Easter Gardening!

Heavier than it looks!

Mini bonfire.

Despite the distractions of Easter and our avian visitor, work in the garden has gone on as one would expect!  With Matt and Sarah up for the weekend we had 2 extra pairs of hands so the team got to work!  Pots were sorted, graded and tidied by Sarah, meanwhile the verge had it's annual make over and was rotavated, rolled and seeded by Matt and Chris.  The yew hedge was straightened out and a rectangle cut in front of the utility window.  Sarah also helped pot up all the dahlias which had been carefully lifted and stored over winter.  There was even time for a small bonfire before having a well earned drink as the sun went down!  Hey ho - another Saturday in the garden.....yawn!

A straighter Yew hedge!

A Night on the Tiles!

Our surprise visitor!

Honestly!  The surprises one finds here at Pear Tree Cottage!!  This is who joined us for an evening on Easter Sunday!  I had heard him some distance away and started calling to him.  We called to each other for a while and then he decided to come and investigate for himself and flew into our oldest pear tree.  From there, he flew up on to our roof and stayed there all night.  I don't know where he came from but at least he was safe from foxes up there. The following morning he and I called back and forth but it was a peahen he was really hoping to find!  When we came back from our morning visit, he had gone. 

Under Gardener Triumphs!

Under Gardener in action

Result!

As predicted: as soon as the blossom is in flower and the daffodils at their best, down comes the horizontal slashing rain accompanied by thrashing gales!! Typical English spring weather! Sigh! No wonder we gardeners are never happy with our weather! 

Still, it didn't stop quite everything.  Just before the worst of the weather struck, our Under gardener complete with (nearly) new knee gave the lower lawn its very first spring cut and this time - no nasty symptoms afterwards.  Triumph!!  Not only am I thrilled that our favourite Under Gardener is pain free again  but, it's also so nice to have him out and about in the garden again.

Chris and I spent our time moving lengths of conifers in miserable conditions in order to re-stack them in a tidy fashion.  We made 22 stacks in all and I hate to think of the weight of wood that we moved.  We were working in a very tight and narrow strip with no room to swing a cat and were continually at war with brambles, dog roses, whippy hazel saplings tangles of dead goose grass and barbed wire. YUK! It took all of Saturday afternoon but it's now finished and no longer looks as if a tsunami has swept it all across the orchard!

Another Home Available for Rent

On a bright March morning as the sun melted away the frost, Chris Genever and I set up a traditional beehive down in the lower border where it will nestle amongst the Lamium beneath the Acers.  Alas no honey bees but if wild bees decide they'd like to come and squat inside (instead of taking over a bird house by the tool shed and evicting the birds), they would be more than welcome.  The hive was bought on Ebay and as much as I love the thought of keeping bees, alas I have no experience and little time. Shame really as we are surrounded by apple orchards and not only would pollinators have plenty to do but apple blossom honey sounds really tempting!  

Looking up and down during an eclipse!

Obviously the blackbird was unmoved and the eerie sunlight made little difference to the pots of spring flowers on the Herb Garden wall as the partial eclipse began.

Vernal Equinox at PTC

Here at Pear Tree Cottage, we didn't need an eclipse to remind us it was spring although it was rather good that it should occur on the vernal equinox!   It took more than an half an hour of eerie daylight to eclipse the Prunus blossom or any of the other spring shots although my photos of the actual eclipse were less than impressive. It was the flare that made them!  Check out:  Pear Tree Cottage under an eclipse

Result of the Genever Bonsai Demonstration

Before I go on to the next post, here's a quick photo of the finished Acer (from the previous post) all potted up and back in position - it's the one in the blue pot!  The photo definitely does not give a true idea of either the scale or weight of it.  The pot is about 2'sq and I can't imagine the weight when filled with wet compost and a tree.  The Acer on its left is about twice the size and will fall due for the same treatment next year.................Paynes cranes spring to mind.