Buy one get one free

As any gardener knows at this time of year weeding is a never ending task but not  one to just switch off when it becomes a slog.Being so hot and dry this week I can make huge inroads into the weeds with a dutch hoe.Each winter I put huge amounts of our own compost over the herbaceous borders.We are on heavy clay and if I did not do this, apart from the nutritional benefits, the ground would be like concrete and impossible to sustain the less robust plants.I do try to keep the compost free from weeds by covering each layer with grass clippings and hope the ensuing heat will kill off the weed seeds but this is only partially successful.When I first came here there were no compost heaps (terrible I know) and most of the plants were straggly and poor due to a lack of feeding.It is not that the soil is poor but it is so heavy it does not release any of it nutrients.I managed to get a huge supply of horse manure which cured the problem but introduced another - couch grass which nine years later I have only just managed to eradicate.I made the same mistake years ago on another garden and introduced bindweed which is so difficult to get rid of completely.Anyway back to the hoeing.Before I start I carefully check over the area for any useful seedlings that have appeared.Under our beautiful tree peony as you will see from the photograph I found two peony seedlings which I will carefully pot up.In other parts of the garden I check for calendula seedlings which I leave insitu as they always flower better and longer than ones we have planted.In the compost I often dig up and move to a more suitable location,nicotiana and California poppies - all for free.I have a little area near the greenhouse of seedlings I have potted up as I'm not sure what they are,mostly these get thrown away but occasionally a gem surfaces.This is where I found a buddleia alternifolia which now has star billing in one of the horseshoe borders.  This also breaks up the monotony of hoeing - or at least that is my excuse.

Fess up time

When I said dry in my last blog I did not mean this dry.It has meant that all the planting out has had to be followed up with plenty of watering a very time consuming occupation.
Earlier this year I bought a batch of potting compost from a chap who calls round every year. Normally this is excellent but this last load has been a disaster - nothing grows in it. I have not tested it ,something I will do in future but I suspect it is really acidic, nothing gets going once it has germinated. In future I will only use John Innes for this purpose. The result is that I have no sweet peas ,usually a feature of the garden not only in the vegetable plot but scrambling up through shrubs to give colour and to enhance the scent in seating areas.I hoped to buy some at the local garden centre but I have left it too late so I am hoping a very late sewing will save my bacon. I rescued most of the cuttings I took over the winter by changing the compost ,not something to be recommended but at least it has worked.It does not matter how careful you are there is always something to trip you up.Listening to Gardeners Question Time always makes me feel better as they all make great big mistakes.A mistake I made last year was to grow all the tomatoes outside a disaster as they all got blight due to the awful weather. This year they are staying in the polytunnel which pretty much guarantees a scorching dry summer.

My last confession was the dahlias last year which I did not cover up in the barn sufficiently well - they all died.I have grown nearly all the replacements from seed and they are terrific so I do not feel quite so guilty now apart from the beautiful 'David Howard' that I must replace as I miss it so much.Dahlias are so easy to grow from seed I will do quite a few more next year and just leave them in the ground to overwinter with a decent mulch.If they survive well then great but if not it is not such a disaster.

Late frosts

I have just got back from a weeks holiday, pleased with myself for not putting out the tender plants.It would have spoiled my holiday if I had known that the frost was causing havoc at home.

A week walking in mid Wales among some pretty wonderful scenery.Also managed to see some wonderful gardens.I am a sucker for old fashioned walled gardens and Croft Castle in Herefordshire did not disappoint.Although just as far back because of the persistent cold weather as we all are, there was plenty to see from the perfectly pruned apple trees to the huge collection of sedums.We were based in the Elan Valley with a huge area of mountains and reservoirs with lots of pretty little towns with local food shops another of my favourite hobbies!Did some great walks and have got the blisters to prove it. Now back to work and quite a busy week ahead hardening off the tender plants and preparing all the containers as well as catching up with weeding and grass cutting - lets hope it stays dry.

The plate spinning act

This is the time when everything is growing too fast.The grass looks as if it needs mowing again just after you have finished and the weeds are appearing all the time.

.The weather forecasts here are not very accurate in fact at times complete tosh. I remember last year I checked the forecast the night before as I wanted to spray weedkiller on the drives and pathways and some spot weeding of thistles along the lake.Dry for the next couple of days said Richard Angwin our local BBC forecaster.So I spent most of the day with a knapsack sprayer - a hot heavy job spraying the weeds.I had not been finished half an hour and yes it p****d it down.I was so angry I even sent him a snotty e-mail.It is with this in mind that I am looking at the weather forecast with a little trepidation,frost is forecast, which could spell disaster with the apple trees in full blossom.Fingers crossed he is wrong again.I do hope we get some warmer weather soon though everything tender is looking very sulky.
I split some of the beautiful delicate water lilies and planted them in the ornamental pond which was beginning to get congested this week.However careful you are the soil does escape from the basket so I double line them with old fleece from the carrot beds.They soon burst out though but they do look amazing when flowering.

Birdsong

There is a blackbird that has started waking me up early every morning.It is driving me mad ,not because it is so early,at the moment just before 5am but because of the song that it is singing,or rather a phrase in that song.It is catchy like a pop song.Throughout the day I hear this bird,sometimes faintly but every time somewhere in its song the same phrase.I work in other gardens and listen carefully but it is only this one bird that uses this phrase.Never noticed it before,but like a trainspotter I collect bird noises,differentiating the hyena like call of a woodpecker from the squeeky toy sound of a swallow or the low distress call of birds when  a predator is around and even the warning calls of birds when someone else is in the garden eg the boss - so look busy.
This week as part of my habitataid work I went to Archies field for the first time to check progress and to spray weedkiller on some thistles emerging on the margins.The roughly triangular shaped field is right next to the A303.The topsoil has been scraped off and left to one side and is the major culprit for the thistles.This leaves a mainly sandy over gravel meadow just perfect for wildflowers and considering this is only its first year and pretty early in the season very impressive.I am looking forward to the results later in the year.

While I was there I could not help looking at what birds were there.As we were so close to a major road with a constant supply of road kill there were plenty of magpies and crows and even a buzzard.Then being lucky enough to work in tranquil surroundings it struck me that you could not hear any birdsong it all being drowned by the roar of traffic from the road.Now most  people in this country hear other noises ,the odd car or children playing but this was oppressive.It was like living next to Niagra falls constantly overpowering everything.Do you know I missed that pesky blackbird!