January 2019
As the garden settled into stupor, what better than to produce even more mud?
Creating an old ruin effect entrance to the forest certainly is doing that.
Creating an old ruin effect entrance to the forest certainly is doing that.
The treehouse is growing...
March 2019
Spring is early and I'm excited! Is it the hormones playing up? Have I finally lost it?
Some of you may not understand how a garden can be exciting. It should be a place of tranquility and contemplation. Well, sometimes it is, but whilst the weeds are growing all around you, rest is but a fickle companion.
However, along with the weeds, the thousands of plants carefully put to bed last year are awakening and bursting forth.
Everything is growing, from roses to bananas, from willows to weeds. Even the lotus is stirring from its murky depths, the palms are reaching upwards, the fish are yawning and the birds are bonking.
This year the changes should be stunning. Starting here. Starting now.
Inside is a new veg patch with tractor tyres for tomatoes and strawberries, plus table and bench for sitting and watching me dig it...
and on the bench...
A mouse took a stroll
through the deep dark wood.
A fox saw the mouse
and the mouse looked good.
On went the mouse through the deep dark wood.
An owl saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.
On went the mouse through the deep dark wood.
A snake saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.
Erm. The snake's in the post. And it's a worm. The snakes were too scary..
"My Favourite Food!" the Gruffalo said.
"You'll look nice on a slice of bread!"
Silly old Phil. Doesn't he know?
There's no such thing as a Gruffalo?
All was quiet in the deep dark wood.
The mouse found a nut, and the nut was good.
Somewhere, everywhere, there is a war going on. Always. All the time. Every minute of every hour.
And it is somewhere near you right now.
We humans consider ourselves to be war-like, aggressive and dangerous (except for me). But the nature all around you is far worse. Every tree is fighting upwards for a greater share of precious light, every blade of grass is fighting for an unfair share of the land around it. Nature is a fight. Nature is war.
And my job is peace-keeper.
My job is to control the aggression and weed out the...erm... weeds.
And yet, despite my best efforts, despite acres of plastic liner, despite hours of herbal specism and manual removal, despite the occasional chemical and even biological warfare, I cannot rest.
The weapons of war are scattered around...
For now I am winning. For now my favoured plants are prospering.
Many have been quiescent overwinter, but with a little protection against the cold, some are already recovering with gusto.
The bananas, for instance, are going bananas.
Roses bloom despite constant regiments of aphid infantry controlled by their supreme leaders, the ants.
The ponds are surrounded by colour, each flowering beauty fighting to attract the most bees.
And in the murky depths, the lotus has obscenely burst forth, pushing aside all comers, like an alien porn show.
And in the duck pond, the winter of Cold War has now been blown apart, with each egg-layer believing itself to be the most important in the pecking order. The black swans have laid twenty eggs so far this spring. For some reason they do not appreciate these being turned into omelettes.
Approaching the nest can be a little fraught...
The peacocks are some of the few who are not at war.
Love.
Not war.
Although she may be more interested in food...
June 2019
I may not have lost it, but my peacocks have...
March 2019
And it is somewhere near you right now.
We humans consider ourselves to be war-like, aggressive and dangerous (except for me). But the nature all around you is far worse. Every tree is fighting upwards for a greater share of precious light, every blade of grass is fighting for an unfair share of the land around it. Nature is a fight. Nature is war.
And my job is peace-keeper.
My job is to control the aggression and weed out the...erm... weeds.
And yet, despite my best efforts, despite acres of plastic liner, despite hours of herbal specism and manual removal, despite the occasional chemical and even biological warfare, I cannot rest.
The bananas, for instance, are going bananas.
The ponds are surrounded by colour, each flowering beauty fighting to attract the most bees.
The peacocks are some of the few who are not at war.
Love.
Not war.
June 2019
Of Bee-eaters and Bananas.
Spring may have sprung early this year, but it has developed something of a leak as it has limped through to June.
Damp, cold, changeable. Sounds very familiar to this old Welsh inhabitant. Well, every cloud (and there has been a surfeit) has a sliver lining. Most of the plant life has loved it.
The miles of banking, previously likened to 'polka-dot bikinis', have filled out, bulging against their limits.
We have reached a milestone here. The planting has finally finished, with thousands planted, cataloguing them all will take months!
The vines planted here two years ago were then just ailing adult stems, shorn of their tendrils. Now it rambles with gusto over the pergola, stuffed with embryonic grapes.
This gives on to a view that is easy for anyone to relax to.
But not all are relaxing. The flush of flower power has brought with it pollinators galore. These in turn have attracted some beautiful predators. The bee-eaters.
Last year we had our first pair. This year we have a flock of around ten of them!
All this pollinating, along with the mild weather, has produced my first ever bananas, growing deep in the already enormous banana trees.
There has been a second milestone reached. Deep in the deep dark wood, the treehouse has been finished and awaits is first occupants...
Ground floor; toilet.
First floor, bedroom and lounge.
Top floor, room with a view...
This is definitely Phil's Folly
July 2019
With the lotus in full flower...
the banking is becoming more and more colourful
Meanwhile, in Pooh Corner, the woodshed and the well head have been finished..
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