Cobra Leaves Leaves!

The girls setting off on slug patrol

Honda - leaves hoovered up.

Two days without rain AND the sun came out!!  Time to get out lawn mowers, raise up the blades and top the grass! Two different mowers used - the Honda is really good at picking up and chopping up leaves whereas, the Cobra always leaves leaves behind!!! 

The chickens enjoyed a box of fresh grass clippings before going out on slug patrol for half an hour. I even edged the lawns and was far too hot in a fleece in December!! 

Cobra - leaves remained.

Yew have a good year!

PAINTING TREES!

Before

As if shampooing and blow drying trees wasn't enough, now we've taken to painting them - thus guaranteeing a white Christmas!!

During

It's a very continental arboreal approach and is done to reflect the sun's heat to prevent bark damage. Whilst our trees never suffer from sunburn, we all agreed that it might look quite striking if we experimented on the Aspens. Thanks to Chris G., we used his own Genever Patent Tree Paint!! Guaranteed not to harm, not to flake and will move with the bark. As the girth of the Aspens increase and, with future coats, so will the overall effect. When all the snowdrops beneath are in bloom, we think it should look even more striking. It certainly looks very ghostly at night!!

More progress

It's a white-out!

WinterTrees

A local Oak

A few of the trees featured in my Winter Trees Week! The Hazel catkins can't wait for spring and when you look at them, I sometimes wonder: who needs leaves!!

Hazel catkins

Birches in the garden

A Week of Winter Weather!

Our resident glass woodpecker
in a Betula jaquemontii!

On the run up to Christmas, the pretty foul weather hasn't allowed much gardening so I've been doing a Week on Winter Trees with a different tree featured each day on FB. Hopefully tomorrow, it will be dry enough to prune the holly and use the prunings in the house and gather up the last remaining leaves.  Soon it will time to prune the apple trees and then the pears.  It's heartening to realise that today is the longest day and that from now on, the days will start to lengthen again.

On the odd sunny day, the bare trees are looking lovely in the low light. I think I like their skeletal forms even more than leaf canopies!  Well, I say that until spring!

Winter solstice moon rising over the cider apple orchards

Shampooing and Rescuing Trees!!

The O'Leary Pieris

Head Gardener has been off duty for a week and has been exploring gardens in foreign parts!  This week, it was back to work as usual and first on the agenda was to rescue the O'Leary Pieris which blew over in high winds.  It was planted down in the Sofa Border and looks a treat.  It now has much more room and should really thrive. Sadly, the beautiful pot was beyond redemption - sigh!

Caught shampooing trees!

I got a lot of flack from Chris when he spotted me with a bucket of soapy water, brush in hand scrubbing the thick green algae off silver birches!  OK maybe I should get out more! As if I wasn't bad enough, he then gave them a blow dry with the leaf blower!  Shampoo and blow drying trees!! I ask you!!

Joking aside: at this time of year when the sun is low in the sky, they look absolutely dazzling now that they're free of all the green algae which had collected on the bark.  Worth doing as they're on full view when standing at the kitchen sink!! One is a Silver Queen and the other two are Jacquemontii's.  Well worth the trouble despite all the banter!!

Chris being just as bad!

Two Gossips Arrive to Inspect Conifer Trimming!

The Two Gossips!

Distant Malvern Hills

We found these two loitering on the drive following a surprise sneaky delivery obviously under the cover of darkness on Friday!  Al's named them 'The Two Gossips' and, for now, they're gossiping over the old garden roller. They move to the Herb Garden - time will tell.

As well as the usual leaf clearing, Saturday's work included conifer trimming. Lugging leaves is somewhat never ending at this time of year but it's a nice job and hardly heavy work. The leaf mould pile is continuing to grow too!

Conifer trimming means ladders are needed. I know my place and am found holding them steady at the bottom with everything droping on me! This time, Chris took some sneaky shots from the top! When it was finished we were covered in bits of conifer but the hedge is looking awfully smart! Well done Chris!

Sneaky Chris!

Letting go to take the photo!