tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228613792011-12-14T19:04:08.518-08:00Gardening at the sharp end. An account of the agony and the ecstasy of a keen gardener as she gets to grips with a much larger plot than the one she was used to. Hopefully others can learn a lot from her discoveries and mistakes.The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.comBlogger1181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1165775052976719882006-12-10T10:16:00.000-08:002006-12-10T10:24:12.990-08:00

Early Winter GardenWell, it hasn't really been very wintry so far, it's more like a late autumn. And here we are it's almost Christmas. Even here in dry North Norfolk we have quite wet weather, and windy too. This morning there was a crisp white frost which came as a bit of a shock. We haven't put the heater in the greenhouse yet so I hope all the stuff in there is OK. I didn't get the

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1161943243801374022006-10-27T02:53:00.000-07:002006-10-27T03:00:43.820-07:00

The Joys of AutumnI often think that those who wax lyrical about the joys of kicking through pretty crispy red leaves in autumn are never the people who have to clean them up! It is such a pain, although we have a rather brilliant sort of massive hoover for getting leaves up from the lawn.Considering we live in one of the country's driest counties it's amazing how much rain we have had lately.

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1160519531330790102006-10-10T15:26:00.000-07:002006-10-10T15:32:11.353-07:00

Grass and Mole Rampant!Well, there's a mole, well I presume it is just the one, rampaging all over the back (and the front) lawns at the moment. It is really annoying as you get hills that look so big you'd think a labrador had dug them.He/she has been getting away with it as we have been tired out by a serious crisis with our old dog, who has been in and out of vets like crazy for a fortnight.

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1158790184418761812006-09-20T15:04:00.000-07:002006-09-20T15:09:44.433-07:00

Fence PaintingWe've had a chappie round the last couple of days painting some of our fences at the entrance to the property. He takes his time but he's done a lovely job. It's done in Red Cedar which I always think looks a bit darn red, but we had it at our old place and now this one, so I think we must like it. It is a bit scary at first, but it will look lovely and warm and welcoming as we

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1158601088520670632006-09-18T10:33:00.000-07:002006-09-18T10:38:08.533-07:00

Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs!I've just had hundreds of bulbs delivered which I should be merrily putting in the ground over the next few weeks. The bad news is that I am so busy at work at the moment that I'm not sure how on earth I can find the time, and I have spent quite a bit of money on them.What's more I'm not even sure we will be here on this plot next spring. Mind you if we end up selling up

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1156345371793277292006-08-23T07:55:00.000-07:002006-08-23T08:02:51.810-07:00

Hedge TrimmingWow, I think the whole world is hedge trimming at the moment. Now (late summer, early autumn) is the time to cut back your conifers and beech hedges and all that, which in my garden is most of the hedging. I cut the privet last week, it should have had more cuts over the summer, but it has had to get away with just the one. I didn't want to disturb it in early summer because of

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1155940754038423652006-08-18T15:25:00.000-07:002006-08-18T15:39:14.086-07:00

Power DeadheadingI've been very busy at work lately hence my gardening blog has been somewhat neglected, for which I am sorry. For the same reason my actual garden is a little neglected too, and so is my physical fitness now I am doing much computer and sedentary work and not getting out there as I was, digging and doing hard work.Today I decided to spend about twenty minutes marching round the

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1154940556674538252006-08-07T01:38:00.000-07:002006-08-07T01:49:34.133-07:00

A Visit from the GardenerYesterday we had a surprise visit from the gardener who helped us to dig out the new beds in early spring. He was amazed at how well they are looking now, especially my exotic, hot border, with all the dahlias, cannas, ginger, banana etc. He said he hoped that it wouldn't all go over too early, and of course there are plants which probably will, especially the bedding

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1154770413128442802006-08-05T02:11:00.000-07:002006-08-05T02:33:33.146-07:00

Outdoor Tomatoes and Blossom End RotIt is so hard, especially with the heatwave we were having until last week, to cope with watering the tomatoes properly. We have quite a number of containerized plants which also need watering, Brugmansias, which seem to wilt at every opportunity, and bananas. But the tomatoes, both inside and out, are very demanding indeed. We have been dismayed to find

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1153728365533577272006-07-24T00:51:00.000-07:002006-07-24T01:08:21.846-07:00

Priory Maze, Beeston Regis, NorfolkYesterday we decided on a nice afternoon out to cheer ourselves up, and we ended up at Priory Maze gardens at Beeston Regis. It was a lovely sunny day and we had a gorgeous lunch in the Foxglove Tearooms there - lobster salad no less. I adore the food there and the service is friendly, we will try to support them throughout the winter too. The gardens are

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1153479494603124742006-07-21T03:47:00.000-07:002006-07-21T03:58:14.616-07:00

Killing MolesWe have a quite serious mole problem here. We have tried the sonic solar molers, and I am no longer convinced that they are doing anything. Mind you, you never know if they would have been an awful lot worse if we had not put them in! We snapped yesterday and went and bought four mole traps. We have temporarily put them in the leafmould pile to make them smell more earthy. Today

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1153044604119898352006-07-16T03:04:00.000-07:002006-07-16T03:10:04.133-07:00

Saving HedgehogsYesterday we went to the hedgehog rescue open day, where they were selling lots of things to raise money for the hedgehogs.We were thrilled to see our little rescued babies, Melissa and Monty, doing well. I am amazed that little Monty is OK, he was so unbelievably tiny when we took him in. He just presented himself to us as if to say "please save me, I can't do it on my own".

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1152870476815050282006-07-14T02:38:00.000-07:002006-07-14T02:47:56.843-07:00

Baby Hedgehogs in the GardenWe have been on a mercy mission in the last couple of days, rescuing baby hedgehogs from our garden. Did you know that if you see a hedgehog out in the daytime then something is wrong with it? Fortunately we did, and swept the two little ones we found off to the local hedgehog rescue centre pronto.The first one, who was a little girl that we named "Melissa" must have

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1152743572021910302006-07-12T15:29:00.000-07:002006-07-13T02:26:31.656-07:00

Pruning my WeigelaWell, I had a go at it, but it is so difficult to find out where exactly to make the cut. The accepted wisdom has it that you cut off the shoots that have flowered, and they are easy to see, but where they stop and a new shoot may form is the hard part to find, especially when you are drowning in foliage and the insects are loving the idea of a new meal turning up on their patch

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1152483832899695372006-07-09T15:18:00.000-07:002006-07-09T15:23:52.916-07:00

Speed GardeningWell, today I managed to do two episodes of speed gardening. One was first thing this morning when I rushed around like a maniac making sure stakes and supports were secure, and adding new ones, especially to the Malva (Magic Hollyhocks), because I woke up to a pretty awful wind in the garden. The lesson is that every potentially tall plant should be staked as soon as it is

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1152276606208006052006-07-07T05:44:00.000-07:002006-07-07T05:50:06.220-07:00

I have just found a colony of earwigs inside the Catwatch electronic cat scarer. Well, actually I found a load of them in there last time I brought it indoors to change the battery,which is a bit annoying because they jumped out and clustered behind my conservatory cupboard.And there are just a couple of holes forming in one of my Dahlia Bishop of Landaff. Therefore I have decided to put some

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1151881711308667362006-07-02T16:03:00.000-07:002006-07-02T16:08:31.326-07:00

It's hot in the gardenAnd it's hot in the house and everywhere else. The only respite is outside in the evening being bombarded by what we call 747's (please tell me they're not Maybugs as it is now July!) and watching the bats emerge from our roof.Once you go back indoors you wish you hadn't bothered because it is so hot and stuffy. This morning I almost fainted with it, but it doesn't help

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1151618430254775352006-06-29T14:57:00.000-07:002006-06-29T15:00:30.270-07:00

Gardener's back - or is it?Hmmm... I am unhappy to say that I have done my back in! After all the hard slog lifting and humping sacks of compost and all that and planting big shrubs and allsorts, this spring, I do my back in now... now there's not much left to do but water, deadhead and weed. Well I can still do the watering but the deadheading and weeding is harder because you have to bend to

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1151324138607342292006-06-26T04:03:00.000-07:002006-06-26T05:15:38.626-07:00

Seen an RHS Members GardenWe went to a barbecue the other night at the home of a couple of friends who live with an aged Aunt. She is a keen gardener and member of the RHS, so I was keen to have a look around the garden with her. She was very sweet in her own way, offering cuttings to anyone who wanted them. There were some plants there which I couldn't identify and she helped me out; some of

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150964469591346562006-06-22T01:16:00.000-07:002006-06-22T01:21:09.606-07:00

The Bamboo is Revolting!I noticed whilst weeding the exotic bed that the bamboo which is at the back of that bed (and established before we arrived on this plot) is straining on the leash of the root barrier we had placed in there last autumn. Basically it hasn't worked and the bamboo is still popping up all over the bed!The lesson is that root barrier should be placed around bamboo at the same

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150840531639016222006-06-20T14:50:00.000-07:002006-06-20T14:55:31.653-07:00

A Windy Day in the GardenNot much gardening was done today - life got in the way, but I did have to go around tieing in a few more plants as the wind really got up later on. It's raining now at almost 11 pm, which is great. If only it rained every night we wouldn't have to water, and the days would be nice, if humid. Mind you that might encourage the slugs more than one would like.I have just

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150758565038232992006-06-19T16:06:00.000-07:002006-06-19T16:09:25.050-07:00

Weeding, deadheading and tieing inThat's what I was doing today. It was quite windy so I decided I had better go around with a lot more canes and tie up the larger Foxgloves, Delphiniums etc. Also I have sort of lashed the shrubby Lavatera to the fence as it is inclined to flop forward all over everything else.I was also deadheading pansies like mad, weeding like crazy (by hand) and cutting back

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150645051659506492006-06-18T08:31:00.000-07:002006-06-18T08:37:31.673-07:00

Apple Tree DiagnosisWell, apparently it's got just about everything - fungus, scab, you name it! The problem is that there are two schools of thought on gardening - the organic, leave it all to do what it likes and the spray everything whether it needs it or not bunch! I try not to spray things unless they really need it, and watch them until they tell me they need it.We took the specimens of

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150497303039342242006-06-16T15:30:00.000-07:002006-06-16T15:35:03.040-07:00

Dead oriental poppyYes, I believe it is called "allegro". We only bought and planted it about a month ago, or less. It produced one spectacular flower and then it has died back. Now I know oriental poppies have a habit of looking pretty awful, foliage-wise, after (or even during) flowering, but this one just turned totally yellow and drooped ground-wards with undue haste. I pulled it and it

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150497018882180962006-06-16T15:25:00.000-07:002006-06-16T15:30:18.896-07:00

Problem with the apple treeWe seem to have something very wrong with the apple tree. It is getting sort of foxy colored tan-brown splotches on the leaves, but then the leaves are totally dying off and drooping as if they are totally dead. I wonder if it is fireblight? Would that account for the paucity of tulips in this garden? The previous owners seemed awfully keen on bulbs but there are very

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150324458388225162006-06-14T15:31:00.000-07:002006-06-14T15:34:18.400-07:00

Planted some more plants, Tagetes, (grown from seed), also Nicotiana, Calendula and Verbena Bonariensis. I now have a glut of plants which are looking at me reprovingly and saying "why are we not in the ground by now?" Most of them were sown as spares but now they are looking so nice and raring to go out of their pots and trays, it seems sad to just throw them on the compost heap.

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150292610150591452006-06-14T06:40:00.000-07:002006-06-14T06:43:30.163-07:00

So I have been going over the rockery and pulling out weeds, deadheading the pansies and bellis and primroses. I intend to cut back the aubrieta as well but I want to wait until I am ready in the potting shed to make cuttings for next year.It's amazing how many self-seeders we have in there, primroses, aqueligia, etc - and some of them have to be weeded out. One or two are like "hooray, free

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1150272534131018212006-06-14T00:56:00.000-07:002006-06-14T01:08:54.143-07:00

More Chafers and MaybugsSo the lawn doctor guy came and looked at the lawn. The good news is that he said that so far there is no evidence of pest (chafer grub) damage in our lawn. There is "red thread" fungus though, which is something that apparently happens as a consequence of the damp mid-spring we have had, followed by hot weather.We have found a few more dead Maybugs in the greenhouse,

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1149544805781695622006-06-05T14:51:00.000-07:002006-06-05T15:00:05.793-07:00

So we went to a garden and food show at Pensthorpe Wildlife park this weekend. We spoke to a lawncare expert who was most dismayed that I found a number of chafer grubs when I was digging up the turf. Also we have had quite a few Maybugs, mainly clicking against the windows at night and two flew in to the conservatory last night as we had the door open (it was warm and stuffy). We have found

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1148941464441213002006-05-29T15:19:00.000-07:002006-05-29T15:24:24.456-07:00

The weather is still rubbish, chilly and windy and rainy sometimes. I'm afraid it may well set back many of the plants I have planted out. No further evidence of the rabbits or cats.Ray witnessed a big rumble in the jungle this morning between two magpies, two blackbirds, starlings and a plucky sparrow.I planted some annual climbers but if they get too blasted by the wind I still have plenty

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1148595511665501592006-05-25T15:13:00.000-07:002006-05-25T15:18:31.676-07:00

Lovely day in the garden, lovely perfect sunny weather at last. Ray got the lawn done and used his new strimmer, which although tiring was mucho better than his last one. Good thing this one starts, too!I did a bit of planting, an Oriental Poppy, a Nandina Domestica, a Water Lily and a marginal American Iris. The Water Lily was a bit of a performance, I repotted it first into the biggest pot I

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1148423571383452052006-05-23T15:24:00.000-07:002006-05-23T15:32:51.400-07:00

Today we went to see my friend who is recovering from an operation. She has a lovely low-maintenance cottage-style garden which is mainly shrubs and a few perennials, quite a bit of lawn, but looks absolutely charming, even the rougher bits.And on the lawn there was Sam the donkey. Yes, the donkey. He is an absolutely lovely old boy who is mourning the passing of his friend, my friend's pony

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1148238058897252172006-05-21T11:53:00.000-07:002006-05-21T12:00:58.910-07:00

So yes, hmmm, that little bunny has been seen a number of times going under the gate into the back garden from the front. Touch wood I haven't seen anything nibbled yet.The other problem is cats, we find them stalking the birds by the bird feeders and jumping over the back fence and leaving their dirt in my bark mulched border.We went out and bought a number of deterrents. We got another

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147905170012501742006-05-17T15:29:00.000-07:002006-05-17T15:32:50.023-07:00

So today I was planting out new plants like mad, mainly Verbena Bonariensis and Nicotiana Sylvestris, and some other bedding stuff too. It was hard and hubby and I had a big spat when he saw the mess the garage is in. Well that's because when I have finished gardening and I am totally exhausted I tend to dump everything in the garage, and another big dump run is due. Anyway the air was cleared

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147818654830380032006-05-16T15:26:00.000-07:002006-05-16T15:30:54.856-07:00

So, as Titchmarsh-san my sensei says that we can generally start planting out from mid-May in this part of the country, I started today. I planted some white Cosmos and some Calendula (my oh my don't they look disgusting with their floppy stems and leaves?) and also the Malva, Magic Hollyhock. I hope they are magic and don't get rust, and that the deep purple color doesn't turn out to be too

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147557828054657222006-05-13T14:57:00.000-07:002006-05-13T15:03:48.066-07:00

It was a bit disappointing really, but having said that there were some lovely plants to be had and I'm sure some of them were bargains. Unfortunately we didn't take advantage of most of them because the weather was so hot, we were experiencing a bit of an early heatwave. Our feet were tired and our hearts weren't in it. I do think it is ridiculous that you have to carry all your purchases a

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147421483814879362006-05-12T01:08:00.000-07:002006-05-12T01:11:23.826-07:00

I'm quite excited today because it seems I am getting time off for good behaviour and we are off to the Norfolk Garden Show in Norwich at the Showground. The weather is set to be very hot (which is not necessarily a great advantage in my opinion, as I don't get on that well with walking around in the heat). But it should be really nice and fun to see a lot of new things. I hope I don't come

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147244711722757402006-05-09T23:55:00.000-07:002006-05-10T00:05:11.736-07:00

So as I was saying we have some half whiskey barrels that will need planting up. Currently they are in the front garden making a mark on the lawn. It works well but they get long grass around them which needs strimming. Grass strimming is a sore point here as the Mccullough one we bought last year has proved to be awful, it takes ages for my husband to get the darn thing started and then it

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147198672713738002006-05-09T11:15:00.000-07:002006-05-09T11:17:52.726-07:00

Yes I finally got most of the planting done. There are still some bits and pieces and then I have to start planting all the things in the greenhouse, like the Dahlias and Nicotianas and Verbena Bonariensis, etc. I spread a bit of compost and manure from a to b. We have some big whiskey barrels in the front garden which need planting.

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147072196522169342006-05-08T00:07:00.000-07:002006-05-08T00:09:56.536-07:00

One of the more unexciting tasks in the garden and generally one which is allocated to the man of the house. Ours is full of daisies and is way too long. Ray managed to do the first cut and that must have been about ten days ago. The weather or other commitments have been against us ever since. Here in North Norfolk it seems that we rarely get days of constant rain but many days when there is

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1147043250699454232006-05-07T16:02:00.000-07:002006-05-07T16:07:30.710-07:00

I decided it was time to get our Canna Tropica and our Ginger Lily into the ground. They have been overwintering in large containers heavily mulched and strawed and fleeced, and they are just beginning to show new shoots. We had a terrible job getting them out of the pots, they were so heavy and I didn't want to tip them on their new shoots, and my husband used a sack truck to ferry them across

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146641391838934022006-05-03T00:28:00.000-07:002006-05-03T00:29:51.850-07:00

The met office predicts we are about to have two dry days, days in which I could tackle the weeds and finish the painting on the pond and garage (boy do I hate that painting job!). The bad news is that we have to go out for at least part of today, because we have to get some things for the dog. So I'd better get out there and get on with it. I'll check the cold frame first and see if the slugs

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146609586833488042006-05-02T15:35:00.000-07:002006-05-02T15:39:46.846-07:00

Thank God my neck felt better today, it was agony yesterday, I was so worried. Today I still didn't feel at full strength and the idea of lifting anything heavy made me feel tearful, so I am thrilled to say that my lovely husband helped me to plant out the scented shrub bed. My only hope is that the philadelphus coronarius aurea (the lovely lime-green leaved one) gets enough shade and doesn't

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146529369895324192006-05-01T17:19:00.000-07:002006-05-01T17:22:49.906-07:00

Well that was one of the few jobs I did today, as I was in big trouble with this bad neck. I did a bit of potting on of Brugmansia which were filling their three inch pots with roots, and then I also potted on some Malva which had turned into perfect little plug plants.Really there wasn't anything much else I could do. I tidied up my conservatory table which was buried in potting stuff and such

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146478850351570632006-05-01T03:12:00.000-07:002006-05-01T03:20:50.366-07:00

So yesterday, bank holiday Sunday, so to speak, we decided to take a hard earned rest! We actually left the garden to its own devices (apart from a bit of hardening off - oh what fun it is to carry those heavy pots of bananas and passion flower out to the patio and back again!) and we went out.We bought some black hosepipe and soaker hose from the local garden centre, and then went to Priory

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146346888569746102006-04-29T14:38:00.000-07:002006-04-29T14:41:28.580-07:00

So as I said I was most entertained by the friendly Robin the other day when I was turning over the ground and digging off the turf. I now curse myself that I was merrily killing all the chafer grubs which were coming out of the soil, because today I threw them live on to the path, and the lovely Robin came and took them all for his babies. He came to and fro constantly, it became quite

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146264707510217872006-04-28T15:49:00.000-07:002006-04-28T15:51:47.523-07:00

So today we went shopping in the morning and bought some wood to make battens to fix up the trellis on the newly-painted garage, and also more paint to finish off the garage and pond, and the fence.This afternoon came the much anticipated delivery of 60 or so bags in total of manure, compost and bark. Hopefully that will be the lot, at least for the forseeable future. Now (once it has been

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146173573244324252006-04-27T14:26:00.000-07:002006-04-27T14:32:53.270-07:00

Today I did more of the painting of the garage and I am very pleased to say I also painted the pond in Dulux Weathershield. The pond was a straight-sided concrete monstrosity which a friend of mine described as looking like a sewerage outlet, and now it is still a straight-sided concrete structure but with nice cream-colored walls and top instead of grey concrete. It reminds me of the old

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146165435276388262006-04-27T12:14:00.000-07:002006-04-27T12:17:15.293-07:00

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago:I am worried about our Silver Birch tree which is on the right of the garden fairly close to the house, very pretty from the conservatory. Well it was pretty. We had it tree surgeoned in early winter, just raising the canopy and a good tidy up. The problem is that it has been topped in the past, and apparently it is unwise to chop the top off a silver birch,

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1146160879067241942006-04-27T10:57:00.000-07:002006-04-27T11:01:19.080-07:00

My poor husband had a terrible struggle today with the McCullough grass strimmer that we bought at the end of the last season. He has awful trouble getting the darn thing to start, it doesn't seem to strim very well, then it stops, and it is a dreadful job getting it started again. It's a shame because he has finally given the lawn it's much needed first cut (thank the lord) but the strimming

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145991610354852422006-04-25T11:56:00.000-07:002006-04-25T12:00:10.366-07:00

Today when I was in the garden it was amazing (or perhaps obvious!) that as soon as I turned my back on the turned ground, the birds, especially blackbirds and robins, were there. I came back to my work, to find the classic scene of a friendly robin sitting on the handles of my wheelbarrow. Aaaah, how sweet is that?They are obviously attracted by all the worms and things which are unearthed by

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145981008168003222006-04-25T09:00:00.000-07:002006-04-25T09:03:28.183-07:00

Today I stripped a load more turf off what is to be the scented bed by the gazebo. It's a bit scary the number of chafer grubs I am finding in the turf. It was hard work but I took it steady.Meanwhile hubby was erecting trellis. I think we will end up the trellis centre of the universe. He was also painting the wood on the garage and also the wood that is to support the trellis which is going

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145918140045254972006-04-24T15:28:00.000-07:002006-04-24T15:35:40.056-07:00

Yes, today I tackled most of the weeds. I did our garden, and also went next door to the empty plot and sprayed the Ground Elder. It was sad round there. I tried to think of it as a wild garden which has been taken over by nature and good for wildlife and all that, but it is becoming so wild and tangled and untamed that you have to hack your way through the brambles. When the old couple who

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145867771605708512006-04-24T01:28:00.001-07:002006-04-24T10:51:01.156-07:00

I hope that will be the case. They say it is to be a grey and murky morning followed by a reasonably sunny afternoon. I need a run of about 12 hours without rain to use the Glyphosate on the Ground Elder.I realise it will not go with just one application and I intend to go back and do some more in a couple of weeks. It's a tragedy really. The couple who used to live next door were avid gardeners

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145817415455895442006-04-23T11:30:00.000-07:002006-04-23T11:36:55.466-07:00

Well today we started digging up turf to make our scented bed, by the newly-built gazebo. Lovely words those, newly-built, alongside gazebo, after watching it sitting there clogging up the garage looking like firewood for so long.We both find digging quite hard, and distributing the turf is quite difficult. Mind you we realised there are some quite sort of gash spaces in the front garden, so I

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145606346126900292006-04-21T00:54:00.000-07:002006-04-21T00:59:06.146-07:00

Well, I did a bit of weeding and a bit of planting yesterday. I planted some pretty crocosmia, the orange one. We have quite a lot of Crocosmia Lucifer in the garden and I have a bit of a problem with it - it is such a spectacular red, which is great, but I think you have to be so careful with reds that they don't clash hideously with pinks. It will be ok in the exotic bed, I hope, because

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145570010103488642006-04-20T14:50:00.000-07:002006-04-20T14:53:30.106-07:00

Oh joy, my latest challenge is Ground Elder which is creeping under the hedge adjoining the property. The next door house is neglected and a total mess, as the owners died, and it is up for sale and has been for some time. I phoned the estate agent to say somebody should be doing something about the garden, but she says it is now sale agreed so there should be a new owner in about six weeks

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145569796327943292006-04-20T14:42:00.000-07:002006-04-20T14:49:56.336-07:00

Today's drama was all about the capillary matting in the greenhouse. It just doesn't seem to be behaving as it should. My husband set up troughs of water to feed the matting but it did not progress along the matting, suggesting that the expected capillary action was not taking place. He then discovered that the trough must be within 3 inches in level from the rest of the matting and ours was

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145396222886963782006-04-18T14:30:00.000-07:002006-04-18T14:37:02.906-07:00

At long last, well, apart from the plumbing to the water butts, and the setting up of the old staging and the capillary matting and - importantly - the plants, we can now start from tomorrow using the greenhouse for our seedlings and plants!Of course they say it is to rain tomorrow as it has this afternoon, quite heavily - well, it's good for the rest of the garden. It won't be much fun

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145225848477514652006-04-16T15:10:00.000-07:002006-04-16T15:17:28.490-07:00

Oh yes, we are feeling very proud of ourselves indeed, we finally have a fully glazed beautifully green-painted greenhouse (well, what color would you paint it?). We toiled away today - it's amazing how long this job can take. It took me a while to get the sliding doors glazed, and my husband had the devil's own job doing the automatic louvres, which weren't riveted properly apparently, and had

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1145140460715778552006-04-15T15:22:00.000-07:002006-04-15T15:34:20.726-07:00

Hooray! The greenhouse is now painted green! Yesterday we finally had a nice long fine day so we could do the paint job on the greenhouse. I must say the color turned out to be a bit of a surprise. It said Highland Green on the tin, and the picture showed a very dull green, which is what we wanted, as we wanted it to blend in as inoccuously as possible. However it is the very sort of minty

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144951622901559542006-04-13T11:03:00.000-07:002006-04-13T11:07:02.913-07:00

So today there were those three banks of Vinca, surely nobody could forget my famous banks of Vinca, which I decided need some attention. I can't really use weedkiller inbetween my Vinca (I don't like to anyway, and if I do I will have to wait until I have a much more fine, still and dry day. Today it didn't rain (yet) but it has been really windy. I ended up pulling up rosette-forming weeds

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144880275325228582006-04-12T15:13:00.000-07:002006-04-12T15:17:55.336-07:00

So today I got to do a good old potter around in the garden. Still not as much as I would like, but still, the weather was fair and I did OK. I pruned a white hydrangea, hopefully did it right according to guru Titchmarsh, and I thinned out our black bamboo so you can see the culms better and even a bit of light through them. I tried to apply poultry manure pellets selectively to some of the

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144601453604517472006-04-09T09:43:00.000-07:002006-04-09T09:50:53.626-07:00

Well yes, it's been raining quite heavily today, and without that nasty wind, so it will be good for the garden really, saves me having to go around watering all my new plantings, especially the infamous Vinca on the banks, which is now starting its battle with the grass. It looks about evens for now, actually. We're thinking of inserting some poultry manure pellets around the individual Vinca

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144565654763675682006-04-08T23:44:00.000-07:002006-04-08T23:54:14.776-07:00

Well, that about sums up the last 18 hours or so. Yesterday I enlisted the husband who worked until his back told him not to, and frankly so did I. We planted several shrubs of various current sizes, including a Trachycarpus Fortuneii, a Choisya Ternata "Sundance", a Kerria Japonica, a Buddleja Globosa, and a variegated Eleagnus which was quite big and had been living in a whisky barrel and

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144397090250034932006-04-07T01:02:00.000-07:002006-04-07T01:04:50.266-07:00

I was talking to a gardening friend last night and she said she had found a wonderful device with an air pocket in it which rests against your back, and prevents you getting a sore back from gardening. She says it sounds silly but she wouldn't be without it. Very interesting because I think weariness in the back is what makes it difficult for me sometimes to go on as long as I would like doing

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144312637256738942006-04-06T01:32:00.000-07:002006-04-06T01:37:17.270-07:00

Sometimes I wonder why I have bought or brought (from our previous garden) so many plants! Planting is not my favourite pastime in the garden. I don't mind weeding so much, especially on this light soil, and tending and pruning is ok, but all that kneeling down and digging holes and pushing mulch around is a pain. I know you're thinking I should have done the planting before the mulch, but

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1144223767683385192006-04-05T00:55:00.000-07:002006-04-05T01:00:27.726-07:00

Well, I got a few hardy geraniums in the ground and I planted some bellis and aubretia in the walled gravel garden (just a small drystone wall with alpines and bulbs currently planted in it). It looks pretty.Oh the frustration of it - today every single weather forecast has said it will be dry, and we thought here we go, time to get that greenhouse painted! But already there have been a few

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143932291836494342006-04-01T14:53:00.000-08:002006-04-01T14:58:11.856-08:00

Today we had a hard morning at work and then my husband announced he was stir-crazy and wanted to go out. The weather was looking very unpromising for work in the garden so I agreed. We went to a large - you guessed it - garden centre near Yarmouth and bought quite a lot of bits and pieces, including a Kerria, a Blueberry and a Daphne. The main reason for the trip was to get some John Innes

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143847457687619292006-03-31T15:16:00.000-08:002006-03-31T15:24:17.700-08:00

So the trellis: what's that about? Well, we have been quite alarmed by the strong winds we have experienced in the last week. Although warm enough to work out in a T shirt, it has still been tremendously blustery, and we have realised that the only south facing wall the house has is very much exposed to these south-westerly winds. This is supposed to be the scented area, with plants which

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143650537312764602006-03-29T08:34:00.000-08:002006-03-29T08:42:17.326-08:00

In sensei Titchmarsh-San's books on how to be a gardener and the gardening year, all of which I have found to be invaluable, it does not mention gardener's exhaustion! This I am discovering is a phenomenon which happens when the gardener in question tackles jobs which are beyond her physical strengths and abilities. Yesterday it was fine planting containerised shrubs, but when I decided to pull

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143498217421861252006-03-27T14:19:00.000-08:002006-03-27T14:23:37.436-08:00

Today was mostly fine and warm but hideously windy, so not pleasant outside. I decided it was time to plant up my dahlia tubers and cannas and eucomis. It was quite a big job and I now have 25 pots of such things, which hopefully will come on enough to be planted out in May. It will be exciting if they all come leaping into growth.On the advice from my book by Will Giles about exotics, I have

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143436727761245572006-03-26T21:12:00.000-08:002006-03-26T21:18:47.776-08:00

I woke up this morning at 5 am. I am now (obviously) sitting at my desk writing this after having made extensive lists of what needs doing in the garden. Right now it is looking pretty daunting, and not helped at all by the weather, which persists in being wet and windy. I don't mind the wet so much for planting etc, I suppose without it I'd be worrying about watering!This weeks list is:Start

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143390758332571732006-03-26T08:28:00.000-08:002006-03-26T08:32:38.353-08:00

Not much gardening was done today. Well. this morning I sowed some more seeds. Tomatoes, Chilean Glory Vine, Canary Creeper, Mesymbreanthemum, Alyssum, Agastache. I had to go out this afternoon to an Egyptian drumming and bellydance workshop, so that interrupted my gardening. Shame because the weather was really not bad at all today, although as I write at about 5pm it has just started to

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143330276536555292006-03-25T15:40:00.000-08:002006-03-25T15:44:36.553-08:00

So I have now pricked out some more seedlings, this time the green Nicotiana. Having resigned ourselves to rain for the next week at least, we had to bite the bullet and erect the full eight feet long plant stand in the conservatory for them. Now I can really get on with sowing some more seeds and having the plants we need for the summer. I am particularly concerned about getting our Dahlias

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143241719699293772006-03-24T15:02:00.000-08:002006-03-24T15:08:39.713-08:00

Now it looks like it is going to rain for at least a week. As long as it is mild, I don't mind too much. I don't particularly relish glomping around in my waterproofs but I quite enjoy planting in the rain when I am appropriately dressed. The big problem about it is the painting work that must be done on the greenhouse, which can't be done because of the wet. This is holding up the seed

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143216689901633572006-03-24T08:07:00.000-08:002006-03-24T08:11:29.920-08:00

Wow! That was fun. We had to go to B&Q first for some DIY bits and pieces, then on to Nottcutts in Norwich. We had a nice lunch there and then set to buying plants like loonies. Well, OK, perhaps not quite, but it feels quite exciting to actually set off and buy some of the things I have been planning for what seems like the long winter months.Bought a twisted hazel, Corylus Contorta, ok it's

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143192959742882312006-03-24T01:33:00.000-08:002006-03-24T01:35:59.766-08:00

So, it's raining today - which is great in many ways because it means I don't have to water 300 Vinca Minor and Vinca Major. We are going shopping today for more paint for the famous red (soon to be green, I hope) greenhouse, and some more DIY bits and pieces. There is a very high step now going into the greenhouse and Ray wants to build some sort of a ramp leading into it for the wheelbarrow

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143154013956908812006-03-23T14:42:00.000-08:002006-03-23T14:46:53.976-08:00

Yes, it just held out long enough for painting the greenhouse, well, primer-ing it anyway. I had hoped that we would be able to start getting the topcoat on today but these things are always more fiddly than you think, and we decided to try and do a decent job on the primer rather than rushing it. It was good stuff, I have to say. The surface feels more like wood than metal now for re-coating,

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1143140149032202492006-03-23T10:50:00.000-08:002006-03-23T10:55:49.050-08:00

Today was the first sunny day where the temperature got above five degrees in ages. At last, we leapt out and started painting the greenhouse. You may remember that the greenhouse shows up much more than we expected. Because the old one was hidden behind the shed, we didn't think about it being so much smaller than the new one, and having erected the framework we were dismayed to see this

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142987663254178822006-03-21T16:32:00.000-08:002006-03-21T16:34:23.266-08:00

Actually I am not letting myself get despondent at the task of all this planting. I did a lot more today. It turns out the neighbour at the back of us has decided to put his kiddies' swings right in our line of sight behind our big Scots Pine. It's one of the few areas at the back of the garden where you can see through, because the rest of it is covered by his leylandii hedge. And where does

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142881495738635432006-03-20T11:02:00.000-08:002006-03-20T11:04:55.763-08:00

I did a bit more planting. Not bedding really, big shrubs and things like that. These beds are so huge though, it looks like nothing. My God there is such a lot to do all at once, it is ridiculous. And now my elbow is playing up again, and I don't know a good physio here. Grrr.Still, nil desperandum. Tomorrow's another day and what's the betting it will be too wet or too cold to paint the

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142791646955960622006-03-19T10:05:00.000-08:002006-03-19T10:07:26.970-08:00

Did I mention that when we sowed our first batch of seeds in the seven-trayed heated windowsill propogator in the conservatory, the labels all washed off? Yes, how utterly intelligent it was of us to write on the plastic labels with ordinary felt tip pen! Mind you, that's exactly what the gas engineer did with the emergency number written by the LPG canisters outside, but that's just our gas

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142726802647264042006-03-18T16:06:00.000-08:002006-03-18T16:06:42.663-08:00

The gardener's assistant came again this morning to finish off the lawn edging for the borders. He did that in double quick time but it is still a bit proud so he'll have to come back. I was pushed to find him something else to do in this cold weather. How ridiculous is that, when there are millions of jobs to do as soon as the weather gets a little bit warmer? Ended up asking him to dig a

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142582788982245562006-03-17T00:02:00.000-08:002006-03-17T00:06:28.993-08:00

Well, we seem to be getting nowhere fast. I've bought Alan Titchmarsh's latest tome about The Gardening Year and he says it's not a nag, just a reminder of what to do when. Well, Alan, I think it's safe to say we are falling at the first fence here as March is total chaos! The greenhouse isn't built yet, which is a bit of a desperate situation as it means the conservatory is now the greenhouse

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142499336437092532006-03-16T00:50:00.000-08:002006-03-16T00:55:36.450-08:00

I refer of course to weed-proof membrane, that black polypropylene-type stuff that I consider to be very ugly indeed. We have some of it in the front garden which the previous owners put down but it is under some leylandii hedge trees (which surely should suppress weeds fairly adequately by themselves?) As this is behind a very low retaining wall like a raised bed, it is tricky to get a more

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142436339331869882006-03-15T07:24:00.000-08:002006-03-15T07:25:39.346-08:00

The gardener put lawn edging all around the new borders he has dug for us and filled up the big wooden container we have built for bamboo. He used old sods of earth from the border digging with some old stones beneath for drainage. The good compost and manure will comprise the top 15 inches or so for the bamboo to actually grow in. It will start out about thirty inches off the ground so it

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142410478936429302006-03-15T00:11:00.000-08:002006-03-15T00:14:38.956-08:00

Eight o' clock yesterday morning the gardener turned up on the doorstep all ready to start - heavens, I was only just ripe from the crumpled sheets myself! He was actually ready to finish off the work for me, but I hadn't expected him so it took ages for me to get my brain in gear and remember all the things I meant to say to him and ask him to do. Then we ended up deep in discussion about our

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142290430852698662006-03-13T14:47:00.000-08:002006-03-13T14:53:50.853-08:00

So on Sunday it was not too bad, the weather I mean. Although they said it would be bitterly cold, once you get out there in your padded shirt and thermals - and my wonderful waterproof trousers which mean I can kneel anywhere I want without fear of getting soggy knees, it was OK. I had the sun on my back most of the time as well. I feel a bit guilty because up north where I come from they

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142289998985361492006-03-13T14:40:00.000-08:002006-03-13T14:46:38.996-08:00

Well, it was an interesting weekend. It was forecast very cold, with the rest of the country from north of us upwards having heavy snow. Well on Saturday it was really cold and I was so wiped out that I could barely stagger around the garden centre, after all the fun on Friday preparing the flowerbeds with my gardener.So Saturday was a write-off. I really do have trouble with my energy levels,

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142061040387073862006-03-10T23:02:00.000-08:002006-03-10T23:10:40.400-08:00

Hmmm...the weather is quite inclement at the moment for gardening. It's going to be a cold weekend and when it's not cold at the moment it seems to be forecast wet. This is causing us no end of trouble with our new plan of painting the greenhouse before it is glazed. By the time the weather is fine and warm enough to use this metal paint on the aluminium greenhouse, it will be so warm we won't

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1142017172842699462006-03-10T10:55:00.000-08:002006-03-10T10:59:32.906-08:00

Tonight I am quite exhausted having helped my gardener to distribute compost, manure and chipped bark all over my two new beds. Wow, was it hard work! The weather was largely kind to us, with the odd light shower but not too cold. We finished up putting plastic lawn edging along the edges, but that is no picnic, especially when you are trying to go over big tree roots.Hopefully there won't be

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141976547747706322006-03-09T23:37:00.000-08:002006-03-09T23:42:27.826-08:00

Well you'll never guess what I did yesterday - I lifted my spring bulbs just before they are due to flower. I know it sounds crazy but today I have a man coming in to spread muck and mulch all over my borders, and one of the borders was partially planted, and all these bulbs and small shrubs and self-seeded foxgloves were in the wrong place! I figured it best to lift them all, pop them

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141810980530969782006-03-08T01:35:00.000-08:002006-03-08T01:43:00.546-08:00

The trouble with this time of year for gardening is that it is either too cold or too wet. Rain is predicted for at least the next few days. The good news with that is that it is warmer in the rain, so some of my planting could get done. The bad news is that of course I will have to paint the greenhouse before we can glaze it and have it going, so it's either too wet to paint or too cold to

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141751296799747532006-03-07T08:59:00.000-08:002006-03-07T09:08:16.816-08:00

Did I mention that the aluminium greenhouse glints like a beacon in the evening sun? I adore the way the sun shines over the house into the back garden, making the bark on the scots pine glow a pinky-orange, and the beech leaves in autumn look quite spectacular. I don't want that view to be spoiled by a bright silver coloured greenhouse which shines so brightly it looks as if it has landed from

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141656687799915072006-03-06T05:04:00.000-08:002006-03-06T06:51:27.810-08:00

The sun is shining this afternoon and by rights we should be working on the greenhouse again, but we are having the kitchen torn apart for a new hob and it has been so distracting today that absolutely nothing has happened! Now we will have to put all our greenhouse bits back in the garden sheds - and we did nothing with them! They say it will be raining by tomorrow. Grrrr!

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141627931472849882006-03-05T22:45:00.000-08:002006-03-05T22:52:11.483-08:00

Over the weekend we had the chance to go out in the garden (once the frost had disappeared) and start erecting the greenhouse. So far we have the frame up but not the roof glazing bars or any glazing. It wasn't so awful an experience so far, despite a few glitches, which fortunately we realised pretty soon so we didn't have any panels completely constructed the wrong way round, thank God. Mind

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141414642628396032006-03-03T11:32:00.000-08:002006-03-03T11:37:22.643-08:00

Well, it hasn't snowed again yet but they say it won't get mild and wet again until next Tuesday. Hope the vinca copes with the freezing conditions. It looks fine at the moment and tough as a boot. Went to the garden centre today and put our money down on the bark chip mulch and manure for the new beds. Hopefully it will all go like clockwork next Friday when it is delivered, all 60 or so

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141383842499917642006-03-03T03:00:00.000-08:002006-03-03T03:04:02.510-08:00

This morning, although the snow had begun to melt quite nicely yesterday afternoon in the sunshine, there was what they call an extensive hard frost. They say it was about -5 last night, which is darn cold (please excuse me, any of you from Siberia or even Canada or the USA, but for the UK this is quite bad! I just hope that some of the plants that I have blithely left outside in the assumption

The Enthusiastic Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081151235770686783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22861379.post-1141298517969665212006-03-02T03:19:00.000-08:002006-03-02T03:21:57.980-08:00

Oh dear, you know I said we have sowed some seeds in a heated propogator in the conservatory? Well, we wrote on those plastic label things in ordinary felt tip pen! How stupid is that! No prizes for guessing that all the plant names have just run off, so we have no idea which of seven varieties things are. And one lot have shot up and produced little seedlings at breakneck speed. We have

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