Wednesday, March 14, 2018

How to celebrate Mothering Sunday


It was Mothering Sunday (UK) on the eleventh of March.  When I got up I opened the bedroom curtains to see what the weather was like and to see whether any garden birds were on the bird feeders.

What a surprise - it is the first time I have had a mother's day greeting made out of pebbles!



B. had been out in the garden from early on to create this message and to put the two planters in place.  I went out in the garden to take a closer look.


B. had taken advantage of when I was not around during the week to plant up the two large pots with the plants she had selected for these arrangements.  She worked on the principle of 'Thrill, Fill and Spill', an idea she had seen on a gardening programme. Over the next few weeks, the plants at the rear should grow taller (Thrill), the ivy at the front should grow over the edge (Spill) and the various flowers are planted so closely that the compost is hardly visible (Fill).









The happy gardener - I never noticed the many plants, that were disguised by horticultural fleece, and placed around the edges of the garden.





 After breakfast we planned out the rest of the day.  Should we go out and join the crowds of mothers and their families celebrating the day or should we stay at home and garden together?  The choice was mine.
So we stayed in for the day, the weather was dry and quite mild in comparison to what it has been in the past month; it would be a shame not to take advantage.

If you look carefully, with a magnifying glass, at the first photo you will see that the main veg patch is full of weeds and behind it is the frame around the strawberry patch,which is full of weeds, grass and strawberry plants that are too old to produce good crops.  So that is were we started.
While B. cleared the veg patch ready for this years crops, I dismantled the cage round the strawberry patch and cleaned up the mesh panels, ready to store away.  Then B and I cleared out the old strawberry plants and weeds, saving any new strawberry plants (from runners) ready to replant in another part of the garden.

The veg patch and strawberry patch were given a new layer of compost, then B. lifted three blackcurrant bushes and one goji berry shrub, out of the veg patch and  replanted them into the old strawberry patch, now renamed the soft fruit patch.  This was given a layer of tree bark to help discourage cats from using our newly turned soil at their convenience.


This part of the  garden was transformed and it was getting too late to start any more jobs in the garden so we tidied away all the tools we had used.  The birds had not been discouraged by our presence and visited the areas where we had disturbed the soil, looking for a tasty morsel, or visiting the bird feeders.


A long-tailed tit


When we at last got back into the house B. cooked a roast dinner, so we had our own celebration meal with wine, which was another part of my Mother's day treat.

For me - it was a perfect way to spend the day - thank you B.