Wish I could do some gardening

For the first time this year, the weather has been clement for a few days on the trot and the garden is drying out a bit. Ideal gardening weather then, but sadly I haven't been able to get out there due to a virus which has made me incredibly tired. All I've done is keep the bird feeders topped up and made regular checks of the pond to see if there is any frogspawn: there isn't yet. I also took a few photos of spring flowers including this Primrose.

Apart from the Primrose, the other things out at the moment are Snowdrops, Pansies and Crocus with some of the early Narcissi buds beginning to show some colour. There are plenty of other signs that spring is just around the corner too with fat buds on many of the deciduous shrubs and new leaves on some of the perennials such as Aquilegia, Verbena, Fuchsias, Dicentra and Tradescantia to name just a few.

I haven't sown one seed yet! But now the days are getting longer and brighter I must get around to sowing Tomatoes, Chillies, Physallis and Sweet Peas as soon as I have the energy. Hopefully that won't be too long away.

Georgie

Happy New Year

Like many other parts of the country (but unusually for London) we've had snow on the ground for over a week and only today is it beginning to disappear in the garden. So needless to say I've done nothing in the garden apart from top up the bird feeders and put out water for them. I haven't got any early bulbs out yet but hopefully it won't be long before the first Snowdrops and Narcissus come into flower.

I'm not sure if I've said before but I hope to plant a native tree as soon as the ground is workable. After a lot of thought I've decided on a Rowan (Mountain Ash) and I'm hoping to get one from my local nursery. I've never planted a tree before so I'll have to do some reading up before hand.

Another thing I was thinking of doing this year was putting in a slightly bigger, deeper pond. But thinking about it I'm convinced that I won't be able to dig a deep enough hole in the space available due to the many shrub roots. This is probably bad news for the frogs as I very much doubt the tadpoles will survive in the current pond if last year's experience is anything to go by. I suppose the alternative would be to install a raised pond, perhaps in a lined half barrel, with some sort of ladder for access? Looks like I'll have to do some research.

Finally I've joined the London Wildlife Trust and my membership pack arrived today. I haven't had a chance to read any of the literature yet but I'm hoping for lots of inspiration.

Georgie