If you are a weekend gardener what a great couple of days it has been for the UK gardener. It is a long time since I have been able to write that but thankfully both Saturday and Sunday were dry and sunny. On Saturday we had a cold wind blowing but that made it the ideal day to start attacking the lawns for the first time this year. Attack my sound a bit strong but that is what it felt like. With two wet summers on the trot the moss in both the front and back lawns has flourished, especially the front which is north facing and shaded for much of the day.

Ideally I would have applied moss killer and then raked out the dead moss but the moss had become so thick over the wet winter months that I took the decision to rake some out first to get some air to the soil. With so much moss it was permanently wet and encouraging the growth of even more moss. Running the mower over after raking helped to gather moss discarded by the raker and although it looks a mess at the moment hopefully by summer it should be back to something like its best.

The birds certainly benefitted from my activity as soon as I was out of the way a variety of species descended to feed on seeds and no doubt creepy crawlies that I had disturbed. The blackbirds also took beak fulls of loose moss left on the lawn to line their nests, none of which have yet to come into view.

It is hard to believe that only three weeks ago the garden looked a comparatively sorry and barren place. The snowdrops are still in flower, the crocus are magnificent, the daffodils are suddenly showing on mass brightening everywhere with their cheery yellow trumpets. Yellow is my favourite colour and for me the sight of these little beauties is uplifting after the dark and dismal winter months.

Also in flower are Hellebores, Mahonias, Winter Jasmine, the first few blossoms on the Crab Apples, Polyanthus, Chaenomeles (Ornamental Quince), Forsythia and Pulmonarias. Our neighbour has a Plum Tree and Forsythia in flower planted next to our dividing hedge that we gratefully “borrow” at this time of the year. Add to this the promise of things to come with the fresh green new shoots of perennials exploding onto the scene and the colourful buds of Spiraea opening.

In the greenhouse the tomatoes are pricked out and it is likely that the Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) will need the same treatment this week.

This last week I pruned the Dogwoods (Cornus) which was a hard thing to do. By that I do not mean the pruning was difficult but when the stems are still looking good it takes a lot of resolve to perform the task. But to have the same show next winter it must be done.

Add to this the first sighting of a butterfly, bumblebee and goldfinch and it has not been a bad week in the garden!

My Garden is My Space

Garden Diary