The Garden is Waiting

Our main concern at Freshwinds Garden is the pond.

Anne has worked so hard on it.

She has removed all the plants which are now safely potted up in troughs of pond water.

The frogs are there too.

She has dragged the liner out and found many piercings.

Under the lining carpets and duvets have been removed and carted away.

Steve and I have been attempting to change the topography

by building up some areas and making a shallow entry point.

We dragged the old liner back to prevent any cracks appearing in the hot weather.

Tomorrow we tackle the next stage.

Elsewhere around the garden I have thinned out the bearded irises after watching Monty Don on Gardeners World.

I`ve made a new row and left half of the old one so there will be some blooms next year.

The garden is waiting.

Splitting Iris and First Crops

The weather has been cooler and after rain, weeding and planting are so much easier. My main job has been splitting another clump of iris sibirica.

This is a hard job.

I managed to get some pieces back in.

We are still waiting for the new pond lining but I have been remembering when we first made the pond in 2011.

It has lasted well. I just hope the wildlife returns quickly to the new one.

Anne found these wasp nests. I think they are exquisite.

But I was sorry to see one of the nests from the cobshed eaves has fallen.

It is beautifully made.

Now I know why we left the self-seeded foxgloves.

Mingling with the bee borage.

And our first crops are coming in.

Kohlrabi

Tiny turnips

Cucumbers

And here are a few things looking good at the moment.

Lychnis, roses, the water trough filling up nicely and alstromeria flowering once again after having been moved a couple of years ago.

June is Busting out all Over

The roses are beginning to look so lovely. Most of them are half-price bargains which makes me smile. They are certainly thriving in Freshwinds Garden.

But I have noticed today that the flower beds and raised beds are suffering from lack of water.

Let`s hope there is substantial rain soon.

For the past two visits my main job has been one which has been put off for a couple of years ..... digging up and splitting the iris sibiricus.

Steve had to help with the digging out. The ground is already so hard.

Then it is a matter of hacking the old growth away from the new.

The first clump I teased apart gave me 160 pieces.

They were long over-due so it was a good job done.

Seems I disturbed quite a few snails as well.

The daisies have centre stage at the moment.

But you can see the grass is very dry.

These are the dahlias that caught the frost, making up for it with incredible growth.

And here is a poppy that has seeded itself.

Inside the polytunnel everything is making tremendous progress.

We are continuously pulling out morning glories which have seeded themselves everywhere. There is a limit to how many I can pot up.

And the very first sweetpeas are out .... self-seeded as well.