It's a new year in the Lake District Garden

Not much has been happening in the garden lately. Rain, snow, frost and general winter weather has made it an unattractive proposition.

This week however we had a couple of days that felt like spring, so we've been out tidying- sweeping up the magnolia leaves from the path, and pruning the jasmine.
I expect it's quite the wrong thing to do, to hack away at a jasmine in January, but I'd not had the heart to cut it back in autumn. The deer found it in December and thought the last of the leaves looked tasty, so we were left with long shoots of jasmine waving around in the wind.

We need to put a load of compost on the Jasmine now. A few years of having a jasmine with lots of leaves but no flowers have taught me that you need to put more compost than you think would be necessary on the jasmine root to make sure you get those sweet scented flowers in summer.

Frost forecast- time to tidy the garden

We've got frost forecast for Wednesday, so I MUST get out and tidy the tubs, bringing in the fuschia and geraniums that I want to keep for next year.
I'm going to ask if I can keep them in George's greenhouse as he's not using it this year.
By the way- if you're thinking about winter soups not the summer plants are over, you might like to think about using my celeriac recipes. Take a look.

Oh Dear! The deer have eaten the sorrel!

The sorrel was looking fine yesterday/ Today, there are just a few stalks left.

We have a young deer that seems to think anything in our garden is fair game. Until now though , the herbs have been left untouched. Now it seems as if White Moss sorrel is very much to the deer's taste.

Ah well!

I've been neglecting the garden!

Well, apart from feeding the tubs and deadheading everywhere, there is not much to do right now.
The leaves are beginning to fall though, so I know what lies ahead- days of sweeping!

Finally getting out in the garden after the rain

We've had some really cold wet weather here lately, but the last few days have been hot, dry and sunny.
It seems to be too late for some of the busy lizzies, which have given up , just like they did in the rain last year.
The weeds have taken over in the herb garden, so I've started the war on weeds- it will take a few days to get the herb garden looking good again.

Time to get back in the White Moss Herb Garden

The lack of posts about the White Moss Garden reflects my lack of activity in White Moss Garden!
Our son's wedding in Essex on July 24 took us away for 5 days, and on return, the garden has taken a back seat.
I have done one thing though- I've replanted my hanging basket! It had been attacked by snails who had climbed the creeper on the front of White Moss House, Grasmere, launched themselves onto the trailing leaves from the hanging basket, and then munched through the petunias, leaving a gap in the middle of the basket.
Petunias now out, geraniums now in, and slug pellets liberally spread!
I've also taken the time to chop the sweet cicely right back. It will come again this year. Take a look here for more information on sweet cicely. It's a very useful herb for diabetics and others wanting to cut their sugar intake.