Through the garden gate --March 2024

 

Well, Spring has arrived, but it hasn't brought any good weather with it. We continue to have lots of rainy days. The garden is starting to look more colourful, lots of yellow and blue from the daffodils and pulmonaria. The trees all open up their buds at different times. The Amelanchier is the first to flower, it looks attractive even before the blossom comes with  a haze of pink buds. I can see it will be flowering in the next week.  

We have had some dry days and I have been very busy trying to get the Spring jobs done. Pruning is a job to do in March and I've gradually got most of that done. I decided that the twisted willow tree needed a prune too, it grows very quickly. One branch which was growing very tall needed some attention and it involved Richard up the ladder with his saw and me holding tightly onto a rope tied to the branch to stop it falling over the fence on to our neighbour's car. I don't think we would have been very popular if it had! I cut the branch up afterwards, it's twisted stems will make good supports for the peas at the allotment. Other smaller stems look good in a vase and the remaining thick stem was sawn up and put in the bug hotel. Other very small bits of twig are left on the lawn for the birds to help with their nest building. Nothing wasted. Holly enjoyed playing with all the branches too.   

I started tidying up the borders and mulching. I have almost finished the back garden and then will start on the front and side gardens. It's a long job and hard work, but the garden looks so much better when it's done. The mulch shows up the emerging plants well, I can see what is coming through as I go along and decide if any need moving or thinning out. 

The tulip pots are starting to flower. I planted some in the autumn which were a mix of purple and orange and I am quite pleased with them, although the orange ones look more red than orange, but the colour combination is quite good. I have another pot which looks like they are going to be white although the label I put in says orange. Either I have labelled them wrong or the garden centre did. It will be interesting to see what they turn out like.

I love the pulmonaria which are flowering now and how they self seed around the garden. They pop up in unexpected places. I usually leave them unless they are in completely the wrong place. 

The euphorbia are in flower too now, growing well in the shade of trees or shrubs. I have been cutting them and the pulmonaria for the house, they go well together. Also starting to flower are the brunneras and primroses --more blue and yellow.

This weekend is Easter and after a rainy week it looks like Saturday and Sunday will be sunny days then we will be back to rain next week. So wishing you all a very happy Easter and enjoy your gardens.

I am linking this post to Sarah's blog at Down By the Sea for her monthly Through the Garden Gate post.