Not just outdoors

Prunus blossom

A mixed posy

I simply couldn't resist bringing a touch of spring to the kitchen windowsill.  Unlike Hellebore, at least the Narcissus and a few twigs of Prunus give days of scent and pleasure.  Note the use of an old pewter teapot, a Marmite jar and an old chipped jug. 

...And I'm most definitely not supersticious about bringing Snowdrops indoors!

Sunshine at the sink!

Spring in February!

Hellebores

Pulmonaria

Snowdrops

Actually, not only is it looking spring-like in the greenhouse but, the Woodland Border is definitely waking up.  Although the Hellebores started to bloom first, the snowdrops are fast catching up and the Pulmonarias are on their starting blocks. I did pick 3 Hellebores to enjoy on the table. I KNEW I shouldn't have because they never last 5 minutes in water. Yes. I know you can float the heads in bowls of water but does anyone actually know why they don't last if left on their stems?  Is there a trade secret I need to know? It's exactly the same with Camellias - even if you smash the stems. Just when we're desperate to have just a little taste of spring indoors, we know that those spring favourites are best left to be admired outside.

More Snowdrops

Spring-like despite the Storms!

Cyclamen

Primulas, Iris reticulata & some Tete-a-tete Narcisuss

A few little Violas & Dianthus in the wings

Despite the high winds and power cuts, the greenhouse remained put! Never had I seen so much movement in the persisting gales - the entire structure shook with the gusts.  However, it's looking quite spring-like inside. Luckily, in anticipation of Storm Henry, I had thought to move all the garden wind chimes to places of safety.  A whole evening without electricity merely meant cooking dinner by lamplight (I always keep a couple of filled paraffin lamps to hand!) and winning (big time!) at scrabble by candlelight!

Bamboo Battles & More Mulching

Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys Nigra)

Possibly the world's best compost!

Mulching borders.

Emptying the compost heap and mulching borders continues! How could we have made so much?? At the end of the day we had moved less than a quarter of the volume and it was all uphill from the heap........yawn!  

Actually before starting, we spent ages in the Henclosure taming the black bamboo which had ideas way above its station in life and was stealthily invading the whole area underground.  We dug up barrows full of shoots and roots which were ready for a surprise spring attack.  Now all is under control and the girls will still have their summer shade!

Dark but Short.....at last!

                                  

                   

After days and days and DAYS of rain with weirdly mild temperatures, I was desperate to mow the lawns.  The grass was ankle deep and almost long enough to hold a tiger shoot.  However today, the winds strengthened and dried the grass enough for me to sneak round with the lightest, smallest mower on its very highest cut.  I kept turns to an absolute minimum and almost tip toed around! I know that the ground beneath wasn't as dry as I would have liked but with storms expected tomorrow it was only ever going to worsen so it was now or never!  I don't remember taking so many clippings to the compost heap in January or even seeing so many stripes at this time of year.  Even the girls down in the Henclosure were very eggcited (sorry!) to have a box of clippings to peck and scratch around in. Of course, I had left the wind to do its job of drying as long as possible, so, it was rather late by the time I finished and was much darker than these photos (which have been edited to depict the curvy strips) actually suggest.  The garden lights were on and I would have been happier with headlights on the mower.  Some gardeners are just never satisfied!

Guess what happened when I'd finished.  Yep!  It rained!  Smugness or what?

                             

The Advantages of a Service Path

The Lower Border - before work began.

A rare Saturday without rain meant that despite the wet ground, a little progress was actually made. Whilst the mild weather has returned, it was FAR too wet to consider much need mowing. However, I edged all the very long and shaggy lawn borders around the entire garden and Chris made a start on weeding the Lower Border working mainly from the service path at the back.

The service path in autumn

Service paths at the back of deep borders are an absolute boon. They save so much trampling and unnecessary soil compression. If you have the room, I couldn't recommend having one enough. We keep ours topped up with wood chip and it can't even be seen from the front of the border.  It's kept clear at all times and shrubs are pruned accordingly. This means that many have flat backs but their flat backs can't be seen from the front either!  A service path is also useful for making sneaky short cuts to the compost bays!

Having cleared the border of weeds, we were able to mulch it with 4 barrows full of home made compost. Again using the service path at the back along which to wheel the barrows and distribute the mulch.  I must say that this years compost just couldn't be better! It's a light, crumbly, friable, sweet smelling perfection - full of much needed nutrients.  It cost nothing but time and, in these quantities, would be prohibitively expensive to buy.

Chilling in the Garden!

Woodland Border seat

Looks like icing sugar!

Another even frostier day than yesterday.  Crisp and sparkling grass makes SUCH a pleasant change from soggy and muddy grass! Breaking the ice in the chickens drinkers and ensuring the wild birds were well stocked with fat balls, meal worms. peanuts, niger seed and raisins were priorities! Garden seats had thick coatings of sparkling white rime and leaves encrusted in sparkling highlights. Guess what!  The rain is back - sigh! More frosty photos here

Lower Lawn