Path Clearing

Yesterday evening, I managed to spend three quarters of an hour on the hillside, clearing some of the grass, brambles, thistles, and other weeds with Sigrid the brushcutter. I managed to cut a path roughly from opposite the garage, along the bottom boundary, and then up the natural path all the way to the entrance to the first, main clearing behind the treeline (which wasn't so grassy, but had bracken ready to cut). I cleared quite a large area around the plums and pears, in doing so, as well as a big stretch of brambles up in the corner.

The square in the bottom right corner (opposite the colour-wheel garden) is full of cow parsley, so I'm planning to leave that alone for now, as it's pretty; but I'll cut it down once that's over, as it's also full of nettles. I'd like to provoke them into new growth, as they're starting to flower, which means they're no longer much good for cooking, or making into cordial or beer/wine.

This evening, we took advantage of an offer at the garden centre, and bought a border-size spade and fork from the Joseph Bentley range. 'My' spade (the one that's the right size for me) that we bought a few years ago is lovely to use, and we added a fork last autumn. The border tools are a bit narrower, which will come in handy when working in and amongst plants, as the digging-sized tools can be a bit cumbersome then. They're all really nice to work with: strong heads, and wooden handles are a pleasure to handle (and they're never cold, in the winter, to the touch).