Gardening this weekend has largely focused around pruning, a task I find surprisingly easy to combine with childcare. Somehow it is easier to put down my secateurs to answer the inevitable call of, ‘Dad!’ than to set aside a fork or trowel. That said, Lily and Rose were keen to help out so there was a fair bit of weeding too.
Like me the girls were drawn into the garden by the weather. Following them into the back garden I was confronted by a scene of neglect. The back garden, being north-facing and half a story below the house gets no sun in the winter and little attention from me. However it bursts into life the second the sun climbs high enough to penetrate into the dank, dark depths.
As I surveyed this forgotten part of my domain, the blossom on the damson only served to highlight how tatty the remaining foliage on the Buddleja is. The emerging foliage on the currants drew my eye to the older raspberry canes. The Wisteria buds showcased the long dry whips of last summer’s growth.
All had to go, and with them shrubs that had long outgrown their allotted space. I will not grieve for the two Spiraea × pseudosalicifolia, planted in a hurry using stock brought from Copse Hill, but the Choisya is a different matter.
I love the basil-like scent of the Choisya’s foliage as much as the orange perfume of the flowers. I have taken cuttings but, while they haven’t died, they stubbornly refuse to root. My hopes rest with the two small suckers I plan to separate from the remains of the parent plant. That will be a job for another weekend though.
ravinthegarden 