After weeks of winter weather that has included snow, frosts, ice, hard ground and very cold winds it has been a joy to be able to get back into the garden again if only for a couple of days.

In those couple of days I have been able to get on with some real gardening. What do I mean by real gardening? The answer may come as a surprise when I say starting to clear last year’s debris from the herbaceous borders, pulling up any weeds that have managed to survive the winter months, gathering leaves and cutting out and dead spotted on shrubs while weeding. I have heard so many people say that they enjoy planting up a border but hate the maintenance that follows. I can understand but gardening is not just about planting. Just like a room in the house the garden needs a bit of TLC to keep it looking good, how you plant will determine how much time you need to put into the regular tidying. I plant quite densely so most of my work is late winter / early spring clearing the borders before everything starts to put on a spurt and cover the soil.

Along the edge of one border I planted marjoram (oregano). The golden leafed form is a plant I would not be without; it is like a ray of sunshine in the garden and has the benefit of small but masses of beautiful flowers. Also along the border edge I have the larger varieties with much darker green leaves and these again have a mass of flower. The idea of the planting was to have them close to the kitchen and be handy when required for cooking, so much nicer than dried oregano. This has worked well but there is yet another advantage of growing marjoram. As part of my cleaning up the borders exercise I have been weeding around the marjoram plants and cutting off all the old flower stalks and the smell of marjoram that has surrounded me has made the job such a pleasure.

The garden birds strangely are eating more seed now than when the weather was really bad. I will have to buy a new sack of seed sooner than expected! It is not very often I spot the Blackcap but this pretty little bird has been visiting the fatball that I hang in the Magnolia close to the conservatory. He is quite nervous and as yet I have not managed to take a picture. However, one bird I have been able to picture is the Sparrowhawk. I heard a bang on the conservatory window and also heard our cockatiel going berserk. She must have thought her days were numbered and he that here was a colourful and easy meal. Anyway he sat very conveniently on a bowl not far from the window so although taken through glass I am quite pleased with the results. We humans are taught by our parents what is danger and what is safe. Our cockatiel will have been separated from its mother at a very tender age and yet she instinctively knows danger. We don’t have to look out of the window to know that a Sparrowhawk is flying by or a neighbourhood cat is passing through. Amazing when you think about it.

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