Bamboozled Chickens!!!

Before removal

Golden Bamboo - Phyllostachys Aurea

Having improved rat defences, Chris (Genever) then replaced the post beneath the House for Hens - this time with oak so it should last a little longer than the last one.  It was all looking so splendid that, I looked at the golden Bamboo -  and thought what shame it totally obscured their house from our house.   When Chris (Pugh) arrived on Saturday, I showed him all our renovations and he agreed.  Now: digging out and replanting sizeable Bamboos is definitely not lightly undertaken.  It was a 'fairly' big job and the bamboo was monstrously heavy!  As if that wasn't bad enough, Chris then suggested that we dig out another scrubby and shorter bamboo thus revealing the much more elegant black bamboo in all its glory.  That was FAR worse!  It (eventually with the assistance of an iron bar) came out in 3 pieces, 2 of which were replanted and the 3rd discarded. As a result, it's all lookin' awfully smart down in the Hen Pen!!

NOW!  Here's a thing!!  As a result of this bamboo move around, the hens were utterly bamboozled (sorry!). Only one of them found their way into roost!  The remaining 4 were completely lost and were picked up and put back in their pole house - for 3 nights!!  Bear in mind: their house remained in exactly the same position. Just how amazing is that?  It certainly makes you wonder about their navigation systems!!

Operations well under way

Rather lost residents

Rat Wars

Rat excavations beneath the timbers

Rat proof flooring.

Despite all efforts, rats were winning battle after battle down in the Hennery.  They were digging under the earth floor, coming up through the mesh wire and eating the chickens food.  Despite the strategic placement of rat stations, we were getting nowhere and they were digging everywhere!  Initially we thought of concreting the Hennery floor and then Chris (G) came up with the idea of using some unwanted slabs (which he kindly gave us).  We bagged up all their deep litter then removed the wire mesh and levelled the earth. This revealed all the the full and vast extent of the rat excavations.  They were undermining the very structure of the building. This advance has now been halted as, having laid all the slabs and tucking them beneath the timber surrounds; there's no way they can excavate through concrete!  The deep litter of wood chip was placed back on the slabbed floor and they can scratch around to their hearts' content. As the Hennery serves as a breakfast room and winter quarters for our girls, they will no longer have to share a repast with vermin!

Rescued from Cruelty, Neglect & Abuse

 This little Garrya Elliptica (Silk Tassel Bush) has had the worst possible start in life.  Talk about abuse!  Two years ago, it was a Christmas present from Chris and began life in the lower border.  A Gunnera grew over the top of it and it sat there alone, neglected and forgotten in almost complete darkness.  Worse abuse was to follow.  As it was so obscured and when the Gunnera died back, several wheelbarrows of top soil were emptied right on top of it. It looked in such a sorry state with diseased leaves which were brown and curling.  I was consumed with guilt and embarrassment!  What a way to treat a Christmas present!   Earlier this year, its suffering was suddenly noticed.  Rescue was immediate and it was removed and brought up to the terrace path and re-planted against the house.  Now, in its  more sheltered more sheltered position, it has made the most remarkable recovery.  What a difference a little T.L.C. makes!

Perfume in December

I can't photograph fragrance but these little beauties are filling the greenhouse with the most intoxicating perfume! This is exactly what's needed on a dull and cold winter's day - reason alone to visit the greenhouse if only to sniff the air!

Prunus Pruning in the Dark!

Sometimes, there just aren't enough hours of daylight!!  When the days are overcast and it seems like dusk all day long, we have to resort to winter pruning by torchlight.  It was only around 5pm when this was taken.  Chris was doing some winter pruning in a Prunus.  We didn't imagine actually using the uplighting for pruning purposes!

Danger lurking in the garden!

Unwashed and dangerous when wet.

Washed & safe

Unwashed & like black ice!

Our house is surrounded by York flag stones.  A few years back, we dropped in (mostly leftover) York stone stepping stones around the garden to save wear and tear on grass paths in autumn and winter when, leaf clearance means that trips to the compost heap with wheelbarrows are numerous.  It doesn't take many journeys in the wet for grass to turn quickly to mud.  We have found one major drawback to our stepping stones.  With the growth of algae on them, when wet: walking on them is exactly the same as walking on ice and even more hazardous.  More hazardous because it's so unexpected.  This has meant that we have been purposely avoiding the very remedy to worn grass! Despite the already sodden garden conditions, we have been forced to add to this state by using a power washer to rid the stone of algae. I figured the use of chemicals on the stone probably wouldn't do the surrounding grass much good and really couldn't come up with a better solution.  Power washing means that the stone is perfectly safe to walk on but doesn't prevent future accumulations of algae and makes the surrounding grass even more soggy.  Does any clever person out there have any thoughts on the subject or better still: remedies?

Running out of daylight!

Mess, Mush and Yet More Leaves!

A single lovely frosty morning and then back to the usual muggy, mild and rainy weather!  Just what we didn't want! The ground is already sodden but we persevered as best we could. It was too wet for real border work but we were able to lift dahlias and cut down dead herbaceous plants in the top lawn border. We pressed on and cleared away much of the slimy debris working from the edge of the lawn and the path as 'mush' as we could!

I'm really not sure about the modern idea of leaving all the dead stems and seed heads for the birds to eat and the frost and snow to adorn.  Dead plant material in these conditions just collapses and turns to black mush and there's no sign of birds eating mush!  In any case, our birds have cordon bleu avian menus daily!    Having said that, we then turned our attention to blowing away another week's collection of dead leaves and, to speed up the process a little, Chris put his (new) blower through the trees themselves which was much more fun - as you'll see:  Speeding up leaf fall! 

As usual, darkness came much too soon and Chris ended up doing some winter Prunus pruning by torchlight!