PLANTS IN FLOWER: Auricula, Hellebores (various), Miniature Hebe, Primroses, many types of early Daffodils & Narcissus, early Tupils in bud, Iris bucharica, Crocus, Primula.
This month has seen the transformation of the old stable into a good sized potting shed/greenhouse with a good working surface and several shelves. I cannot wait to get it all organized into a horticultural workshop!!! It is situated at the bottom of the field by the new deep beds and is now surrounded with hardcore to provide another working surface. I am not sure whether to use some old concrete paving that I have stacked against the barn at present to make the whole area a little smoother and more pleasing. I want to discuss the overall layout with my brother when he visits next month since he has a created a spectacular large, urban vegetable garden in the area of King's Cross in central London from a piece of wasteland. For example, I would like to make some proper compost bins from wooden pallets as well as designate an area for an outside fire pit and some additional seed beds.
In terms of hard landscaping, the paving around the pond has now been repaired: the area just requires a topping of grey pea gravel to fill in the gaps between the stones around the pond and top-dress the sloping aromatic south-facing beds beside it to help suppress the weeds. Contrary to my high hopes, all my rosemary has died again over this winter. I will have to protect any future plants under shelter during the colder months as I am getting tired of watching the demise of so many valuable and carefully nurtured specimen each year. I will replace it with lavender officinalis which I know survives well in this terrain - taking the lead from the Maesmynis Lavender farm just across the valley from me. My kitchen herb garden, however, is looking quite healthy with many of the plants springing to life already: the chives which line the front of the bed are even in bud.
The four newly commissioned deep beds have also been finished in the field. Now I just need to lay some weed-proof meshing and cover the surrounding paths with chipped bark to keep the area tidy and weed free over the summer: that is the theory anyway ......