Yes, I helped steady the stepstool whilst my gardener climbed up to prune a rather overgrown climber on the rose arch. The rose had been blown nearly horizontal yesterday.
Then I picked all our remaining apples and all six of the pears. I think the pear tree will have to go as that's the third poor harvest in a row.
My pond needs some severe pruning of the oxygenating plant I have growing in it. It is practically crawling out of the pond by itself there is so much. I think the hot weather and warm water encouraged a massive amount of growth. I managed to get a load of washing half dry yesterday, it is finishing off in the conservatory. Must go and check for fallen apples and more ripe tomatoes. The quince tree is hanging onto life by a scattering of foliage. I still cannot decide whether to keep it or cut it down, seems like a crime to discard it. The cyclamen hederafolium neapolitanum are in flower. popping out of nooks and crannies in the stone walls.
@Joyce Goldenlily We have 2 quince trees and a medlar. We managed to use the fruit for ourselves but now the trees are very mature we have an abundance. Thankfully happened to mention this to some members of the village garden club and YES they are delighted to have fruit so we don't feel quilty about too much fallen fruit going to waste....not that we give them the fallen fruit! The quince is such a lovely tree as is the medlar and it would be a shame to cut it down.
I think my quince may be an unhappy tree. I have very shallow soil so before planting I made a raised bed for it. I think by now the roots have hit the compacted shale layer which means the tree roots have had to grow sideways instead of down to find moisture. The extreme extended heat wave we had this year caused leaf drop very early. I have noticed that larger growing trees and shrubs grow away quite well for a few years and then come to a stop for several years or die, when planted in this garden, before slowly starting to grow again. The quince blossom is lovely, as are the new leaves when breaking bud, if the Spring Equinox storms leave them on the tree long enough for me to enjoy.
I have had a lovely day in the garden for the first time in months. Weeded the purple slate path, re-staked and tied up the line of verbena bon. along the path to save the seedheads for the goldfinches during the winter. I usually cut them down but noticed a goldfinch last year swinging on them.
Then after lunch I attacked what I call my 'Rough Patch' , a steep small piece of ground behind the bench on the slate square. Never looks good and always messy but I tell myself the wildlife probably prefer it.
So far, I don't even ache! The steroid pills I'm having to take are amazing!
I abandoned myself to taking the dog for a beach walk in the morning. My first since my health scare in May. It did my soul good and tired both of us out, dog and I. We slept for most of the afternoon. I must try and get down to the bottom of my wild area of the garden to see if my Eucryphia baby is still alive, it is so overgrown with bracken etc. I almost need a machete to get through the undergrowth. That is my nod to re-wilding, the wildlife must love it, undisturbed for at least a couple of years. No gardening today, wild, wet, windy and grey. I did a shop in Lidl on the way home and bought a pink Penisetum. Now have to research the best place to plant it, I have a regular green one that needs lifting, dividing, and replanting.
Wild and wet here as well @Joyce Goldenlily so no gardening for me after all apart from emptying the kitchen compost bin into the bigger one. I had wanted to pot up some bulbs I bought earlier in the week but they will have to wait.
I bought several packets of tulip bulbs in Lidl on Friday. Some for myself and some for my daughter. Goodness knows when mine will be planted. Have an initial consultation appointment with an endocrinologist tomorrow. I am still having investigative tests to try and find out what is causing my gastric problem. I am really fed up with it all. I am going to experiment with my dehydrator function in my mini air oven today. I am going to try drying some apple slices and a couple of large tomatoes. My daughter has scared me about preserving my tomatoes in oil. She is a microbiologist and says you have to be very careful as there is some kind of bacteria that can kill humans if the preserving process is not correct.
I understand your frustration @Joyce Goldenlily I have at last seen a Gastroenterologist, having to go private after waiting a year with another year to wait I was told to go NHS, and he has ordered a CT scan to check for damage to pancreas and area where gallbladder removed, a gut mobility test, a microbial count, and medication. So much for it being just indigestion!
I am going along similar lines except I have had a scan and a tumour has been found on one of my adrenal glands, nothing to do with my gut problem. My GP has admitted she is perplexed but they have to try eliminating everything before they will finally blame the medication I was prescribed for my heart condition. I assume I will be told tomorrow what the next step is regarding the adrenal problem. I have stopped the bowel problem myself by taking over the counter anti diarrhoea tablets but my GP wants to find out what triggered the problem so does not want me to restart taking any of the tablets I stopped several weeks ago. Eventually I will start retaking each one over a period of time to isolate the culprit. Ho hum!
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Then I picked all our remaining apples and all six of the pears. I think the pear tree will have to go as that's the third poor harvest in a row.
I managed to get a load of washing half dry yesterday, it is finishing off in the conservatory. Must go and check for fallen apples and more ripe tomatoes. The quince tree is hanging onto life by a scattering of foliage. I still cannot decide whether to keep it or cut it down, seems like a crime to discard it.
The cyclamen hederafolium neapolitanum are in flower. popping out of nooks and crannies in the stone walls.
I have very shallow soil so before planting I made a raised bed for it. I think by now the roots have hit the compacted shale layer which means the tree roots have had to grow sideways instead of down to find moisture. The extreme extended heat wave we had this year caused leaf drop very early.
I have noticed that larger growing trees and shrubs grow away quite well for a few years and then come to a stop for several years or die, when planted in this garden, before slowly starting to grow again.
The quince blossom is lovely, as are the new leaves when breaking bud, if the Spring Equinox storms leave them on the tree long enough for me to enjoy.
Then after lunch I attacked what I call my 'Rough Patch' , a steep small piece of ground behind the bench on the slate square. Never looks good and always messy but I tell myself the wildlife probably prefer it.
So far, I don't even ache! The steroid pills I'm having to take are amazing!
I must try and get down to the bottom of my wild area of the garden to see if my Eucryphia baby is still alive, it is so overgrown with bracken etc. I almost need a machete to get through the undergrowth. That is my nod to re-wilding, the wildlife must love it, undisturbed for at least a couple of years.
No gardening today, wild, wet, windy and grey.
I did a shop in Lidl on the way home and bought a pink Penisetum. Now have to research the best place to plant it, I have a regular green one that needs lifting, dividing, and replanting.
Have an initial consultation appointment with an endocrinologist tomorrow. I am still having investigative tests to try and find out what is causing my gastric problem. I am really fed up with it all.
I am going to experiment with my dehydrator function in my mini air oven today. I am going to try drying some apple slices and a couple of large tomatoes. My daughter has scared me about preserving my tomatoes in oil. She is a microbiologist and says you have to be very careful as there is some kind of bacteria that can kill humans if the preserving process is not correct.
I have stopped the bowel problem myself by taking over the counter anti diarrhoea tablets but my GP wants to find out what triggered the problem so does not want me to restart taking any of the tablets I stopped several weeks ago. Eventually I will start retaking each one over a period of time to isolate the culprit. Ho hum!