Winter is coming to an end, and I haven’t bawled about the horrific weather too much this season! I must be getting more tolerant – about time after 6 years eh! Of course as I write, it’s the second week of March and there is a hoolie of a gale blowing outside with serious lashings of rain to accompany it. And, one of my young trees has broken – not fallen mind you, just literally the wind has broken the top off. Let’s not dwell, I can’t bear to think about the poor thing too much while I write to update you. That would just make this whole blog post go south. But, welcome to Bonnie Scotland.
Last year as you know, I got all fed-up and antsy after 5 years of trying to bring a garden/ yard that had been neglected for nearly 2 decades up to scratch. I was tired of having this vision of what I wanted to do with the place only in my mind. So I went ahead and ordered 700 spring bulbs. Oh yes, you can read about that saga in the highlighted links. All of the bulbs did get planted, some a little late I must admit, but they all got in the soil by the first week of December – yes, yes, I did say some got in a little late! It was exciting to think that this spring my vision for the garden might actually take root.
Honestly, just seeing the shoots and the very first of these new bulbs flower has given me great joy and happiness during these last couple months of winter.
To try to make my vision come alive, for the first time in 6 years, I have been doing some gardening tasks during winter. I will admit, I should have caught on to this years ago, but the winters I have experienced living on other continents and in fact in other parts of the UK are very different to the winters here in North West Scotland. The obscene quantities of punishing rain and frenzied gales kept me warmly confined to household activities previously. So, while not many, the tasks I have done over the last few weeks have given me a chance at keeping to an ideal schedule this coming year.
I have indeed moved Sonadh’s rose – remember I said I wanted to? It is now planted near the back door and a variegated holly has taken its place at the front, and the area around it has been landscaped a bit with stone chips. I have also completed the outer outline of my cluster of flowerbeds, with large stones. And, let me tell you, barrowing those stones down the back hill and through the mud pit of the back steps (nope, they’re not built yet!) was no mean feat. It did involve a couple of graceful tumbles, but hey; does a real gardener ever come back from an outdoor stint all pristine? I just need to neaten up the base of my rose hedge and create a stone border around it, and further deal with the Potentilla issue in my front corner garden flower bed and that will be it for the winter jobs. Right?
Nope! I have weeding and re-mulching of other beds to do. Ugh, let’s not talk about that right now. When I actually sit down and think about it, I am indeed still in a race against time with the gardening tasks – especially as I only have one day a week where I can do any. So in my infinite wisdom I must say my tactic is not to think too much about it, and just get down to it. That’s what I did with the stone border to my cluster of flowerbeds. I honestly wasn’t feeling the task as it was a horribly windy and blustery day but, it was my gardening day, I had to bear it and get it done. I’m very pleased that I did. I do want to paint this border as it’s a separate section of the front garden, I’ll take a picture when it’s all done.
While I was doing that, the Hubs – on a rare weekday off – was clearing the back yard portion of the croft of the rushes that had accumulated over very many years. I’ve had to learn about rushes quite quickly because one doesn’t come across this unless you’re gardening (or farming) in open grazing land/ pastures/ or since we’re in Scotland, on the moor. Of course we couldn’t get rid of everything we cleared because the rain came down (we’ll have a job drying out the cut rushes once the rain stops) but my heart sings just looking out from the back door and seeing the complete back yard visible and looking neater than before.
It also means that the area I had envisioned for more veg beds (remember my dreams for an orchard?) is now clear for me to rake and lay down beds and transplant my hydrangeas and rhubarb. I have great plans for this area which also include doing the veg garden right with flowers to act as pollinators as well as to attract the pests away from the veg – so we’re talking sunflowers, marigolds, nasturtiums, echinacea, Helenium and a bunch more! Isn’t it fun that the common name for Helenium is Sneezeweed?! I really love referring to plants by their common names as it brings so much character and a bit of anthropological interest to the reference.
Guess what I also learned? Helenium can take up to 3 months to germinate from seeds. Yep. What a sad discovery, I had been so looking forward to having them around while sitting in the back yard watching the pups romp. I sadly resigned myself to a simple back yard this year.
Then, it happened.
My bulb and postal plant supplier of choice (where I always have a list of items in my shopping cart for the moment I feel I can indulge myself in a special order – which as you know doesn’t happen that often) sent an email detailing their ‘double up for £1’ promotion. Essentially, if I ordered 1 set of anything within a specified range, I could get 2 sets (each set contains 6) for just £1 more. I was hopeful, and having a large area of front and back garden to cover I felt it my duty to investigate. Once I saw that many of the perennials on my wish list, and which were being slightly dodgy at germinating from seed (yes Miss Helenium I’m looking at you!) it was game over. I was done for. The purchase had to be made. My vision might just be possible after all!
Delivery in 28 days – okay I can handle that. I purchased 3 trees which I’m supremely excited about, so if delivery comes at the end of March/ early April I can just about manage my almost non-existent budget and cash flow to get a long hose and I can figure out not just how to clear the invasion of rushes from the back yard (it’s halfway covered with them) but also how to break up the ground to prevent them from re-growing – and also get the sacks of grass seed I’ll need to re-sow the area. I think we need a plough of some sort!
But life isn’t like that folks. There’s always some sort of curveball designed to stress out a happy situation. Life really makes you work for the good moments, y’know! So, is my purchase coming in 28 days? Oh NO. Not at all. It’s coming in the next 3 days – fewer than 10 days after purchase.
Cue the panic – I’ll keep you posted!
