We've had a week of good weather: it's been warmer than Ibiza, apparently, and we have actually seen the sun!! Yes, that bright light in the sky is the sun, something we have barely seen for several months.
And in response to this wonderful and very welcome period of good weather, the Peony buds are swelling:
Don't they look plump and healthy?
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I've had a question from Natalia (“Hi, Natalia!” *waves enthusiastically*) about Ground Elder, which is, as we all know, a bugger to get rid of. Yes, that is a technical term.
If it is just in your own garden (“just!”) then it is relatively straightforward to deal with: as with couch grass (I've written a long How-To on that subject, for your delight and delectation), it has to be dug out, with some follow-up attention afterwards, and when I say that, I actually mean “ceaseless vigilance” but we'll get to that in due course.
Ground Elder removal is very similar - in fact, the Big Three garden weeds (Couch Grass, Ground Elder, and Bindweed) are interchangeable as far as removal is concerned.
But when it's sneaking under the fence from next door, that's a whole other problem, and that's where we turn to Natalia's question.....
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These blue grasses were hugely popular when I first started gardening professionally, which is quite a few years ago - my, doesn't time fly, when you are enjoying yourself!
They seem to be losing favour recently, and I think it's because they often just can't make it through our damp winters.
Back in the days when I first started, we were having “proper” winters which were cold, frosty, often with snow, but which had a lot of winter sunshine, so plants had a chance to “dry out” during the day.
In recent years, and particularly the last five or ten years.....
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Yes, ok, willowherbs ARE weeds, I agree!
This article comes from a comment which I received, last week: I was taking advantage of a non-frozen morning to weed one of the borders, and the Client came out for a chat.
Them: “Ah, I see you are weeding this morning.”
Me: (*resisting the urge to be sarkey*) “Yes - lots of little weeds coming up, now is a good time to get them, before they get too well established.”
Them: “It's amazing how you know which ones are the weeds.”
I laughed.....
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