GARDEN UPDATE (AND THE PEANUT MYSTERY)

It is muzzling a bit this morning, damp clarts the air but it looks like it will brighten up later.
The cosmos seedlings have arrived early from Sarah Raven but she says they are properly hardened off so will be planted soon.

Despite the rather dull day yesterday, the sunny shot at the top is from this morning, I have decided to post a series of photos to show how the ornamental beds around the house are getting on. So here they are - views left and right along the paving outside the kitchen and a view up the garden from there.

Then there are three images of the beds around the corner, all sprouting masses of vegetation.

Right, duty done in that respect I will have to answer the question posed at the end of the last blog regarding the disappearing peanuts.

As you can see the jay has two and possibly three peanuts in its beak, no doubt more in its crop.

I have just had a text from my son-in-law in Herefordshire - the swallows have arrived there. I always feel I cannot quite put winter behind me till they come back from Africa. Then my heart lifts up as WW said.
I am waiting.

We have had a good few days with P's parents, T and A, travelling the southwest Lake District. One can become a bit reclusive in one's garden if not careful and their company was excellent - really enjoyed it. We went to Muncaster Castle - rhododendrons and azaleas and magnolias out or coming out - and they have cleared a lot of, I suspect, R. ponticum.

I have mowed with the big mower and it chewed its way through the long lush grass with difficulty, clogging up and so on. When we plant the many white birches in the plan I am tempted to clear the grass where they are to be.

After midday rain today I intend to get the shallots in - bulbs saved from last year, and plant the Cosmos. The ground is almost ready. And I should prune back the cut-leaned elder so we can have a new explosion on of growth.

Also, now the sap is running, this is a good time to make whistles.
And a cup of tea.

SPRING IS SPRUNG

The grass is riz
I wonder . . .
where them squirrels is?

The house is full of flowers, daffs and primroses all over the place.

Vases to the right of me,
vases to the left of me . . .

Into the garden of daffs strode the old gardener. And he got onto trouble again. I was wearing clothes far to good to be mucking about and got them all dirty. I know that I should change into tatty trousers, worn shirts and wellies but I am just too lazy - what-the-hellism gets to me.

I should be organised like the chives by the blackcurrants, standing in a neat green row, well controlled and sensible. But I am not. I am more of a rambling weed, unpredictable and casual.

And two squirrels banished but another one here - seen today! Tree rats everywhere. Perhaps I could collect them and sell them to L'Enclume in Cartmel as a tasting menu delicacy - sort of mini squirrel rolls with mustard seed sauce? And some rowanberry jelly?

I once made some rowanberry jelly. It is supposed to accompany venison well - well, it was a bit bitter and I accompanied it to the lavatory many times after eating it! Not intending to make any more.
Redcurrant jelly will suffice.

The daffs are going over but we have enough despite the small grey slugs chewing the petals. Apart from the wild ones we have big yellows - on the left - and more delicate ones with an orange trumpet as here on the right.

And bunnies have been seen - a pair of fat furry choppers on the top banking. Fortunately the fritillaries still have their flowers and buds in place - but for how much longer?

It is great to see old friends emerge from the earth.
This is lovage and soon these small leaves will be eight feet above the ground.

We have guests - T and A - and it is good to see them wandering around the garden on their own. We like to share our garden and have others enjoy it. Of course we could not open it to the public as there is no way we could meet insurance requirements for safety. And anyway there is nowhere for them to park their cars.

So if friends and family want to converse with our trees, commune with the tadpoles (if there are any left as the heron was back this morning), or smugly note the weeds and mess they are most welcome.

The grass is drying out somewhat so the great mow is at hand.
One man went to mow, went to mow his jungle.
One man and his . . .

You know the rest except it never gets beyond one man.

Now, I told you that I was cross with the mice eating all the peanuts in the squirrel trap - I was wrong. It was not the mice, it was not there squirrels. Watch for the next blog and all will be revealed.

Now, thinking of all that mowing has tired me out - I must go and have a lie down.

MOW, HOLKER and CROW

Just been bathing in a cascade of chaffinch song and rook croaks.

The garden is bursting forth but though I now have my mowers the weather continues to ensure the grass is wet! So No Mo.
I lie, I LIE, I LIE!!!!
Just been out with the small mower and trimmed main lawn and mown paths here and there. (That will please Milady.) You can see the main mown area in the foreground and the pathy bits in the background.

Anyway, this does not stop us going elsewhere in search of gardens. One our joint membership of the RHS gets us into free is that at Holker Hall on the Cartmel Peninsula. Of course the scale is a little different.

Cue for pics :-

Good for a walk around, a sit in the sun on the big seat - we sometimes have to wait for others to leave - a sneaky snack or later something in the cafe. Then there is the park and the deer where open can stretch legs a bit more.


The deer pic is of a fallow stag in the park at Holker Hall. The wild deer we have in our area are Roe and Red - fortunately we have not had any in the garden (so far).

After our meeting with the gamekeeper (see last blog) I brought out the squirrel trap and baited it with (I have just looked out the window and there is a carrion crow on the ground under a feeder!) peanuts and crumbly Lancashire cheese.

The peanuts went quickly - take by mice but the mice LEFT the cheese. However one of the squirrels submitted to its greed and wallop! We have a squirrel.
This is where it gets complicated and I get a bit soppy.
I am now supposed legally to kill it. Mmm!

Being a wimp I find that a tough thingy so I break the law, whizz off a good few miles and release the little critter.
Now the car stinks of squirrel!

However, if I can minimise the numbers of tree rats in the area then the birds have a better chance. I have not forgotten the grey squirrel climbing up the house wall to a house martin nest and emptying it.

-----

Just up, this morning, I was standing at our bedroom window gazing up the garden when a large carrion crow landed on the windowsill, beak and nose two inches apart separated by glass (thankfully). It gave an enormous squawk and flapped off to one of the tall trees to recover!

I am already having my cuppa and it is raining - so I shall sit here and watch the chaffinches in the old ash fluttering wings as a precursor to mating. Now the pigeons are billing on a branch outside the window. I think I need a lie down.

OH! TO BE IN ENGLAND

Now that April's here.
The Cherry now is hung with bloom along the bough - well one of them is, almost.
And the daffs are great where they have not been nibbled - petals chewed here and there.
And I got my mowers back tonight.
And it has started raining.
And my sister and husband come for tomorrow (so no mowing).
And the grass is a-growing - I can almost hear it laughing at me.
And we were given a pot full of pleones - Chinese ground orchids. I have repotted them and we have a dozen small pots now. I am told they like well drained gritty soil (so they are in soggy potting compost) and should be left to dry out in the winter, only watering when they show signs of growth in the spring. They seem to grow from small bulb-like/corm-like thingys.

So we will give some away, nurture others, both indoors and outside, and say a big thanks to Sue who is so generous with her seedlings, cuttings and plants.

We met a gamekeeper whilst we were out on a walk yesterday and he said that last year he bagged over 40 grey squirrels - they eat so many small birds' eggs and chicks. We have a plague on our hands. R says, whereas she can appreciate a cuddly bunny (even when it eats the buds off our fritillaries) for the grey tree rats she has no loving feelings.
So I set the trap again and - nothing yet. (D***, I have just dribbled tea down my shirt.) My shirt is red and so are Madame Lefebvre tulips - first ones out.

In the bed where the path branches off down to the Wendy House R grows an expanse of euphorbia, splendid and acid green. However, this bed also contains some roses, several rosa rugosa, and various perennials. These are to go, she says, so that the whole bed can be one glorious mass of green and yellow. 

So now I am wondering where to move the other plants - I cannot just chuck them away - everything can have a place if one thinks hard enough - well not quite everything - not the ground elder, bindweed and creeping buttercup.
And that is to not mention plants we do not have, and DO NOT WANT! - Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam - that will do - I am having palpitations. I have enough with nettles and brambles and sycamore and ash tree seedlings everywhere. The little trees are easy enough to pull up if small but once they get going they are toughies.

We have sent off our response to Gary Primrose's first ideas and wait his response. Then it will be a matter of balancing budgets with plans and desires.

We live here in our little world and greater events flit past only brushing us incidentally. I am in my

study footling (am an expert footler) and R is in her Wendy House writing. In this image you can see the pond as it is - watch this space. And the mallard come every morning for a breakfast of tadpoles.

So I shall now tootle off into the other room and stare at the TV.
So from a footler and tootler, fare ye well till the next blog.

Oh! To be in England,
now that April's here.
April is a barmaid
with lots of sun-blonde hair.

Sorry Mr Browning.
(I wonder did his friends call him Gravy?)

CASTING NO CLOUTS

March is still with us so beware the Ides, weather and cast no clouts.

So, this summer the boardwalk and ponds will go and become part of something bigger, pond wise.

The grandchildren have been down there this morning with nets catching tadpoles and we have a washing up bowl outside the kitchen door with them in, and a bit of watercress. (The taddies not the grandchildren.)
The willows in the distance will come out and I have an idea for them in the dell in the top of the garden - something sculptural R will probably hate.

I have seen no newts yet though we did introduce them last year but the odd toad has returned from its amorous adventures overland to a nearby tarn.

And we have had some blue sky!














We tidied the stream where it comes down from the top garden to the lower removing dead grass, old brittle angelica and hogweed stems, fallen sticks and other mess. We have a small maple there and it has been revealed. The royal fern had dead stuff taken away - no croziers yet.

The hawthorn is in leaf and the blackthorn coming into flower so I hope we are frost free so the sloes can set. We have not made any sloe gin for a year or two so, perhaps we can do that - if we have any fruit.


It is mother's day tomorrow and C has sent R a card with old photos of her and the three children taken from our Dropbox site. Fortunately I am not on them (being the one taking the snaps) to spoil the moment.

I am in two minds what, if anything, to do about the zig-zag path up from the lawn above the veg beds to the wooded area. The easiest solution would to be do nowt but then . . . ?

One of the joys of a garden with woodland is shadow, or rather the contrast between shadow and light. It moves with the sun (and occasionally moon) and adds an extra dimension to the garden. In the winter the tree shadows are sharper than when the leaves are on and the darknesses become denser.














Even at this time of year there are surprises in the garden - I had forgotten the purple anemones on the banking below the kitchen. Wild daffodils seem to spring up in new places.

April is almost with us, the swallows and martins returning - I hope they nest this year before the tree sparrows get in first. There is something uplifting when I am in the garden and the first swallow scythes air above my head, the sky becomes full of chatter - whoops, getting emotional - perhaps the winter for all its mildness was too long.

And this summer we will return to Wales, to Pembrokeshire, for a week with family, a walk to Broadhaven along the cliffs for a paper, tide out - a stroll to Madoc's Haven at the edge of the sea, watching Peregrine's dancing in the sky, listening to the grasshoppers in the sun, watching the sun set over St David's across St Bride's Bay.

Time to put the taddies back in the pond, must go!

LAWN OR NO LAWN, LEGO AND PUTIN

So we have a small problem - lawnmower man versus nowt but paths and grass woman. Can we compromise? Can we? Mmmm! And we have the proposals from Gary re changing the garden. And I have still not got my mowers back from the service agent.

Let me get the daffs done first - they are splendid up by the wood and I love them tumbling over each other. I would have preferred them to be wild daffodils - we have some as you can see below - but

many bulbs were here before us and they just burst from the ground every year. We pick them, fill vases and the house is full of scent. So to those of you in Canada, especially London, at 43 deg north - come over here - we are at 53 deg north and, unlike you, it is not snowing. In fact it has not snowed significantly all winter.

Between the daff clumps there grow primroses - one of the most delicate and pretty flowers of spring. The narcissi are all a bit stiff and sappy but the primroses, especially when wet from rain or dew are a delight.

R has just been out blasting the back paving with the Karcher as it had become very slippery when wet. She seems to like doing it so who am I to object. Whilst she was doing this I weeded the bay bed by the shed and found it had become riddled with ground elder! There is, however, some satisfaction in digging up the long underground roots and following them to the end. Unfortunately there is probably no way I have got every bit. Weed killer might be called for - it is not somewhere mowable.
At this time of year the list of things to do grows faster than they can be done - well faster then I do them. The cutting garden has been tidied. Here you can see old tulips in the front and then a line of Sweet William (Stunkin' Wullie if you are Scots) which, of course, is grown as a biennial.

At the far end are the alstromerias and in between room for calendulas and other annuals. Actually there is a clump of last year's marigolds in the bed. I cannot throw them away without seeing how well they will do in their second year.
Our garden designer told me off (gently) for not using matting and mulch around all my trees and shrubs so they would grow faster without competition at the roots. Correcting this has been added to the list, slap wrist, naughty lazy boy.

Back to R and the lawn thingy - she hates lawns and wants long, wild bits with paths through. This is ok but it means that later in the year will come a need for strimming. Now my regular readers will know that I love strimming (Hem, hem) so she said we can get someone in to do it. Should I shout, Whoopee? (Love the Ray Charles version of Making Whoopee by the way).

So a big garden year approaches, my back twinges, my knees knock (and grate), you should see me - 'What a figure, what a bank balance,' what a load of rubbish. (Quote is from Major Bloodnok.)

The Invasion of the (not body) Time Snatchers comes this weekend. We are both looking forward to it and the joy they bring - the grandchildren. These events are also known as the Lego explosion when the big box in their spare bedroom is emptied onto the floor. Then from a seemingly meaningless jumble of bits of plastic comes a vehicle with a motor and flashing lights.

And final here are some pulmonaria in flower.

When I worked, in the 1980s, I had Sir Austin Bradford Hill as a patient. He was the statistician and epidemiologist who, with Richard Doll, were the first to demonstrate the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. (So pulmonaria - lungs etc.)(Get on with it.) Well I visited him fairly regularly and he was a great talker but I never put two and two together (well I did and made zero) so finally he asked, "Do you know who I am?" I mumbled something negative. He then told me in no uncertain terms who he was. However he remained my patient whilst he was in the area despite this.
One just does not expect famous people to pop up in places like here.

Just a minute, there is someone at the door . . .

It is all right. It is only Mr Putin asking my advice on how he can become buddies again with Mr Obama.
(I did tell him - get everyone at the next summit to learn the Hokey Cokey but he had forgotten.)

(Any way mentioning him ups my readership numbers in Russia a lot.)

EQUINOXES ARE IT AND STUFF, AND STUFFING

There is something so uplifting about being past the spring equinox even if I was woken at 5 a.m. with loud borborygmi! At least they were mine - perhaps from eating rhubarb out of the freezer? For those who have not heard the word - Wikip will enlighten.

Looking at this pic of the path in front of the house I can see why I think curves are more attractive than straight lines (not that sort of curve).

I am not a fan of regimented rows of parks flowers and parks mass planting. must be the nature boy in me (song by Nat King Cole?)(irrelevant)

We have flowerings - the camellia is coming on strong as is the male pheasant guarding his two ladies - they have just been feeding outside the window, with him on guard.

The day is sunny, hang on, no it is not - it is raining, no hang on it is both. Cannot see a rainbow though. And it has been windy but then it is March - and we shall have snow - I hope not.

I know - another pic of a goldfinch but they are stunning - and - despite the disease wiping many out we have greenfinches at last.

It is wonderful to have scented flowers in the house - hyacinths and daffodils Also we have a skimmia in a tub outside the door we use (on the side, not the front etc etc). It is lowering well and filling the air with aroma.

Yesterday we cleared the dead grass and stuff from the stream cascade - it is already struggling - water level a bit low - despite the weather. It must have been drier than I thought. We burned off some of the dead grass and a few sticks were added to the bonfire.

At lease two of the damsons are showing promise of blossom and the pear is almost out.

The rhubarb is still too short to pull (and I forgot to put the forcing pot over some of it) so no fresh stuff yet.

I think the mower service people have sold them as no sign of a return.

I pruned back our weeping willow - except it is not - and has orange stems and is to be low pollarded to give new growth in the summer and winter stem colour. The prunings have been shoved in by the far fence where there is already some osier.

Now, I know I talk a lot about stuff so here is some really artistic stuffing - Textile Sculture by Paola McClure. We went to the Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries and she had on this wonderful exhibition.

Clearly this is of me after gardening and before a shower.

A MOVING MOMENT

I have just transplanted the greengage I and A gave us from the main lawn to beside the zigzag path. The reason is to make way for moving all the beech hedging up from the bottom garden to act as a screen for the veg and fruit beds and as a continuation of tun existing hedge.

Once in the tree was staked and mulched. Then a layer of water permeable sheeting was placed around the tree and a further layer of mulch added. Hopefully this will keep down weeds and reduce  competition for the young tree. Ideally I would have moved it when dormant in the late autumn but wanted to get on with it before it sprang into leaf.

 The top of the garden is now getting going with a wide expanse of daffodils and the primrose area. these are the wild native primrose not the cultivated primulas. Dividing and replanting the clumps is paying off.

I have yet to tidy where the stream leaves the top of the garden, to cut back the grasses and mulch the royal fern and small maple. We do not have many ferns in the garden and most of these are in the bottom hedge bank in the shade. R is not a great fan of them.

At the diagonally opposite corner of the garden we have a seating area by the Wendy house - this is a late afternoon sun trap. The stripy mug of tea is mine.


The stream from the current pond (watch this space) divides into two and this small channel will later be bounded by alchemilla mollis on the left and candelabra primulas and blue irises on the right. I have still to finish tidy ing this bed and removing the pendulous sedge seedlings.

On the other side of the shed from the seat is a shady bed mostly full of Fatsia but there are some crocuses there.
This is a stupid place to have put them as they are in the shade and need sunshine to open properly.

Mr Pheasant is outside my window and we have spotted two, yes two, potential partners for him. Then the strutting will begin - Oh! He is so full of himself (and a bit desperate after a long winter?)

The garden is greening, my cousin in Canada has green hair (for St Pat's Day)(which is odd as his name is Scottie)(and he lives in London)(Ontario).
So the hands of the clock are circulating towards evening and there are new leaves on the cercidiphyllum, we have three, so cercidiphylli? The Camellia is in flower - and planted out of the morning sun so the petals do not brown.
My golf is dreadful, my pot belly is worse and my, my, what a load of rubbish I produce. The cup of tea at my right hand is, nevertheless, welcome.