Snow ploughing the landscape

I’m doing a spot of compulsory landscaping this morning: the snow plough must have come through last week to enable Jean Daniel to escape the Mont Godin ice slide of a road. And as a consequence most of the road up to the house has been dramatically and decoratively scalped.   If you were looking for a tool to landscape your garden, you wouldn’t use a snow plough.   It’s a touch clunky.

Great chunks of grass with soil attached are sitting by the roadside just waiting to be put back or, better still, put somewhere more useful.

So after doing all the pruning of the grapes in the courtyard, I took the wheelbarrow down the road and starting scooping up.   Now there are two things that mitigate enjoying this landscaping job. It’s a steepish slope to push the full wheelbarrow up to the garden. And the soil and grass is heavy.   Sort of a two nurafen plus job if you ask me. One now at lunch and if still pinging with sciatica, another one before bed.

But it’s a sunny winter’s day. The woodpeckers are making their particular song, or warning in the lower forest on the trees.   And the small birds are flitting about in the cherries up near the house.   And best of all, there is the most delicious scent on the air. I have no idea what tree or plant is exuding this perfume, but it’s the sort that makes you stop and sniff and then inhale exhuberantly in the hope you can keep it imprinted on your memory.   Would that I knew what it is.   I thought I knew most plants in this part of the garden. But you can never be a know all when it comes to plants.   But glory be if I can find it.

This landscaping job was not on my list of chores today: I really need to get the potting shed treated with mite killing chemicals before they spring back to life.   And this sunny day is perfect for outdoor painting.   But I did achieve one other task on the list. It may not look pretty but I have put weed suppressing fabric around all the fruit trees in the orchard.   Not the world’s easiest task as I have huge deer proof fencing around each tree. And I therefore have to squeeze my hands in between the bars to tuck in the fabric.