GARDENING GETS GOING

R has been transplanting the snowdrops whilst I clear more from the rosebed and put the plants in one of the veg beds. The raspberries have been retied where they have come loose but they are ageing and will need replacing. I have pruned some low new growth off the gooseberries so they are 'on a leg'.

The primroses and wild daffs are a treat and other daffodils are coming on well. The little burst of finer warmer weather has brought the rhubarb forward. (see below)

I have stripped the ivy that was trying to climb the big sycamore but, no doubt, it will be back.
I considered treating the lawns for moss but then there would be nothing but bare earth so have left it alone.

The stipa gigantea has been cut back and the stems are like bamboo canes - now I have to think what to do with them.

So the signs of spring are here - lamb gangs mucking about in the lane having crawled under the gate, golden saxifrage by the stream and contrails in the sky.

I think I prefer the black and white version.

And Mr Pheas. is strutting his stuff - there are at least four hen pheasants in the garden, a veritable harem.

Water is an important part of the garden (which makes it so boggy) whether tumbling though tree roots, disappearing into the bed of the stream and emerging either in the ditch or as a new spring in the lawn, or at the pond.

I have taken the step of giving my strimmer away to my son-in-law who needs it more which means I shall have to rely on the more old fashioned scythe - much quieter.
The rose bed is almost empty and waiting to be moved further down the garden. One pleasing thing is the depth of soil, both here and in the veg beds - a good spade and a half to two spades - so loads of preparation and top dressing has been successful.

And then there is the promise of things to come like the unfurling rhubarb leaves, so long delayed by the cold weather.

Finally I have succumbed to badgering from R and the other R to do a bit of painting - something I find hard work and do every ten years or so - so here it is - last spring under the cherries.