Spring Flowers

Well it’s been another fantastic day.  The weather has been absolutely glorious and I have been able to sneak outside between paperwork and phone calls.  That’s the good thing about working from home but you do have to disciplined or nothing would get done,  a few jobs inside then a few outside.

Anyway I snipped the edges of the grass to neaten them up and pulled up the tree seedlings that are coming up by the minute.  It seems that no sooner than I have pulled up a handful there is another one!

The Wisteria is just about to flower in fact by the end of the week I am sure it will be in full flow and some bits needed to be tied in to support the flowers.  The many clematis in this garden need a little help to go the way I want and I really enjoy untangling the stems and reattaching them to the wire.  I have also been moving a few plants that have become over shadowed by their neighbours.  What I like to do when the weather is this warm is prepare a planting hole.  Put in some water and let it drain away, then add a good spade full of worm caste compost and mix it with the surrounding soil.  I then pop in the plant, backfill and firm the soil and water again.  Job done.  Planting this way in dry weather, the first watering can of water gets to the roots and there is no evaporation.  I have also spent many a happy hour over the last few evenings re-potting my containerised plants or top dressing them if they are happy where they are.

Well the time has come for my evening walk around the garden a glass of crisp wine in one hand and secateurs in the other.

Sunday Morning

Well, this morning I had decided to get up have breakfast and then go out and garden for the day. My husband was off to Rugby at Twickenham so perfect opportunity. The only problem was I had not seen the weather forecast so didn’t know rain was due.  So here I am looking at the garden with a cup of coffee hoping and waiting for the rain to stop and planning what I will do when I can get outside.

Cut the dead heads from the Hydrangeas down to a pair of fat buds.

Trim the edges of the grass.

Rake the grass where dead leaves have not blown away and sprinkle on some seed.

Spike some areas of grass that look compacted and sprinkle on seed.

Start to weed the borders and collect any remaining dead leaves.

I think that’s enough for starters but I am sure there will be something else to grab my attention.

Sunday afternoon

The sun came out and I managed to get a good two hours in the garden and although my back is aching, the garden looks neater and I feel pleased I have made a start.

Well the snow has melted and my garden looks like someone has troden all the herbaceous plants down.  It all looks very drab and dismal until you move the dead, soggy leaves and hey presto the tips of bulbs are pushing through proving that Spring is just around the corner.

This morning as I went out to feed the birds I almost tripped over a dead rat.  I had, had an encounter with it the night before.  I was bringing in the bird feeder food bowl and I trod on something.  As it was dark I didn’t see what it was but the creature escaped as I jumped out of my life.  The really unfortunate thing is I must have hurt it badly and it died overnight.  So my first job of the morning was to bury ratty in the garden. This is a timely reminder that not only do the birds enjoy the food we put out for them but other creatures too.  I must admit that in all this cold weather I have not been putting the bird food on the bird feeder but closer to the house as the snow and ice ment that was an easier option.  Now I have learned from this mistake and will put it on the bird table in  future.

I had intended to tidy up some of the more unsightly leaves but rain stopped play so I cleaned some tools in my potting shed before coming indoors to look though some gardening books for ideas for this year with a warm bowl of courgette soup at my side.