Sunday 18 December 2011

Fairs

from this...




to this... bliss.


Now all we need to do is the Christmas shopping.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

The Icky Pond

Today I finally had a day off work (after 27 days straight!) and decided to end the gardening drought by heading off outdoors to see what needed doing. There was so much it nearly sent me screaming back inside to call in and beg my boss not to let me have any more holidays. But then I gave myself a good talking-to (and bribed myself with a gin at 4pm on the dot) and headed off to tackle the most hideous job: the icky pond.
I started it four years ago with fond hopes of it becoming something like this



But it hasn’t. Instead, here’s the slimy, leaf-ridden mess I’ve just spent an hour and a half clearing out.


There’s leaves, leaves, and more leaves. And the water mint which just took everything over and smothered all the nice marginal plants which I’d carefully sunk round the sides in pots. Not that the frogs seem to mind, in fact one of them happily sat and watched me yanking all the knotted tangle.
The pebbles which were put round the liner have all fallen into the pond and needed hauling out, to be replaced by slabs to cover them. And hurrah! There’s a marsh marigold which has survived and a yellow flag water iris underneath all of it, as well as a water lily which was thriving.





Finally, it’s done. The plan is to have loosestrife - yellow and purple - and meadowsweet around the sides, and lots more marsh marigold.




Pictures of plants in summer are ALWAYS cheering, aren't they?

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