The 8o'clock clap

Good evening/morning ladies and gentlemen.

It's tough this gardening lark, it's a good way to keep fit though, using a lot of different muscles.

Year after year since I was diagnosed in 2015, I've been wanting to put daffodil bulbs in the verge opposite my driveway as a reminder of me when I've gone. Thing is the hedge comes to the roadside so I would need to be on the road to plant the bulbs. Unfortunately that spot is about 30 to 40 yards from a blind corner and downhill too. Sometimes the odd car may come round that bend a little fast and I don't want that spot to instil a different memory for my wife!!

So just over the hedge, extending 30 to 40 yards and the same distance to the right, is where I have planted the 1500  willow trees which will be my legacy. Once I plant another thousand, I hope to get it officially named as (my Christian name)'s Wood in maps. The field is very damp, like a bog in places because there's a small brook meandering through the fields which needs dredged but unfortunately that's what many rivers need. Consequently the land either side of the brook is getting wetter so hopefully the willow trees will help to drain it.

I've identified a spot in my garden that gets up to 14 hours of sunshine a day so when (if) the weather becomes warmer I'm going to plant a banana tree. The spot is in a raised area and behind it is a 5 ft high corner wall that supports another, larger raised area on which is my veg plot, 5.5 yards wide by 15 yards long where I'm trying to construct 6 or 7 raised beds over which I would like to put up my polytunnel (25ftx14 ft). I'll have flat paths for my wheelchair to glide easily, that's the plan.

It's certainly not an easy task but, cometh the task, cometh the man,

Tvman xx 

Hi Tvman, That sounds terrific and I'm sure you will do it. It really doesn't matter how long it takes, you can only do a bit at a time, weather permitting! We are very lucky, we overlook the Campsie Hills and not far from our house is the Clyde and Forth Canal which has a path at either side of the water! A few years ago, they put Tarmac on the widest side and last year they finished the other side. The paths are flat and I can go with my husband in my electric buggy or in my wheelchair! It makes such a difference from walking on mud. Also at certain parts, you can look through caps in the trees or hedges and see deer and foxes, it's amazing!

Hi flowerlady you didn't say if you bought bulbs while you were there! If you did, are they coming up now!

Hi  That's great to hear that you love the bulb pots as that is exactly what I gave two of my friends who are not gardeners and they loved them too. They say they forget every year in which order they flower! Anyone who likes gardening will tell you the order they come up in. I made them large pots with 5 layers of bulbs! 

Hi! 

I did bring some bulbs.back with me. I loved Amsterdam, it was just how I thought it would be. I am addicted to bulbs, can't stop planting them. Lots of things popping up in the garden that I had forgotten about. 

It's keeping me sane at this rather odd time.  Xx

A banana Tvman!  How exotic! 

X

Hi Annette anndanv

That path sounds idyllic, have the council planted up areas with bedding plants (a bit early for summer bedding plants) but perhaps daffs and croci (either, . I checked ). I think councils and train stations etc make more of an effort these days. Then if you're lucky you get to see the local fauna, even better! 

There is more effort by councils and so on to provide paths for disabled people to enjoy what able bodied are able to enjoy. If I come across some place that could do better, I let them know. For parity, if somewhere has made a special effort, I let them know that I am grateful.

Take care Annette

Tvman xx

Hi Tvman, It is idyllic! No they haven't planted any bedding plants along the path, as there are already small trees and shrubs but about a mile along the path is the first bridge that takes you over to the other side and there are long plant pots or troughs clipped onto the metal bridge on both side. They have pansies and viola at the minute but when the weather improves there will be French marigolds etc to bring a splash of colour. These bridges are spaced about every few miles, which means you can go up one path and come back on the other side. The bird song is amazing!

Hi Annette

Really sounds idyllic. I think I would need a bridge every 5 or 6 hundred yards rather than miles in order to properly enjoy both sides

With so many trees around here we have a lot of birds and in the summer months we have a couple of pairs of rough legged buzzards flying high. When they're a little lower you can see how graceful they glide on the updrafts. Whether they're high or low, the unmistakable high pitched cry they make is a dead giveaway that they're around. Tbh I didn't know what they were until I downloaded an app of British birdsong and filtered through the birds of prey birdsong until I found it. It's an amazing sight when you see them plummet down for prey. I'd say that to be in the highlands of Scotland and catch aight of a Golden Eagle would be something much more spectacular.

We have a few pheasants around but it I may go back to the buzzards, in early summer it's not unusual to see and hear loud squawking of crows chasing one or two buzzards away from their nests, protecting their young and/or eggs. 

It's good to get away from gardening, eh ?

Tvman xx