Hosta Bank

I have been spending most of my time in the garden at present, everything is growing so quickly and its hard to keep up with all the jpbs that need doing.  I have sprayed the Hosta's and the hosta bank with nematodes or something like that, rather than use slug pellets.  It involved about 20 trips with a watering can up from the house to the top pond where most of the hosta's reside.  It says on the instructions that it will have to be done every 6 weeks so I will see if the hosta's keep their leaves intact.  It is nigh impossible to keep Kiki out of the ponds although her brother Lucca does not seem to have the same love of water that she does.  Boudicca the cat is very nearly reaching the point that I would consider finding her a new home. We have been watching a pair of pied wagtails that have returned and that we saw last year - they are so friendly and trusting and we love sitting with a glass of wine in the evening watching them and the swallows and house martins as they zoom around the barns and back and forth to their nests.

Last night I went into the utility and found the female wagtail dead on the floor and Boudicca looking pleased with herself - I could have killed her.  I went to bed upset and teary and vowing to get in touch with the rescue centre and get her re-homed - Achilles never kills anything completely the opposite to Boudicca who is almost a killing machine.  Not sure if I will repent or not.  Yesterday morning we had to construct a wire pen around a duck nest that is by one of the ponds with 8 eggs in it as Boudicca has found it and will kill the ducklings when they hatch if we didn't do something to help protect them. Anybody want a cat?

Films

I am just starting a ten week course on how to make films, and thought i would share my first week film.  Its not amazing but it is a start and I can only get better

Barrels planted

I just love the new Spring plant growth -- apart from the weeds of course! The remaining plants for the three half barrels arrived and I wasted no time in planting them up: Pimpinella major 'Rosea', Astrantia 'Buckland', Geranium phaem, Actaea simplex 'Brunette' and Orlaya grandiflora. I will of course take more photos as they establish themselves and show off their pink, white and dark purple flowers.

We have been working in the ponds to solve the problem we were having with algae growing on the surface where pond grasses in the water were preventing proper movement. Alistair rowed the boat to the problem area while I wore my waders to pull up the grasses and put them into a large container to be ferried across to the compost area. That and a temporary pump seem to have solved the problem -- but next time I plan to be in the boat and Alistair will be in the waders!

Dancing Erythroniums

Walking around the garden each day brings new delights, well except for the weeds and their speedy growth. We nearly managed to mulch most the beds and we are wondering if it is too late now to finish them, but I guess it will still help to slow the weeds' progress, in a maybe/ hopefully/ fingers crossed sort of way.

The Erythroniums caught my eye as they danced in the sunlight alongside the stream. Rain has helped water in my latest plantings and also flush the ponds with fresh water from the brooks.  I had just ordered something to help clear the ponds as they had formed lots of little blobs of slime and I'm not sure what causes them, but it looks pretty disgusting. I've tried skimming off as much as I could but now with the brooks flowing faster the natural movement of the water seems to be flushing the slime over the overflow and away down the brook. I will take some pics later.

Skunk Cabbage

Not the most romantic name, but it is a plant with impact. There was no sign of them a couple of weeks ago but now they are romping away; they grow quickly in our well and truly damp/wet/soaking garden as does the Gunneria by the pond. The streams meander through the woods and garden, leaving the ground rather sponge like. and this year the ground is taking quite a while to dry out. Alistair was only able to get the lawnmower through the woods and onto the lawns this week for the first time, and that was with the help of some bark mulching being placed in some areas. The lawns are looking a bit patchy after moles have had their fun and leaves that we just didn't get around to moving. It's bumpy and squashy in equal measures and our large Maremmas Lucca and Kiki really haven't helped matters by romping and chasing each other around the garden. They are pictured below after tiring themselves out!

Getting ready for summer

At last the sun is shining, the House Martins are back from their travels and are sweeping around the house and barn. We bought three half whiskey barrels this week and I ordered the plants after seeing a lovely idea in Gardens Illustrated. Jacky Mills created a pretty frothy concoction that I am copying and some of the plants have already arrived - I found a company I hadn't used before, 'Cotswold Garden Flowers', and my word they are quick to deliver. I bought Actaea Simplex Brunette from them. Husband Alistair has drilled some drainage holes in the barrels and painted the metal bands black, and we placed crocks in the bottom for drainage. So far I have managed one wheelbarrow of compost from our garden but I have now decided to delegate this to Alistair as I have realised how heavy it is, and I have a bad hand at present. This means that I can move onto the lawn edging and some weeding among the bed of alliums I planted last year - I will post a pic of these as soon as they flower. Right, back on with the wellies and into the sun!