Mistletoe and brambles

A dank and murky weekend, when not actually wet.  Not a good couple of days for gardening (and anyway there were more urgent things to do indoors).  One key job had to be done, however.  I had acquired half-a-dozen mistletoe berries, and February is the time to 'sow' them.  The obvious place would have been the big apple tree, but mistletoe takes a good couple of years before there's anything to see, and there would have been a risk that I would have pruned off the relevant branches in the meantime.  So it was out with the stepladder, down to the bottom of the garden, and up into the hawthorn that overhangs the summerhouse.  A messy job - but it'll be interesting to see if any of them germinate!

While I was out there, and it wasn't actually raining at the time, I hacked at some of the brambles that have self-sown among the bigger shrubs.  It's a good time of year to see what's what in there, while most plants are leafless.  There were a few long arching branches that were tip-rooting in the undergrowth, so I was able to rip them out.  With any luck I'll be able to get some weedkiller on the stumps once they start sprouting in spring.  The robin was very pleased with my disturbing the ground; he sat and sang to me just overhead.

Still the same late winter flowers - snowdrops, aconites, cyclamen and the winter shrubs - but signs of spring if you look closely.  The osmanthus is showing buds, for example.

Since then, we've had a couple of cold nights, with a little snow - prettily outlining all the twigs.  Fortunately clear roads, so no travel problems.  Still murky and rather dank.

The birds have been a little more enthusiastic about food put out for them, though those appearing on the patio are still the usual suspects.  Over the weekend we had upwards of 50 crows sitting in the tops of the big trees around us, just below the cloud level - quite a sight - and the little party of 15 partridge trot in and out some evenings.

After apple pruning

The snow lasted until Friday evening, when heavy rain cleared some of it; more rain on Saturday night washed away much of the rest, although patches of snow stayed in the fields through the week, despite temperatures well above zero.  The meltwater has soaked everything thoroughly – for the first time that I can remember, there was a big puddle in the field across the road.  Normally rain just goes straight through our stony soil.  Yesterday was a lovely sunny, but cold, day; today is cloudy and thoroughly damp.

With the temperatures back to plus figures, I’ve felt able to do some pruning.  Last year I pruned the cooking apple tree hard and late (in March); it responded by throwing up lots of water shoots, which need dealing with this year, so this afternoon was spent up a stepladder with secateurs, loppers and the bowsaw.  I’ve become very fond of my loppers; can’t imagine how I managed without them!  Not only can I deal with bigger branches without resorting to the saw (which isn’t always easy to use in a crowded tree), but it enables me to reach all sorts of things that were beyond me before.  The very top of the tree is still a bit tricky – and there are a few branches that have been left until next weekend – but most of the job is done.  I do tend to get a bit carried away, so I’ve tried not to take too much wood out this time; there are still a few branches that I’ll want to remove next year, but I hope there will be rather more space and light in the tree this year.

You do get a different view of the garden from the top of a stepladder! 

Today's other job was sowing more sweet peas; those in the cold frame have partly germinated  / survived, but I need more.  Temperatures are still a bit low for them, but they won’t come to harm in the cold frame while they’re waiting for the mercury to rise.

The big snowdrops (Atkinsii and Elwesii) are mostly fully out; the doubles are just starting to open, while the small singles are only just showing white tips.  The winter aconites and some of the cyclamen coum are in bloom too.  The big hellebores have been in flower since well before Christmas, but the others are well in bud and will be out soon.  The winter honeysuckle seems to have woken up and now has quite a few flowers.  Despite the recent cold, a number of other plants are also waking up; the daffodils are well up, and the chaenomeles is in bud.  The honeysuckle next to it is coming into leaf; I must get on top of that before it takes over!

Last autumn I planted some garlic and some of last year’s onion sets that had totally failed to make any growth.  No sign now of any of them.  I’m hoping that they’re under the soil and getting on with things .... I’m more pleased with my trough of salad leaves, which as usual has come through the snows and bounced back with vigour.  They’re still too small to provide much in the way of salad, but they’ll be ready for spring.  I also repotted my mint in the autumn, and it has kept its leaves – again, not much for using, but coming along nicely, as is a chervil plant that I protected from the snow.

The last couple of days of the snows brought more birds to the patio – the mistle thrush and fieldfare continued to battle it out, and there were visits by the two marsh tits and the two nuthatches.  Since the snow – hardly a thing.  The Big Garden Birdwatch total was pitiful.  They’re all off pairing up and sorting out territory.  The robins have been singing lustily, and a song thrush was striking up the other morning (its mate, or a rival, was also around).  And one day we had 15 partridges, arriving one by one, pecking around for a while and then departing in their usual long line.  Apart from that, not much has been around.  I even removed the squirrel guard from the peanuts to see if that would attract them, but no.  

The squirrel itself must have been about (but not on the nuts); there are holes in the lawn and broken nut shells under the plum tree.  Mr Mole has extended his run by another few feet (I’ve tried to stamp the runs down), and there’s another mole run up by the raspberries.  Some digging required, I think (by me as well as him).