What a beautiful day today, the temperature reached 17 deg C in our back garden. Clive managed to prise open the back door, as it is south facing in the winter it warps and is so difficult to open, in the summer, it shrinks back and in heavy rain leaks, can't win whatever happens.
I wrapped up warm and sat on the patio sunning myself. Made a lovely home made strawberry milkshake with organic strawberries (yes I know they aren't in season, but I fancied some when I did the Tesco online shop). It was lovely, gave me a boost.
Laura started digging. We have a mature garden that is now too mature and creating too much shade over the beds or swamping the ground, so a complete reworking is needed. Laura dug up a huge cyclamen, which is now in a pot and dug up campanula and put that in the compost bin. Now I don't want you worrying about destroying campanula, if you see how invasive it gets, you'd understand. I bought a pot for 50p from the Women's Institute just after we moved in and it is extremely rampant and is everywhere.
I did a little bit too, still not a lot of energy with this nasty bug, but did feel as though we made a difference. I dug up a chive and split and replanted at the front of the fresh bed Laura's made. Then planted the shallots and garlic I'd got, I don't know if it will work, but over the top I've planted 2 rows of radishes, 1 of rocket and another of lettuce, hoping that they will be a catch crop before the shallots and garlic need the space. I can always transplant the lettuce, I've planted Webbs Wonder as it has always been my favourite and it's years since I grew any. I suppose I ought to pop some in a small pot on the windowsill anyway, just incase the slugs have a feast. Tip I've just got from UKS, there's a new thread on veg growing, is to put out loads of porridge oats, apparently slugs gorge on them, then die. Keeping fingers crossed.
We need to sort out the garden, get rid of the large shrubs, dig up all the strawberry plants that aren't very productive and make some raised beds if we can. We are also going to dig up an area just outside the back door and fill it with jerusalem artichokes. Ha Ha, they grow over 10 feet tall and will make a fantastic barrier between us and our neighbour from hell, plus vegetables throughout the winter.
Clive has also started working on the front garden, we are again going to get rid of all the large shrubs and replace with bedding plants/annuals.
Yes we are planning on moving this year, so hope that we can have a very pretty garden in the front and productive at the back. We are taking loads of cuttings to enable us to move our favourites with us, but making the gardens look more manageable. It doesn't matter if we leave behind a garden full of veg, perhaps the new owners will appreciate picking their own and we may convert them.
I think I need to draw some designs, I just need the accurate measurements. I still find it easier to draw on paper rather than use design software, perhaps I should get the overall shape in the computer, then I can keep printing new versions out.
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