At last we are in springtime and everything is getting going. All is green and fresh as a rush of delayed growth fills the garden with new leaf and blossom.

Of course this means too a new round of grass cutting and trimming and hoping that newly seeded areas will establish themselves.

Elsewhere the re-inscribed tops of the wooden Stile An escalation of the footpath have been put back in place and look fine at the top point of the wild garden.

Repairs have been made to the small broken sections of the Arcadia column and Liberty column, but another piece of damage has come to light – an old wound – the Gates milestone has split again along a previously repaired crack – it will need to be rejoined again. The underside of the wooden footbridge in the Temple garden has rotted away – a temporary repair is keeping it functioning until it can be renewed.

One other curious disappearance (or theft?) is the bronze feather flight from Cupid’s arrow which pierces a tree in the woodland – there is no sign of this section in the undergrowth and it seems strange that it can just have dropped off and be lost. Hopefully a replacement can be made or found at some stage.

The box hedging topiary forms have been given a quick trim – some of it is showing signs of damage from the winter, but plenty of new growth is poking through. Also the Huff Lane and front garden perimeter hedges have been tidied back.

The Hortus too has been given a  clear out – while trying not to cause too much disturbance to our resident pheasant nesting in amongst lemon balm (a family now hatched and fledged).

As to water problems – there is still an issue with levels but it seems to be coming now from the spring source which has run down to a trickle – a good shower of rain now would solve this. But there is enough still in the pools and burns to keep us going for now.

The Temple pond has been weeded out and the Cloud pool cleared of leaves and debris – all of the ponds are almost bubbling full with tadpoles. 

A few final small pieces have been put out in place – camouflaged raspberry posts – femmes de la revolution wild flowers planted – and the flag put up.

The worst of the pot holes have been filled in along the track making for easier access. The area around the monument has been given an initial tidy after the disastrous consequences of farm traffic and boggy ground left it so badly scarred.

The car park is mown and looks presentable.

The Kailyard has been planted out and the Allotment tidied and filled with seedlings from the greenhouses.

The front of Baucus & Philomen temple has also been weeded and a variety of new flowers planted here for the summer.

Cherry blossom floats down like a confetti blessing, the glaucous yellow of whins brightens the hillside, the delicate dancing heads of red campion and forget-me-nots form soft drifts of colour.

Most of all the shift in the weather has filled the air with warm light and birdsong. This is surely the loveliest of seasons.