It feels like now we are properly into the beginnings of spring, as mid-month St Patrick turns the stone and we are blessed with much milder weather. Restoration work continues and all around us nature pushes onwards.

 

Stump grinding clears away the bulk of remaining lifted root plates, making it easier to excavate the areas around damaged paths – the next stage is to relay the brick and paver sections and make good the surrounding ground cover which was all disrupted. There are more bonfires as the most efficient way of getting rid of waste.

 

Further unstable trees are tidied of broken limbs or taken down – the changes in structure and light are now very much apparent – though they will probably not be much noticed by visitors to the garden. However a certain level of order has to be returned and always being mindful of the overall structure of the garden as composition. Some areas can be left and nature take its course, others will require a bit more adjusting. Wreckage reaps renewal.

 

We have more welcome volunteer work – soil improver is added to ready beds in the Kailyard and as well as mulching in the Hortus – there is still plenty of tidying to be completed before even beginning the usual round of seasonal maintenance. Topsoil is used to re-dress battered and worn grass pathways and to level out sections of lawn to be reseeded.

 

Trees are ordered – some specimens to replace those lost in the storm, especially where artwork settings which were directly damaged have to be reinstated. The Virgil grove circles is one such area, as well as the Woodland garden where a balance has to be struck between loss and restoration. This work will continue for a while yet, and it is good to be switching away from just clearing up to more productive and rewarding planning and planting. 

 

A lot of the old rubble and broken rubbish from greenhouse and shed are cleared and piled up ready to be taken away. It is easier to approach renovations once this preparation work has been completed.

 

The Woodshed is also cleared out ready to make space for splitting and storing the logs stacked in the yard in front of it.

 

Jet washing of pathways has begun to refresh stone paths and patio areas, another of those essential, mundane, but ultimately oddly satisfying jobs to get out of the way.

 

The Guercino brick plinth is rebuilt where it had been dismantled and removed from beneath its companion fallen tree but suffered no damage. A replacement tree will also be needed for Cupid’s arrow which pierced the mature poplar here. A new arrow will be required so that the proper sense of scale is maintained. And a rotary washing line to match the old Siegfried Linie is waiting to be installed.

 

Woodchip mulch is spread out beneath the raspberry beds and blackcurrants in the Kailyard and Front garden. With the greenhouse destroyed seed sowing and planning for seasonal crops has also become a bit disrupted – some space can be made in the remaining structure once the pots and containers stored there are moved out and the sequence can begin again.

 

Snowdrops have been constant cheery companions, now going over and the next flush of spring bulbs, daffodils and crocuses is coming through, as always blooming later here than elsewhere. 

 

Over two hundred tree saplings have been potted up, establishing a small nursery in a sheltered sunny spot by the Little Wood – gardening not only for next year but for many years to come. It is always a moment of reflection to think about how these will come on, who will eventually plant them out, who will rest under their shade and enjoy their presence.

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