Another sign that spring isn't far away is the (are the?) snowdrops. I'm beginning to see little patches of them in several places in the garden. They're not quite out yet, but the flower buds are white and it won't be long. In addition, there are clumps of leaves coming out of the ground from other bulbs. Most of them look like daffodils, but who knows? This is all so exiting.
I'm slowly working through the beds now, clearing out the dead stuff and old leaves so that the bulbs don't have so much rubbish to grow through. I'm taking my time and trying to document the stuff I find as I go. This afternoon I'm going out with the camera to take more pictures and try to map the beds that I've cleaned up. Maybe if I do it slowly I can sort it out as I go along. There's so many shrubs I don't know yet and think I'll loose track completely when the stuff that's died back comes up.
I got fed up with some bushes in front of the downstairs windows last Sunday and went out and really pruned them back. One was a Lavatera and I don't care if it dies, to be honest. It's a scruffy thing and nowhere near as beautiful as some of its other malvacea relatives. There was a heritage rose (Roseraie de l'Hay) which was threatening visitors to our front door and a Ceanothus which was overgrown and straggly. I have the plant labels for each of these and they all say allow about 6 feet of space around each shrub. So why were they planted close together and against the house wall? I realise it's a south facing wall and therefore might be construed to be warm and sunny, but since we have a 100 foot bank in front of that wall, the sun doesn't actually shine there much. It was more important to clear the shrubs from the windows so that what light there is penetrates into the house. It looks a bit bare now, but I've now exposed some wrought iron hooks for hanging baskets and I think we can really liven up the color for the front and make it look more homey and inviting with some really colorful annuals.
On the subject of light and positioning, our compost heap is tucked out of site behind the shed, but it's in the darkest, coldest, dampest spot of the garden. Things are getting a bit slimy back there, so we may have to re-think its position - maybe continue to use it to store the raw stuff and then get one of those "quick-cook" rotating compost barrels which we can place in the sun to process things.
For a while there I was leery of changing things in the garden. I think I still couldn't believe it was mine. Now, though, I'm beginning to realise that I can do what I like. If I get it wrong, it doesn't matter - I'll just have to do it again. So now I'm putting on my wellies and work gloves and moving in with the loppers, secateurs and leaf rake!
I must be luckiest person in the world
