Spring seems very far Away

Still a very snowy nursery this week

We are still snowy, it's melting.........but slowly. This week is being spent looking for jobs I can do while there is still so much snow around. I spent Wednesday clearing out the potting area; all the plants that I put there over two weeks ago to tidy before the snow. The new conifers got put in the sales area at last, adding a blast of colour. I've potted up some small terracotta pots to put on the display shelves in the covered area - a wee bit of inspiration for customers.

Some of our new conifers, looking colourful against the snow

Thursday thoughts - snow snow so bored of the snow. I've sorted out the rest of the plants in the potting area, labelling them and getting them out into the sales area. Next was tidying and top dressing the pots and containers dotted around the sales area. I'd hoped to get some pansies planted in them to give them a seasonal boost but they were too frozen, it will have to wait for another warmer day. I got all the pots of bulbs out and placed them around the sales area, oh I can't wait for spring and some colour and warmer weather, can you? I started pruning the black currants along the back of the stock beds and finished the day clearing a path in the snow and ice right up the track to the nursery - good exercise! David has been busy getting on with the new fence at the entrance to the nursery, the gate and a good bit of fence is now in place. I can't wait to see it finished and get our new signs up too.

Skimmia 'Rubella' with Helleborus nigre

Clearing a path through the snow

Bracken the nursery dog working hard in front of the heater while David and I are
working out in the snow

This arrived in the post today after I donated my chopped off hair. It's great to be able to do something to help others who are dealing with cancer, even if in a small way. I have other fundraising things planned, tho I hasten to add nothing as strenuous as running a marathon or anything like that. I'll leave that to fitter and braver people than me.

But even if we can in a small way help someone, anyone, be it because of cancer, dementia, mental health and so on, we should. We never know when we may need those vital resources ourselves or for our nearest and dearest but also because it is good to help others, to pay forward good deeds big or small, local, personal or global. One small thing a month can build to great things for us all x

Another day of trunging through the melting snow looking for jobs I can do. This turned into finishing off the black currants (see below), clearing more snow (good exercise), weeding the trees in the sales area, feeding and top dressing them and replacing any labels that got lost over winter and admin. David made more progress with the fence at the entrance, its looking great and is making such a difference to the approach to the nursery. We also never considered that it makes the stream garden much more enclosed and more of a feature. Coming through the gate you are treated to the sight and sound of moving water, the bridge and the gardens beyond to explore. 

It's not quite too late to prune your blackcurrants. It's another job I could get done this week while we are still covered with snow. These currants haven't had a proper prune, I've taken branches off here and there as they've fallen over the stock beds, but decided this was the year I'd get them back under control. The first thing to do is to remove the three D's - dead, diseased and the damn ugly (crossing branches, spindly weak branches, etc). Then remove the oldest branches, depending on the age of the plant and how often it's been pruned depends on how many of these you have. If in doubt remove about half the older branches, and take the others out the following year. You are aiming for a goblet shaped plant at the end, leaving the centre open to allow air movement and sun in to ripen the fruit. You can remove some of last years new growth if it's crossing and rubbing other branches or there are too many, but remember that is the wood that this years crop will grow on so don't remove too many. Currants are great for cold exposed gardens on clay soil, they cope with all these conditions and produce an abundant crop every year. They also make an informal short hedge.

Piggies in the field behind the nursery

We had our new volunteer Kelly working with us on Saturday. She and I spent the day in the tunnel, making great progress and we are now caught up and ready to start making room and sowing seeds. This year we are growing plants for a young garden designer in Edinburgh, for her display at Gardening Scotland. Kelly potted up all the plants and I got a space made for them. I went through all the seasonal plants and threw out the ones that didn't survive this cold winter and potted up the survivors. David spent the day writing labels (did I mention it was heavy rain all day? Makes a change from all that snow I guess). 

Our new entrance: new fence, gate and planters

Sunday was warm, well warm for March and very warm after all the winter weather we've had. It was great not to wear two coats, a hat and scarf for a change! Perhaps it was also all the barrowing of compost I was doing that was warming too. Still looking for tasks I can do while the ground is covered in snow I took all the new planters down to the nursery entrance. Once in position I filled them with our home made compost and planted them up. I've chosen one of my favourite colour schemes for these planters, blue and yellow. It will be great to see it all coming together over the summer. 

Aeonium 'Magnificum'

With another death in the family this weekend, life has turned upside down again. It brings everything into sharp focus again. A lot of whys, what ifs and changes for the family. Another year that is turning out not to be what we thought it would be. 

Chrysosplenium macrophyllum

I swapped my days around so I could be in the nursery for a delivery on Tuesday and spent Monday at home catching up with house work, garden tasks, potting house plants for middle son, taking bubble wrap off the small greeenhouse and tidying and watering both greenhouses. Whew, but good to be catching up. Tuesday at the nursery was a day of barrowing, 7 barrows of gravel up to top up both sets of steps into and out of the herb garden and 5 barrows of plants up to the covered area to label and put into sales. If I don't lose weight then there's something wrong. I also planted out some different varieties of snowdrops in a few borders, some winter aconites and Hellebores for late winter colour in the nursery gardens. 

Echiveria coming into flower in
the greenhouse

One of my own Hellebore seedlings coming into
flower at home

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