Gardening
I was good last night and remembered to use my 25% off voucher for seeds before it expired. So hopefully some time soon I will be receiving a nice selection including 3 different types of chilli, lemongrass, Soya beans, sweetcorn especially for popping, baby corn, 3 different types of beetroot (including yellow, pink & white striped ones), basil, mint, thyme lavender and oregano. I have also bought a variety of poppies and my special penstemon called 'Iron Maiden' :-) This is in defiance of Bacchus's decree that our garden should only contain plants that are useful. I take the view that once he actually does something more than mow the grass (twice), he will then earn the right to have a say in what is planted.
I already have some sugar snap pea seeds, some borage seeds from my Mum's garden and some tri-colour sage seeds. The garden already has a well established sage bush, but it is old and leggy so I think it will be coming out. Part of it has mint running rampant too, but I turned the soil at the weekend and pulled out a large amount of the wide-spread system of roots in an effort to contain it. I also removed the dead cherry tree at the weekend. It came out very easily and appeared to have no roots, the soil is very rich in clay and doesn't drain well so I have a feeling it the roots just rotted. Only 2 out of the 3 raspberries I planted last year have survived, but the blackcurrant and the redcurrant seem to have done quite well, so I'm hopeful we may get a small crop this year. My elderflower tree and little morello cherry have now been planted out and I also planted the new Kentish Cobnut. I hope they all survive, though I think they should all do better in the ground rather than in pots, particularly if the summer is hot and dry again. The grass also received its first (long overdue trim of the year), though I wimped out of cutting the hedge on the grounds that the bit that really needed doing was the top and I needed Bacchus to hold the ladder, but he was tied up with lots of marking.
Sometime soon I need to find somewhere that sells potting compost/soil over the internet as it's rather difficult getting it when you don't have a car. A couple of the shops in town sell small bags, but it's sooo heavy to carry back and it's getting the time to go there in addition to doing the usual shopping. I've had a bit of a search around with google, but not got very far, any ideas of where to look would be very welcome.
I also need to get another garden fork, since I broke the one I had trying to lift out the dratted buddleia that was growing rampant. I chopped it right back last year, but of course it sprouted again, so it was time for it to go. Unfortunately the stem or more accurately trunk of this plant is about 7" in diameter and very tough. I blunted my hacksaw getting through it and the root is very thick and goes very deep too. I dug around the trunk to a depth of about 2', then cut though the smaller roots with my secateurs and then tried to lift it. I managed to loosen it somewhat, but it definitely wasn't coming out. Further effort, unfortunately caused the end of the fork to remain in the ground while the handle snapped off :-(
Buddleia 1
Delia 0
I don't suppose kicking the remains of the stem did much to further my cause, but it felt good :-D
I already have some sugar snap pea seeds, some borage seeds from my Mum's garden and some tri-colour sage seeds. The garden already has a well established sage bush, but it is old and leggy so I think it will be coming out. Part of it has mint running rampant too, but I turned the soil at the weekend and pulled out a large amount of the wide-spread system of roots in an effort to contain it. I also removed the dead cherry tree at the weekend. It came out very easily and appeared to have no roots, the soil is very rich in clay and doesn't drain well so I have a feeling it the roots just rotted. Only 2 out of the 3 raspberries I planted last year have survived, but the blackcurrant and the redcurrant seem to have done quite well, so I'm hopeful we may get a small crop this year. My elderflower tree and little morello cherry have now been planted out and I also planted the new Kentish Cobnut. I hope they all survive, though I think they should all do better in the ground rather than in pots, particularly if the summer is hot and dry again. The grass also received its first (long overdue trim of the year), though I wimped out of cutting the hedge on the grounds that the bit that really needed doing was the top and I needed Bacchus to hold the ladder, but he was tied up with lots of marking.
Sometime soon I need to find somewhere that sells potting compost/soil over the internet as it's rather difficult getting it when you don't have a car. A couple of the shops in town sell small bags, but it's sooo heavy to carry back and it's getting the time to go there in addition to doing the usual shopping. I've had a bit of a search around with google, but not got very far, any ideas of where to look would be very welcome.
I also need to get another garden fork, since I broke the one I had trying to lift out the dratted buddleia that was growing rampant. I chopped it right back last year, but of course it sprouted again, so it was time for it to go. Unfortunately the stem or more accurately trunk of this plant is about 7" in diameter and very tough. I blunted my hacksaw getting through it and the root is very thick and goes very deep too. I dug around the trunk to a depth of about 2', then cut though the smaller roots with my secateurs and then tried to lift it. I managed to loosen it somewhat, but it definitely wasn't coming out. Further effort, unfortunately caused the end of the fork to remain in the ground while the handle snapped off :-(
Buddleia 1
Delia 0
I don't suppose kicking the remains of the stem did much to further my cause, but it felt good :-D