Spring finally arrived today. Yipee!
I finally sat in the garden without a fleece this afternoon (obligatory daywear when you live partway up a mountain in Snowdonia), and you could see the buds on the plants and the trees opening by the minute.
Fortunately, however, not the weeds. Well, only some of them. This is because since it stopped snowing, at the end of February, I’ve been in there, trying to get as many out as possible. I had two years’ worth of weeds this year, as gardening and puppies don’t go. Phoebe did try to help last spring, but the collie side went manic, while the spaniel side was heading for Australia. Fortunately, this year she seems to have calmed down a bit, and only joins in when I get particularly enthusiastic with the spade. Although I do keep on unearthing the most disgusting bits of dog chew …..
My polytunnel hasn’t arrived. In fact, it’s nowhere near, at the moment. I’m being philosophical about this. With the ground frozen for so long, I’m going to be late getting it up, so this year is going to be a doing what I can, when I can, year. You see, I want my garden to look nice, as well as start growing veggies, so the first bit I’ve blitzed are the flower beds, which are nearest the house and the bit I see all the time.
Plus the idea is to have friends over for long, hot summer evenings, for red wine and home grown salad and tomatoes to go with the veggie sausages. This has been the idea for the past couple of years. Maybe this year will finally be the much-promised BBQ summer. I live in hope!
Anyhow, whatever happens, this weekend I finally got the flowerbeds sort-of under control (if you don’t look too closely). I’m going to split the plants I’ve already got, like hardy geraniums, aquilegia and sedum, and fill the rest with things like nasturtiums and nigella to keep the weeds down. The aim is for this part of the garden to be colourful and easy to keep, so I can concentrate on the polytunnel, and building a herb spiral.
The ground here is full of slate, and not exactly rich, while the stone walls are slug heaven. I don’t use slug pellets, so my flowers are grown on the principle that if the slugs like them, they don’t get grown again. Plus I don’t have the time or the back, or the energy, to dig in manure all over the garden. And if I don’t dig it in very well indeed, Somebody will eat it.
However, over the past years, I’ve been gradually planting shrubs that will take care of themselves and attract bees, although my poor old lavender plants seem to have died amongst the arctic blasts and will have to be replaced.
With the flowerbeds sorted, it’s time to finally turn full attention on the exciting bit, and get that polytunnel up and going. But that’s for next week. Today, I celebrated spring with a friend by forgetting gardening and going to the beach on Anglesey. We had a beautiful view of Snowdon – still with large patches of snow on top – as we sat in the sun and watched a couple of seals vying for sunbathing position on the rocks.
I did mean to get started on the polytunnel patch when I got home. But I kind of fell asleep in the sun. I’m calling it sun worshiping. And that lovely warm sun hasn’t half been a long time coming.
And anyhow (I keep telling myself) there are light evenings after work, now. Plenty of time to attack the next lot of weeds.
Couch grass and creeping buttercup, here we come …
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