Other jobs that can be done whilst we are all waiting to get out into the garden are turfing out your old containers, get rid of the old compost (in the compost heap, or on the garden), and clean them out. If you find any white little grubs with brown heads, that will be the horrid old ‘vine weevil’. You must get rid of them completely as if left in the compost or on the garden they will eat all the roots of your plants and the plants will die. I have just planted up a raised bed for someone & it was full of vine weevil. So instead of turfing out all the old compost (there was alot of it) – I watered in some ‘Nematodes’, biological control. These little insects find the vine weevil and kill them basically. You often water them in during the late summer when the adult beetle (Vine beetle) has laid it’s eggs, but as there were some overwintering ones I used it now. So that should eradicate the vine weevil in the compost, I shall check it again in a few weeks.

Till next time,

Toodle Pip,

Lucy

I am also loving the snakes head ‘Fritillaria meleagris’, so stunning with its patterned petals, I shall enclose a picture I took of one of mine in the garden, I always mean to grow more and this autumn (blimey talking of autumn already!) I shall do!

The cherry blossom is nearly over too, that has looked beautiful, again out very early. Well next time I write it may have rained a bit more, the ground certainly needs it.

Lucy

I have sown some spring onions in a long container & planted some pepper seeds. By the end of March I will probably have sown some tomatoes, more chillie peppers and then I will plant some runner beans, climbing beans and peas inApril, in pots. I have also been growing some Lavender, Delphiniums  & Echinacaea which have been over wintering in my green house.  So growing is happening as I type this, I love Spring and it isn’t quite here yet!

To pep it along here is a picture of some spring flowers.

I have been tidying customers gardens again, clearing away the last of the leaves, pruning some perennials and even tidying up after some hens that churned all the borders up! Everything is now coming into bud, and it is all just waiting in the wings ready to burst open for spring-can’t wait! I have even started sowing some seeds, mainly Holly hocks, spring onions and Clematis seeds.

In the coming weeks I will be sowing more seeds.

This cold snap is set to continue but there are things that I can do inside, like ‘chit’ my seed potatoes and even sow some salad onions and hardy lettuce under cover, and of course, sort out my seed packets ready for planting. I shall leave you with a gorgeous photo of cow parsley in the snow!

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I have also been utilising old work boots and planting succulents in them, they grow really well in them. The lovely old watering cans get planted up too, a really good way to use up ones with holes in the bottom!

The winter garden is looking bleak but I did leave lots of seed heads on the plants and didn’t cut away anything really and it is a joy to see the local birds pecking at them and finding the bugs hibernating amongst them, really glad I left it untouched now.

Till next timex