More Top Soil Moved

A couple of days work on the raised fruit beds...I finished constructing the first of them, which was a time-consuming job as it has about 25m of perimeter, half of which is curved. Nonetheless, I finally managed it, and am quite happy with the curves. It's needed some supplementary pegs in the straight sections, as otherwise they were threatening to bow.

We then dug it over, laid some of the turves that have been breaking down in their stack, and filled it: we haven't quite finished the first delivery (6m³) of topsoil, but we're nearly there. About 1m³ left, I'd guess. I've then started the second bed, which is a bit smaller, and slightly simpler shape, but this time with a convex edge, as well as a concave. Still, I'm not very far into it (rain stopped play): I'll try to crack on during evenings of this week, as a further 6m³ of soil arrives on Thursday morning...and Liz would like somewhere to move it to, as she's on leave Thursday/Friday.

Here's hoping for clear, dry evenings this coming week!

The daffodils are continuing to look very pretty, and new ones in different varieties are coming up, so the show should continue for a while. No further puschkinia or scilla have emerged, and I'm now very concerned for the anemones. On the other hand, the flowering currants have been a hive of industry for the bees for a couple of weeks, but are slowly reaching the end of their season. To balance that, the Amelanchier (juneberry, forget which type) is looking excellent: its new foliage and flowers are always really striking, and although it can be a little 'plain' over the summer, it then brackets the season nicely with good autumn colour, so I'm a fan. The tulips (Pinocchio, and botanical) are looking good, and opening up on bright days.

The apple, cherry, and plum all have what appear to be flower buds that are a week or so from opening (I reckon): the lilacs also look to be coming in to bud. And the Astilbe (still in its pot) is coming up: Astilbe are a favourite of mine, for no particular reason.

First Mowing of the Year

Having had several fine days in a row, and realising that my lawn/moss patch was in need of attention, I've taken the opportunity to try out the new lawn-mower.

All-in-all, I'm rather happy with the mower.* It did a really good job of collecting the clippings, and changing the blade height was quite straightforward. Nothing can change the fact that there's a lot of grass to mow, but the 90 minutes walking up and down wasn't really too bad. And it even looks a bit neater now.

While the purists might suggest I should cut it twice-per-week during growing season, I really don't see me having the time, much less the inclination. If I have that much time to spend in the garden, I'll be devoting it elsewhere.

* As ever, the Amazon link, should you follow it and buy, will earn me a commission. I like to note this, from time to time. They're useful for me, as they provide quite a neat summary of a Thing that I'm talking about. And any such earnings will be spent on horticultural, photographic, or gustatory pastimes.

Three Completed Raised Beds

We're both rather stiff and sore, but the strawberry and two raspberry beds are now completed, and filled. It's taken about 3-4 cubic metres of topsoil, and they're looking really good. I'm in the middle of building the lower of the two mixed fruit beds: it's going to take a bit longer, as it's complicated by a curved side, and it's also quite a lot bigger.

The raspberries have been replanted, and are looking happy--some of them have a couple of new canes budding. The strawberries are mostly looking well: I reckon we've lost 9 or so of the Cambridge, unfortunately.

Many of the daffodils have come out, and are looking really cheerful: there's a good variety of type. The 'Cheerfulness' in the front aren't out yet, but the pinnochio tulips are looking very pretty. Still a bit short on puschkinia and scilla, and no sign at all of the anemones, which is worrying.

It's been a glorious weekend of sun; really still today, and a little cloudy, but that made it cool enough to work. Yesterday morning was brighter, but actually a bit hot. Long may it last.

Strawberry Bed

Just a quick note: we got home from work early, so we've driven in the stakes/posts for the strawberry bed. They're shorter than for the fruit beds: about 1' in the ground, and 21" above. That means I can hammer them in, rather than digging, which is much quicker! I'll screw the boards onto the posts when next out, as the first load of topsoil arrives this Friday. Fortunately, the forecast for the weekend is good, so hopefully we can make good progress with making the beds and filling them.

Almost all the Florence and Honeoye are looking good, and about 15 of the 25 Cambridge are doing well. They were the ones we were concerned about, but enough of them seem to have survived.

More of the squills have come up, though I'm not sure that the full 50 we planted are showing; similarly, there are meant to be 100 puschkinia...hopefully they're a bit slow, rather than dead...

Wedding

We got back from Hazel and Alex's wedding very late (about 0300), and--predictably--slept in. Today's a day for pottering, so we've ambled round the garden and admired the spring bulbs, and watched TV. Very decadent.

The wedding went really well: the ceremony was nice, and the reception appeared to be thoroughly enjoyed. Hazel and Alex looked great, and the photographer appeared to be doing a good job. I loved an opportunity to dress up (a black morning tailcoat, traditional black/grey/white striped trousers, a purple/lilac patterned waistcoat, and purple cravat/pocketsquare), and I think the toast was well received. Alex's mother produced a really excellent cake, too, which was very pretty.

The standard of dancing was incredibly high, as Alex and Hazel, and a lot of their friends, are keen ball-room dancers, so the first dance was--in a literal sense--awesome.

They're off to Scotland for their honeymoon: hopefully I'll be able to admire some photos when they're back.

A Few More Posts In The Ground

Just put a few more of the 2x2" posts in the edge of the berry beds. Two were straight-forward; one discovered a drainage channel two foot down. Bit of a problem, as I wanted it about 2.5-3' deep. Still, I've worked round that issue.

The daffs are coming, slowly: we're going to cut a few to get them to open inside (bit of extra warmth). The puschkinia are now looking rather pretty, and the squills are opening up. I also noticed a patch of--I think--chiondoxa hiding underneath a berberis (at the end of the upper existing bed, near the oil tank), which are rather striking. We'll have to relocate them/protect them while taking out the berberis. We've also found daffodils turning up all over the place (not just where we planted them last autumn), often hidden or obscured by something overgrown. What we suspected of being a flowering currant has confirmed itself as such, and the one we (slightly brutally) transplanted from the in-laws' garden has also started flowering.

The daffs in the front (Cheerfulness) haven't come up yet, but some of the tulips are near. And the hyacinths in the pots outside the kitchen window are looking good.

In other news, we're off to Cambridgeshire tomorrow, for Hazel and Alex's wedding on Saturday (actually nearer Peterborough, but we're staying with them Thursday & Friday night to help prepare. I'm nearly happy with my Best Man's speech (it's really more of an elongated toast, but there you go), and will be practising it on the journey down...

Easter Weekend

We spent the weekend getting on with the raised beds...it now appears that we're growing posts, admittedly, but it is coming along well. Most of the posts for the berry beds are now in: they're 3x3" posts for the corners, and we're putting in some 2x2" posts along the edges, as they're curved: the posts will hopefully help form the curves. They're all rather tall (the raspberries' posts are about 7', and the berry posts 6', to allow for a foot of raised bed, and then enough space for the bushes to grow.

There's still a long way to go, admittedly, and we'll then need about 20 cubic metres of topsoil to fill them all! I'm having to dig spade-width holes for the posts: they're too tall to hammer in, and--additionally--there are so many stones that it would never work.

The daffodils are coming up, but there are only a few that are imminently going to be out properly. The puschkinia are coming up, but looking a little small as yet. The siberian squills are there, but similarly small; but there's no sign of the anemones yet.

We also had a shopping trip, which led to a car-full of stuff...never mind. In addition to a couple of rolls of loft insulation (we can only fit a couple in at a time, so we get some whenever we visit: we need another 8 or so to finish the lofts), we also bought a lawn mower, a garden vacuum/blower, a new blender, and some odds-and-ends.

Although we currently have quite a lot of grass/lawn, neither of us is a big fan of lawn, so we'll be reducing it as the beds are created. Thus, there's unlikely to be much of an expanse that needs proper tending (read, striped and short). Combining this with the gradient and softness of the soil, I wanted a hover-mower, as only a self-propelled petrol would be a sensible alternative, and I just think that would get literally bogged down.

The vacuum/blower I'm absurdly excited about. I'm hoping it'll make clearing the leaves and twigs in autumn much simpler, and I'll probably try it out soonish on the remnants of last year.

The blender was a coup: nominal price £125, reduced to £50, but we had a £20 voucher after the delivery disaster with the freezer/washing machine. £125 blender for £30? Yes, please.