about to flower and gave it to the chickens to eat.  The sludgy debris was left on the side so that any creatures (we know we have newts and dragon fly larvae) could creep back to their watery homes.  This will be cleared away next week when, hopefully we shall tidy the pond edges and border.

More Blossom - More Perfume

Daphne Mezereum

At last!  The Daphne is coming into flower and the scent is amazingly intoxicating!  I can't wait for the rest of the shrub to bloom.  Strange to know that a plant that produces such beauty and perfume is so poisonous.  I have a smaller Daphne which is actually a self set - how lucky is that?  Adding to this heady melange of perfumes wafting around the garden at present are the numerous hyacinths now in in flower and the 3 Lonicera Fragrantissima's which started to open their flower buds in early February continue to wow the olfactories with their contributions! Anosmia must be a terrible affliction for a gardener especially at this time of year! 

The ornamental cherries are coming into flower and whilst not particularly scented, they are full of even more very busy bees!  Can anyone out there put a name to this particular Japanese white ornamental cherry?  It's actually a miniature variety of Prunus and it would be interesting to know its name.

Unknown Japanese ornamental cherry

Hyacinth

Suspicious numbers of Tete-a-tetes!

There's practically nothing that Chris won't tackle head on!  No project is too big and nothing ever daunts him.  BUT if there's one job in the world that Chris really hates doing, it's planting bulbs! His second most hated job?  Planting lots of bulbs!!  With one single exception, he doesn't even like bulbs!  Why?  Because they look pretty for 5 minutes and then the dead flowers and dying leaves look awful for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks!  If the bulb is to survive, the dying leaves must be left to feed the bulb for next year's flowers.  Well, he's got a point.  His one exception is the Tete-a-tete variety and, the funny thing is, there are more of this variety evident at Pear Tree Cottage than ever before!  They've appeared in pots and tubs and urns - there are some in the Woodland Border and even some around the Acer along the Fernery Path.  Am I suspicious?

Spring Curves

With our Under Gardener out of action and yet another warm spring day, it was out with the mower to enjoy the first real cut of the year.  With my little Honda, it did take rather longer to mow the lower lawn (which is usually done by Himself!) and the orchard!  Maybe next time I should use the Under Gardener's mower which, although heavier, has a wider cut. Anyway, after a quick rush round with the edging shears, suddenly everything looked much tidier.  There's something about the scent of newly mown grass at this time of year!  Maybe it's special because it combines with the scent of blossom and spring flowers.  I gave the girls a box of grass clipping to scratch around in and 2 minutes later they had spread it to the furthest corners of their Bamboo garden!  Incidentally, Marigold has been spotted perched on the roof of their shelter in order to reach the bamboo leaves.  Hens do enjoy a bit of greenery!  Anyway....back to mowing!

There is a HUGE amount of moss after the world's wettest winter and although it's very bad for grass, it is delightfully springy to walk on so, instead of mowing in a circular pattern around the well, as has been the habit of Himself, I decided to go for springy curves!  So far no complaints!  Whilst it's looking neat and tidy and very springlike; I'm trying not to worry about the back log of all the other jobs!

More spring weather

With our Under Gardener having been on the other end of a scalpel and a sore knee to prove it, Senior Head Gardener and Chief Gardener have been on overtime in this recent spell of warm and sunny weather.  So many autumn/winter jobs couldn't be completed as it was just too wet and now we have a backlog!  We had hoped that most of the moving of perennials and shrubs would have been done ages ago and now it's a rush to do everything.  A good start was made yesterday and the geraniums which spent a year as underplanting for the roses have all been moved to either side of the Lion Steps.  They were nothing but a nuisance and either flopped on to the lawn or competed with the roses.  It was a mistake to put them there and, in their new home, they can do their own thing without being a pain! Chris cut the Beech hedge behind the roses and, after forking the border we underplanted with Golden Marjoram as Chris did in the rose border by the trellis.  A new border was also prepared and a shrub rose moved into it.  The top lawn was mowed and edged and is looking pretty tidy - and a lot less soggy than of late!  Other bits and pieces were replanted in new places including a couple of shrubs which were too close to the Wedding Cake tree (Cornus Contraversa variegata) which has really put on some growth and has to take priority!

Bees in the trees!

Considering it's still pretty early in the year, I'm really surprised by all the insect activity. Butterflies and bumble bees have all been out in the sunshine. Most surprisingly and, despite all one hears about the falling numbers in bees, was to look up and see almost swarm proportions in this Prunus.  Their sound could be heard yards away and working underneath has been quite amazing.  I'm pretty sure they are all wild bees as it's too early for hives in the apple orchards.  I only wish I could have photographed some of them - alas they didn't oblige as they were far too busy!