Lx4 squared

When I was planning the garden, more years ago than I care to think about, I spent quite a lot of time deciding on a design for the veg plot.  Ornamental potagers were very fashionable at the time and, although I had no ambitions for anything as decorative as the one at Barnsley House, I wanted raised beds to help with the shallow soil and so there had to be a geometric design of sorts.  The plot is three times as long as it is wide, so I divided it into three roughly square areas.  I toyed in my imagination with various complicated layouts, settling in the end for something relatively simple: the outer squares contain four rectangular beds around a small central one, and the middle square has four L-shaped beds around a slightly larger central bed.  The outer areas work fairly well, but the L-shaped beds were always a little too small and awkward, and moving about the plot has always involved a lot of zigzagging or jumping over the corners of beds.  It didn't help that I made the paths between the beds much too narrow (trying to cram in as much as possible).  The whole central area hasn't been much in use for a few years now as various weeds, especially couch grass, have taken hold, with the couch establishing itself under the paths (originally, gravel - now much worn away - over black plastic).  I've decided to simplify things, do away with the central bed in this middle area and turn the four Ls into four squares.  This is proving easier said than done, and not just because of all the weeding involved; actually digging up the gravel and plastic is slow work.  My aim for this year is to get two of the beds squared off - but it is, if I may say so, proving L-ish hard.

Tulip 'Chato'

The tulips are starting to flower, with the first of the new (to me) varieties starting to come out.  'Exotic Emperor', a white, is beginning to open, and 'Chato', now in its second year, has survived well, with a good number of flower heads; it is paired with Muscari 'Valerie Finnis', which last year flowered very early but this year is coming out at the same time as the tulip.  Some of the tulips lifted from previous years' pots have been planted out in a couple of corners and some of them are going to flower, but are a little way off yet.  I keep forgetting to mention the rather ungainly and woody clump of wallflowers ('Sunset Red') which I've kept for a couple of years to provide cuttings; they're hardly attractive plants but the flowers are making a very vivid statement by the back door.  It's a pity they don't do very well in a vase (the leaves go yellow quickly and, even if you strip those off, the stems tend to become slimy in water).

Wallflower 'Sunset Red'

Spring is edging slowly forward, with some pleasant sunshine but a chilly wind and a few colder nights (the greenhouse heater is back on at night, especially now that there are some tender seedlings in there; I'm keeping the chilli, tomato and aubergine seedlings indoors for the moment).  There's much bird activity, and the sparrows have been enthusiastically pulling moss out of the lawn for their nests.  The nestbox has been put up on the new summerhouse wall, with some protective chicken netting around it to keep the woodpecker from getting its head in; it's probably too late for the nuthatches to take advantage of it this year, but a pair of bluetits have been staking it out, so we might get a brood in there after all!