Working away steadily

 This time of year I try to get out into the garden for at least part of the day but it is very frustrating when I get stuck into clearing a border and the light goes! This week I have managed at least an hour or tow most days and I have done a complete make-over on the Buddha Garden where I removed an un-pretty conifer that was taking over the place. 

The planting opportunity this gave me inspired me to give the whole border a complete makeover. The conifer wasn't the only unwelcome item - there were Japanese Anemones spreading furiously and there were a number of self-seeders that needed sorting out. So the Anemones were assiduously removed (no doubt there will be lote more to weed out in the coming months!) the seedlings of Thalictrums carefully lifted and transplanted. There are beautiful Canterbury Bells in the border but they were getting out of hand too. I was delighted to find that the Geranium 'Ann Folkard' has increased enough for me to divide it. There are multiple Schizostylis  (aka Hesperantha) in white and two shades of pink that are aiming for World Domination so I thinned them out a bit - they are beautiful at this time of year so any with flowers were left undisturbed - and some have new buds just coming on too! I spread the seedlings and divisions right across the border so I look forward to a more colourful display next year! 

The most satisfying part of that kind of a project is when I spread the whole area with a decent mulch of compost. All done and dusted till Spring! 

This time of year the pollarded willows are looking their best - as the weather gets colder the stems redder and redder! They provide a great dash of winter colour and will be there until the Spring!

Winter gardening for me is very satisfying - next job will be to do a tidy-up of herbaceous stuff all round the garden - and the challenge will be to keep on top of the shredding!!!!