The Spring tidy begins.......2010 Egg Total : 40

It was dry today, and I decided that I would make a start on getting the garden ready for Spring.  Having been reading your blogs - you have inspired to me 'get my finger out' and have a tidy.

This entailed cutting back the dead foliage from my raised beds.  (Well I only managed one raised bed but its a great big one!)

I like to leave the foliage on the perrennial plants to let the insects and ladybirds etc overwinter safely.  But they are waking up now - and I was fed up with looking out at the messy flower bed.

It took me four hours - and by the time I got to the clearing up, and going up the allotment to dump the stuff stage - I was too tired to take photos.  I will do so tomorrow afternoon if I get time.

It is looking rather bare now, as I did a lot of pruning, but wait until summer and you won't recognize it.  Pat is looking as though the has done all the work - but he is actually just taking the ivy off the flower tub!  The bed I cleared was the one that runs right along to his left.   I love plants, but he wanted the area cleared in front of (which was the chicken pen), so that he could easily walk around it, and could see the bantams running around there!  So pruned the yellow pittosporum shrub and turned it into a tree.  Plus the rose bushes, and I got him to dig out a big day lily, and one of these

A big clump of Japanese Anenome

I had so many garden bags and sacks of prunings that they filled up the car!

Whilst Pat was faffing about cutting the ivy, I mowed the lawns - just to clear away some of the winter debris and leaves

Ok, I know I haven't put it away, but I was just hanging around waiting for chauffeur!

I have all this end to do next!

The woodland garden that runs along the side, and the back.

Can you see Daisy - she  has been a real tinker today! More of that in a minute

In the summer, the flower bed this end in front of the chicken pen, had climbing plants one of which was a pure white clematis with flowers the size of dinner plates. 

Well as it is now going to be a veggie garden, I have decided to removed all the plants and re-seed it with grass.  This is so that the veggie beds get lots of sun - which they would not have.

So Pat dug out all the plants and I have been replanting them around the garden.

I am so tired, I can't type much more, so I will finish this and come back to it perhaps tomorrow evening.

Oh yes - Daisy!  She is a real bossy boots and is the top hen.  I have been keeping the chooks in for the morning, as Daisy wouldn't let any of them into Peckingham Palace to lay their eggs.  I knew the new banties had started laying - but it was not in the nesting box - and I couldn't find where in the garden they were laying them.  It's a bad habit that I don't want them to get into.

Whilst I was gardening, one of the newbies had laid an egg in their run.  It has deep bedding in it - so not a problem, and the bedding is clean - but they should lay them in the nest box.

Daisy was standing guard and not letting anyone in!  She eventually went and sat in the nest herself, and was in there over an hour and there was a queue!  So I went to lift her out and  she pecked me - she always does, but it doesn't hurt as she has a tiny beak!  Anyhow - she still hadn't laid an egg, so I took her out - hence her being in the garden - and off she happily went!

In the meantime, it allowed Lola to go and lay an egg in peace.

I did have to let Daisy back in when we came back from the allotment and she was looking rather desperate.  Once back in, she flew straight into Peckingham Palace, booted Zola out of the nest, and went into stroppy mode.  She pecked me yet again, and poor Zola was getting frantic, so I had to do a 'quick fix' Blue Peter style - and it worked! Amazing what you can do with cardboard.

Pictures to follow.

A big thank  you to my followers.  I try to add you to my blog links- but if I miss you, do please email me with your link so that I can add it.  I just love to see what you are all doing.