My friend Jean has moved to Scotland. She and Steve have bought a house, but she was down in Yorkshire to try and empty her polytunnel.....well....she's got hundreds, nay, thousands! of plants in there! So she's invited her mates round to take away whatever plants they want. On Friday I drove over, and filled my van with plants! Needless to say it hardly made a dent in her collection!
But it will make a significant difference to MY garden! Above is a selection of the plants she gave me. So this is my job for the autumn/winter. Clearing space/s to plant up. I have never had enough money to go buy this many plants; so to have them GIVEN to me, is an absolute joy! I'm so grateful to Jean. Such generosity.
And the twisted hazel has the catkins already. I've been out chopping it back; letting some light into the garden, and cutting out the straight growths to maintain the twisted branches. The pyracantha has to be massacred once the berries have been eaten; and there'll be more space and light in the garden; that will allow me to have a sense of the structure of my garden, and allow me to make better decisions about where to plant up.
Just love the sculptural forms of these seed heads!
And writing of gifts; this is gift to my 14 year-old self! Who wanted to learn guitar; and never had enough money to buy one; and my parents couldn't have afforded to buy this for me. I've spent some of my redundancy money on this beautiful guitar. Went to the local music shop, and asked their advice. Have been strumming it for the last week or so; but I'm going to see about lessons.
Because I realised if not now, then never. Time slipping away.
Lucky you, what a generous friend, my twisted hazel has catkins as well. I am going to severely have to cut back a lot of my shrubs and trees next year, not something I really enjoy doing.
ReplyDeleteI know Debbie; it's always a wrench isn't it! I had to have my ash tree chopped down last year; broke my heart. Bu the garden is much better for the light coming in, and it was much better last winter, when the sun is low, and the light can be intermittent. I'm so grateful for Jean's generosity; went out and got some membrane to put down as a weed suppressant. Try to keep those plants going now! Good luck with your cutting back. X
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