Despite a snowy and frosty start to the year I at last made it into the garden this weekend and made some headway on the grand plans i have for it this summer. I attacked the borders near our collapsing fences covered in honeysuckle and the twisted parasite aka ivy! Not only had the climbers totally destroyed the fence, but their roots had become so established in the border that the only answer was to attack them with a mattock, which I wilded like a psychopath. This less than genteel approach was very effective but I think I have unfortunately destroyed a well established colony of ‘lily of the valley’ in the process (although I am sure some will have survived the massacre).
Because the fence had all but been eaten by the ivy I have had to replace them temporarily to make the garden secure and safe using one of my pet hates, willow roll. They admittedly are extremely cheap, quick and easy to install but they, to be frank look rubbish, well at least in my garden. The simple fact is I had 4 rolls of the stuff left over from a TV shoot and they were a no cost solution to a gaping hole in my boundaries, I hate things going to waste. I have moved a large Nandina domestica, a Camelia and a Sarcococca that will help break up the vast expanse of bare willow. Now I just need to plant up around the larger shrubs to try and hide the screen even more!
I nearly sowed some tomatoes indoors this weekend but even where we live in Essex, it would have probably been too early even for the variety ‘Roma VF’ which i have chosen. This variety is fine to sow from late February onwards so I will take my own advice and be patient when it comes to sowing……….a few weeks wont make much difference!
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