Garden, be warned...
Beautiful Pink Rose
Hello, March! You're the month when I make war on my garden rubbish, weeds, and overgrown shrubs. Ha! Moosey Garden (and Non-Gardening Partner) - be warned. You both have just four weeks to be ready for the Garden Club's visit.
Sunday 1st March
First thing today - the burning heap. Dig out the wet ash after last night's torrential rain, and then start all over again. Gum tree rubbish piles languish on every fence-line.
Lost Spades
But where, where, where are both of my short sharp garden spades? They'll be leaning nonchalantly up against trees - 'What took you so long to find us?' Humph... Two of them, still lost somewhere in the garden...
Minimus my ex-wild kitten (who lived in the woodshed for only five days) has gone up a cat-size. He's relaxing on my lap, purring. What a lucky little chap! Reminds me of that cute, quotable little poem:
Cat Poem
A fish is a fish
A bird is a bird
But a cat is a purr-son.
For me the author is unknown, but they obviously understand cat-lovers! Right. I have sale price plants to dig in, compost to spread, and rubbish to rake and burn. I hope that today in the garden will be more than wheeling around with that heirloom green plastic wheelbarrow...
Grasses and Flaxes
Late Lunchtime...
I am an iris legend - I pulled up, divided, and replanted all the big purples and maroons in the Iris Garden, and Son-In-Law helped by wheeling in compost. Non-Gardening Partner reckons he has the answer to the non-rotation of the waterwheel - grease is the word. Ha! I am surrounded by helpful men.
- 'A tidy mind creates a tidy garden.'
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
The reason for no burning has now become obvious - the blustery norwester has blown in, as it was forecast to do. I will not have flames, embers and hot ashes scooting around in the swirling winds. I've found several odd-jobs to do, which will now be listed. A tidy mind creates a tidy garden?
List For Meeeeeeee
- Buy three stakes for Pink Iceberg standard roses.
- Re-dig the Glass-house garden curve.
- Investigate making cute rustic signs for different garden areas.
This last item would be of benefit to the Moosey men, neither of whom instinctively knows where 'The Shrubbery' or 'The Wattle Woods' are. They could then be despatched to look for the lost spades in such places... Thinking of the Moosey men, now I'm going to make another list - of little things that Non-Gardening Partner needs to be reminded to do, well in advance of the Garden Club visiting the Moosey Garden in early April.
List for NGP
- Weed-kill every bit of the driveway.
- Water-blast the house patio tiles and clean the windows.
- Clear up old wood etc. from behind the pond.
- Help with major burn-up of rubbish collected in the Hump.
- Ditto, location behind the Pond.
- Ditto, location by the Hen House.
Expressions of encouragement (hopefully not sympathy) can be sent to the following address - moosey@mooseyscountrygarden.com - with the subject heading 'Optimising Your NGP'... I'll be sure to pass them on. Hee hee...
Pale Pink Iceberg :- Actually the proper name is 'Blushing Pink Iceberg' - they make lovely standards.
It's now much, much later, and the pink Iceberg roses are now upright with some sturdy green stakes. I've spread the compost and the ash all over the new garden where my deciduous Azaleas live. I've burnt five more barrowfuls of rubbish. Yippee for me (and NGP, who helped). Then he went off to do some delicate sheep husbandry (cleaning bottoms), while I cooked the evening meal. I've had a really big day - I can't think of anywhere I'd rather have been, and the company (both man and cat) has been superb. I am content.
Monday 2nd March
If yesterday was a big gardening day then today will be even bigger. First - I really need to find my spade. Second - I will weed the water's edge of the Dog-Path Garden. I can see the weeds from my burning heap. Aargh! That's the third thing - more burning. The fourth is to redig the Glass-House Garden with the spade I will have found. Ha! So many connections...
Creamy Sedum
Much later, and most interesting... After three hours, exhausted and totally weeded-out, I sat down with my lunch and Alan Titchmarsh's Favourite Gardens (a library book) to read about Hodnet Hall (Shropshire), which has some famous pools. Now comes some mathematics. Hodnet Hall has twelve times as much garden as Mooseys. Yet it has a modest number of gardeners - four, plus the owner and partner (who may or may not be non-gardening).
Favourite Book :- I really like Alan Titchmarsh's style of writing - I must see if I can find more of his books to read.
Using division I concluded that the Moosey Garden had more gardener-hours per acre and therefore should jolly well be looking just as good as Hodnet Hall. So I roared back outside to work hard for another three hours. And then I burnt my rubbish. My hands are sore from pulling out umbrella grass from the dog-path. But my spirits soar!
The day's only problem - my two spades are completely lost, and I will need to replace them. Tomorrow I'm sorting out the Driveway Garden - replanting the white dwarf Agapanthus I found under a tree, digging out some of the brown leafed perennial (Lysimachia ciliata 'Purpurea') which is taking over, and transplanting (if possible) some of the seedling blue lupins into the middle of the border. With my new - ahem - spade I will then plant my new Camellias and Escallonias somewhere in a gap. Nice!
Tuesday 3rd March
There is no need to say anything of a garden nature - see the above! However, I am going swimming while I ponder the big question. Do I want to keep the Lysimachia? Some of it? All of it? I am not keen on a plant which spreads underneath and all around others.
Much, Much Later...
Ha! I kept most of it. I planted Camellias, Escallonias, and a deciduous Azalea. I raked compost around. I weeded madly in the native garden which randomly spreads into the Hump. I need to put up warning signs, though, if the Garden Club ladies wander in here, in case they fall over something. 'Beware - Dangerous Grasses' - that sort of thing...