My garden

My garden is overgrown, particularly the front hedge which is trees and bushes. The local council has sent me a warning letter to get it cut back in 14 days. But I’m physically not capable of doing it, I’m on a low income and my garden is a haven for birds, squirrels, sometimes hedgehogs and bats. I’m going to try and get it done, but will have to rely on friends as my hubby died 18 months ago.

What is worse is I struggle with anxiety and having a letter addressed to the both of us really upset me. I found myself crying on the phone to a council worker. It makes me feel like my heart is breaking. I just wish hubby was still here. Meanwhile I will try and plead for some more time.

Guttering

My guttering around the house has been dripping on me. When I finally looked up I could see grass protruding from the gutter above the front door. Every time I went out in the rain I got wet.

Luckily the neighbours recommend a workman who would clean it out. He came today to do the work, it  literally took 10 minutes, including putting the ladder up to the roof, but it’s worth having it done. He bought down a bucket full of moss, leaves and grass. Hopefully it is now sorted out. He asked me how long it’s been since I’ve had the guttering cleared and I had to admit it must be over twenty years. That means the cost was a few pence for every year I have lived here!

I forgot there was sky

Looking up, not at a roof, but at the sky. I’d forgotten it was there. The privet tree and hedge are missing, and I feel their loss, but if I want to look up for meteors or to try and see aurora I can do it now. And you can’t take the garden off me. That garden where I’ve seen hedgehogs and squirrels. I will try and get the rest of the garden (the bit I never show you because it’s overgrown) a bit tidier and let more light in (enough) to grow roses and honeysuckle. Xxx

Just a note. Spaceweather.com has updates of astronomical activity and there is a possibility of auroras tonight in North America and Europe!

https://www.spaceweather.com

Gardening woe

Someone banged on my front window this morning, insisting my garden is overgrown (it is) and saying the council wants him to cut our trees down! I asked his authority and he said he was doing a local survey for the council and they would take action unless I got work done? He had no id and was really bullying and pushy. He had tree surgeon and land survey written on his vehicles. I said I was already going to get the work done (I have someone who can help). He said neighbours had complained. (the neighbours houses are empty!). He then glanced at the hedge and said he would charge £550. By then I was shaking and my anxiety was high. But I held my ground and asked him where he thought I would get the money from? He replied he has four daughters and needs to work 6 days a week! I told him to come back in a few weeks and it would be done (why?). It was only after speaking to my councillor that I realised he had not shown me his id, he mentioned no laws or legal information, and he did not mention where his authority for coming round and making demands came from. I put in a written complaint to the council. I think it was a scam, and if in fact he did represent the council he was not professional. He was a bully and demanding. I cannot imagine him being employed by them. Beware, Cold Callers can be very persuasive.

The yard

Very leafy, I need to pot some small flowering plants on but not while my arm is shaking and sore. I’ll try and use some pain killers to stop it hurting so much. Hubby has dumped a big bag of compost in the way and I need to get it moved so I can get further up the yard. Some of these plants survived the winter, they are very leafy, to be honest I could move them into the main garden but I don’t have the energy and there are some dodgy steps as you walk round the back. I must get hubby to get some sand and cement to replace some loose bricks.

Cutting back Russian vine

Don’t plant this thuggish, invasive plant! We planted two of them ten years ago and they can scramble and climb forty feet or more in a season! It dies back and leaves tangled vines in the winter but it can grow tough ropey tendrils in the summer. A true triffid of a plant. Hubby was up a ladder dragging filaments of it out from underneath the shed roof and from the alleyway behind our house. It needs more work but it was exhausting for him. I’m tired and all I did was steady the ladder!

Convolvulus

Lovely flowers on convolulus plant, they may look beautiful but the plant grows madly and scrambles over other plants. It entwines and strangles them. The stems grow long distances and the plant can smother a garden. I saw these at Bovisand Bay in Devon. The fly on them gives an idea of their scale. The leaves are heart shaped and block out the light to underlying plants. If you get it in your garden it takes a lot of work to remove it. If you leave a tiny bit of its white roots in the soil a whole new plant will grow from it.

Still want a sculpture

Fox sculpture.

I still want a sculpture in our garden like this but the artist has not been in touch. I wonder if something has happened to him? Oh well, people get busy. I will try again and see if we can have it done.

A good friend came round earlier today and helped with our garden. It’s getting very overgrown and neither me or my hubby can manage it anymore. The whole thing needs cutting back and pruning. Unfortunately the wisteria was a casualty as it has grown into the ivy that has got onto the roof of the extension so it needs clearing. Then you might be able to see a sculpture!

It’s a tight fit!

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The yard is now so full of flowers you have to walk sideways down it to see all the plants and water them. There is a great variation in leaf size. I noticed my hubby has snuck in a couple of oOak trees and an Ash tree. I keep telling him we don’t need anymore. I have a friend with a large field. She has offered to take our walnut saplings and I think she will take these as well.

As the season continues more mad things appear! Hubby has put irises in hanging baskets and sunflowers to bring more colour into the yard. Morning glory seedlings will go out this week if the weather picks up a bit. Some of them have started to throw out tendrils that are clinging to the ferns in the bathroom.

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Trees

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I have a lot of trees in the garden but my partner always wants more. I tried counting them once. We have 3 leylandii, a crack willow, a walnut, 2 cherry trees. A couple of apple trees, a pear tree, an oak, a eucalyptus  a plum tree. Also a couple of Ash trees, and a mountain Ash. Oh and a silver Birch tree. A small beech tree, and a fir and Christmas tree. A monkey puzzle tree, a lilac tree, a sycamore and an acer. .. Too many .. Enough!! Plus there are bushes and shrubs….

It’s no wonder I can’t get flowers to grow. Its too shady and dry!

No more trees please,

That’s enough,

Growing tall.

Shades the ground.

Leaves a plenty,

In the sun,

Stops the flowers growing,

It’s no fun.

Give light a chance

Let daffodils unfold,

Bluebells flourish

Campions show pink,

And cranesbills cover the garden.