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Saturday 28 May 2011

Thoughts from the back of the herbaceous border...

am I a pansy 




or a poppy?




Both flowers I adore.


The idle gardener rides again...


My method?


Let Mother Nature get on with it, after all she's been doing it a lot longer than me.


I love the way without thought, rhyme or reason she just pops things wherever the mood takes her.  When all is said and done she does know best.  No soil tester required here.


Without knowing why I seem to have cracked it.  Friends with a 'uniformity is a fine thing' persuasion come and marvel at my higgledy-piggledy veg plot and wild and woolly border.  I smile sweetly for all the world pretending that was my original idea.  I lie by omission and not own up to the real truth?  How her best mate - God - restrains himself from not striking me down on the spot for fibbing I'll never know?  At the very least my charcoaled remains would enrich the soil.


The G & T type of gardening is my particular fav...








you know the sort of thing, getting the hammock set up between the magnolia and the long suffering weather-vane...
cushions plumped, paperback nestling in the folds, small occasional table ready to receive
the weekend's papers, a bowl of nibbles, accompanied by the sound of...
No... not leather on willow...
ice on glass.


Gently swinging in the breeze to the deafening sound of bird song, tweets, chirrups and ear splitting whistles.  The problem of being the owner of an ancient HUGE hedge!


Today found me gardening with gusto, this I hope gives you a little idea of my casual approach to ' I think the answer lies in the soil!'


I nipped out at 8.30 this evening and took these photo's just to give you a flavour, 
hence the poor colour.




The border in which I bottom uppermost...




hoed and dug over, trying for all the world not to flatten too much!




My raised beds where I have salad leaves.
banana shallots and garlic.




My triffid marrows (rude ones I've written about before), 
french beans, tarragon and frilly salad leaves.




Climbing French beans, sprouts, calabrese and carrots, tomatoes, rhubarb and more funny marrows




Greenhouse with tomatoes (Sungold), Crystal (wonderful round and friendly) cucumbers and hot, HOT chillis.




And there you have it...


I've quite made myself tired looking at what I've actually done.  And I can honestly say it hasn't taken hours and hours of work; alright I know it looks that way, but it hasn't!  Even I sometimes think how has this happened with the minimum of effort on my part.  Perhaps after all my friend is on-side for me -


"Ours is not to reason why, ours is to do and die"


***





6 comments:

  1. It all looks gorgeous! Very lush and the colours are beautiful. In my garden Mother Nature rules OK?! With the occasional hour of manic activity, followed by 3 weeks of back recovery :o(

    x

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  2. I have a vision of you getting in your hammock - and it's not quite as romantic as your post suggests!!! xxx

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  3. Your garden looks gorgeous! And your attitude to gardening is brilliant! x

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  4. Your garden looks stunning I am so jealous. We have had so much rain the last couple of weeks mine desperately needs attention but I'm very much a fair weather gardener..

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  5. Your garden looks fab. Take the praise!
    Lisa x

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  6. What a beautiful garden. Wonderful for enjoying on a summer's evening. I don't see the point of a militarily manicured garden that involves so much work that you never get to sit and enjoy it. Yours is perfect. M x

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