Winter is here

 .......and it has come as a shock even though we knew it was inevitable. In keeping with all the changes in seasons this year it has happened overnight. On Monday John was working in his Tshirt in the afternoon but the last two days have started off at minus 2 and risen to the dizzy heights of 5 degrees in the afternoon with miserable rain all day.

However we are amazed and very thankful that we have been able to work in the garden so late in the year and as a consequence have even been able to do some jobs that we are normally struggling with in Spring. Fifty percent of the entire garden beds have been covered with a mulch from the local recycling centre and we hope to complete the rest during the winter. 

The most significant achievement however is the new shrubbery bed which we did not expect to start  until the Spring. Last Thursday we began moving surplus shrubs from other parts of the garden and continued over the weekend. 

By Sunday evening we had an idea of what extra plants we needed so off to the garden centre on Monday to find them. Actually we have been every day since as we continue to formulate our ideas. Not many more required....I think. We have not chosen very unusual plants just ones that will show up from a distance, particularly in the winter and ones that in our experience are not favoured by the dear, although that remains to be seen!!

When the weather improves a little we will plant the new acquisitions and then lay some geotextile to deter the weeds and then cover that with bark chippings. However the chippings may be a while arriving as we need lorry loads for the shrubbery, rose beds and paths.

When we opened the garden two years ago a couple turned up with a gift of a Catalpa (Indian Bean Tree) and low and behold like buses 30 minutes later another couple arrived with a gift of the very same tree. To be honest we had no idea where to put them but they have now found a home adjacent to the shrubbery.

Brr...... indoor jobs for the foreseeable future.