Taming the orchard bank

I bet you are pleased you are seeing the ‘after shot’ first.

This huge bank was a mess.

You can’t even see the fruit trees in here.

I had been meaning to get round to taming the overgrowth of undergrowth all season.

But what with that heatwave and drought that lasted two months…

And it was always just one terrace too far for the will to wield the secateurs.

But this week with the extraordinary event – water falling from the sky – it was comfortable working.

We had one evening of rain, and then the bliss of just 24C temperatures for a few days.

So I just started at one end and hacked back.

The poor cat came to remind me around 6pm that it really was shake the croquette jar time.

And I swear she tried to leap on my lap and just sank out of sight.

So add in all the cutting and raking the growth I hauled out… de-burring the cat was on the agenda as well.

Masses of matter.

And I think I will stockpile it for winter when I want to work on some of the permaculture beds. But I have to let things die in this heap first. There is bindweed. There were brambles. There was a huge volume of ornamental grass and ballota pruning.

And as we had our second storm in a week with another joyous leap around the rain gauge (104mm in total in two sessions of rain) it was time to do the most rarest of deeds.

Shove the gardening trousers in the wash.

They were starting to stand up on their own.

Unlike this gardener who took to the day bed yesterday and actually, in daytime, read a book.

Listening to the patter of rain outside. Utter bliss.

And back and back.