The grooviest new path...
New Path Behind the Cottage
I've taken back Head Gardener control of the Wattle Woods. I've been removing super-sized grasses (Anamalenthe), trimming floppy flaxes, and dividing and replanting Renga Renga (Rock lilies). And I've made the grooviest new path behind Pond Cottage. I love paths in the garden!
Sunday 10th February
Foliage plants in the Wattle Woods are functional, left alone, trusted to make the best of a tough situation (little irrigation, tall Eucalyptus trees overhead). Cleaning out the old creates gaps for the new, and alas! I'm on a zero dollars plant budget. So I've transplanted a patch of white medium-sized Agapanthus from somewhere else and released several pot-bound green Astelias and a striped Phormium from hot summer terracotta torture.
Earlier this morning I had the best idea ever - to create a new path behind Pond Cottage, one which could link up with the main path through the Wattle Woods. Yippee!
I love making paths. Mine are completely natural, earth and/or mulch-surfaced, and I edge them with river stones (or, in this case, firewood logs raided from the woodshed). My new path is sensible, and fits neatly between the existing shrubs and trees, and I love it. I love it!
Foliage Plants
I've planted foliage plants along the edges - recycled Bergenias (lots of Bressingham Ruby, so beautiful), Renga Renga (Rock lilies), and Agapanthus. Everything has been carefully watered and I've spread organic matter around the new plants.
Pink Bergenia Flower
I've also taken a risk and planted the rugosa rose Sarah Van Fleet further along. I've promised her buckets of water to help her settle in, and swathes of hot afternoon sun. She needs to promise me not to sulk or get rusty.
Finished In One Day!
So my new path is finished in a day! Yippee! I checked it out at twilight - what a beautiful path! I love it! (Please ignore my gushing repetition). I even love thinking about it being there, gently hugging the back wall of my cottage. Daft, really!
Monday 11th February
Hee hee. I'm having the day off from strenuous gardening. But I've already wandered behind the cottage three times to check on the new path. Do I think it will have magically disappeared in the night? Paths don't do this, nor do they wander off and relocate themselves somewhere else. Phew!
Purple Hebe Flowers
Fluff-Fluff :- Here is my big fluffy cat in the jigsaw bow.
Anyway, big summer winds are gustily blowing outside, so I'm inside starting my new jigsaw. I have a slight issue with Fluff-Fluff the cat. He has again squashed his furry self into the jigsaw box and is purring ecstatically (not a problem). But he is also dribbling - aargh! The jigsaw pieces must feel good against his skin, because he keeps stretching voluptuously, changing position. Hmm...
Pond Cottage Verandah
Rhododendrons...
My jigsaw features a row of cool pink rhododendrons on a Welsh hillside in Snowdonia). Oooh - how many months have I got until the rhododendron season? Now I'm remembering all those pale purple Rhododendron ponticums, all let loose and colonising Scotland's west coast. One of nature's beautiful nuisances...
OK. I will put the hoses on for a couple of hours, to water the new plantings by my new path. I love my new path. It hugs the back of my cottage, and I feel even more warm and cosy inside as a result. This is all rather primeval - the implication of security in the boundary fence, the ditch around the enclosure, and so on.
I suspect the photographs make it look rather normal. Ho hum, even? So what? What's all the fuss about? But for me it's a little piece of garden magic.
I love the new path around the back of Pond Cottage. Oops - I've said it again! And I'm so proud that I thought of it in the first place. Garden happiness can be so simple to achieve.