My Clematis Montana rubens flowering beautifully this year. Last year we had the gutters cleaned and as I was busy indoors, you can imagine the shock I got when the bod who did the guttering announced "Oh, I cut that ivy down that was growing up the down pipe." Ivy, WHAT ivy? I was so wrong-footed I didn't react. He left (having chucked his empty drinks bottle out of the car window on our driveway) and I went into the yard to find my poor clematis cut right down, just before it would flower . . . I was livid. The gutterings need clearing again and I shall be looking for another firm . . .
The current work in action, and below, what I achieved today, with my mattock! 5 barrowloads of leaves, roots, brambles and nettles. Go me!
I have started planting up the original veg patch as an orchard (we have lots of young fruit trees, but the 2nd most youthful are in the paddock garden.) The trees going in here are ones I've grown from seed, and will have reverted to one or other of their parents.
Here some earlier ones we grew from seed - they would be about 25 yrs old now.
So now the veg plot will now be much smaller, with slightly raised beds and with a concrete slab pathway to be added to one side for access. As you can see, it is all brambles and nettles, so I have a LOT of clearing to do - I'll be going out any minute to carry on. It will be easier for anyone who may eventually buy our house and of course, that whole area will look tidier.
The time is fast approaching when I can't go outside much because of the grass pollen, but that may be earlier this year due to the hot spells we've been having - I was sidelined at the end of April due to the tree pollen explosion from the last hot spell.
Meanwhile, we have had our neighbour with the digger clear the area of stone chippings which had turned into a lawn (and which K was struggling to keep mown, due to his frozen shoulder). My daughters will be able to park their cars there now when they visit. We have also had the access to the septic tank scraped off as we need to call the bod out soon to come and empty it.
Cowslips and Welsh poppies brighten the pathway up a bit.
A scented Clematis Montana rubens "Elizabeth" (I think) it smells of vanilla and is GORGEOUS. Here it is clambering to the top of my Magnolia stellata.
The new - hopefully cat-proof - strawberry bed, created today. (Well, weeded and planted and Fort Knoxed).
You have to admit though BB that that 'cut down' last year is probably what has made it so prolific this year.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's grown back to the same height Pat. I was so angry that he had done it without consultation. It has rewarded me this year.
ReplyDeleteOh my the clematis is gorgeous. I am glad it grew back so well.
ReplyDeleteYou sure have been busy in your garden.
God bless.
A day of rest today, as it is raining. Perhaps just as well as I feel like a wrung out dishcloth!
DeleteThat is a fabulous display, thank goodness all is well. I do understand how you felt though. My husband tends to do things like that, I have to watch him like a hawk. Your cowslip and poppy pathway is an absolute delight, I may have to copy that idea.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky with my husband Elaine, as he has no interest in the garden whatsoever though he likes to see it looking pretty. The Cowslips and Poppies are self-seeded so created this lovely look themselves.
DeleteYou have been so busy. Your garden is looking lovely - well done on all the hard work. Pleased to see the clematis recovered - it looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteMay and June are the best times in the garden, esp. June when all the roses are out. Then it normally gets away from me because I'm inside out of the pollen in June!
DeleteOhhhhhh, what a shock!!!!!! Cut down, with out being told to do so.
ReplyDeleteGuess one has to give specific instructions, to people who come to "do something" for you. Ickkkkk....
And I'm exhausted, just reading all that you do! :-)
It never occurred to me that he would do such a thing. Never in a million years. But then, he wasn't terribly bright . . . and probably thought he was doing me a favour! I do rest inbetween the gardening bouts, and can't quite manage the 8 hours a day gardening that I used to do in the summer. I was on top of the weeds then.
DeleteI am envious of your clematis! The one that was hacked down seems to have thumbed its nose at the villain and revived beautifully. Clearing ground--and attempting to keep it cleared--are back-breaking tasks.
ReplyDeleteI love the Welsh poppies--I had a small clump of them years ago in my Vermont garden where they survived brutal winters.
This patch I am clearing is very soft and friable - years of chucking clods of grass from the main veg plot have now broken down nicely. The veg plot is down to the clay level from removal of said grass and I can't afford to buy in compost or topsoil to reclaim it.
DeleteI will save you some Welsh poppy seeds if you think they would manage in your current climate?