Autumn garden maintenance...
The nursery down the road is open, even though it's supposed to close on Good Friday. And am I going down there to check out their sale? No! I don't need any new plants. I will repeat that, boldly. I don't need any new plants.
Autumn Colours Starting Up
Right. I am off outside to do autumn garden maintenance. No point in trying to dress it up with softer, more interesting language. Maintenance is maintenance. And in my garden it's all about trying to maintain the impossible. Like deal to Pittosporums which have grown far too big far too quickly.
The Pittosporum is Gone
Later...
My garden maintenance worked really well because Non-Gardening Partner couldn't go flying - the cloud cover was a bit low. So he very kindly chain-sawed down an over-sized Pittosporum in the Stumpy Garden.
I spent ages trimming dead leaves off nearby Phormiums and dead canes off the rambling rose (it's Kew Rambler, supposed to climb happily up a tree, but is proving to be a bit of a sulker).
Have carted all my mess off to the bonfire, while the Pittosporum branches have been shredded for mulch. And now am off to sing in Bach's St. John Passion. An interesting end to an interesting day!
Further into Easter...
More Easter singing - this time Mozart's blustering Coronation Mass, followed by a rousing chorus from the Messiah, complete with orchestra, a row of bellowing basses, and a pair of blatting trumpets. In the afternoon I trimmed the Glass-House Garden, mainly Ligularia stalks and leaves. Dumped it on my burning heap. Later that evening my head was still noisy with music, and I didn't really have a very good sleep, my brain muddled with Mozart. He is not my most favourite of composers...
A Beautiful Phormium
Today the plan is to do more trimming. It's really turned into autumn, and many leaves are turning gold, tinged with red. Some are even fluttering down. The driveway by the house is carpetted in yellow (leaves from the Gledisia). At this time of the year the Phormiums in the garden borders look absolutely enormous - maybe they are anyway? Hmm...
Mid-afternoon...
I've done some gentle and fairly trivial gardening. I've weeded around the edge of the back lawn, planted a new rose and some Watsonias (though I'm pretty sure they are Crocosmias), dug out dandelions, dug out the last of the purple potatoes, filled in holes that the dogs had dug in the lawn by the Olearia hedge...
But no more gardening is possible - the skies suddenly went dark grey, followed by squally rain and thunder. That's OK. The rain can water my new plantings, and I got my washing in off the line. That's pretty much all that matters, yes?