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03/07/2006
Cold - not much to report
Cold this weekend - we had a bit of snow when I was out working on Saturday. Put some stakes up for the newly planted plum and cherry trees. Had a good tidy-up of the herbs - pruned the bay tree back into shape, swept up all the fallen bay leaves, cut back the rosemary, sage and lemon balm. Stuck a few of the rosemary prunings into my cuttings bed - they'll probably root when it warms up a bit. The rest went to be eaten by the Guinea Pigs - they like rosemary. The bay tree was attacked by bay suckers (Trioza alacris) last year, although they don't seem to have found the smaller bay trees in pots yet. I'm hoping that cleaning up the fallen leaves will be one step towards controlling them this year. Also decided to divide one of the lemon thyme plants - chopped into ten pieces, each of which had some roots, so shouldn't take too long to recover.
Started trimming one of the hedges, but quickly got bored - will take several days to do all of the hedges, I think. Pruned the conifer, whose name I do not know, which is growing on the edge of the patio - just needed a little tidy to keep its shape.
Potted up the blueberries - 3 for £10 from Scottsdales - Julia, Augusta & something sounding like September. Will need to look for more info on these varieties.
Started on the indoor seed sowing. Basil, lemon basil, naranjilla (Solanum quitoense) dwarf physalis (cape gooseberry), some french marigolds, cosmos and a couple of tomatoes (garden pearl and a yellow one whose name escapes me)
Wasn't feeling too good on Sunday, so not much done. Our new porch entrance was completed, so removed various panes of glass, dismembered front door and started work on the new path to the door - it needs to be lower because the old path was higher than the door frame, causing it to rot. Removed the previous pavers and found they were laid on top of concrete. And the retaining wall for the bed with the holly trees was built on top of the pavers. It's a mess. Have kept some of the smaller panes of glass, as they may come in handy for covering seed trays etc.
Have noted the names of ferns planted out last week, so will record them here for future reference
TDryopteris erythrosora
Dryopteris affinis crispa gracilis
Polypodium vulgare
Phyllitis cristatum
Polystichum tsussimense
Dryopteris affinis cristata 'The King'
One final note - in spite of it being freezing cold (like 4 degrees max), the boys decided to get the tent and paddling pool out. Alexander was out in his vest, while Jamie had his UV protective summer thing on. I have reached the age where I can feel cold looking at them....
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