Put up a new arch today and managed to tie on some of the existing foliage. Now just need to find time to tidy up the beds and rake up the leaves!
The arch inspired the lovely Save the Date cards that have just gone out - so I'm glad it was possible to replace it.
The mild Winter has encouraged this camelia to bloom too soon. I hope this week's frosts don't give it too much of a shock.
But it is lovely to see something so beautiful amidst the soggy leaves and dead flower heads. Maybe Spring is just around the corner.
Oops! Yesterday's storms brought down the passionflower arch. The arches with less dense foliage survived, but the amount of growth on the front arch was just too much for the 70mph winds that hit Surrey on Tuesday morning and most of the joints are bent beyond repair.
Now we need to decide whether to buy a replacment arch to match the other three, even though, to be honest, they are too flimsy for the job, or to go for something more substantial that will look different. Decisions, decisions.
(... well Utrecht actually, but never let the truth get in the way of a good title).
What a great present from my brother-in-law, who is working in the Netherlands at the moment and transported all his Christmas presents over here in a rucksack on his bike!
Planted 50 of said tulips in the front bed today. Here's hoping they stay safe from squirrels and deer!
New Year Resolution #2 is to start writing this blog again.
(Everyone who knows me will know what New Year Resolution #1 is!)
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| Before! |
Remember the old shed and the scruffy parking area in front of it? Now there's a new path, a new gate and a new lawn.
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| After! |
It got in through the rhododendrons at the back - impossible to put a deer fence there.
Where can I buy a shotgun!
"Blue and white flowers only please."
Don't you just hate it when that happens.
The only thing to do is stand tall, hold your head high and smile. Sunflowers are good at that!
Only seven weeks ago we planted these two passion flowers - one on each side of an arch. They have now met in the middle and entwined tendrils! How romantic.
The first of the passion flowers is out! Often quoted as an example of Fibonacci numbers in nature it has:
... to test drive the parterre. Doesn't he look smart!
This floribunda rose is certainly fullfilling the "many-flowering" promise in its name. Amazing that it can support so many flowers on one stem.
James was back this week to trim the oak trees that were threatening the telephone wire. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a small branch becomes an enormous branch once it's on the ground.
It's five months since I started this blog. Time for a count of all the balls we have found while clearing and creating the garden ...
6 footballs
22 tennis balls
8 golf balls
3 ping pong balls
4 miscellaneous balls
and 2 doggie chew toys that were too disgusting to keep - even as a symbol of how far we have come.
I wonder if that is it?
The tree surgeon removed two dead trees today, opening up the view of next door's rather overgrown garden. The logs, once split, should see us nicely through the winter.
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| Before |
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| After |
And it's all looking quite hopeful. The lupins and phlox have arrived to join the party and were positively glowing in the late evening.
A friend has asked if we have finished the garden, given that there have been no posts for a while. No, definitely not finished! But we have been rather swamped by the on-going maintenance - the watering, weeding, pruning and mowing. Not to mention disposing of the detritus that the last three generate. And weeding is a bit like hoovering - looks nice when it's done but don't really need to see it happening.
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| A new car park! |
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| The before picture |
Scalpings for the car parking area were delivered today. This time they were lifted over the hedge using a grabber - quite a sight!
Now just need to use that neat little digger to spread them around.
Progress on the garden has been a little slow recently. Blame an emigrating brother-in-law, Parish Council stands at local fetes and Wimbledon.
However we have found time to add some metal arches to the parterre bed and today I planted passion flower, jasmine and climbing roses.
Put up a new arch today and managed to tie on some of the existing foliage. Now just need to find time to tidy up the beds and rake up the leaves!
The first of the passion flowers is out! Often quoted as an example of Fibonacci numbers in nature it has:
This floribunda rose is certainly fullfilling the "many-flowering" promise in its name. Amazing that it can support so many flowers on one stem.
A friend has asked if we have finished the garden, given that there have been no posts for a while. No, definitely not finished! But we have been rather swamped by the on-going maintenance - the watering, weeding, pruning and mowing. Not to mention disposing of the detritus that the last three generate. And weeding is a bit like hoovering - looks nice when it's done but don't really need to see it happening.
