Is This Really June?

I think we are a month behind. But we are catching up quickly. It feels as if we have had more nice days so far this month than we had in the whole of last summer!

I contemplated calling this post White Is The Colour...

Not only is the may just coming in to its full glory but the crab apple over the road is dripping with blossom...

And there is the smell of wild garlic in the air...

And when I haven't been playing scrabble I have been busy in the garden.

Veggie seeds sown. So far the only signs of this are two cabbage seedlings.

The high bank has been attacked. I was trying to work out how long it had been neglected. As I normally only venture up there in the spring and autumn and last year I never made it due to weather and my frozen shoulder it was at least 21 months, and possibly nearer 26... And it showed...

The nettles weren't quite as bad as when first we moved up here, but were still about 4 foot high. Two days to pull most of them out and another couple of hours digging out roots. I took the opportunity to then do some planting. Autumn crocuses dug out, split and replanted - still have a couple of dozen left over. Two rhododendrons and a Japanese maple that had survived in their original pots for several years waiting for a home. I also dug up and divided some primroses from the LBE, three dark geraniums self-seeded in the drive and half a dozen geranium Johnson's blue also from the LBE. If they don't survive the trauma I will try again in the autumn.

Today I started with spraying the end of the LBE that is still waiting to be done. Maybe this is the year... Luckily the mice had chewed through the Clinic Ace plastic container half an inch up the side so I still had some left! I also made up a small batch in a jam jar and went out with a paint brush to attack some of the large deep rooted weeds that are impossible to dig out of the long bank. This will be an ongoing campaign.

And then on to the long bank in earnest. Paul had started clearing buttercups but soon got bored after a couple of barrow loads. I got him to make a start on the brambles while I followed up where Paul had started, going deeper into the bank and under the shrubs. I got another three sack loads out (mainly buttercups but also nettles and other weeds) before calling it a day.

Done:

To do: