I'm in love with Abraham Darby

The majority of the outdoor work last week was all about Zone 2.

As you can see, the area is cleared and being forked it over with compost and fertiliser. All that's needed is the turves to lay, which will be in at the end of this week (supposedly, although perhaps not if this rain continues). The greenhouse frame and fencing found good homes on freecycle and will shortly be gracing allotments, and the rustic poles are at the end of the garden to be re-used as a pergola.

I've been trying to get the bindweed under control, but really I'm fighting a losing battle. It's running underneath the weed suppressant membrane. This is immensly galling as it's supposed to suppress weeds, not provide them with the ideal conditions under which to thrive. But at least I can now see the base of the shrubs, which is an amazing achievement.

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:: I found an excellent tip in a gardening supertips book yesterday. If you want to kill a climbing weed like bindweed but don't want to spray in case you damage the plant underneath, fill an empty roll on deodorant bottle with weedkiller and roll it on the bits of weed you can see. Inspired!!

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A clematis growing through the shrubs was also suffocating under the weight of bindweed, so out it came and was planted by the pergola by Bed 4. It does not look happy. It hates me for doing it. To assuage my guilt at trying to hasten the demise of a perfectly healthy plant, a good sniff around a garden centre revealed a beautiful David Austen English shrub rose called Abraham Darby, which gets to about 5ft and has numerous heavy sprays of blooms on it.

I'm hopping with excitement at the thought of training it across the patio fence along with the Ville de Lyon clematis. And the smell is incredible - fruity and lemony. Absolutely out of this world.

The log roll in bed 3 didn't come up in the end because of a lack of time, but when the slate chippings arrive for the patio this week some nice fresh new bark chippings will be coming too for a good thick layer of mulch to tidy it all up.

So that's the work in Zone 2 almost complete.

Zone 3 ahoy.....and it's not my favourite. I'll tell you why another day.

Comments

[Jennyff]

You're making such good progress, there must have been a temptation to take a bit of time out on the patio but you just keep grafting. I'm really busy myself, watching Le Tour de France, ha ha. I love David Austin roses, they are all highly desirable and you found a beauty.

[apieceofwood]

Lovely flower!