Normally April is a happy month in the garden with everything to look forward to in a new season however this year of COVID 19 has meant that the outlook is pretty uncertain for all of us , no vaccine in sight yet and no idea when cocooning , social distancing will end or when normal life will resume again , we can just hope . Colour in the garden in April For me April has always represented the real onset of Summer and is a ferociously busy time trying to get the last plantings done and get the weeds under control before the explosion of growth that is early […]
My Gardening Week 31st March 2020 … and we thought it was a beer
The country in lockdown , the older generation , myself included are cocooning , panic buying in the shops , toilet paper at a premium … the majority of people out of work and in lock down , keeping each other at two metres distant when venturing outside , normal life today is like looking at an apocalyptic movie and who could have predicted the effect the corona virus would have and will the world , our world ever be the same again and of course it will , patience is the thing and those of us with gardens will have them pampered like poodles with so much time to […]
My Gardening Week February 29th 2020 … the cat that almost got the frog spawn !
February is the month the garden comes alive for the new seasons of growth Spring right through to November and what were spindly insignificant little shoots barely above ground in January are now transformed into flowering beauties with the daffodils , crocuses and snowdrops leading the way . Nothing beats a dry day in February in the garden , winter is still hanging around but optimism is in the air and I always remember the early months in the garden back in the late 1970’s when I had my first garden in Rosslare and the sheer joy and amazement that you had actually got something to grow , it was […]
My Gardening Week January 31st 2020 … Rudolph gets trapped in the pampas grass !
A new year and away we go again in the garden and what we do first in these unappetising cold wet and windy days is not important , what is important is that we get out there in the first place ! Like everybody I have to force myself out in these early days of January but after a few days I snap back into focus and for me I tend to ease my way in (and my muscles !) by some pruning of the willows and dog woods and over the following few days I move on to the grasses and then each day I see what needs to […]
My Gardening Week 31st December 2019 … the end of a decade and a Happy New Year , Sretna Nova Godina !
December is more about Christmas preparations and family than actual time in the garden however when the weather is dry I like to get out in the garden as often as time allows in the festive season , most of the leaves are gone and you can see the garden in it’s bare outline and get an idea as to what needs to be added or pruned back . Also if you have planned for the garden to have winter colour it brings the silver birch and red dogwoods into their own and personally we would not be without either in the garden at this time of year . And […]
My Gardening Month 25th November 2019 … Olive Oil is for ears !
November has been a savage month in the garden here , rainy , depressing , wet and fallen leaves everywhere and I have had to kick myself some days just to go out and do essential tasks … valium anyone ?!! Of course the leaf colour is fabulous at this time of year but the older I get the more I enjoy autumn colours from inside a window and I am not choosy that it be it from the house or from inside the car ! Still the sight of a birch or maple tree in full autumn colour is stunning and as I write in late November our single […]
My Gardening Week 31st October 2019 … Don’t bring me back living under a tarpaulin in Jaipur
There is always for me a touch of sadness as October comes to an end in the garden as from now on trees and shrubs as well as plants are shutting down for the winter having given their best shot throughout the spring and summer … but nothing stands still in the garden and November is the time to prepare plants such as gunnera for the frost and cold and of course we can start the hard pruning of the willows so no time to sit back ! October colour in the garden I was looking through my web page on the pots we have in the garden going back […]
My Gardening Week September 30th 2019 … Goodbye Boris , goodbye !
The plants have plenty of life left in them before they too kick the proverbial bucket and both perennials and annuals are still putting on quite a show . September is the month where the garden is getting past it’s best ,where the first signs appear that trees and shrubs are preparing for winter and as such it is a time of sadness that the year’s growth is over but winter is not that bad but hope is always there as we have next Spring to look forward to … I enjoy the winter months in the garden but it is the hanging around that I don’t like between now […]
My Gardening Week August 31st 2019 … very pleased to meet you Mr. Pearson !
Where did the year go , already the end of August but it is a great month in the garden with growth at it’s height if slightly past it’s best and autumn still to look forward to ! I keep coming back to roses which I have said I don’t grow apart from the semi wild rosa rugosa but looking at the photo of Mary O’Donovan from the July piece which mentioned her passing and featured one of her favourite photos that I took in her garden Fairy Hill a few years ago and which I had taken in front of a faourite rose of hers , rosa rubrifolia and […]
My Gardening Week July 31st 2019 … Jurassic Park month out there !
The end days of July and after the few weeks drought you can see the garden wilting a bit and in need of a few down pours and we are busy delivering water to pots where even a bucket can revive in hours a shrub in distress . It is Jurassic Park time in the July Garden with the gunnerras ! Garden Visitors from Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland We were away for a period during the first weeks in July and came back to a mountain of work in the garden in order to get it ready for visitors from the Maghera Garden Club from Co. Antrim in Northern […]