Tasks for NGP...
NGP with one of the Fred Cats
So what would Non-Gardening Partner like to do first today? Continue chain-sawing more self-seeded and not-needed trees in the newly named Periwinkle Woods? Or dig out two semi-chunky unwanted rhododendrons from my friend's garden? They are going to fill up the spaces newly created on one side of the Island Bed...
Aha! Have just remembered a third task for him - to shred all the Pittosporum branches which are littering the top of the house lawn, in untidy piles.
An uneven partnership?
The astute observer will notice that ours is an uneven partnership. I float around doing tiddly little things. NGP does the power-gardening and the heavy lifting (and shifting). But my theory is that he really enjoys being organised. And I am always happy to help - i.e. stand and point at trees I want removed.
Later...
Blast! He escaped! Home alone, first I cleaned up a Phormium which was in a dodgy state, then I trimmed the Gunnera by Willow Bridge. Same process as yesterday - while I was working on land I organised and stashed all the mess properly under the Leyland hedge.
Gunnera Trimmed
Once committed to the water (and my slightly leaky waders) I just flung my muddy mess onto the garden path. Kept on working until my feet started feeling a little cold.
A new treasure...
Have noticed a new treasure in my winter garden. Usually Weeping Maiden is my first Camellia to winter-flower, but since I fell over her and uprooted her she's been slow to recover. Funny that! Looks like the dark muddy red Takanini over the water race has taken her place. Beautiful flowers, a stunning colour, and what's more - I've planted three of the same shrub. Imagine what they'll look like when they grow a bit bigger!
Much later...
Ha! Got him! NGP came home from flying, there was still a bit of daylight left, and so he did some more chain-sawing in the Periwinkle Woods. Brushing carefully past the rose on the uncovered archway, he said he could see why I was thinning things out - there were 'a lot of scruffy little trees around'. Nice work.
Sunday 5th June
I've been out all day singing - Kodaly's Missa Brevis in the morning, then an afternoon rehearsal for Vivaldi's Gloria. Maybe NGP would do the shredding or go and dig out those rhododendrons while I was gone? No way. But, more importantly, he'd been clearing out the gutters. His favourite winter task (not). And it will be my job to clean up all the mess. That seems only fair, right?
Takanini Camellias