I dug over middle bed and found the little toad again. I hope the others are around too, as the little one is the same size as the slugs that need to be eaten.

I uncovered the big front bed and put down tiles to allow me half a chance at looking after the bed when things start growing. I sowed candytuft along the start of the path and a mix of calendula and cornflowers in the middle. I also put some cornflowers by the gate behind the perennial poppy. I covered the newly sown seed with compost, which is also going to work in showing where things have been sown – particularly in the big beds.

After lunch I cleared up behind the apple tree, ready for the new plan of polythene and bark chips. There was no time to weed and replant the displaced anemones and fleabane that were beyond the line, so I kept their roots in clumps of soil and took them home overnight.