Bottom Scooped!
The Moosey Pond is Cleaned Out
Aargh! The Pond has had its bottom scooped out and is fully refilled. There is some truck mess, nothing too negative. Non-Gardening Partner (bless him) is going to get in some topsoil and relay the lawn.
Tuesday 17th March
Today I am off to get potting mix. I get 40L bags - simply because I can carry them around quite easily. Then Rusty the dog and I will go to the river for more stones. Then I'm going to shift a couple of sad roses out of the Hen House Garden and replace them with irises. I might also get some Lavenders. Perhaps they could live happily in here. Roses certainly don't - I think it's simply too dry, too often...
Later...
I went to the nursery and came home with Choisyas (the Aztec variety), Coprosmas, Australian mint bushes, and two Cordylines. Then, ignoring all that rosy lavender chatter, I planted and cleared in the Welcome Garden. The pelargoniums are in the wine barrel, all's right with the world? It's been a slow day, through which I've been mentally and physically snoozing. Actually, I'm resting after yesterday's gorgeously robust mountain hike.
Hiking in the Tussocklands
Wednesday 18th March
Three words.
I'm
Too
Random
I never finish anything. I start things in my mind and then wander off and find something else to do. My garden days are full of good ideas, but nothing is followed through properly. And why? Why? Why? am I suddenly twittering on about Lavenders? Just because I've seen some beautiful juicy specimens in the hardware store and they've taken my fancy. Hopeless.
New Patio Pots
The Plan
Here's the plan for today. Starting in the Welcome Garden, having first found my edge trimmers, I will do a grand 'garden sweep' slowly down the Driveway, finishing everything as I go. That means manuring, weeding, planting, raking rubbish, and putting on pea-straw. These are the first impression gardens that the Garden Club visitors will see.
Prioritise and simplify?
I'll leave my rubbish piles on the fence-line for the staff (son and friend) I'm employing tomorrow to deal with. Workers need clear job descriptions, rather than hazy hand-waving at messy areas.
Time-scale?
I'll work until lunchtime, at which time I will have a sensible list of plants needed to fill glaring gaps. Oh - I'll also have been multi-tasking, shifting the hoses around on other new plantings.
After lunch, if I have finished - and I seriously mean properly finished - I'll transfer myself to the Hen House Garden to do some 'remedial maintenance'. I'll dig out those jolly roses, plant lots of Lavender and Irises in the rose gaps, and the Choisyas nearby. Gardening honour will thus be restored.
Thursday 19th March
- 'Decisions before Nursery Visits.'
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
Yesterday's plan for de-randomising my gardening worked! How's this - I even made decisions and dug planting holes BEFORE popping down to the local nursery and buying exactly what I needed. This is a first. Very sage (hee hee) advice, which I will do my best to adopt.
Son-In-Law to Do Some Gardening!
Meanwhile the preparations for the Garden Club's visit continue. Two Manly Garden Helpers arrive today. NGP will water-blast the patio tiles this weekend. Son-In-Law has promised to spend a day gardening - as long as he can write an article about it. Naturally I said yes - he makes brilliant gourmet pizzas - but he has to do 'proper gardening'. As a professional photographer he's promised to airbrush all weeds out of the photographs.
A Busy Garden
Yesterday I only got to the fork in the Driveway - but I stayed totally on task. Today I will continue working down the drive towards the house, including the Hump Gardens - same plan, nothing random, no wandering off. The cricket test is on the radio to listen to, and my cats enjoy me working near the house. Right! Time for breakfast.
Late Lunchtime...
With her radio spluttering in the grass, the red-faced Head Gardener (me) has spent hours digging out all the Lysimachia, replanting flaxes and mint bushes. All unplanted soil is covered with old newspapers, and she is just about to put the pea-straw mulch on the top. Enter Son-In-Law, faithfully followed by my dog (who is bored with me). This gardening lark is a breeze. 'Just read the paper, and listen to the cricket' he quips. Hmm...
Aargh! My two under-gardeners are late. And we (New Zealand) can't seem to get any wickets in the cricket. Son-In-Law is full of bird-seed, and I have been abandoned by my dog, who thinks I'm more boring than ever. And the Garden Club ladies are having lunch in my garden. That means super-vacuuming the downstairs house rooms, dusting the grand piano, cleaning the loo, and possibly buying some more garden benches. Aargh!
Fire and Water
Aargh again! My staff has (have?) arrived, and I have explained their task, which is young-man spiritual and concerns two contrasting elementals - fire and water. All the gum tree rubbish behind the Moosey Pond has to be wheeled to the burning heap and burnt.