Bald mulberries

bald-mulberry.JPGBack after three weeks away. The mulberry in the courtyard has gone from green and verdant to bald. And all the leaves are prettily strewed over everything. I couldn’t see much in the dark but am dying to have a good snoop this morning. The tree surgeon has been. But not my favourite wall builder by the look of things.

The journey was seamless, and quick from the new Eurostar track from St Pancras. Amazing how you leave the station, hit a tunnel and then in the blink of an eye (well, page one of the newspaper) you are in the countryside.

Now here’s a surprise: I brought lots of plants and seeds this month. And the big packet of bone meal and a positively Santa sized sack of vermiculite. I’m itching to get out and get those raspberries into the ground. But there is building work to discuss first.

So now we know what happens with the guest house. We spent the morning with gaffer tape, placing out the new layout of the bathroom and entrance hall on the floors; and sorted where the new kitchen will go: upstairs. It was most enjoyable with Dario and Manu coming up with vital electricky comments. Then it was onto the new roof insulation discussions in the main house. And the only gardening I had was to collect the dead mulberry leaves in the courtyard and put them in their special compost bin.

Luckily the afternoon was rendered all things gardening by the arrival of Nicolas. I had forgotten he was away this month; which explains the lack of wall work. But Tuesday next week is attack day. And even Bernard is on board to do the rock hefting.

jekyll-rose.JPGThe raspberries need to go in, but not in the place we had planned. Nicolas has suggested the edge of the terrace so that they can cast a shade and give some shade loving plants some space. And the soil is deeper in the middle of the plot. It’s a bit thin on the north side of the potager.

Other tasks this month included planting the rose in the courtyard. Mme Reinhart told me that she tried planting a bush next to the rose and it didn’t thrive. This afternoon I found out why. I started with a spade digging out the soil. First snag, there is a pipe running parallel to the building just below the surface. And then barely one foot down your reach solid rock. Ah. I made a good-sized hole and thought I’d best check the drainage before I committed this expensive David Austin Gertrude Jekyll rose. And I realise that it was a swimming pool. The water didn’t drain at all. So that’s definitely a poor site. I will have to plant the rose in a big container instead.

So more work for Bernard if he can build me some big pots for the courtyard. We need some for the mint forest as well. It is merrily spreading in the ground outside the house, and needs containing. And it may even be a god way to try and unite the disparate qualities of the digging-raspberry-bed-1.JPGcourtyard. I could paint them the same colour as the (soon to be transformed) shutters. And make some containers to go around the frankly ugly water trough. That should be fun.

And speaking of water we have plenty. Just a month ago we tested the huge tank up in the forest and there was barely a foot of water in the bottom (prompting a rather hasty changeover to town water as we were probably only running mud). But now the water tank is full to the brim. Almost six feet of water and one floating dead frog. And the excess is dripping quietly but merrily into the trough. I will have to empty the tanks if I don’t want a flood in the courtyard.

the-raspberries-dec-07.JPGA gentle rain has drawn me inside: that and the promise of a cup of tea. What a successful day. I now have a whole row of raspberries. Twenty-eight in all I think. Three asparagus-in-progress.JPGdifferent varieties: two summer fruiting ones and the same amount of Autumn Bliss, the slightly later ones. Bring on the summer. I wonder if they will fruit in their first year? It was such a joy digging the trench to plant them. After the struggle of the London clay it feels so amazing to be digging through soft, rich, easy-draining soil. And well improved soil too. I dug out the trench, filled in with some compost from the old horse manure. Placed the soaked canes, each at their appropriate distance, and then easily planted them. Just a top dressing of more compost (purchased from Gamm Vert this morning) and then sit back and admire.

Then it was back to weeding the last little strip of the vegetable garden I didn’t get round to last month. Plus pull out those pesky deeply rooted weeds that have regrown since last month. And then on to the asparagus trench.digging-asparagus-bed.JPG

I know, I know, I am supposed to do this in spring; but they are begging to go in. So if all goes well, I shall create the necessary mounds in the trench tomorrow and get the crowns in the ground.