Annual Garden Maintenance

Once or twice a year, Adam McCusker, who is a permaculture gardener comes round to my house to work on my garden. Adam designed my garden and along with the help of some friends turned my newly owned garden from a shed and some mulch into what would become a nature friendly space.

Yesterday Adam and his scythe turned up to maintain my garden. I helped by providing unskilled, labour intensive support.

Scything the Front Garden

First up, my front garden needed cutting. It had not been cut this year and so had become a wildflower garden. I’d left it later in the year to cut the front lawn than previous lawns, so the front garden had grown higher than in previous years. Adam had a new longer blade for his scythe, which along with the wet grass, made cutting the front lawn much easier than it has been in the years prior. I ably assisted by collecting the cut lawn and putting the cuttings in bags for Adam to use in Digbeth Community garden. Whilst I do think it is a shame to cut the front lawn, it is necessary to do so.

Devious Strawberries

Once we finished in the front garden we turned our attention to the back garden. The back garden had become significantly overgrown. I have no idea how it happened but what looked like the mint in the herb spiral had died and became a big mass of twigs, covering all of the herb spiral. Predicatably, the comfrey and raspberry plants had become over grown so I hacked away at them in order to clear some space on the paths. Unfortunately there are no potatoes in my Raised Bed this year, as plants from other parts of the garden, like the raspberry plants and bluebells had found a way to the raised bed. The Strawberries have not grown yet, but they have travelled. They have somehow got to the slabbed part of the garden by the house and were growing through the slabs. Strawberries were even growing out of the DPC of the back wall of my house.  Adam planted Sweet Cicely, Taunton Kale, Honesty Sweet Woodruff and Teasel in the raised bed and in the tyres. I gave them a good watering using water from the Water Butt. I don’t know what these plants are. I am excited to see what they grow into. Some of the cut Comfrey was put by the apple tree to rot down into mulch for the Apple Tree.

Newts!

Most excitingly, Adam noticed that there were Newts in the pond. They were tiny and could only be noticed with close examination of the pond. I can add Newts, to the list of animals that have graced my garden, including frogs and hedgehogs. The pond is managing itself well. It is less swampy than it has been in the last couple of years. What I think are Buttercup flowers and Geraniums now add colour to the pond.

Pleasingly my garden continues to be a  nature friendly space, but now it is much easier to walk about the garden now that the Comfrey and Raspberries brought back under control. I look forward to seeing what grows over the upcoming months.