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Sunday 11 April 2010

TLC is Long Overdue

So today I decided it was time to stop talking about the lack of love and to start giving love. Yep! I worked in the garden today, uh huh, I think the garden was as shocked as I was ;)
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So the sun was shining and beckoning me out to play, the spring flowers were revelling in the warm sunshine.
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Critters were about as well and I spotted the first of this year’s pond skaters on the two mini ponds today. There was also the peculiar sighting of a what appeared to be a green back male chaffinch. It didn’t appear unwell and sat for a long time on the wisteria pruning it’s feathers.


I’ll be sending a photo to the RSPCA to ask if this colouring has ever cropped up before.
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Anyway enough sidelining, so what did I get done. Well the whole garden could do with a proper spring cleaning; the flower beds need last years old vegetation removed now that the hibernating insects are up and about. The mini ponds which I neglected to cover last autumn are full of old leaves and need cleaning, even the frogs forgo spawning in them this year, boo hoo, not that I blame them. The vege beds were only partially cleared last autumn so they need to be cleaned of old vegetation and I need to start sowing new crops into them (since I am running about a month behind, I think I’ll be practicing more direct sowing and hope the slugs don’t bite me in the you know where for my efforts). The herb bed needed the woody herbs to be cut back for fresh new growth to flourish and of course the lawn is also ready for its first haircut.
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So where to start, well its always best to start at the top, so it was the flower bed that I concentrated on to today. I went outside about 1:00pm and finished at just before 6:00pm.
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As you can see in the before photo, all the old vegetation gave the flower beds an untidy look and so had to go.
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On emptying the first lot of dry material into the compost bin I found this monster clump of mushrooms growing in the cooked side of the bins. I really wish I could id them as I am sure they are edible but since I didn’t want to chance a trip to A&E for the family, I opted to leave them well alone.
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Before After
The herb beds are parallel with the upper part of the flower beds and so while I was up on that end I also tackled the pruning of the woody herbs. It is all looking sparse now but there was lots of fresh growth left on the shortened stems which will soon full out again.
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While sourcing some self sown feverfew plants fro the vege patch to replace dead specimens in
the flower beds, I came across this seedling of a self sown French marigold, which gives me hope that the other seeds I scattered between the edges of the footpaths and the raised beds sides may have survived the harsh winter conditions and may germinate.
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So check out the flower beds now they have been tidied up, what a difference.
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Just before going inside I chopped up the dried out stems of the three clumps of fennel I have growing in the flower and herb beds. I use these to create habitats for the little mini beast in the garden. As you can see in the photo, the stems are hollow and are perfect then for solitary bees and wasps to lay their eggs, spiders and woodlice wouldn’t give it a miss either. And later in the year lady bugs might over winter in the larger holes.
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As you can see in this picture something gnawed its way in during the winter months either to forage food or to keep out of the cold. Which is why I leave them in situ till the spring but I am careful to remove the fennel seed heads late autumn, I keep some in the kitchen for use and the rest I throw away, as I don’t particularly want fennel plants popping up all over the garden.
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I got quite a lot of habitat material from the three clumps of dried out stems, so I’ll use some to plug the gaps of my insect motel and the rest I will tie into bundles to hang around the garden. I’ll sure to have more than I need so I’ll take the rest to hang around the plot down at the allotment.
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Well the compost bin is looking nearly full again, so tomorrow I’ll tackle the lawn, vege beds and if time permits one of the mini ponds.
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I have also updated my other blog: Me But A Little More In Depth and you are more than welcome to pop over for a read.
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Catch you all laters,
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3 comments:

  1. Hi Kella..nice to see you back...looks like you had a busy weekend but the garden is looking great. I love what you do with your fennel...I will be thinking about this for next year so thanks :-)

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  2. Wow, well done, your garden looks fab!

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  3. Hi Tanya its nice to be back, this year's challenge looks like its going to be all about remaining motivated, such a bum way to start but at least I got started.

    And another hollow stem plant that can be used in this way are sunflower stalks.

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    Thanks Scented Sweetpeas, knowing you all are out there will help me keep it that way.

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