Fresh Start

Hello and welcome to my blog!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Well, it's been a few years. Mostly because a lot has happened at home (not that I'm making excuses) but I really wanted to start again and pick up where I am in the garden.

Not a lot has changed, to be honest. I still have my polytunnel and greenhouses. There's still a pond in the back garden and still plenty of wildlife thriving.

I don't know about you, but I'm finding that time is flying by! It's already April but I'm happy to say that I'm now catching up with everything at last. At the beginning of the year my husband was in hospital and I'm not going to lie, it was an awful time. Luckily, after a scary moment, he recovered and we now know what's wrong - vitamin B deficiency. 

Let's have a look at what's been happening in the garden:

Planting - 

I've been adding lots of extra plants to the front and back gardens, including Euphorbia, Ceanothus and Hydrangeas. With the front garden, I want to create something that will produce a mix of colours and attract wildlife. There's a bird feeding station and two bird baths there, while by the front door there are some pots to have even more plants.

The back garden is slowly being sorted out but I've lost a small tree over winter. I don't don't know why I lost it but it was a dwarf willow. I had been regularly pruning it and it had water but somehow it died. I will find a replacement but a different species, maybe a shrub. Underneath it is a ground level bird bath, which is popular with small birds species such as house sparrows and dunnocks, so I don't want to lose that cover for them. 

I've also been preparing my veg patch. A new difference is I'm creating a permanent fruit area. I've already planted some currants and gooseberries. A few more of those to go and some jostaberries. There's some blackberries there, which I've cut back and which I'm going to try and train to grow in two lines.   

Pots - 

I've been pruning and adding fresh compost to a lot of my potted plants. On the patio there are some small trees (olives and a magnolia) and lots of Chilean guava. As I don't use any pesticides I tend to check for weevil larvae in the soils. It's easy to spot them and take them out. That then gives me the chance to refill with new compost at the same time to boost nutrients in the pots. 

I bought some new plants recently and added them to a pot where I previously had some annuals. Here I have planted carnations and hardy fuschias.

After adding fresh compost I now have some new growth on the Chilean guava. My whole family love these fruits and I particularly like them in a soya yogurt or just on their own!

Years ago I had blueberries in pots and sadly now have just the one. I rescued this one and trimmed all the dead stems, then added new soil to the pot. It's started flowering now and although there's not a lot there to expect, it's a great sign that the plant is much better.

Wildlife - 

The camera traps are coming out! So far I have spotted our hedgehog in the garden, busy as always. He likes to have a drink at the ground level bird bath. I sometimes leave out kitten biscuits for him if I think that he needs extra feed.

The birds have been busy too. The robin follows me in the garden for any mealworms etc. She has a nest at the moment (back of the garden). The blue tits have also built their nest, where I have a camera next box. So far no eggs but in the past, they have sat on eggs from around the second or third week of April so nearly there! This year also sees plenty of house sparrows. My best moment so far though, was spotting a green finch! It's been a long time since I've seen one. They used to be so common when we first moved in and it was a joy to plant sunflowers for them but then they stopped coming. I put this down to trichomonosis, which is a disease that has reduced the green finch population. I hope that we are getting an increase now. I'll keep you posted on that and add any photos if I manage to capture some on camera.

Jobs - 

So, for this weekend I've been sowing seeds mostly. 

Here's what you can do during April:

• Sow any seeds - fruit and veg under glass if they need warmer temperatures or outdoors for plants in the garden that are hardy.
• Clean any bird baths and feeders - this should be done regularly. I mentioned the return of the green finch in my garden, but if you don't keep feeders and baths clean diseases spread all too easily, which can cause a decline of bird populations.
• Keep protecting tender plants if frost is forecast.
• Indoor plants can now have more water. I have started to feed my houseplants as they are waking up to warmer weather now. 

Some seeds that I sow are tiny! These snap dragons (antirrhinums) are very small, so I use a cocktail stick that I dip in water to catch individual seeds and pop them in a tray of soil. 

Steve bought me this lovely miniature rose for Easter. This will join all my other plants in the dining room. 

So, I'm hoping to keep on top of this blog now and will let you know what's successful and what isn't!

For now, enjoy Spring and a very happy Easter to you all.