Yet another fresh start!
July is a winter month in my garden, and has been misbehaving. The month is at fault, not the gardener, you understand! After several foiled attempts to get going, here's yet another fresh start...
Green Astelia in Pot
Sunday 19th July
After singing Palestrina (rather gorgeous) I dealt to some of the contrapuntal textures in my garden. It's time to trim all the ferns - I trundled four barrow loads over to my dumping place. I pruned one hydrangea - just one (warming up slowly, hee hee..). I cleared the house decking of heavy pots and debris, ready to be repaired. Took my kitchen scissors to the Astelias and Phormiums in pots, removing dead leaves.
Also trimmed the bronze perennial (whose name I can't remember at the moment) which grows in the house borders and smells funny. Don't mind forgetting names of people, but names of plants? Aargh! Aha! Bronze fennel. Retrieved it. Phew. So I did two and a half hours work, and so my 'yet another fresh start' has started, if somewhat modestly.
Monday 20th July
Day Two of my 'YAFS' : more ferns are trimmed, and I've tidied the edge of the Welcome Garden. Thought : 'I'm doing alright. At least it's not September.' Oops. Did the Maths - September is only five weeks away. Aargh! That's quite close!
Herb Spiral in Winter
Aha! Day three of my 'Ýet Another Fresh Start to July'. So far so good. I've weeded the Herb Spiral and trimmed the herbs. I've walked the dogs. Nothing keeping me from returning to the garden for a productive afternoon session - so I should stop procrastinating and get out there to do something, right?
Winter Flowering Viburnum
Dog news...
Regarding the dogs - Winnie's recovery continues slowly but surely. No more whoopsies, touch wood. She's now allowed to come out of her crate and hang out in the house in the daytimes. Pebbles sans bucket is a more relaxed dog (if it is possible for Pebbles to be relaxed).
Much, much later...
Ouch! My hands are sore - they've got wee gouges and nicks all over them from some annoying, physical gardening (kept snagging my hands on the Prosperity roses). I've been removing coarse green Carexes from the Septic Tank Border. Slicing at the roots (luckily they're shallow) with the shovel, pulling pieces valiantly out. These self-sown grasses look wonderful for a few years. Then they get far too ragged and rough looking for me.
And Day Four...
I've shifted CM Wilson (a pink Camellia) out into the open - he was almost rootless, so cross fingers. I've spread horse manure around. Another five barrowfuls of fern trimmings etc. have been removed from the nearby gardens and dumped.
Tinsie Camellias
And now, to reward myself:
- A hot shower, with hair wash.
- A peep at new library books. My most favourite light reading genre : vintage murder!
- Practice Poulenc's Mass in G Major, alto part. I'm an OK sight-singer, but I lose my nerve in this music.
- Knit around the neck of fat bear's green woolly sweater, and sew it up. Hopefully it will fit over his huge tummy and bottom.
Yeay for me. Simple rewards for a simple gardener.