Ravendale House

‘They’ said there is going to be a frost tonight. According to my last years gardening diary our first frost in Autumn 2008 was 27th October, so do I believe ‘them’?

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It’s now almost a week since the plug plants arrived, and to be honest the jury’s still out. The begonias certainly look better than they did, but neither they nor the geraniums have done much in the way of growing. Perhaps I should just be glad they’re still alive.

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Another sunny, if cool day and I did one of my most favourite gardening jobs. Planting things that I’ve grown from cuttings or seed out of their pots and into the ground.

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Here’s a question. Is it better to weed one bed thoroughly or two beds less thoroughly? I’ve been gardening for years now and I still don’t know the answer.

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Today started grey and damp, but ended up quite bright and breezy, so I spent the afternoon weeding the flower bed that runs along the back of the house.

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Today it didn’t warm up until about 3pm, so I was a bit late getting going, but when I did get going I made a start on weeding flower bed 4. Now flower bed 4 is the worst of the flower beds (apart from flower bed 5 which I’ve already abandoned). I’ve never really ‘bottomed’ it, if you know what I mean, though it does have plenty of potential.

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Today I weeded flower bed 2. Not a big job you might say, but big enough. It’s always been a bit of a problem bed (but not the worst) due to the fact that it’s infested with a very pervasive grass which has long, strong, white roots, and if only half an inch is left in the ground it will re-grow, and then you’re back to square one.

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Last night there was quite a sharp frost, the first one in what seems like ages. Thankfully all my new little plants and seedlings are tucked up warm in the conservatory. Well ‘warmish’ at least, as it isn’t heated. They all seem to be doing very well.

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The telescopic hedge trimmer finally arrived yesterday, better late than never. Just like the strimmer, it’s battery needed 15 hours of charging, so we weren’t able to try it out until today.

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How are you supposed to get anything done in these temperatures? It’s freezing, and that’s during the day, I shudder to think what it’s like in the middle of the night. Thank goodness for central heating!

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