Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with not even the slightest breeze .
I knew this would be a good time to tackle the "ugly side " of the garden .
My new little folding saw had arrived and I set to sawing off the one last branch of my favourite Russet Apple tree .
The idea being that one could throw a cap through the centre of the tree .
Due to poor health , I haven't pruned this tree for quite some time .
I hope it wasn't one branch too many !
I still need to clear some of the grass from around the bottom of this apple tree.
But I just really have to get on and sort out this ugly area . It is full of Bindweed . I tried laying old carpet down on it ,thinking the carpet was wool and so it would kill the Bindweed and then biodegrade .
Wrong ! The Bindweed came up through it !
I covered it with black plastic , but this was very thin plastic which strangely had tiny pinprick holes all over it , so the Bindweed came up through that too !
Well , I spent the whole morning pulling all this plastic off.
The carpet would not come up , no matter how I tugged and pulled and tried with the shovel .
I had marked out roughly the edge of this area with rope . The carpet went out beyond and under the grass . I had to sort of slither the grass off the top . Roll back the carpet and then patch the edge up with the slithered turfs .
Tried again with the pulling and tugging ..... no luck . It would seem I did a really good job of laying the old wool carpet down there fifteen/sixteen years ago !
I don't want to use pesticides .
So I am going to give it one more try with an even heavier black plastic sheet .
Arm aching from sawing the apple tree branch down . Back aching from moving heavy fence panel , tugging and pulling ....I stood up to stretch out , take a little wander about . Admire the Snowdrops and the Cyclamen leaves .
..... and the beautiful yellow stems of this willow . ( Another job to be done ! Has to be coppiced down so it will make even more beautiful golden stems . )
LUNCH TIME
After lunch , I don't know how , but I managed to get my aching bones back outside to finish off .
I laid down the old thin sheets of plastic towards the back and lay the old fence panel down on it to hold it down .
I am going to try and find an old pair of scissors and little by little , cut the old carpet back as far as I can .
Beyond this are all my young tree saplings (the Jane Goodall mini forest 🌳🌳🌿🌳🐒🌳) and beyond that I have planted Griselinia bushes . I am thinking of fixing up some windbreak mesh along the wire fence at the very back , to protect the young trees from the North wind ,while they get going .
Very thankful that the wind had died down today while trying to lay this plastic sheeting .
I have laid down some old fence posts around the edges to hold the new heavy black plastic sheeting down and the upsidey down broken old wheel-barrow .
Eventually , I will be putting my potato tubs on here which will also help to hold it all down .
Sarpo mira potato seed arrived and are now chitting on egg boxes and I have Red Duke of York in small pots sprouting in the garage .
Upsidey down broken old wheel-barrow .
Some hazel rods which I have cut ready to make an attractive woven Hazel path that goes between this ugly area and the bonfire heap . This little path will enable me to walk around to the back and tend to the hedging .
I can't do this until the bonfire heap is gone .
I want that bonfire heap gone because this area is facing South and would be perfect for growing lovely tropical things .🌴🌿🐒
I still have three gorgeous Gingko biloba saplings to be planted out along the back here . ( which I grew from seeds 🌱🌱🌱 ) It will soon be too late to plant them out and then I will have to re-pot them into large tubs now .
Above all ...I WANT THAT BONFIRE HEAP GONE !
So that's what I did pretty much all day yesterday ......(.not the bonfire )
One more exciting thing ....
Cucumber Beth Alpha F1 - have all germinated !
🌿Hope you're having a lovely weekend . 🌿
🐒🌳☀️
