the tree in the wall!
Saturday, April 30, 2005
death to the invader
nearly seven months since the last entry!!.........well, it has been an extremely cold spring, so last weekend was the first time i was really able to get out and do much..........a whole weekend of tidying and toasting the weeds with my flame gun thing and ripping out the ground elder......because i didn't put out my garden bin the Council thought i didn't have one and gave me another, so i now have two!.........i actually like to put most things on the compost heap, but the Council can have the perennial weeds............on to the second compost bin now, leaving the first full bin hopefully to rot down.........
.............because i did so much work last year it hasn't actually taken that long to tidy and sort........the alpine tubs at the front look great and i'm really pleased with them. all the creepy things are starting to spread and fill in the cracks in the paving like i wanted them to, and even the bit under the tree has filled in with alpines and looks quite good. the mini-conifers in their tub looked extremely sad after years of neglect, no wonder..........so i re-potted them and they still looked sad....so it's off to the Council........some colourful cheap'n'cheerful pansies intheir place for now, looking rather pretty.........
...........i've decided my mistake with tubs in the past has been making them too mingy. lots of small ones just looks messy. i've put the pot clemati together in the hope that they'll compete with each other to flower...........and i'm going to try some sweet peas at the front. it's less hot and less snaily............
...........the major project at the back was replacing the pond liner. Carrie and i did it on a cold damp sunday...........a miserable messy job, but boy what a difference. the pond looks fantastic and i'm thrilled with it. all the plants seem to have sort of rearranged themselves and are growing like mad......no duckweed so far but the grasses and the irises look better than they've ever done. and the diascia? yes, made it through another winter in a huge healthy clump..........with the bright blue lithospermum weaving through it, very pretty........
...........thrill of the day last weekend was discovering that the trillium was not dead.........it's very inconspicuous but it's still there! the little bronze buttercup was good value too, clumps of it appearing everywhere......although the one by the pond has been flattened completely, i suspect by a certain kitten lying on it...........
...........Bram's grave is marked by another dicentra..........the original one is doing its usual triffid thing of growing from nothing to this enormous clump so i hope the new one feels inspired.........i put Janice's paeony next to the others, the one i put in last year has buds despite what all the books say about them taking years to flower, and the old one looks extremely healthy.....i noticed when i was down at that end of the garden that there's a tiny apple tree growing out of the wall! - next to the chair, with one blossom on it!.........that bit is looking very nice, the honeysuckle has really taken off and is weaving round the chair, the strawberry plant has taken and i've seen a couple of ladybirds inhabiting it, and there's a clump of forget-me-not under the tree...............other clumps under the lilac and by Oscar's grave............that's where i planted it i think, but i have to accept that this garden has its own ideas about what it wants to grow and where it wants to grow them.............i think there's a potato growing inthe compost heap as well............
............the bare hot bit by the organic rose may be a problem, i put the Louisiana irises in there as i've no idea what conditions they like or what they're going to look like..........flung in some escholzia as well because they did well there before..........Catmint Corner looks pretty good too.............four kinds of catmint growing madly, and the Cistus which looks healthy........i don't know what happened to the other day lily, maybe it got swamped by the original one. moved a hebe from a pot at the front which was also looking very miserable from neglect, hope it likes its new neighbours.........
...............that other bed still has big bare bits so i think the thing to do is put in shrubs.......put in a wee pieris, normally i don't like them but this one is quite pretty. two geraniums to fill in the gaps, and another purple hebe.............the azalea has never flowered, but i've moved it several times so i think i just need to leave it and see what happens..........i've planted some seeds of Himalayan poppy, the one i've got is all on its tod and looks a bit lonely......i believe they're very difficult to grow and slow to flower, but a packet of seeds is cheaper than more plants.......
..........loads of herbs started off...........marjoram, coriander, lemon balm, parsley, russian and french tarragon, lemon and purple basil...........the black peppermint is now confined to a pot having tried to take over the herb garden, and the bits that fell off have become another plant for Carrie.............the Vietnamese coriander has also had babies...........if all these seeds come up i'll be inundated with herb plants.............in the herb garden i've hoicked out all the borage and put it in a pot, the salad burnet is doing well as usual and oh, dear, more lovage..........split and re-planted the oregano, and put in another variegated one, and another kind of sage..........fennel is now coming up in the raised bed, and i have a good clump of chives..........
..........as for veggies....well, let's try the chard. the rocket is thriving on being completely ignored.........made it through the winter and still growing away, unchewed by the slugs..........peppers and tub tomatoes are about the limit of my ambition......
............the bit by the lilac is still a problem.....the lavenders didn't make it and i think it's too shaded for most things, so i'll try making it woodlandy...........put the lilies-of-the-valley in but i think my usual curse has ensured that they're not going to make it...........violets too, they look like the sort of thing the slugs would fancy so they're surrounded by pine twigs, organic slug repellent and home-made cloches......at least the little blighters will have to work up an appetite......
.........night-scented stock in tubs.........haven't tried that before. nasturtiums for the dark corner.......and a couple poked into the hole in the arm of the chair, just to see!...
.............because i did so much work last year it hasn't actually taken that long to tidy and sort........the alpine tubs at the front look great and i'm really pleased with them. all the creepy things are starting to spread and fill in the cracks in the paving like i wanted them to, and even the bit under the tree has filled in with alpines and looks quite good. the mini-conifers in their tub looked extremely sad after years of neglect, no wonder..........so i re-potted them and they still looked sad....so it's off to the Council........some colourful cheap'n'cheerful pansies intheir place for now, looking rather pretty.........
...........i've decided my mistake with tubs in the past has been making them too mingy. lots of small ones just looks messy. i've put the pot clemati together in the hope that they'll compete with each other to flower...........and i'm going to try some sweet peas at the front. it's less hot and less snaily............
...........the major project at the back was replacing the pond liner. Carrie and i did it on a cold damp sunday...........a miserable messy job, but boy what a difference. the pond looks fantastic and i'm thrilled with it. all the plants seem to have sort of rearranged themselves and are growing like mad......no duckweed so far but the grasses and the irises look better than they've ever done. and the diascia? yes, made it through another winter in a huge healthy clump..........with the bright blue lithospermum weaving through it, very pretty........
...........thrill of the day last weekend was discovering that the trillium was not dead.........it's very inconspicuous but it's still there! the little bronze buttercup was good value too, clumps of it appearing everywhere......although the one by the pond has been flattened completely, i suspect by a certain kitten lying on it...........
...........Bram's grave is marked by another dicentra..........the original one is doing its usual triffid thing of growing from nothing to this enormous clump so i hope the new one feels inspired.........i put Janice's paeony next to the others, the one i put in last year has buds despite what all the books say about them taking years to flower, and the old one looks extremely healthy.....i noticed when i was down at that end of the garden that there's a tiny apple tree growing out of the wall! - next to the chair, with one blossom on it!.........that bit is looking very nice, the honeysuckle has really taken off and is weaving round the chair, the strawberry plant has taken and i've seen a couple of ladybirds inhabiting it, and there's a clump of forget-me-not under the tree...............other clumps under the lilac and by Oscar's grave............that's where i planted it i think, but i have to accept that this garden has its own ideas about what it wants to grow and where it wants to grow them.............i think there's a potato growing inthe compost heap as well............
............the bare hot bit by the organic rose may be a problem, i put the Louisiana irises in there as i've no idea what conditions they like or what they're going to look like..........flung in some escholzia as well because they did well there before..........Catmint Corner looks pretty good too.............four kinds of catmint growing madly, and the Cistus which looks healthy........i don't know what happened to the other day lily, maybe it got swamped by the original one. moved a hebe from a pot at the front which was also looking very miserable from neglect, hope it likes its new neighbours.........
...............that other bed still has big bare bits so i think the thing to do is put in shrubs.......put in a wee pieris, normally i don't like them but this one is quite pretty. two geraniums to fill in the gaps, and another purple hebe.............the azalea has never flowered, but i've moved it several times so i think i just need to leave it and see what happens..........i've planted some seeds of Himalayan poppy, the one i've got is all on its tod and looks a bit lonely......i believe they're very difficult to grow and slow to flower, but a packet of seeds is cheaper than more plants.......
..........loads of herbs started off...........marjoram, coriander, lemon balm, parsley, russian and french tarragon, lemon and purple basil...........the black peppermint is now confined to a pot having tried to take over the herb garden, and the bits that fell off have become another plant for Carrie.............the Vietnamese coriander has also had babies...........if all these seeds come up i'll be inundated with herb plants.............in the herb garden i've hoicked out all the borage and put it in a pot, the salad burnet is doing well as usual and oh, dear, more lovage..........split and re-planted the oregano, and put in another variegated one, and another kind of sage..........fennel is now coming up in the raised bed, and i have a good clump of chives..........
..........as for veggies....well, let's try the chard. the rocket is thriving on being completely ignored.........made it through the winter and still growing away, unchewed by the slugs..........peppers and tub tomatoes are about the limit of my ambition......
............the bit by the lilac is still a problem.....the lavenders didn't make it and i think it's too shaded for most things, so i'll try making it woodlandy...........put the lilies-of-the-valley in but i think my usual curse has ensured that they're not going to make it...........violets too, they look like the sort of thing the slugs would fancy so they're surrounded by pine twigs, organic slug repellent and home-made cloches......at least the little blighters will have to work up an appetite......
.........night-scented stock in tubs.........haven't tried that before. nasturtiums for the dark corner.......and a couple poked into the hole in the arm of the chair, just to see!...
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