The pond has a bit of hippo on the front side at the moment, but there’s nothing to do about it. When the water’s warmer I’ll try and move the sand lining a bit, but I’m not holding up much hope for a big change.

The garlic has pretty much all sprouted, but I’ll wait a little longer before putting the four displaced ones back.

I managed to see my latest snowdrop before the sparrows ate it. The crocuses are on their way, but not open yet. I cut back the coreopsis to reveal this year’s new growth and found a little sleeping(?) bee, which I left sheltered.

I broke off last year’s physostegia stalks for possible dead hedging. I got quite a bundle of stalks for my collection of stalks and branches, so if anything is still asleep in the stalks, it can keep sleeping for a while.

The everlasting peas are now out of the fern bed and I’ve cleared more of the bed. I’ve put down one of the tripod logs to see how it will look.

4 cloves of garlic had been pulled out of Bed 6 and the empty end of the bed had been pecked about when I got to the plot this morning. I couldn’t tell where the cloves had come from, so I’ve put them into a pot to root. Once the other cloves have sprouted, I’ll be able to see where they need to go and will put them back. I should have put the netting over the bed.

We took the cleaned feeder and some more logs down, including a new feature log. I moved all the logs off the fern bed onto Bed 11 and started to clear the fern bed, making good progress. The two robins were around, but didn’t dare come close. Somewhere nearby I could hear a woodpecker.

There are some big gladiolus bulbs in a hole near the fencepost, but I think they might be blind. I’ve left them for now as the foliage is fine. The lupin was pretty good last year, so that’s staying for now. I’ve left the two everlastings peas, but have since decided they should come out as they’re not very good plants and don’t suit the new bed. The height cover is going to be taken over by foxgloves. I’ve got lots of seedlings to be moved from Bed 3.

The garlic had started sprouting in the cupboard, so I needed to get it in. I’d over-estimated how many cloves I would have, so I’ve ended up with 3 short rows in Bed 6, leaving a space at the end. This might be for chard, spinach, lettuce … Some of the cloves had black marks, but most had sprouted and all were firm, so I’m hopeful they’ll be ok.  

I’ve moved the verbena that overwintered in Bed 6 to the back of the veronica where there was a bit of a gap. I managed to get some grass out too, which is a start on the weeding.

The snowdrops had been nibbled, but there are couple of new ones coming up. I’m hoping that the currently untouched foliage

There was occasional light rain and the fern bed is still just a little too wet to start clearing. It’s very different from the paths though, so with some dry weather I should be able to start soon.

We finished pruning the fruit trees today. The apple tree hasn’t been cut back as much as last year, but it’s been thinned well and I took a few small branches off with the saw. I’ll take off anything else I spot if necessary either in the next few weeks, or perhaps the odd bit in the summer.

I took a few bits off the pear tree, mostly just snipping out crowded branches, but also getting rid of the mad new growth on the left.

There was a buzzard on the top of the tree when I turned up and later I briefly saw a couple of long-tailed tits. The robin was in and out while I made a start on the pruning. I did a little of the apple tree, but will need help with that. I’ve taken a little off my hawthorns and the pear tree and they’ll be finished tomorrow.

The snowdrops are almost up. I think one has been eaten, but I have a few getting ready to flower. One of the lungwort is close to flowering too.

I’ve taken the tiny holly seedlings from under the apple tree and potted them up. I’m hopeful they’ll take; it would be super fun if they’re male and female.