Sunday, June 08, 2008
Summer is here
It seems a really long time since last summer so I'd forgotten what it was like. And the things you have to do, like gardening. So yesterday was a big offensive on everything green. The grass had its second cut of the year - before I started it was even longer than when I cut it for the first time a few weeks ago. Thankfully the grass only covers about 180 square metres (0.044 acres). For comparison, the centre circle of a football pitch is 260 square metres.
The hedges that were starting to block the paths were chopped back and a few holly tree branches felt the bite of the saw. Hidden away in the topiary (a.k.a. the round hedge) was a small Yellow Shell Moth.
According to UKMoths.org.uk, this is a common creature that grows up to an inch in wingspan and flies from June to August.
The flower beds in the back garden (and I use the term "flower beds" quite loosely) are becoming overwhelmed by a crawling blackberry plant. Calling something with long tendrils a bush doesn't seem quite right. And loads of grass so we can't actually see where the lawn ends and the beds begin.
A survey of the plants-in-pots has shown a high mortality rate - I know it has been raining quite a lot but it has also been dry in between and that was when we failed to supply water ourselves. A few rose bushes have turned to twigs and one of the 10-year-old horse chestnuts has given in, although it's twin a few pots along is covered in large leaves. The ash tree is fine, although that has a larger pot than the rest, but the sycamore looks sickly. This is strange as normally a sycamore is like a weed and grows everywhere as quick as you like.
The avocado struggles on, year after year, despite all the neglect I shower upon it. Admittedly it is a lot shorter than in recent years after being cooked inside the plastic greenhouse. I disposed of the greenhouse a few weeks ago as it was just becoming too full of holes - the plastic the manufacturers chose for the sheeting was almost as poor a quality as that used to connect the metal poles together. I now have several months to decide what to do before the frost returns - maybe the avocado will come back inside the house (providing it no longer has any bugs on it that crap on the floor).
The hedges that were starting to block the paths were chopped back and a few holly tree branches felt the bite of the saw. Hidden away in the topiary (a.k.a. the round hedge) was a small Yellow Shell Moth.
According to UKMoths.org.uk, this is a common creature that grows up to an inch in wingspan and flies from June to August.
The flower beds in the back garden (and I use the term "flower beds" quite loosely) are becoming overwhelmed by a crawling blackberry plant. Calling something with long tendrils a bush doesn't seem quite right. And loads of grass so we can't actually see where the lawn ends and the beds begin.
A survey of the plants-in-pots has shown a high mortality rate - I know it has been raining quite a lot but it has also been dry in between and that was when we failed to supply water ourselves. A few rose bushes have turned to twigs and one of the 10-year-old horse chestnuts has given in, although it's twin a few pots along is covered in large leaves. The ash tree is fine, although that has a larger pot than the rest, but the sycamore looks sickly. This is strange as normally a sycamore is like a weed and grows everywhere as quick as you like.
The avocado struggles on, year after year, despite all the neglect I shower upon it. Admittedly it is a lot shorter than in recent years after being cooked inside the plastic greenhouse. I disposed of the greenhouse a few weeks ago as it was just becoming too full of holes - the plastic the manufacturers chose for the sheeting was almost as poor a quality as that used to connect the metal poles together. I now have several months to decide what to do before the frost returns - maybe the avocado will come back inside the house (providing it no longer has any bugs on it that crap on the floor).
Labels: Nature
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