One step forward....

Two steps back...bloody chooks! Looks like they need their wings clipped again. I planted red cabbage on Sunday only to find they had disappeared this morning, and the chooks were licking their lips (err...beaks)!

What is the point in keeping chickens when they don't even lay eggs!

Anyway, not all bad news.I am very happy to say I have finally, after a year or so, got my plants back into the garden. The photos show the little bit of progress I am making.
It feels really good to get the plants into the ground, as they were lifted out last April so that we could kill off the kikuya which had immigrated from the lawn, and pretty well taken over. And it isn't the kind of weed you can just pull out.Oh no, this stuff gets in deep(sometimes a metre deep) and strangles the root system of everything in its path, and nothing will kill it, apart from a good dose of round-up, three times! Blimey,it is tough stuff. So much for being totally organic. You just can't beat it without help from glysophate.

So my plants have been waiting patiently, and I did lose a few.But that's okay, because I have changed the design a bit, and made different choices of plants and different ways to plant them.I am hoping the garden will be a bit less "cottagey" and a bit more designed, but that remains to be seen.

I have put in a couple of dwarf nectarines and a "doughnut" peach, as well as three Chilean guavas, which have edible fruit. I like the idea of having some edible plants in the border.

This photo was taken before I started replanting:

This one is after planting, though it doesn't show alot of difference, it will look much improved in spring. Note the gorgeous colour of the Triton Maple.

And finally, something I have been hoping to do since Charlie's birth - to plant his tree, the Gingko Biloba, over the placenta which sustained him for 9 months,growing him into a strong and healthy baby.Now it can do the same for his tree.(In case you're wondering, it was in the freezer all that time!)

The Buddha statue now sits under the tree. The tree itself doesn't look that great, but it is losing its leaves for Autumn, and I am sure it will look beautiful in the future. I also planted perennial irises around the tree and Buddha.I am not sure what kind of irises they are, but they are delicate and pretty, and I think suitable for a special spot.

It feels good to be gardening regularly, to look forward to what the plants will bring : perhaps food, beauty, flowers to bring inside, a lovely place to wander, to sit in, and a chance to get my hands dirty and to connect with the earth...Ahhh, bliss!