Covoid-19

I’ve been caught up with other things since the Covoid-19 virus has become a reality in New Zealand, neglecting to do any blog posts.  Gardening, however has been going on while we have had some glorious autumn days.  With both of us home for the last week we are starting to make headway on some projects.

In January 2020, the Tidy gardener completed the paving project at the back of the house adjoining the deck, making a connection between the house and the garage.  It’s made a real difference to how the back looks and once the little raised gardens are filled with plants and the climbers become established it will greatly enhance the living area.  We choose to leave the rotary clothesline where it was situated, as it works well in its present spot for drying clothes.  My plan is to make a fabric cover so it will double as an umbrella.  I would like to mirror its shape with a nice round smaller weeping tree to go between the existing Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’ and the Amelanchier.   I love Betula nigra ‘Summer Cascade’ for its shape and beautiful bark but I can’t find it anywhere to buy at present. There might have to be a compromise if I can find something else similar.

Laying the paving has led to two other projects.  The paving project required levelling the space and digging out the existing lawn to join with the existing concrete paths.  This meant there was a heap of dirt, quite stony dirt.  The Tidy gardener, being the methodical man he is, sieved all the dirt through an old bed spring to separate usable dirt from the stones.  A path around the back of the garage was quickly created this week and has utilised quite a few barrow loads of stones.  It has made it much easier to walk there, as I have my little plant nursery along the back of the garage where it is sheltered and relatively warm.