Mowed and cleared the bits of lawn today. Picked up quite a few apples; I'm putting them straight on the compost at the moment because when I get to them they're usually pretty manky. I did find one ripe on one of the trees though - the tree that is always our earliest, and ate it. It's a red letter day each year when the first apple is ready.
This was the second mowing of the lawns in this week, and the second of the far end in a month. There was far less grass to come off, and I will lower the blades a bit next time. Surprisingly, the grass is looking very good - to me, perhaps it helps to have "realistic" standards!
I've got the chance now also to assess some of the growing season. The star flowers have been sweet peas and snapdragons. The morning glories have been excellent - indoors, oddly enough; not much good outdoors. The little lantana I bought was a great move, along with the foliage plant - forget which but nothing unusual. As Bob said somewhere, it's been rather wet for petunias. The echiums have done well though. The veg hasn't been terribly good but then neither has the vegetable gardener! The pond is running beautifully, water clear as a bell, and to my eyes the garden is looking good. As I say though, it pays to squint a bit...
Squinting is good! Or I can recommend not wearing glasses. Trouble is, I need to put them on when I mow. I envy you your clear water. I am still battling blanketweed.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the barley straw pellets that we put in the filter chamber that counteract blanketweed. I forget which clever ruse is for what purpose, all I know is that burrowing in foul-smelling gunk is necessary about 4 times a year!
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that helps is never looking at anyone else's garden, but that's rather a shame. Some of the ones near us are amazing at the moment - they're like something out of a 1970s seed catalogue, all salmon pink, pillar box red, stripes - if you could get neon plants, they'd have them....
Hi Emily! Morning glory indoors? You are a hero in my eyes! I wasn't lucky with them lately. They grew as crazy in the Midwest with its hot summers, but do nothing for me here, in the Northwest. Thanks for your lovely comment on my post!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, ha ha - I have a permanent squint! I like to assess the garden both for improvements and jobs. Sometimes though I frighten my self with the to do list, especially if I don't squint but then I realise its just a list. I try to do everything on it but I have to confess somethings are there for a long time before getting dragged across to the calendar. I have the calendar on the left and the to do list on the right and I drag the jobs across to fill in the spaces. This is done on my computer, the to do list being added too through my smartphone/PDA. The worse bit is when I get the calendar filled in for the week ahead and the boss calls wanting to add to it. Take care Bob.
ReplyDeleteMy lawn is HIDEOUS!! It needs to be bailed! LOL!! We could get atleast 2 full bails out of it!! It has rained for 2 weeks straight, and we havent had a dry day to cut the lawn...so it is pathetic. My neighbors don't work and they get out in between rains and cut theirs. I know they are ashamed of us right now. I keep hoping one of them will come over and cut it for us in between rains...LOL!
ReplyDeleteIt does pay to squint a bit, doesn't it? In August our garden is always looking ragged, bug eaten, dry and/or overgrown to the point of messiness. Not my favorite month.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily. Yes I agree sweet peas have been good this year - but after a while it becomes hard to keep up with them and if I don't keep picking them they begin to go to see. I love morning Glory but up here in Yorkshire it is too far North for it to grow outdoors - yet the white wild convolvulus (which surely must be a relation) is everywhere.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is really looking great!
ReplyDeleteHi missing your up dates hope all is well. the weather has been slightly better of late but even on a hot day we seem to get a shower just in case we were to forget what rain looked like. Saying that the ground under the pine tree that grows next door is so dry, the plants tell you when thay need a drink. Last night my rebeckia looked dead but after a good watering they look good again this morning. The early flowering perenuls that I get a second flowering from if cut back quick enough havent happend this year. The poppies were coming on and had buds but they just droped off, dissapointing. vicki
ReplyDeleteHi Vicki - yes, I cut back some hardy geraniums but the regrowth was disappointing this year.
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