Weeding weather

Have a look at this. It’s called grey. Blissful grey.

Our first proper rain all summer and we had 14mm. Okay, not a huge drenching but I did the 4am jig of delight. (Just after rushing to unplug the modem and tv and the phone.)

Naturally that meant the soil was soft for the first time in ages and ages.  So I was out with a fork and bucket in a trice.

I have quite a few self seeded eragrostis curvula grasses growing on the steps and just in front of the pool decking. Weeds really. And it will soon be off with their heads when the next strimming round took place.

And I have plans for them to be donated to the village this autumn as they are in sore need of some successful grasses.  The anemanthele lessonia ones are not doing that well.

In just a bit of a digging session I now have 29 plants. Not bad for a damp morning’s work. And it was perfect to be able to duck out and dig up a few more and then come into the potting shed during a light shower and get them potted up.

And for an encore I weeded the iris bank. Boy did that need some attention. (Actually it needs more than that. It needs a redesign. Way too dull and unstructured. But that will have to wait.)

And it needs some mulch. I do so loathe bare earth.

But I spent the entire afternoon creating an almighty mess in the soft fruit orchard doing just that.

The wildflower mix I sowed over the bare soil around Easter worked. For a month. In June. And now it’s just a mess o’ invasive weeds.

I’m going to have to give in and seed it with grass seed and work out a way to mow this huge area. And not get the mower snagged on the fruit bushes.

And by my calculations, that makes it ten years now I have been trying to solve the soft fruit orchard problem. To call it a tricky spot is an understatement.

I shan’t even show you a pic. (Oh go on, how bad can it be?)

Too revolting. Some of you may be eating.

You can barely see the metre high fence on the right.  Just the white of the cosmos plant that was in the wildflower mix. And weeds, endless weeds.

Instead I offer a blissful shot of the potager in the mist.

That’s better.