This is never a truer saying when it comes to ignoring the garden. It doesn’t pay to take your eye off the ball.
As those of you who follow my blog will know, last weekend was my daughter’s wedding. I worked in the garden the weekend prior to that, didn’t do anything the few evenings during the week before going away and when I returned last Sunday post-wedding gloom hit me big time. I feel ashamed to admit that not even the garden spurred any interest in the evenings this last week, especially after a busy day at work. Today, Saturday, is the first time that I ventured out to see what was occurring.
Many people return from their holidays to an abundance of blooms and an incredible growth spurt which is not usually noticed when you are there every day. This is probably because they have organised friends/neighbours to visit regularly to keep a watchful eye. I was only away for four days, so I didn’t make caretaking arrangements. It had been very wet and I felt the garden would be fine. The other days, when I have been home, I have just ignored it, very much to my detriment.
After having had such a warm and dry few months since February, we are now having our fair share of rain, ideal for slugs and snails. Also there is quite a wind most of the time, disastrous if things are not staked properly. As I write this, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the trees are being whipped around in the wind.
I did my stock take of the garden this morning and here is some of the damage:-
* The Verbascum is flattened:
* The Salvia has been turned into sticks:
* The peas have been stripped, probably by the very same snails/slugs that have munched on the Salvia:
* The Acanthus has mildew:
* The little thyme bushes look as though they are about to peg out:
* As for the lawn – it is an overgrown patch of grass:
There are no prizes as to what I will be doing for the rest of the weekend. Onwards and upwards.
