... is, I imagine, an unpleasant experience and one I try to avoid. Common Toad - Nov 2011 The gardens at The Priory are watery. They contain two large ponds, lots of drainage ditches and are bordered on one side by a mighty, broad river. (Or a little brook - depending on how big you … Continue reading Snipping Amphibians …
The Watcher
Yesterday, I was working in the greenhouse and gradually became aware that I was being watched. I glanced out of the windows to see whether any of Margaret's sheep or cows were out there doing that chewy, starey thing. But no. No visiting workmen either; eyeballing me through the door, noses pressed up against … Continue reading The Watcher
Priory Picture Post # 16
Still got plenty of ... ... to collect. So have to spend a lot of time over at the ... ... trying to make more space. But whenever I do a local busy body ... ... turns up. Uninvited. Getting in the way, making a nuisance of himself. Turning the compost had exposed a wriggly … Continue reading Priory Picture Post # 16
Sussex Eucalypts
Were you to walk up the drive from The Priory you would, after a couple of hundred yards, come to an area of mown grass surrounded on three sides by a small wood. In January 2009, I thought it would be a good idea to plant Eucalyptus gunnii here; three of them. So I did. … Continue reading Sussex Eucalypts
Making Leaf Mould
There are a lot of trees in the Priory gardens. Six very big oak trees, six big weeping willows, two large ash trees, nigh on twenty alder, half a dozen hornbeam and then various fruit trees, shrubs, hedges and specimen trees. In addition there are trees aplenty in the surrounding fields and on the driveway … Continue reading Making Leaf Mould
Echium pininana
It was only when my Agave americana started whimpering and heaving itself out of it's pot, millimetre by millimetre, that I thought, "Hmm, really must repot that." After a prolonged struggle I managed to lever it out; the state of the roots were, frankly, shaming. Sorry, sorry - so sorry. I've now re-homed it … Continue reading Echium pininana
Retired to the Greenhouse
Why do holidays speed past ... so ... darn ... fast? Is it a plot? Evil magic? A little time spent strolling about Bath, Stroud, Gloucester and Nailsworth and most of the week was gone. Three days gallivanting through the Forest of Dean and along the Wye Valley and it had been gobbled up altogether. … Continue reading Retired to the Greenhouse
The Anxious Gardener 