This week has been a busy one as you would expect at this time of year. So what have we been doing? Well Richard has been looking after the regular gardens, cutting, trimming and weeding! He's also been fencing, jet washing, re-grouting a patio and swabbing the deck! I mean painting on that all important decking oil. As for me and our little girl... we helped out a blue tit fledgling!
This time of year fledglings are leaving the nest, so be aware as they are really vulnerable little guys. The little fella was unfortunate as one of our dogs picked him up in his mouth and ran off with him whilst the other dogs followed to see if it was something tasty! Luckily, since they are so well trained, Conan let go (I didn't name him). We put him in a box and called City Wildlife to come and check him out. I must say Summer was so excited, as any three year old would be and insisted we give him some food and water. She wasn't impressed when I explained what it is that birds actually eat! Anyway, all was well and the bird seemed fine. The guy from City Wildlife took him away and said they would feed him along with others they have as he was too young to fend for himself.
So, back to gardening and here are a few tips for you for this week:
Weeding... Oh yes, I said weeding! Where we live there are a fair few fields and they all seem to be covered in dandelions. For the past week there have been seeds floating, very prettily I might add, on the breeze. Great for the kids, but it's getting a bit much now and they keep sticking to the lovely new rose buds. Only time will tell how many take to my own garden, but it's important to pull them out as you notice them, before they root right down. Remember, "seven years seeds, seven years weeds". I think this sounds about right so if you spot any, pull them out if you can, BEFORE they go to seed. Unless of course you want to keep them, and eat them. Yes, more vitamin C than your average orange apparently.
Now for the fun bit! We've planted out a full bed of sunflowers this week, we'll see how it goes, but hopefully there will be an impressive display in a couple of months time. June is a great month for poppies (best in full sun, which I love), delphiniums (essential for a cottage garden) and Chives (fab with your potatoes and a smidge of butter). Also don't forget to plant those foxglove seeds. I'm all for encouraging people to use plants native to our beautiful country. Foxgloves are a true beauty and a bit on the wild side, which sounds good to me. Thanks for reading xxx
