I was just settling down to a spot of P G Wodehouse (biography rather than Blandings finest) last night when I remembered I hadn’t shut up the beans and peas in the shed.  Why it is just about as bad as forgetting to shut up the chooks. Over the winter small beasts have taken to feasting on any peas and broad beans they find uncovered. So I have been forced into devious methods by locking them up into the wire food safes each night. Up in layers of clothing over pjs and torch and everything was snug for the night.

Today was one of those days when more plants (and I mean a mass planting) took place in all areas of the garden. Mind you after a few hours it turned into a trowel hunting session as I didn’t work at the plants systematically. Come inside for a cup of tea and another log on the fire and you can’t remember which area of the garden you were planting up last.

The lilac bed, the herb bed, lawn bed (no idea what we call that, the little bed that delineates the lawn from the vegetable garden . But I put in some white echinacea). The terrace, the shade garden. And in the gloaming even started on the grasses on the bank above the pool.

Surely this is gardening at its most promising.  When the plants actually push their way through the bark chip mulches I have put down I will add some compost around their nascent selves and keep them in minerals and muck. i just hope all the plants can cope with our slightly acidic soil. It’s one of those fundamental issues that I have tended to ignore whilst chasing after favourite plants. And I know I am probably going to pay for it. But I will try and improve their chances with lots of home made compost first. Planted heaps more of these lovely Salvia Caradona plants. I need to bulk out the herb bed with some fun things. Mind you there are plenty of Allium purple sensation bulbs in here. I kept almost stepping on them when I was placing the plants. So once they go over hopefully the vibrant blues of the salvias will shine out.

Started the day by emptying a massive bag of wood ash on the soft fruit trees. Good thing the wind wasn’t blowing – just emptying the bag felt like I had inhaled about twenty cigarettes.

With spring in the air and perfect cool but sunny weather there was no excuse for being indoors. Our I burst and set about on my huge list of tasks. And first up was attacking the large mulberry tree in the courtyard. I came inside to look and see when Nicolas pruned it last year – end of February and clicked on the picture to see how radically it was to be pruned. And yep, crewcut just about covers it. But I was nervous to start; so in a perfect displacement activity I did the vines in the courtyard first.

First task was to remove all the blue string that has been hanging in a rather ungainly fashion for years.  And cut back all the vines to their first bud after the craggy thick trunks. It was rather fun – especially as it afforded a lovely view of the hills across the way.  Blue is definitely the couleur du jour here. Blue string, blue water butts, blue overalls for the workers. I felt like a rank amateur in my sensible grey and black. But at least I didn’t blend in with the sky.

Here is the mulberry mid haircut. And now it looks rather sorry for itself completely bald.  As long as there isn’t a freezing cold snap we may even get some of the usual overwhelming canopy in no time.

Next up I planted yet more bulbs: this time the peacock orchids in the bed under the wisteria.  Tis a mightily crowded bulby place. But the nasturtiums just didn’t cover the whole thing in the summer. Oh, which reminds me. Must sow the nasturtium seeds this weekend. And the cabbage and the corn.

Then after lunch there was no putting off the sorry state of the lower potager.  It seems to have half the mountain of silt covering it. And there are deep runnels all over the place. So I raked and dug lightly and generally slapped it back into the right spot. The little terrace in the middle of the bed isn’t as hospital bed sheet cornered as I would have liked, but at least it almost looks like it did before.

And then in the blazing sunshine I planted all the land cress that had happily wintered in the potting shed. I had managed to plant four of the little beasts before I remembered my weed proof mantra.  So up I trudged and brought down a length of fabric (pre-cut with holes). Here’s hoping it will cut down the weed work later.

Gingerly nursing the lower back I dug over the rest of the quadrants that had been washed away. Took ages – at least two hours of Sense and Sensibility. But it looks like a vegetable garden again. Tomorrow I need to attack the other quadrants.

And to finish the day I pruned the blackberries as much as I dared. I recall last year Nicolas hacking them off right to the ground. But I’m nervous of such slaughter. So I just pruned back mightily and will decide how erroneous my nervousness will be later. And when I later thought about it; I have realised that the monstrous growth this thornless blackberry puts on each season may be the solution to the unsightly septic tank issue just nearby.  If I can train the long branches in the direction of the bank holding up the tank it may  prove very useful. Naturally only very few of them are facing in the southerly direction, but it’s a good project to work on this season.

Cut back the verbena bonariensis and the grasses in the little flower bed in front of the lawn.

Six pm and it’s still sunny, but chill. Time to bring in the little leeks I have unearthed and some kale and wrap my secateur blistered hands around a cooling ale.

Oh what a glorious day. Blazing sun (so warm I even shed a layer of fleece at lunchtime) and the whiff of spring in the air. One can’t frolic with complete abandon; there is still a frost at night and the water in the coutyard ponds was frozen when I woke up. But nothing was going to deter my relentless good cheer.

Today was planting day. First here is a wee photo gallery of the plants I bought en route to my trip up to the plateau. I visited the nursery of M. Bertrand at St Vincent de la Commanderie in the Drome. Chris Banks had recommended it to me and I drove straight from the train station with a mighty list.

Yes, they do have grasses – but not Pennisetum ‘Hameln’. But I came away with swags of stuff. Anemanthele lessonia, Miscanthus sinensis (plain ones alas, but at least I can get a good crop of seeds for next year). pennisetum alopecuroides, some sedum Autumn Joy, Echinacaea purpurea Magnus, Persicaria bistorta, Salvia caradona, and best of all some Perovska blue spires. They are teensy, but hopefully will romp away.

I also brought over the last of the London plants that have been lurking on our top floor terrace: geraniums, lavender Hidcote and the last Eupatorium purpureums that I bought from Knoll Gardens.

First went in all the plants for the lilac bed. I tried my best to stick to the planting plan. But I added extra Persicaria and more Perovskias.

There are still plenty of Asters to go (hopefully from Plantagenet plants in the monster Easter order) and I will add Stipas in the gaps. Plus I have to sow and grow plenty of Rogersias. Must remember to get out my seed box this week and get going.

The anemantheles are my favourite grasses so far: I can’t wait to see how they do under this no-go area under the lilac and mock orange tree. They look lovely right now; but I keep an image of Beth Chatto’s garden in my mind. She has some mighty specimens in her gravel garden and doesn’t give them much water. I suspect hers is better placed, but I can but try.

Next I moved up to the three little terraces on the back behind the potting shed. Most of this bank will be in full sun so I have launched into a mass planting (well at least six of each – this is my first year before taking plenty of cuttings) of echinacaea purpurea Magnus, eupatorium purpureum, salvias and sedums.  And I couldn’t resist adding a few more grasses for some height. If the verbena bonariensis cuttings show signs of life they will go in there too. The poor plants had a rough winter in the potting shed. I just have to hope that they will emerge. The kangaroo paw looks moribund. But I shall be patient and wait a few more weeks before declaring things dead.

The steps above the terraces are an experiment; and look a bit odd right now. I have planted lots of sedums up near the treads. Along with some stipas that survived the winter snow. They are looking a bit crisp, but at least they are alive.  The conundrum I will face is when all the weeds start to appear. How do I keep it neat? And do I sow grass seeds on the treads? Or cover them with weed proof fabric and cover them with bark chips? I have only a few weeks to decide as hopefully this spring weather will last.

I finished the day by gently gassing myself on the peach leaf curl spray mix. A light breeze lifted the water and funcide droplets into the air around the peach trees and almond tree that I was dosing and landed in the lungs. Lovely. Thank god for whisky to drown the taste.

Well that’s quite a spring surprise. The crocus snow buntings are bunting mightily on the east lawn. It must be spring. I was frankly nervous about the winter damage. Heavy rain had wreaked havoc on my lower vegetable bed. It is postively pitted from running water roaring down the mountain. Once it has really dried out I shall rake like mad and try and get the soil back into the appropriate places.

The potting shed shade garden has also had an injection of soil.  It looks suspiciously smooth and the level is a little higher than last month. I can’t quite work out where it comes from: the terraces on the bank above it are untouched. But at least it means I don’t have to landscape.  I think Michel has been here in the past few weeks: the chestnut tree that used to tower over the shed and fling its fruit all over the shop looks decidedly thinner. Less branches. So that is good news. Michel is always mindful of keeping the form of the tree aesthetically pleasing. So he didn’t prune right over the garden where I really wanted to lose some branches. But at least there will be less chestnuts and leaves and branches over the path.

What else is new? Tulips are emerging in the mint prison; bulbs are coming up under the wisteria on the east side of the house.  Nicolas has put in some lovely hefty chestnut poles up at the raspberries. I hesitated taking a picture of the top potager as it is so unslightly, but here it is.

Hmm, black weed proof fabric – isn’t it fetching?

Can’t finish on a sparkling note: the poor sage in the herb garden looks well battered. I don’t dare plant the extra salvia caradonas that I bought yesterday. They are destined for this bed, but not before spring truly appears.