"A good fence.......

makes a good neighbour".

From the poem by Robert Frost- The Mending Wall.   The proverb may well be from an earlier date.

With this is mind the garden group started this weekend to replace the ageing picket fence around the school garden with the better  taller fence which we have recycled from the school swimming pool.  The new garden fence will be better- although somewhat higher it will contain the garden.

The original fence

There it was- gone!

The record breaking 6 metre long fence panel!

The new fence panel

Work will continue over the next week and hopefully the fence will be completed by the next weekend.

While moving the fence panels around we disturbed some large spiders. This particularly aggressive looking one is the Rabbit Hutch Spider- Steatoda bipunctata.

The Rabbit Hutch Spider

Inside the World War2 garden the broad beans are doing well.  However their growth has attracted the pea/bean weevil.  This small insect makes small serrated nicks on the edges of the leaves.

Broad bean leaves under attack!

The bean weevil - picture from the internet.

The herb garden makeover is now complete with several new herbs added to the original layout. A variety of thyme and sage plants have been added to the garden along with a general tidy up.

The revamped herb garden.

In the greenhouse our much admired Pitcher plant flowers are moving to the next stage.  The petals slowly die and expose the  pollen which is then made available to insects.  We may try to help pollination by using a small paint brush or a cotton wool bud.

The pollen is just visible

A recent donation to the garden has been a  carved man from the birch forests in Arkhangelsk in Northern Russia. The woodmen carve these at the road side and sell them for a few roubles.  There is a saying in Northern Russia that give a man an axe and he can make anything!  The piece is designed as a coat hanger and has been situated on the Summer House.

From the Birch forests in Arkhangelsk

Elsewhere the runner beans have appeared and will soon be climbing up the canes.  The Mange Tout have also appeared and a hasty pigeon defence was put up before the birds find them.  During the week a more substantial net will be constructed. The Asparagus bed is looking good but we cannot harvest this year.  Next year though we can enjoy this delicious vegetable.  It needs two years to be left alone before harvesting.

Finally something has moved into one our bat boxes. Alas it is not a bat but a pair of Great Tits. We will monitor their progress.  Hopefully this year fine weather will continue when the chicks are born. They need a lot of caterpillars each day!

Busy bees.....

“Handle a book as a bee does a flower, extract its sweetness but do not damage it.” 

A quote from John Muir.  A noted Scottish naturalist whose dedication led to the preservation of many wilderness areas in the United States.  Standing in Yosemite National Park and gazing in awe at the magnificent Half Dome or listening to the cascading waterfalls nearby,  the human race has much to thank this man for.

With the proliferation of blossom in the school garden and we expect more this weekend when the cherry trees should break into flower the bees have been very busy and evident. Tree, Red-tailed, Buff-tailed and Common Carder Bumblebees have all been seen regularly.  Along with them some lesser known species and our good friend Osmia rufa- the Red Mason Bee of which we have good numbers breeding in the garden.

Yellow-legged Mining Bee

Common Carder Bee

 Red Mason Bee

Awaiting identification but might be Andrena haemorrhoa

Buff-tailed Bumble Bee on apple blossom

In the greenhouse the flower on the large Pitcher Plant has now fully developed.  A strange flower indeed.  There are more to come on the other plants

The magnificent flower on the pitcher plant

The cactus has burst into flower this week

 The edible garden vegetable beds have been weeded and ready to seed this weekend.  The herb garden has been tidied and replanting with some addition plants for added interest.  The herb garden is always a centre of interest for the children.  There is nothing like rubbing thyme or a sage leaf in your hand and smelling the aroma.

Bee Hotel

Another bee hotel has been sited in the wall.  This one contains mainly reed stems which will hopefully tempt much smaller, and harder to identify, bees to nest in them.  The garden group likes a challenge!

The Orchard

Finally a view along the back of the garden showing the  corridor of apple blossom, pear blossom and cherry blossom.  No wonder the bees are busy!

Education....

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”

Socrates

The garden group met early this morning to take advantage of the good weather. The first job was to empty a compost bin and distribute the contents on the runner bean bed.  The compost was dug into  a trench under the soil.  This will help retain moisture later in the year and help the plants grow steadily and also help to beans to set- providing the bees have done their work first!

Our own compost!

An hour later- the canes are up and the seeds sown

In the other corner  the Memory Garden was given a make over after the storms of February when the blackboard was damaged and the the strings holding the pegs to the hanging sticks were frayed badly.

In the greenhouse the rice plants were pricked out and placed in our paddy field.  We grew rice two years ago with great success. We are hoping to repeat this success this year. 

The paddy field

Alongside the rice we potted on our five tea bushes.  These were grown from seeds in the propagator and are related to Camelias.  We hope that after spending the first year in the greenhouse we can plant them out into the garden and they will grow into decent bushes.  The idea of picking our own tea sounds good!

The five tea plants

Close up of the tea plant

We are watching the pitcher plants which have flowering stems on them.  One flower is almost fully open.  A strange looking flower which is hard to photograph

The pitcher plant flower from underneath!

The Amelanchier is in flower.  It has delicate white flowers which unfortunately do not last very long.

Amelanchier

Several artificial bee nests were installed. 7mm diameter straws will hopefully  entice the bees to nest- probably the red mason bee Osmia rufa. These bees nest successfully in the small bamboos which have put up for them.  Smaller tubes made  from reed stems will be erected shortly for smaller species of bees.

Artificial bee nest site

Colour is still prevalent in the garden as the wall flowers go past their best and the summer flowers start to appear

Finally as the garden group finished for the day with a mug of tea the coastguard helicopter made a few low passes over the garden. Perhaps they had heard that the kettle was on!

The coastguard helicopter

Spring at last!

" Unless a tree has borne blossoms in Spring you will vainly look for fruit on it in Autumn!

A quote from Walter Scott.

Walking around the garden this afternoon in the sunshine it would have been easy to forget the battering which we took in February. The birds were singing and around every corner there was a sign of re-birth.

The pear tree is covered with blossom this year

The apple tree has responded well to the good prune we gave it!

 In the greenhouse things are moving as well.  The potatoes are ready to plant out this coming weekend and the agastache and ageratum seedlings have matured. The flowers on the pitcher plants continue to develop and we are waiting to see the results!

In the World War 2 garden the broad beans are growing well. The potatoes will be planted in the bed alongside them.

The one insect that we cannot do without is the bumble bee.  Both red tailed and buff tailed bumble bees were busy.  This red tailed bumble bee was spotted on the borage flowers.

Returning to the opening quote from Walter Scott.  We have blossom on the fruit trees so we eagerly await the fruit in the Autumn!  The garden group will be active over the weekend catching upon a few jobs.  The main one will be emptying the compost bins and digging what we can to enrich the ground with our own compost.

Finally the echiums are stretching out and reaching for the sky. It will not be long before they are covered in small blue flowers and covered in bees

Spring at last!

Unless a tree has borne blossoms in spring, you will vainly look for fruit on it in autumn.

Walter Scott

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/walterscot118623.html#j2RTps7V1kbMM24e.99

Unless a tree has borne blossoms in spring, you will vainly look for fruit on it in autumn.

Walter Scott