A slight garden pickle...
Am in a slight garden pickle. There are a lot of weeds. And there are lots of very beautiful spring things, flowers and foliage, to enjoy. Wandering around the garden I would much rather look at the beautiful things than the weeds. Hmm...
Wisteria on the House Patio
And sitting on the house patio underneath the Wisteria is a joy, with the flowers so fragrant. I can dream and make lovely plans, none of which involve the slightest hint of weeding.
Rhododendron Unique
Needs must...
Oh well. Needs must, because a well weeded (or even semi-weeded) border looks beautiful in its own right, yes? And contributes to the prettiness of that shrub (for example, a rhododendron) flowering above. So today I've been scraping and grabbing weeds, crawling around on my hands and knees. I've filled the wheelbarrow three times - from the perennials garden by the Pergola, from the wee Laundry Garden (have planted the new Lavenders therein), and the narrow border along the water race by Middle Bridge. It's been nit-picking, small scale work, though the results are quite quickly pleasing to the eye. I'm also trimming the edges as I go.
I can do this!
I can do this! Exclamation mark! Or, to be more specific, I can keep on doing this every morning, and every afternoon this week. Wearing the same pair of gardening jeans - dirty knees not a problem. At the end of each day I can plant out more of my annual seedlings and perennial divisions. Filling the gaps left by my weed removal with nice new plants is a lovely way to finish. And of course the dogs and I will go for lots of garden walks. We do need to take the time to admire the rhododendrons, and take photographs. Such beautiful flowers...
Tuesday 13th October
Another good weeding day - this time in the Dog-Path Garden, along the lawn's edge. But oh boy! There are tough weeds in here - deep rooted clover, sorrel which creeps everywhere, also wee pieces of nasty grass whose roots are not easy to eradicate. But I'm doing it!
For positive affirmation and a creative end to the day I'm off to mass plant Scrophularia. I'm trying to be location specific with my plantings. As an example, yesterday I filled Pond Cottage's garden with all the new Lupins. The first batches of dwarf blue cornflowers have hardened off and are ready to go, too.
And yeay! Apres gardening, lashings of hand cream (guess who wasn't wear gardening gloves), and off to the pub for a roast. Life is good after a hard working gardening day.
Wednesday 14th October
So what's on for today? More weeding? Oh yes. The big irrigation ran for six hours last night, but it doesn't reach the Allotment Garden. So the little hoses need to go on as well. But first - a dog walk. Round the orchard we go. Again! Stop to admire Eddies White Wonder Dogwood - its bracts are now really large, still there after weeks and weeks. Much more generous than cherry blossom, I reckon.
Dogwood Eddies White Wonder
Oops. Have changed direction and have decided to go to the library. Apparently new books are much more exciting than weeding. Definitely!
Later...
OK. I did a wee bit of weeding around the Herb Spiral. I tidied up the paths with some more bricks as edging, and planted out just a few flowering annuals.
Spring in the Herb Spiral
Now I need to buy some compost to fill up the garden between the bricks. I will do that tomorrow. Yes! I will spend money sensibly on my lovely garden.