Why no posts for so long?

Why have I not posted here this year?

Well, it was January and very wet. No gardening to be had. I was away in February, then when I returned in March, it was still wet. Very wet.

The worse thing though was that all the daffodils in our whole garden have been eaten by deer. Usually the large back hillside garden in covered in daffodils that have spread over the life of the house. In our side garden we have the little narcissi that Wordsworth wrote about. You can see and read about them here.

Wordsworth daffodils

These are the Wordsworth daffodils growing wild in our garden in happier years.

In our main garden we also have daffodils that I've planted myself.

All gone.

This is the culprit.

Deer looking down at me from the top of our garden

The deer are not scared any more. They just look at me, as if saying "so? What you gonna do about it?" The whole area around the deer is usually yellow with daffodils at this time of year.

Oh, the woes of gardeners! I'm not alone . Every gardener in Grasmere has a similar tale. It's dispriting.
Shall I even bother to plant anything this year?
Watch this space............

Just seen a red squirrel- good news!

I was sitting at my desk, checking for any early morning messages, when out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in the garden.

It was a Red Squirrel hopping about. They're not easy to see right now against the brown bracken, but it hopped onto the trunk of a silver birch and ran up into the branches. The Grasmere  Red Squirrel Watch people put a Squirrel cam in our garden the other day . They move it round between the various local squirrel sites. Hope they got a sighting- it makes all the hard work fighting off the greys very worthwhile.

Yesterday we had two big deer and the normal bunch of sheep, one of which is very bad tempered- practically stamps it's feet when I try to "shooo- go on, get out..." them away. If they only ate the grass I wouldn't mind - just leave the daffodils please.

White Moss, Grasmere, crocus, 10 March 2010

I've found this photo on my files from 10 march 2010. This year has been so cold lately that I don't think my crocuses are out yet. I'll look for them today.

I wonder if HRH Prince Charles has to sweep deer droppings from his terrace?

I enjoyed Countryfile this week with HRH Price Charles risking his fingers as Julia Bradbury hammered in fence posts. I know he was wearing very, very thick gloves, but even so....it's nice to know the heir to the throne knows how important a good fence post is.

Our garden is quite well fenced, but it's a huge Lake District woodland hillside that backs onto farmers' fields full of sheep, and there's no way we can keep all the fences and walls sheep proof , especially at this time of year when they are desperate for anything fresh and green. Our daffodils obviously look very tasty.

Then there is our number 1 enemy.

Deer in White Moss hillside Lake District garden.

You looking at me?

Big deer, baby deer, 7 at a time, on their own, you name it, we've got it. I have just spent an hour sweeping up deer droppings from our side terrace, and I've been pulling my hair out- literally. The theory goes that if you spread human hair around the deer will stay away. Pure nonsense- they aren't scared at all. Still, we have to keep trying, as they've attacked the laurels, the gaultherea, the daffs and who knows what else whilst we've been away on holiday. Our return doesn't seem to have worried them.

We do still have some daffodils left though, and it's another amazingly beautiful sunny day here. The guests at Brockstone, our holiday cottage with amazing views are loving it.

We open our Grasmere B & B at White Moss House this weekend, and we are offering great reductions on our usual rates for last minute bookings ( must be made direct to sue@whitemoss.com, or by phone 015394 35295)

The views at the moment are superb- non of those leaf type things on the trees blocking out the lake and hills.

Snowdrops revealed, but deer let in.

We've just had the beech hedge around the side garden cut back. It had become very overgrown, and hung out way past its roots. The good thing is that we can now see snowdrops that have been hiding there unseen. The down side is that the deer and sheep can now walk much more easily into the garden, as huge gaps have opened up where previously there were small branches.

The deer have been busy whilst we've been away.

We've been away for three weeks and the deer have got bolder. Nothing much keeps them out at this time of year when nothing much is growing, but our absence and lack of human scent does seem to encourage them. Even though it is just the beginning of March, we had hoped to see the early herbs peeping out. The Lake District has had a lovely sunny two weeks, and though cold at night, the days have been glorious. Herbs such as Lovage should be ready to start growing very soon, but any shoots that pop up are immediately eaten. Ho hum- the problems of wildlife in the garden never go away. This is what that lovage will look like in a few weeks time- hopefully. Click here for lots more photos and information about lovage. For more information about herbs there are lots of articles and links about how to grow herbs right here. Get planning your herb garden now for a tasty 2013.

Gertrude Jekyll is doing well this year

I love the rose, Gertrude Jekyll. I planted one a few years ago in the side garden, so that I could catch it's wonderful scent when sitting on my terrace. The problem was that the deer would eat the new shoots and Gertrude never reached her full potential.

Last year I moved the rose to the front garden. It's not ideal rose ground, being pretty stony, shallow soil, prone to drying out, but this year's odd weather seems to have suited the roses, and I have some gorgeous pink blooms.The rose was named after the gardener who did so much to promote and revive the English love of roses. You can buy a copy of her 1923 book that I think would make a wonderful gift for a gardener. I would love to receive this.

Click to see this on Amazon.co.uk.

Here's a picture of the Gertrude Jekyll rose so that you'll know what I'm talking about- "ah , yes, that's the one !" You knew you'd seen Gertrude Jekyll roses, but just couldn't quite remember exactly which rose the Gertrude Jekyll rose was!

This lovely photo of the Gertrude Jekyyl rose is thanks to T.Kiya on flickr

Here come the deer!

The deer have rediscovered our garden. That's not good!
We've had a relatively deer free year, but the crocosmia have taken a beating, and now they've been seen nosing around the apple trees.

If they stick to windfalls that won't be too bad, though I'm hoping to make lots of chutney this year, so they'd better leave some for me.
Anybody with really good apple chutney recipes?