NOT "FEELING" MUCH LIKE SPRING!

 

Despite this interminal cold weather,at least the ground is showing signs of drying up - at long long last.  The sun has rarely shine but when it has, the garden looks quite springlike!!  Weeding has been a nightmare as the soil has been far too wet to hoe and so the weeds grew too big to hoe!!  Now it panic weeding!!

It's been too wet to finish mulching the borders with compost and, for the first time ever, compost remains in one bay.  Having said that, the Wisteria is colouring up, the Dogwoods are flowering and we're loving the limey greens of the Smrynium Perfoliatums - all 15 of them!! 

Hopefully, we can catch up and the sun shines on 12th May!!

Meanwhile check out a spring garden medley: LOOKS LIKE SPRING!

12th May - Save the Date!!

 Looking ahead to our first Open Garden for the National Garden Scheme on 12th May 2024, there is exciting news!!

Pat and Sandra will be hosting a BUMPER PLANT BONANZA across the lane in Sandra's garden at Maranatha.  This is being held in aid of St. Laurence Church, Wichenford.

As if that wasn't exciting enough: Barrels & Bells Clarinet Choir will be making a return visit to our garden to serenade visitors in the sunshine! Morning coffees and homemade afternoon teas will be served in this award winning and Wisteria nominated garden.

The warmest of welcomes is guaranteed not to mention cakes to die for!!

LUCKY!

 Having been in desperate need of a really LARGE amount of wood chip for so long, we finally got lucky when Janine found a tree surgeon working locally who so kindly dropped off a load of ash chippings.  I wasn't expecting snow on the very day planned to distribute it - or an injury!  Chris tackled the job alone working in rain sleet snow even mini blizzards!  He's such a hero!

What a difference it's made! After the world's wettest winter and the old wood chip now decomposed, paths were just very muddy and far less defined.

The Woodland Border pathwith its newlog edging is now transformed as is the Aspen Grove seat and Nutberry Noak.  I even found a bag of dark bark to do a contrast path to the seat - even though this layout is only temporary while bindweed eradication occurs this year.

War Declared!

Down in Nutberry Noak - our little fruit patch, the raspberries were well and truly defeated by bindweed.  We tried for 3 years but in the end bindweed won! Shallow rooted raspberries are no match for the deep rooted bindweed.

So it's all out WAR!  The raspberries and goosberries have been dug up. All traces of bind weed in their root systems (tediously) removed and they have been planted elsewhere for a whole year. The soil was all levelled and a seat placed in the corner.  The plan is to mulch with wood chip and leave fallow for the year. This will allow me 12 months to treat and eradicate ALL traces of bindweed.  Luckily the rhubarb and current bushes are not affected.  

Next year, we plan to replant in a bindweed free zone!  Meanwhile, our little fruit patch is looking a tad strange and bereft!

Path Edging

 Here we are and February is coming to an end already!  We've had more rain and more floods and the garden is totally saturated again!  

A couple of new projects have taken place - despite the appalling weather!  Chris brought some curvy Yew branches and we edged the Woodland Border path.  A reall faff of a job as we tried very hard to follow the natural curves of the path and that meant trying the branches every which way for shapes and lengths.  It also meant moving the odd Hellebore and lots of deep rooted arums not to mantion wooden mushrooms!  Negotiating trees and water mains didn't make life easy but we used to the odd challenge!  The path is quite a bit wider but I think the practicalities of passing traffic and wheelbarrow use justifty this.

We finished it and are now desperate for some wood chip!!  In fact we need SO much wood chip in SOO many areas of the garden.

The Great Awakening has Begun!

 

It's late January and, already, Snowdrops,

Aconites and Hellebores are popping up. With the long dark winter days beginnning to shorten, it's a real joy to see the garden waking up. Each day, another flower has appeared and daily garden inspections are filled with anticipation!

January Jobs

 Despite the world's wettest winter, things dried up enough for grass topping last week and border preparation yesterday.  The Dragon Borders had they're annual tidy up - weeds and dead stalks removed.  

I've yet to see a bird eating from remaining seed heads or admire pretty hoar frosts on seed heads and dead stalks!  In fact, I fail to see beauty in soggy dead foliage and our birds prefer dining at gourmet feed station!  

Chris even managed to wheel up a few barrows od compost and mulch.  Plant supports were replaced, roses pruned and borders edged.  Result: smugness!!