How I avoid hayfever

Posted on July 15, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Cats, Dappled shade, Flowers, Garden, Gardening, Hay-fever, Mammals, Plants, Sunshine, Trees2 Comments

This is how I avoid hayfever in our garden. By completely eliminating a lawn. Luckily I don’t have an allergy to tree pollen. Over the years the trees have grown big, but I like having my own personal forest glade with bird life and small mammals like hedgehogs and of course cats who patrol the garden and mug my hubby for fresh cat food. At least that stops them getting interested in the birds…. Tweet tweet tweet pounce! I’m sitting here with a busy road just yards away and although I can hear the traffic it’s not as loud. I can hear the tsee tsee tsee of birds singing. The flap of wings as they look for bird food in the garden. The rustle of vegetation. At the moment I’m sitting on a bench in warm dappled sunlight. I guess this type of garden is good for capturing CO2 and for feeding the birds. We got very few cherries this year but the blackbirds are gobbling the ripe ones up high in the tree. In previous years we’ve made the effort to climb step ladders to get them but this year we are being generous!

A few years ago we rented the garden from the previous owner of our house. She then decided she wanted to build on it, and while she sought planning permission we were not allowed on it except for a four foot strip of path alongside the house, she even painted a line along the length of the path to show where we could go! Luckily she was refused planning permission so after three years we bought the garden off her. But the damage was done. Everything had grown enormously and out if control. We have struggled to get it back to some sort of tidiness.

I’ve been very busy with the election and the mystery play over the last two months so I haven’t been able to sit and chill. But today is dry and sunny, came and ate breakfast out here and since my WiFi seems to reach this far I thought I would write about the garden. No sneezing, my eyes are not running and I don’t feel like I can’t breathe, bliss.

Later I will do a bit of pruning. There are a few stray Ash and Sycamore saplings that need removing. Also I want to try and let a bit more light through.

Gardening, never-ending……

Cherries

Posted on July 14, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beak, Birds, Cherries, Eating, Fruit, Fun, Garden, Gardening, Humour, Life, Pecking, Poem, Poetry, Red, RhymeLeave a comment

Loads of ripe cherries

High in the tree

Out of reach of human hands

But not from beaks you see.

Blackbirds, pigeons and magpies

Each have their fill

Of sweet red cherries

They have the skill,

Of flying high above me

Pecking at the fruit

Eating all the ripe ones

In their aerial persuit.

Sweet red cherries

Small and round and neat.

I go without

And the birds get a treat!

This years baskets

Posted on July 11, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Back yard, Blogging, Colour, Flowers, Garden, Gardening, Hanging baskets, Life, Photos4 Comments

I took a few photos of them this morning. The sun wasn’t shining so I think they don’t look as bright as they could. There’s lobelia, fushia, begonia, surfinia, pelargonium, nemesia and other plants in them. There are other plants in the yard and I’ve taken a photo of the cala lily as well.

Plants today

Posted on July 9, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Fern, Gardening, Green, Hanging baskets, Photos, Plants, Spode site, Stoke-on trent, Stoke-upon-TrentLeave a comment

My back yard, fern at spode, carnations at spode.

Just a few plants I saw today. The ones in the yard are mostly in hanging baskets that are billowing out in great waves of colour. The fern is a shuttlecock fern I think because its fronds radiate out from the centre and it looks like the shuttlecock used in badminton. The third picture is of carnation flowers planted up with a blue grass. These last two were taken at the Spode Site at Stoke. There are plants that are planted up by our stairs that soften the edged of the semi derelict buildings there. I love plants.

Flower photos

Posted on July 4, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Environment, Gardening, Life, Photos, Planting, Plants, Rose garden, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Stoke-upon-TrentLeave a comment

I took these photos a couple of days ago outside the studios at Spode. Su Hurrell is an artist there and she works with urban garden planting. She works with other artists and uses objects like washing machines, old chairs, a chest of drawers and other objects.

Other places are being greened in the town centre. There is Spode Rise garden by the China Halls in Kingsway, Stoke, and then some wild planting along London Road and Hartshill and in Lonsdale Street.

I enjoy seeing these plants, it’s great to see people using planting in exciting new ways.

Copper Beech

Posted on June 24, 2019June 24, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Bronze, Copper, Favourite tree, Gardening, Leaves, Life, Poem, Poetry, Purple, TreeLeave a comment

Such a lovely tree

Cooper beech

See me.

Burnished copper and purple,

deep shine

So fine,

I want you to be mine.

Plant you in the garden,

Let your roots entwine

Copper Beech you beauty,

you are so fine.

Copper and bronze

draped leaves

Hanging above our heads,

Shining in the summer sun.

Autumn, your leaves are shed.

Blueberries

Posted on June 21, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Blogging, Blueberries, Ericaceous, Garden, Gardening, Plants2 Comments

One plant is doing really, the other is partly dying off. I wonder if its too shaded out. I’m going to move it into a brighter place.

Anyway one of them is covered with blueberries which are starting to ripen, the other has a few flowers on it. I might also clear the slate off the top of the pots to allow the compost to breathe a bit more.

Summer flowers

Posted on June 10, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Flowers, Garden, Gardening, Poem, Poetry, Rain, Shade, Sun, Sunlight, WindLeave a comment

I’m craving bright plants and flowers,

Summer sun and bright blue skies,

Hanging baskets

Piled up with blousy flowers

Swiss chard and marigolds

Poppies and antirrhinums

Names that scramble on the tongue

But bloom on the ground.

Days to sit on the patio getting hot,

Or in the summerhouse keeping cool

……. Instead? Rain and wind!

No……

Posted on June 7, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Creative writing, Dreams, Funny, Garden, Gardening, Hose, Humour, Life, Noooo, Running water, Tap, Water, WritingLeave a comment

I have really interesting, involved dreams, marvellous fantasies. The trouble is when I wake up they are gone. Dissappeared, dissolved into the mists of reality. I have just woken up from one marvellous concoction. But it’s gone. I can’t grasp it back from my sleep. Today as I woke I could hear myself shouting Noooooo…..

In other news, I just heard the very quiet sound of running water. A hiss that signifies something is happening outside? Went out. My partner had switched the outside tap on last night with the hose attached… He’s left it on all night! I’m surprised the garden hasn’t floated away! We don’t have a hose ban, but I might ban him. Thank goodness we are not on a water meter!

Another reason to wake up shouting Noooooooo!

Spring is here

Posted on May 18, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Garden, Gardening, Inspiration, Leaves, Plants, Shaded garden, Spring, Trees, Wild garlicLeave a comment

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Rain, it makes buds swell and leaves unfurl in the spring. We had to wait for it to rain this year. The trees took a while to come into leaf, and although most of the trees in the garden are covered some are just coming out.

I don’t know what to do though, we have a lot of trees in the garden. If you Google map us you can’t see the ground. It does make for a lot of shade! DSC_2003_optimized (2)

But that doesn’t mean you can’t grow interesting plants. The ones in the foreground are wild garlic. We also have some new Zealand plants from a plant fair, and tomorrow we should be getting a few Woad plants!

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The only unshaded part is South at the back of the garden. Apart from a massive laurel Bush that has turned into a bit of a thug of a tree. Sadly it needs cutting back. I’ve got someone coming to do it just not sure when. What I don’t want to do is disturb any nesting birds.

I will take some photos when it’s tidy? Which might be by autumn!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Gardening