Saturday 29 September 2012

Progress in the garden

Small Tortoisehell on Sedum (reversion from 'Frosty Morn').
Fine dry weather, a cooperative back and nothing in the diary allowed me to get out into the garden for a good session today. The priority was to start digging a long broad strip so it can be used for the snowdrops and other 'woodland' plants. The grass covering it was sprayed-off in mid-August, so it is now throughly dead and ready to be dug in. The soil here is a rich dark loam, with not a stone in sight - a delight after the stony ground of Colesbourne. Eventually the back protested it had had enough of digging: the soil is heavy after all the rain we've had this week. There's plenty left to do, but I moved on to mowing the lawn. Five passes at different settings got it mown to the bone and looking scarcely less brown than the glyphosate-treated areas, but it won't be long before it's green again.

Lovely dark loam!

Colchicum agrippinum in the first bit of border to be planted-up.

5 comments:

  1. There is nothing better than a new garden and how nice to have better soil than the last garden

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  2. Look forward to seeing the snowdrops in that border next year.

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  3. Hope you've taken before and after pics

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  4. Wow! That is definitely cool. I am really looking forward for some update. Thanks a lot for the share.

    Happy Gardening!

    Shyra @ Cheap Sheds NZ Limited

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  5. I love digging up a new bed, with the fun of the planning and all of that fresh loam to cover. You will be able to fit alot of snowdrops in there.

    I wish that snowdrops grew better here, but they don't seem to like our cold and prairie-type winters. I've tried numerous times, but I only get a few survivors here and there, never a good display. I had decided not to torture any more Galanthus by planting again, and then I saw some really good sized G. elwesii bulbs, nice and plump, in the store last week, so I'm on round 5 of the Galanthus experiment. I've never seen them available in the green around here, so I hope these bulbs grow. They get lots of fall tree leaf cover, which should help.

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