Spring 2013, here we go again.

Finally the Sun comes out and sucks us in to the garden.  Lots of tidying up to do.  No photos of my completely sorting out the steps to the garden but they look an awful lot better.

Harriet was a brilliant help.  Here she is clearing the bottom of the wisteria.

Job done!

My traditional "first day of Spring" job of rotating the compost heap.

Tying this in savaged my forearms but it is now tied in.  You can see the swept terrace here.

The small trampoline has been dismantled and offered to a friend.

Erica surveying the scene.  The bare wall behind had been covered with a honeysuckle but Tamsin attacked it with great vigour.

Not a spud master

I explored the winter spuds yesterday.   Four out of nine have not come up. In the process I found a few shoots under a few cm of soil by breaking them off. Oops. I've covered them in domes. Hopefully some TLC will help.   What a fool.   Not my first mistake like this. When dutifully weeding a couple of days after planting them I damaged a couple. They might be the missing ones :(

Yesterday I also attacked a rose whilst Tamsin planted tulips. I beat the rose 5-1.  You couldn't see the yew hedge when I started.

Finally, a big compost rethink today. Made the near-house pile smaller and the far pile bigger to encourage stirring. 

Jasmine. Today's project...

It looks lop sided (too much at the top, and we want a red rambling rose instead.

Spring Flowers

We just need rain.

Erica's new bed

Slow start to the day, but worked hard once we got going. Decision made about our old rose penelope (dug out but lives on in her offspring and a slit trench cutting), but decision deferred on the mulberry tree.  We need to do some more research there.



Erica watched with interest throughout. We were joined by a very vocal robin at one stage.

We also managed to trim our little hedge and shred everything using the lovely Atco quiet shredder. I still enjoy putting big stuff through it. It must be a man thing.

penelope had to go, but she has a daughter plant that has sprung up from her old root so that went next to the piece in the slit trench.  It will be interesting to see which bit survives the best.  We planted her in the spot where the children run down the garden and leap off the wall.  She may prevent that but may get destroyed.  We'll see.


The first refugees (Sedum telephium) from the slowly disappearing island border.




The pukekos picking over where penelope used to live.