We still not have seen much of the anticipated spring weather yet here in the garden, but I have had one good day of gardening this week. I started off by having a good look around, which I do most days. I found that the Blackbirds must be starting to nest as they have been taking compost from the pots and doing a good job of pulling up some Begonia tubers and Nerine bulbs. Last year they did the same to my seedlings, but I have them well protected in the cold frame this year. No real damage has been done as the Begonias and Nerines are not actively growing yet, so I have just pushed them back down into position and replaced the more fibrous compost with finer loam-like soil to try and deter the birds.
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| Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016 |
Despite the cold weather, some of the tulips are forming their flowers
I checked on the Dahlias I had left outside enclosed in a good layer of bubble wrap, they were actually quite damp inside so I decided to remove the bubble wrap and place the container into the bottom of the cold frame to allow them to dry out a little. Inside the cold frame, the Cornflower seeds have sprouted but that is all. The cold weather has not not been ideal for the approach of starting most of the seeds in the cold frame this year, but I will not start to worry or change my plans until April.
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| Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016 |
There are some other signs of spring appearing in the garden too
I have pruned back the deciduous grasses. We have two in containers and now is the time of year to make space for new growth. I repotted the larger one into a new container, next year I think I will try separating it into two plants. We have one small evergreen grass in the borders and this does not require cutting back, but I did tidy out any growth that had died back to make it look more presentable.
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| Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016 |
I have cut back the deciduous grasses, leaving any new growth
I have planted more seeds and put those into the cold frame too. I did six more Cornflowers, some Nasturtium, Trailing Daisies and some other cut flowers the name of which I only know in German, from where they were kindly donated. Hopefully soon, some more will begin to sprout through.
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| Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016 |
The cold frame is starting to fill up with seeds
I also planted the first fully outdoor seeds of the year too, I decided to grow Chives at the base of the apple tree that we have in a large container. Last year I put Nasturtium in the same position and they were attacked heavily by Black Fly. I am hoping that Black Fly do not have the same love of Chives and also it should provide us with some herbal crops for the salads and other bits of cooking throughout the year.
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| Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016 |
The home for the chives this year
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