I promised photos in my last post, and here they are.

First of all, my slug-ravaged foxgloves:




And now, my before and after shots of an aquilegia (I discovered that I'd missed one earlier on):




Before















After










You can just see my strawberry plants in the background, with a few berries turning red. I had the first couple today and they were delicious.

Garden pests

Slugs are the bane of my life. Or rather, the bane of my garden.

My poor pansies have lost the fight against the slugs (and possibly the weather), although the pansies that I have got in troughs at the front of the house are doing very well.

My foxgloves were left alone for a while, but now have been decimated by slugs. AS a result, I've put slug pellets out again, and now thanks to the dead slugs, there are lots of flies in the garden. *sigh*

My aquilegia (columbine) which was doing so well in the spring are having been looking sunburnt and rather sad lately, so today I cut back all the yellow and brownish leaves and have discovered that there are lots and lots of greenfly and/or aphids on them, which could have something to do with them looking a wee bit forlorn. I did spy one tiny yellow ladybird too, but the infestation is so bad I'm going to have to treat the plants with insecticide spray.

The front lawn desperately needs a mow, but today is one of those days where it is blinding sunshine one minute and then dark grey clouds the next. Five minutes ago it was glorious sunshine and blue skies and I thought that I'd mow the lawn after lunch. Now the wind has picked up and there are ominous grey clouds overhead.

The grass seeds that I sowed a couple of weeks ago in the stupid border at the front of the house are doing very well (as are the weeds!). Once I do manage to mow it, I'll be able to get a better look at how things are going and I'll probably actually do some weeding to make things neater.

Photos may be forthcoming (I didn't do before and after ones of the aquilegia, unfortunately).

Spring is nearly here

So, obviously winter has stopped me posting on this blog, which is essentially my gardening blog.

Eventually, I did bring in some plants. My fuchsia didn't appreciate the colder weather, so they came inside, I chopped them back and they are budding. Although now they're not looking so healthy. I'm not entirely sure what to do with them, since it's still too cold at night to leave them out. I did put them out yesterday as the sun was shining, but today's been much cooler and grey, so they've remained inside.

Yesterday was also a day for some gardening. The front lawn has been spreading into the borders, so I took preventative steps. First I mowed and strimmed (the first of the year). Then I got a fork and turned over all the soil in the border, to hopefully kill some of the grass.

After that I got out weed repellent covering and put it down in the border at the front of the house (I ran out of staples, so I couldn't do the other half of the border) and then put bark down on top of that. It is going to make mowing perhaps slightly more difficult, but it will mean that I won't have to be constantly weeding. On top of the bark I intend putting some troughs filled with colourful flowers up against the front of the house.

I also bought some plants. I planted two troughs and then almost ran out of soil so I stopped.

What I bought:

- A trayful of pansies - they performed so well for me last summer that I thought they'd do well at the front of the house (In the photo they are at the back on the left, by the fire extinguisher)
- Two trays of geranium seedlings - again, last summer the geraniums were brilliant, so I bought some more. I also got some trailing geraniums to go on the posts in the back garden (The little plants in the yellow trays.)
- Three foxgloves - I love foxgloves, and as I haven't got any snapdragons this year (yet) I thought I should buy something that the bees will like. They are quite small at the moment, so I guess I'll have to wait until next year for them to flower. (They are the large leafed plants to the right of the pansies - between the large pots of fuchsia.) However, as I'll be planting them in large pots, they can come with me when we move!
- A collection of shrubs - there is a heather in it, along with some little bushy trees. I intend putting them all in the top, barked corner. (Just beneath the pansies and above the yellow trays, next to the radiator.)
- A tray of aquilegia, which I've never had before, but they looked like they'll be colourful. (At the bottom right, to the right of the yellow tray.)

Right now, all these are inside, most of which are in the kitchen. I guess I was a little over enthusiastic with buying plants so early. Saying that, I planted out things in the beginning of April last year, and I know that the little seedlings had been sitting there for a while before I planted them. Hopefully in a few weeks I can leave everything out.

Elsewhere in the house are the troughs of pansies that were in the front of the house, and also a trough of strawberry plants that have lasted the winter.