Done some...
In the gardening world, doing 'some' is always better than doing 'none'. And I've done some - not the longest sessions, but enough to feel OK. And I've learnt something which I knew already. Hmm... So yesterday I weeded an area in the Dog-Path Garden which I thought would be difficult. And it jolly well wasn't - the power of mulching being very much in evidence. For the record, both the Sir Benjamin Britten roses in here have died, and Class Act isn't looking too classy. Just not tough enough. But the weeds (mainly clover) just came easily off the surface. Yeay!
Foliage in the Welcome Garden
Some weeding...
Then I made a start weeding the Welcome Garden, again thinking that I'd need the shovel etc. to get the grass clumps out. Not a sausage! My not-so-strong hands pulled them out very nicely. I do remember that my rather random garden maintenance programme had this area well weeded and mulched a year ago. Again, where there is mulch there is hope! And I remind myself that even just a couple of hours' work in a day is well worth getting down and dirty for.
So guess what I'm doing today? Spreading horse manure onto the gardens in question, to be then covered by a thick layer of mulch. I am prepared for some tougher weeds. Any creeping perennial grass will get the X-rated puffy bottle treatment (I can never guarantee removing all the roots by hand).
Let's not beat about the bush - or shrub. This will be a big job, and I'll need super-stamina and uber-dedication to get the whole area finished. There will be much hands and knees weeding, reaching underneath the self sown (and welcome) Tagasaste trees. And I will be trimming any branches which overhand the Deodars. Oh, and trundling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of organic matter in. All last year's bags of oak leaves, for example, few of which have 'leaf-moulded' successfully. Buried underneath horse manure, I'm sure something appropriate will happen to them.
Deodars
When I next check in with this journal all the Deodars (and the shrubs) down the front side boundary should be sighing with relief and 'breathing easy'.
Eight Hours Later...
Oh yes. Oh YES!!!!! I've done some amazing gardening today. I've weeded around all the Deodars (the mulch made it quite easy, but I needed the shovel to scoop out the clover). I spread more than twenty bags of wormy horse manure and eight bags of quasi leaf-mould (removing all the tiddley oak trees).
Autumn Pair - Dahlia and Camellia
I dug in two more fence posts and stapled up the dog fence, making it yet more secure. I am so proud of myself, because I did it all myself. And I just kept going. And going. Sooooo proud. Eight hours - what a legend.
Monday 16th April
And today I did 'some' - just three hours, weeding in the Stables Garden. I scooped up Muscari bulbs which had seeded onto the driveway and plopped them in a pot. I dug out two roses which were completely shaded out by the Phormiums. One (possibly Lavender Lassie) is destined for a 'take it or leave it' place by the fence.
Tuesday 17th April
And today I did 'some' again - this time clearing down the driveway garden. I also trimmed some of the nasty thorny Gleditsia tree, about which I shouldn't be rude, because it is rather beautifully autumnally golden. Those thorns are vicious spikes, by the way, when one gardens without gloves. Oops.
Winnie in the Driveway
Even if I only work for three hours, and only collect a couple of barrow loads of mess, I've done something. Right? Absolutely!