Week two Jan 8th - Jan 14th

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2007

Sunday January 14th 2007. After a visit to a couple of garden centers we had quite a collection of half price bulbs and corms to plant out along the new hedge. I’m sure some will thrive and make a show even though they were all well past their plant by date.

Saturday January 13th 2007. We planted a 145 paces long (yds?) mixed hedge in Kent. There were greengages that had originally come from Ross-on-Wye. Plums that were offshoots, that I earthed up a couple of years back, of a plum tree that I grown from a greengage stone from the greengage tree in the front garden and hazel nuts also grown from seed from the trees growing at the front of the house. Hebes that were from a plant that originally came from a cutting from a hebe planted by Auntie Pat in the front of her house in Watford, plus a collection of blackberries, gooseberries, taeberries and flowering verbascum. Although the soil was wet and heavy the weather was mild with only a touch of drizzle for a while and it didn’t take long for the two of us to plant out the length of the newly ploughed plot.

Thursday January 11th 2007 I’ve dug up over 30 plum and greengage saplings from my allotment to take to Kent. My brother has bought a piece of ground that needs a new mixed hedge planting down one side. We are going to plant the plums along with a few hazel nut trees, wild roses, blackberries, taeberries, gooseberries and hebes that we have collected together.

Sunday January 8th 2007 Moved the first of the aconites from under the large Worcester Pearrman apple tree to a new area under the small apple tree. It will make a sizable clump if I move them all and group them here together.
Dug a stretch of ground to put shallots in. Muck delivered.

2006

Pruned the apple tree in the back garden. The apples were much bigger last year after the tree had a hard prune. Although there weren't that many of them and the birds peck at them and let the rot in anyway.

We moved the Ceanothus to the back fence. We hope it will survive the move as it was planted a few years ago but it has always been in the wrong place.

I put up a new bird box for the blue tits (I think they are the ones that peck at the apple before they are ripe).

I assume it's the mice that are still digging up and eating my crocus they have even had a go at some tulips. I haven't seen that happen before.

The earliest snowdrops are through the ground but haven't started to flower yet. Some of my snowdrop seeds have germinated in their pots. It is the first time that I have collected seed and sown it in pots so it is good to see that at least some of the seed was OK. I'm not sure where to put the pots next but I might plunge them in the ground under the Mirabelle plum tree near the bee keeping shed so that they have plenty of shade.

2005

January 8th and 9th 2005 The weekend was mild but windy especially on the Saturday. On Sunday John helped me put the roof back on the apiary shed. It was mild enough for a few bees to venture forth and it seemed well worthwhile planting out aconites in the allotment moved from the old Apiary. I have decided to put early flowering bee plants (snowdrops aconites and crocus) under the shade of the Worcester apple tree I planted more shallots, weeded and continued clearing up blackberries and gooseberries with a fire in the bin.