Tag Archives: Gardening

Up the Garden Path 16

by thehistoryinterpreter

It has been a while since we’ve been up the garden path and to be honest, the garden has been a bit neglected over the summer. It has mostly been about a great deal of watering and thanks to the new wooden barrel, large capacity, water butt, I didn’t run out of water, although it came pretty close. I do worry slightly that it still smells as if I am watering things with neat whisky though. A lovely friend came and kept things alive when I was away in May, aided by me moving pots to the shady part of the garden and standing them in children’s paddling pools and the like. It turns out that I have about fifty things in pots, or rather things in fifty pots, which may be a little OTT even for a garden with very few flower beds.

A lot of time has been spent trying to weed the gravel, in which eleventy billion violets self-seeded. A few other things self-seeded as well but I allowed the marigolds and oriental poppies to stay while they flowered and there’s still a random foxglove. The patio, which makes up the majority of the garden, is another story. Anything that will grow in the cracks has and I don’t want to repoint it as otherwise there’s nowhere for the heavy rain to go. It looks, to be frank, a total mess. I do have a lethal looking implement ‘not suitable for use by under sixteens’, that is supposed to be ace for weeding gaps between paving slabs but is actually pretty useless. Much as I am not keen on the idea, I fear it will have to be weed killer. Now all I need is a dry spell to apply it, which isn’t looking like any time soon.

The large tree in a pot that was rescued and I was using to fill the one tiny gap where I am overlooked decided to die and is now no more, although the two bare twigs about nine inches long that I got from the Woodland Trust are flourishing, as is the lemon tree, which actually has lemons on, not that they look like being edible. Last year my new apple tree had one solitary apple, this year there are several, they are still a bit small, so I am hoping they get to harvestable size. A new apple tree in a pot has three apples, although the pear looks a bit sadly.

Definitely not all success stories. The Josephine Bruce rose an the new wisteria started off looking supper healthy then suddenly looked windburned, even though they are in the most sheltered bit of the garden. The rose now looks seriously poorly; too much whisky perhaps? I will prune heavily and hope for better things next year, a flower would be a start.

I guess having seventeen different plants in flower in September isn’t bad for a tiny garden, even though it does look a bit bare and drab in general. More work is needed! Some pictures of the last three months of flowers to cheer you up if it is wet, windy and decidedly wintery with you too.

Up the Garden Path 15

by thehistoryinterpreter

There’s been quite a bit going on garden wise. First was the plan to cover the unsightly tarmac in front of the back gate by the new water butt, which leads to the ‘not actually a garage anymore’. This involved creating a barrier to stop any chippings escaping through the back gate. That was the easy bit. Next, to order chippings. The received wisdom was that online would be cheapest. After some research, I discovered a website that indicated how much stone you needed to cover an area of particular dimensions. I measured carefully, more than once. This was not as easy as it sounds as the area to be covered is wedge-shaped. I was reasonably good at geometry and I over estimated, which led to a figure of 362kg. I ordered 450kg, confident that that would be plenty. There’s a huge but coming; I did not order from the same website as the one that provided this figure, as I preferred a slightly different stone.

Next, the non-delivery of said chippings on the day they were due. In the end they were delayed long enough to arrive on a day when I was back from my weekend away. Unfortunately though, it was my birthday and a day out was planned. My kind neighbour signed for the large bag of chippings and all seemed well. Next some shovelling and raking, which actually didn’t take as long as I thought it would. In theory, there should have been chippings to spare but no. I can only presume that the chippings on the measuring website were a different weight to those I actually ordered. There were not enough. We raked them a little thinner, still not enough.

A trip round local builders’ merchants armed with a sample of the stones ensued. Absolutely nothing that looked vaguely similar. I could have ordered more from the original supplier but the delivery charge was punishing and supposing I still didn’t have enough? I wondered if I could put a few raised beds on the area to eke out the stone, as they would not need stones underneath. I decided to think about the best course of action. We then realised that walking on said stones coated the soles of our shoes with a chalky residue. Clearly the adults who were likely to be walking in my garden are perfectly capable of efficiently using a door mat, the three imminently arriving small people, not so much and one of those small people sleeps in the ‘not a garage’.

From the outset, I had considered putting stepping stones on the chippings, this now seemed like an essential requirement. Ideally, I wanted to match the rope-like stones in another part of the garden. I looked online for a nearby supplier. Good news, a large retailer near me sold what I wanted but only if I purchased twenty-five stepping stones at about £350, not an option. The small people were due the next day, it was already close to closing time. Cue a hasty trip to a nearby, normally expensive, garden centre, where lo and behold, I could get the nine stepping stones that I required for a much more reasonable figure and as a bonus, the postman had delivered a 25% off voucher for said garden centre, which I had not only saved but found and remembered to take with me. Nine stepping stones purchased for a seventh of the price of twenty-five. Next to lay the stepping stones. Lining them up was not without incident but moving chippings from underneath the stepping stones meant the chippings covered the whole area – result.

Then there was the birthday visit to a large and economical garden centre to splash quite a lot of cash. The haul included a wisteria, a standard azalea, that I regretted not buying last year, a lupin, a replacement alchemilla mollis, the previous one having drowned as I accidentally planted it in a pot with no drainage hole, a lemon tree, an evergreen clematis, which I hope will grow to cover the tiny gap, which is the only place where the garden is overlooked, some bedding plants and probably more that I am not going to admit to.

Spring has certainly sprung and the recent sunny weather has set many things in bloom. Bluebells are showing colour, the wall flowers are glorious and the clematis are in bloom. There is plenty of blossom on my two apple trees, the olive and the pear are looking healthy. I also have two new trees in pots. These started as bare twigs about nine inches long and were free from the Woodland Trust. To be honest, I didn’t hold out much hope of them ever becoming tree like, especially as the resident magpie was eyeing them up for their nest but they too are shooting. One is a dogwood and I’ve forgotten what the other one is going to be so watch this space.

Up the Garden Path 14

by thehistoryinterpreter

It has been about ten weeks since my last update and as I am a fair-weather gardener and the weather hasn’t exactly been fair, there’s not a lot to report. The main addition is the new water butt, which was a very extravagant Christmas present. As I have much of my garden in pots, plenty of watering is required in dry spells. Strangely, the two existing, unattractive, plastic water butts, that came with the house, collect water from the tiny summerhouse and the garage respectively. It seemed strange that nothing was gathering what fell on the, much larger, roof of the bungalow itself. This led to my new acquisition, which is a former whisky barrel and believe me you could get seriously hungover just breathing in the fumes that emanate from it. The first job was to manoeuvre it into position once it had been deposited on the door step. Fortunately its arrival coincided with some visiting muscle, so with a bit of an effort, it was moved to where it needed to be. Next, it needed to be attached to the downpipe, also not totally straightforward or without incident. A couple of heavy downpours later and it was filling up nicely. The water butt is situated between the house and garage, on some unexciting tarmac. The next stage is to put some battening by the back gate and cover the mossy tarmac with chippings to match another part of the garden.

I am still waiting for temperature, health and strength and lack of rain to all align, so that I can get outside and start tidying up after winter. Most things are now showing signs of sprouting and the garden is fulfilling it’s promise from last year, with something in flower all year round. Things do however seem to be later than they were last year. The quince is barely budding but was in full flower this time last year. The camellias have been lovely and two that were behind the now moved shed can be seen this year. The snowdrops seem to have disappeared but miniature daffodils, a solitary crocus, hyacinths and grape hyacinths are all showing colour. The standard sized daffodils have flowered but are providing a meal for something. Hellebores and pansies are flowering with some wallflowers and forget-me-nots showing colour.

I am sad that the bluetits and great-tits have deserted the garden but I am hoping they may return. Robins, sparrows and blackbirds look likely to nest and I can usually spot woodpigeons, magpies, jackdaws and herring gulls. I leave you with some signs that spring is round the corner.

Up the Garden Path 13

by thehistoryinterpreter

Although I said that there would be no more updates until spring, I thought I would just mention the recent storm, which reached over 80mph in my little corner of the country. Fortunately, the garden itself is relatively sheltered so the damage could definitely have been worse. The smallest pots of heather in the front garden blew over and in a couple of cases came out of their pots. The chrysanthemums ended up on their sides but managed to retain their earth and a few plants look a little wind blown. The main casualty was the back fence, which has a distinct list to starboard. In order to prevent it leaning further ,or giving up entirely and lying down (and who could blame it) whilst it awaits proper repair, the fence mender of my acquaintance decided an interim remedy was required- at least I hope it is interim. I kid you not, he has tied it to the pond. He probably has memories of just how heavy said pond was to manoeuvre into position.

Although I don’t really like buying plants by mail order, as I like to see what I am buying, there were three things on my must have list that I hadn’t seen all year in any of my garden centre forays. I decided that now was the time to treat myself, so somewhere in the garden is a guelder rose, a windflower and a mock orange. They don’t look much at the moment but I am hoping that they will survive.

It is obviously not a great time of year for things to be in flower but one or two things are braving the December chills, Randomly this includes a honeysuckle, which is in part of the garden that gets zero sun at this time of year. Mind you Storm Darragh kindly deposited a fine layer of sand all over my windows, so it is tricky to see what is going on in the garden, unless I venture outside.

Up the Garden Path 12

by thehistoryinterpreter

It has been a while since the last gardening update but that probably reflects the time of year and the fact that I was away for the whole of September. As I hadn’t asked anyone to water the garden while I was away, with much of the garden being in pots, I was wondering what would survive a month of neglect. Every pot was moved to the shadiest part of the garden and stood in an old paddling pool and other similar, water-filled receptacles, as my fingers remained firmly crossed. I think I must have done too good a rain dance, as Devon was deluged in September, which was good for my plants, as everything survived but less good for my local friends and neighbours. By contrast, I had lovely weather in the north.

I have now almost seen the seasons round in this garden and the winter jasmine is starting to bloom again. The robin has returned to the garden and I have had solitary glimpses of a great tit and a wren. The potato crop has been harvested. ‘Minimal’ is the word that springs to mind. The geraniums have been moved into the summerhouse for the winter and the garden chair has been dismantled and squeezed into the shed.

The three large chrysanthemums in pots, that I mentioned last time, have flowered. They were sold as being white, yellow and rust coloured. I guess one out of three isn’t bad, as I have rust, paler orange and dusky pink. They are past their best now but have been glorious. A piece broke off the rust coloured one and we shoved it in a pot. It has rooted and is now flowering! I also have yellow and white chrysanthemums in a hanging basket. Other additions include a Capsicum, a Hosta and a Michaelmas daisy, which I brought back from holiday, along with some rue. The Michaelmas daisy isn’t looking too healthy but maybe it will revive.

There’s been some more moving. One of the many sheds is an unsightly plastic affair that houses the bins. It was on view from the conservatory, so we moved it to the other side of the tarmacked area. It is now on view from the converted garage room but you win some you lose some. Fortunately, this was a great deal less effort than other shed moving escapades. In the place where it once stood is a new plant trough. This was bought especially for a climbing Josephine Bruce rose. In truth, I am not generally a great roses fan, well only the chocolate sort but I particularly wanted this as it was my father’s favourite flower and it climbed all over an arch in my childhood garden. I had been told that it was also the rose in my mother’s wedding bouquet but it seems that it wasn’t bred and introduced until three years after they married, so maybe it was just a similar rose and they thought it was the same. Said rose arrived in the post as a ‘bare root’ specimen. This basically means that it has to be planted straight away. ‘Straight away’ turned out to be the coldest day of the year, when much of Devon was under several inches of snow. Fortunately my little corner had escaped with just rain, although it was pretty jolly chilly and not ideal for any kind of gardening. Now I just have to work out how to keep it alive.

Up until a few weeks ago, my garden was 100% not overlooked. Then an over the back neighbour dug up a large buddleia, giving me just a tiny corner view of their conservatory and vice versa. Just at this time, the fisherman of my acquaintance acquired an eight foot high evergreen tree thing, species unknown, in a pot, that was surplus to someone else’s requirements. ‘We could stand it in that corner’, he says. Not really my choice of plant but I thought it might serve a purpose at least for now. I particularly wanted to keep it in the pot, partly because it may be a temporary acquisition and also to stop it growing much more. The corner in question in on the raised bed. We then had to get a very heavy, eight foot high tree up on to a two foot high raised bed. Undaunted, scaffold boards were arranged to provide a slope up to the raised bed. The plan was to lay the tree down and roll the pot along and up the boards. The trouble was that the pot was not cylindrical but was noticeably wider at the top than the bottom. This, of course, means that, when rolled, it went round in circles and not in a straight line. By dint of ‘roll a little, straighten, repeat’ the tree was elevated into position. It doesn’t completely block the gap left by the buddleia but it helps. I am a fair weather gardener so it may be spring before the next gardening update.

Up the Garden Path 10

by thehistoryinterpreter

What has been going on in the garden over the past few weeks? you ask. Well, you probably don’t but I will tell you anyway. The most noticeable difference is that we’ve cleared the bed down one side of the garden. This isn’t quite the undertaking you might think as my garden is tiny and much wider than it is deep. The whole of this side was occupied by a very dead bush. It did have the advantages of being a home for birds and the support for some pretty honeysuckle-like climber but it really did have to go. We unearthed a ridiculously leggy hydrangea that had been struggling to reach the light. The bonus is that the soil is good, or it is now we have removed a ton of dead bush roots. What remains is a camellia, that was severely pruned to make room for the shed, a random hollyhock, which seems to be in a very odd place as that bed gets virtually no sun. Mind you, said hollyhock is only about nine inches high and has no flowers. We’ve left the remnants of the honeysuckle-like thing and another climber that may revive and so far planted a Michaelmas Daisy and some white daisies that were donated following their role as a wedding decoration in a local church. The fence behind the bed has been painted to match the one on the other side.

The new water butt is on hold as I may be going to do something with the tarmac in that bit of the garden and don’t want to move a full water butt. The pond now holds water but I haven’t had the chance to acquire any plants for it yet so the water is pretty murky. Despite this, there is evidence of insect life. The vegetable harvest has been unspectacular, although it is always fun to grow them. The pea harvest was minimal, the strawberries even more so, with most of the strawberries being smaller than the peas. The bean succumbed to black fly but I still have garlic and potatoes to harvest. There is a solitary apple on the newly planted apple tree and excitingly, some mini olives on the olive tree. No one actually likes olives but that isn’t the point.

We bumped up the electricity and water bills by power washing the patio. It does look good but there is little grout (if grout is the right term) between the slabs, so plenty of weed growing opportunity. I don’t want to fill the gaps as they prevent the garden turning into a swimming pool when we get heavy rain.

I have been a bit ruthless and taken out the cape fuchsia, which was spreading all over the place. I have shoved some in a pot but that’s its lot. Some of the garden is looking a little tatty as things start to die back, I am leaving some things to go to seed deliberately. I am a bit worried by the white lilac, which looks less than healthy. I have also realised that I have put some things in in the wrong places. I have a massive rudbeckia growing in the planter, which I might attempt to move when it has finished flowering.

I have finally hung the pretty solar lights that were a Christmas present. Now all I have to do is stay up late enough to admire the effect. Mind you, with the nights drawing in (sorry to point that out) it will soon cease to be a problem. Convolvulus wars continue. How can something grow so fast? Hopefully off to buy plants for the newly cleared bed this week. I must practice practicing restraint – hmmm.

Up the Garden Path 7

by thehistoryinterpreter

It has been a while since the last garden update; we’ve been busy with other things. Nonetheless progress has been made. The fence is now a sort of sagey bluey green, the summer house has had three coats of the same paint. This took a while between showery days. I decided I’d put masking tape on the windows. Goodness knows why as previous painter of the shed liberally applied brown preservative to windows and walls alike. By the time the third coat was on, the sun had baked the masking tape to the windows, so now I have to try to scrape it all off. The bird table also has touches of blue. The raised bed is built and planted and I finally have a base for the sundial that I have had for ages.

My helicopter chair and umbrella are in situ ready for when I might possibly have time to sit in the garden. The grandchildren also, with permission, rehomed three gnomes to the local gnome reserve but I am actually getting quite fond of some of the random inherited ornaments. The war on winter jasmine has now become an ongoing and not very successful war on convolvulus. How does the wretched stuff grow six inches in one day?

Morrisons just had some patio trees on sale. Sadly by the time I returned with a larger vehicle they had fewer, so less choice but I acquired a pear, an apple and an olive, all of which, I hope, will grow in pots. I also added a couple more clematis and another companula to the basket. Some garlic, chives and a strawberry plant are other recent acquisitions. I have moved the poor wind-blown geraniums back to the relative shelter of the back garden. The beans and peas are growing and nasturtium, marigold and wild flower seeds have germinated. The hanging baskets are starting to flower, not very fast as I’ve had to put them in a position where they get zero sun, still at least they won’t dry out. I really have pretty much run out of room now, although there are still at least five ‘must have’s that at present I haven’t.

Next jobs on the list, apart from window scraping, are moving the shed (again) so we can put a solid base underneath and repairing the summerhouse roof. The felt is purchased and now ‘all’ that is needed is free days when it is also dry.

Up the Garden Path 6

by thehistoryinterpreter

We moved the shed into its new position! It was quite a performance involving crashing through undergrowth and nearly getting stuck behind the shed, as we attempted to get it as far back as possible, without knocking next door’s fence down. We had to do a bit of random shoving of bits of wood and stone under the corners to get the doors to open and close. There was plenty of ‘a bit more under this side’, ‘no a bit more under that side’, rather like cutting a fringe and trying to get things level. Getting the pipe we’d rolled the shed into position on out from underneath it was a challenge. It involved my trusty assistant manfully lifting one corner a fraction, me laying on wet gravel and risking life and fingers trying to shove the pipe sideways with a spade until it finally rolled out from under the shed. This is not the last of the shed moving saga, as it really is very wobbly and we should have constructed a better base. When we can face it, it will be emptied, moved a little and have slabs put underneath. It is also just a couple of inches too large to fit, so it does slightly cover the office window but I am going to live with that.

The shed is a must. Having just retrieved what I hope is the last lot of things from my old shed, that were being stored in a handy barn, there were a lot of diverse bits and pieces to fit in. Believe it or not, the shed contents was triaged and things were disposed of, before I moved. Nevertheless, I seem to have seven tin of brown fence paint and having just purchased two tins in sage green to repaint things, I won’t have much brown wood left, apart from the back gate. I could probably paint that every year for the rest of my life and not run out of paint.

I was asked where I would like to go to celebrate my birthday. My previous birthday was spent at a funeral, so the bar was pretty low. I opted for Trago Mills, hoping that their garden centre might provide cost effective plant, planter and potential replacement summerhouse buying options. It was Easter Sunday, so I checked online and was informed that it was open. After a forty mile drive we discovered that it wasn’t open. We were also going to walk round Stover Country Park but there was no space in the car park, so some frantic Googling of ‘garden centres near me’ ensued. The first one we tried, about six miles further on, was also shut, despite being advertised as being open. Returning to Stover to see if there was a parking space, we spotted Plants Galore, allegedly open Monday to Friday but with a discrete sign that said ‘Open Easter Sunday’. This was huge, with plants at very reasonable prices. I did go just slightly mad. Amongst the purchases was a wisteria, an apple tree, some hanging basket plants, three herbs, some lavender and tomatoes, peas and beans, because growing veg is always fun. As a bonus, we did manage to park at Stover, though the cold wind made it less pleasant that it might have been.

If you are thinking, surely she won’t have room for all those plants in her tiny garden, you would probably be right. We have investigated the lifting some of the patio option and it does seem particularly well concreted down, so I have ordered a raised bed instead. There is just enough earth beyond the patio, behind where the shed used to be, to plant the wisteria and apple tree. They are still waiting patiently because I want to paint the fence first and there hasn’t been a dry enough day to do that yet. I have also decided to go for the repairing the summerhouse option, as I prefer the shape and size of the one I have to any that are available. I am using the summerhouse as a greenhouse come potting shed. The search for fence paint and liner for the impending raised bed took me to other outlets where a clematis and some heather found their way into my trolley. So, some planting as been going on between showers but there’s still a long way to go.

Up the Garden Path 5

by thehistoryinterpreter

This is mostly the tale of two sheds but first, the other gardening news. I’ve been working on keeping the flowerbed, that has been cleared so far, in a reasonable state and I am pleased to relate that the bird table is back in situ and can be seen from my settee. The snag is that, now that it is sometimes a little warmer, I am opening the door between the living room and conservatory, which creates a different ‘view of the bird table’ obstruction. Not sure if it is best to move the bird table again or the settee. On the subject of birds, there’s been a great deal of interest in the two, very much past their best, birdboxes. I am optimistic that the great tits will be nesting in one.

I foolishly decided that it was warm enough to put the geraniums out. I don’t think I was wrong in terms of temperature. I planted them in extremely heavy concrete planters that came with the garden. Then I decided they’d prefer to be in the front garden where it is sunnier. We just about managed to move two out of three planters to the front. This was accomplished by my partner in crime lifting the ridiculously heavy planter and me running back and forth with the two concrete planter supports that each trough required, which had to be done one at a time because of their weight. This, dear friends, was not a good plan. Sunny the front garden may be but it is also exposed to easterly gales, of which we have many. Not sure about the survival rate for said geraniums and we can’t face moving the troughs back at the moment. I may be replanting any geraniums that have made it thus far.

There seems to be little professional interest in shed moving or grass reinstating and I am having second thoughts about the latter. It is very damp and shady and I fear any grass would quickly be reduced to moss or mud, so that idea is on hold. As I’ve mentioned before, removal of the wooden shed was a priority because the rain running off the roof ended up on the wall of the bungalow (for those in Australia, that’s a single story, brick-built house, not a glorified cabin). You’d think shed removal could be quite fun wouldn’t you? A few bashes with a sledge hammer and Bob’s your uncle. No such luck, my trusty assistant decided that one can never have too many sheds (note to reader – he has too many sheds) and decided that he wanted to preserve it for re-erection in his own garden. Taking it apart in a state that would potentially allow re-erection was not so simple. It seemed to have been very firmly erected, with every screw tightened with an electric screwdriver. Still, after much effort, there was a not shed where the wooden shed used to be.

At this point, in the absence of the ‘getting a man in’ option, moving the six foot by five foot six ‘tin’ (aka plastic) shed was going to wait until we had help in the form of muscles that hadn’t seen the best part of seven decades’ use (me), or eight decades in the case of the trusty assistant. We both claim that it was the other person who suggested this but somehow the sun came out this morning and it was decided (I am sure it wasn’t me) that, with the aim of some sturdy bits of tubing, we could move the ‘tin’ shed. I was particularly keen to see what was behind it and had envisaged moving it three or four feet forward so that I could investigate. Before I could draw breath, the plan changed to moving it fifty feet and turning it round through 180 degrees, so that it was almost where it needs to end up. It can’t yet be exactly where it needs to end up because it is a different shape to the now ex wooden shed and some work has to be done on a base.

Operation move the shed began. The first thirty feet were on paving slabs. Not too tricky once we’d moved random plant pots, the bird bath and various inherited garden ornaments out of the way. The shed was tipped back slightly, I risked life and fingers shoving a pipe under it, then we rolled it forward on said pipe, inserting an additional pipe when necessary. ‘This is how they built Stonehenge’, I remarked. We even managed the 180 degree swivel without too much of a problem. Then we reached the gravel. This was more complicated. As we pushed the shed forward it basically ploughed gravel up before it. It required a double tipping back whilst shoving manoeuvre. The garden now looks a total mess up one end but significantly larger at the other. The tin shed is now abandoned at the right end of the garden, waiting to go a further ten foot back and fifteen feet to the right behind the conservatory, when the base is ready. It is also on top of the hole for the rotary washing line. As I line-dry all my washing, it can’t stay there for long.

Whilst on the subject of sheds, there is also the rather battered summerhouse. I am debating whether repairing it, to give is a few years’ additional life, is worthwhile, or if I would be better going for a replacement straight away. I’ve been investigating possibilities. It seems that the same structure varies wildly in price depending where you purchase it; I some cases it can be ten times as much from one source compared to another. Some offer an installation service, which in many cases is more than the cost of the summer house. I was going to consider biting  this particular bullet but despite having had to swear never to by any more flat pack furniture ever again, it seems building a flat pack shed/summerhouse is a different matter and should be ‘simple’. Watch this space.

Up the Garden Path 4

by thehistoryinterpreter

Having acquired some plants more than a fortnight ago, rain and a bad back stopped play, so I am only just getting round to planting them. I did go to a willow weaving course to make bird feeders. This was great fun but I am not convinced by the scale of some of the feeders that resulted. Unless you have fat balls the size of footballs, or ostriches visiting the garden, I  foresee a problem. They will find a place nonetheless.

Before utilising said feeders, there was a plan to move the bird table. This was inherited and had been screwed to the wall that retains the raised bed. This is a good move, as a free standing bird table wouldn’t be standing for long when the Atlantic gales set in. Unfortunately, it was positioned so that the window frame blocked my view when sat comfortably on my settee. Not to worry, we can unscrew it and move it further along. Simples. Or not, as it turned out. Unscrewing was easily accomplished but the upright had been seriously chewed by insects. As of this moment, the bird table is lying on the ground awaiting repair and re-erection. We have put up two bird boxes that have seen better days. There isn’t much scope for birdbox positioning here  but I can hope.

I have joined the RHS and they have an app (it is probably an app) where you can add your garden plants and they you get ‘helpful’ reminders about all the million and one jobs that you should be doing each month. Gratifying that I can tick off ‘cut back winter jasmine’.

Yesterday was a glorious day so time to make more progress. The previous owners had put up a wire fence in front of the actual fence, which I think goes all the way along, we can’t get to the bit behind the ‘tin’ shed yet to check. This is all very well and great for growing climbers but it has been there for years, so some of the plants have grown round it and in a few cases the fence is firmly embedded in stems that have grown through it. This adds a whole new dimension to tackling the shrubbery. Nonetheless tackle it we did and another trailer load of winter jasmine is ready to go to the tip. Still not half way though.

Things are about to get serious as operation shed has begun. With all the rain, I discovered that the tiny wooden, gutterless shed, which is very close to the house, was causing rain to run off on to the house wall. With the amount of rain we get, this is not a good thing, so shed removal, which was always on the cards, has moved up to the top of the priority list. So far, the wooden shed has been emptied ready for removal. The next step will be to move the ‘tin’ shed to take its place but a little further from the wall. This will free up the sunniest part of the garden and I can hopefully create a flower bed. This is particularly necessary as I seem to have purchased quite a few plants that like full sun. Not sure how they will go in a garden that is really not sunny but as my mum would say, they will have two chances.

I have also, whisper it quietly, broached the topic of reinstating some lawn. This was not universally well-received and I have had to undertake the cutting of said lawn. As it will only be about 4×2 metres I can cope. In the first garden I owned, we cut a lawn that size with shears for three years. Mind you I was nearly forty five years younger then. I am still tempted by a wild flower lawn that won’t need cutting at all but not sure that that isn’t a bridge too far and dubious about its success in the shade.

We’ve started the great shrubbery clearance at the shadiest end, so some of my purchases remain in pots until we reach the end where the sun does venture occasionally. I have planted some foxgloves and cyclamen and risked a lupin and a clematis. I’ve repurposed one of the willow ‘bird feeders’ as an obelisk for the clematis. A honeysuckle and campanula that I brought with me have also been transferred from pot to ground. Next step will be to call in the professionals to turn some of the paving in to lawn.