It is done. New plants all installed and watered on Sunday.
It was a nice, sunny day for planting
Just as a reminder, here's a photo taken the day before planting; this is the long bed where the big hedge was flattened by Storm Babet, back in 2023, and was subsequently removed by Michael and the Tree Men. The mulch is all ready, as you see
And most of the new plants went in here. The aforementioned Bonaparte is just to the left of the yellow Forsythia - of small stature, but standing proud. The apparently dead twig in the right foreground is a Weigela, which is expected to be "a riot of colour" in a couple of months
Next to the old fence (which must be 50 years old, but hasn't been seen much until the hedge fell down) the new plants look a bit on the small side, after all the excitement, but I am assured they will grow. That's what it says on the label. The two Photinias against the fence should each get to be 6 to 8 feet wide, which is why everything is spaced out. A lot of thought and discussion went into colours and target sizes. Next up will be some Hebes and shorter things, for ground cover. It was suggested that we might pressure-clean the fence, but I suspect that the moss is holding it together, so we swerved that idea
One of the shrubs was destined for a different bed, next to the back lawn. This is a Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire' which should be really beautiful when it gets going. This one needed some peat and some fancy compost to make sure it is happy in its new home
In case anyone is alarmed, the gardening blog posts should calm down a little now. I could, of course, publish details on the blog every time I cut the lawns, but that's getting a bit like Facebook. If anything significant happens, I'll put something in here. One of the happiest living things in our garden now is a robin, who made great friends with the new gardener, who was obviously here specifically to dig up lots of fresh worms. Every time I step outside, the robin appears, waiting for me to do something useful.
Spoiled, I reckon. Dig em a hole and they want a handful of dried mealworms. [By the way, dried mealworms smell delicious - like roasted peanuts...]
My English teacher, many years ago, told her class that 'nice' was an unsatisfactory word. Hell - looks nice Foy!
ReplyDeleteBy the way - dried meal worms, stir fried with a touch of curry powder, taste as good as they smell. Curried peanuts
Have a nice day
Your teacher was certainly correct, but usage suggests that her view was irrelevant. Thanks Ivan. About the curried mealworms - I can see this might be a wind-up, but, either way, I'll not try them myself.
DeleteI asked Google, "can I eat mealworms?", and Google AI replied, "only if you're a robin, you wazzock". This is a lie, by the way, but it amused me.
They don't remind me of roasted peanuts... do they taste like them? Go on, admit it, you have tried them.
ReplyDeleteHeaven forfend! Never... mind you, I've tried the live ones, and they were awful. That was another lie.
DeleteI wondered whether mealworms are weevils, but they aren't. During my researches, I learned that "mealworms" are different creatures in different parts of the world, at least one of which is mildly poisonous. Thinks: why would somebody know that...?
I’m liking the gardening posts as reading them diverts me from entering in my own…
ReplyDeleteIt's raining today, so no gardening. Apart from the enforced break, this is also appreciated since i don't have to get the hose out to spray the beggars!
DeleteThat is all coming along very nicely.
ReplyDeleteMy garden continues to look like a "Before" photo still. Dogs and lawns do not mix.
We've had problems in the past with neighbours' dogs using the place as a toilet, but it's been better of late. We tried closing the gate - that helped. It's a habit thing - it was mostly one dog, and if it didn't get in a couple of times it found a new toilet. That and the pork pies soaked in bleach...
DeletePork Pies Soaked In Bleach....if I ever form a prog rock group I will send you the cheque personally*
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