I’ve sown:

• 4 x Mini munch cucumbers (4 more to follow)
• 6 x Czech Bush tomatoes
• 4 x Roma tomatoes
• 2 x Mars pumpkins

Time to tackle the couch grass. The only way to get the grass out was to dig everything up and start again. Apparently couch grass starts growing in cold temperatures, so it can get established before the perennials wake up to take up their space.

I cleared this much before the end of the day / my energy and replanted all bulbs and put the divided geum pieces close together towards the corner. Then the verbena has all gone back near the fence, with the hope that it’ll keep the grass back a little bit and all I’ll be able to do at that point is just nip it off at the top. I’m not sure how things are going to proceed when I get feather down the bed to the mat-forming perennials, as I can’t just dig them up.

Digging all the damp clay was hard work, so it’s going to be interesting this year, having beds full of compost. They’ll be much lighter to work, but will they bring their own oddities?

I got Bed 4 edged before lunch. There were some ants among the newspaper from last year, but no sign of any ant hills.

Mum strimmed all around the beds, which worked well – no more shears for the beds, just the 3 log-edged boundaries save the grass being blown over the beds. The strimmer kept needing its cord pulling out again, but it didn’t take too long to work how to do it.

After lunch I lined the bed with cardboard and packed up what little was left in the shed to go back for recycling. I’m gradually getting my floorspace back.

Manure in – I have one unopened bag and two half bags left, which can be used for mulching at the end of the season.

I think I’ll need another round of compost. I have a few half bags left, but two or three beds need topping up and will probably need a bit more.

I’ve finally cut down all the verbena from the left border. There are lots of new shoots coming at the bottom of the plants. I need to work on getting the grass out now.

The compost has been growing tiny blades of grass and Bed 7 had a green haze to it, so I’ve disturbed it all with the rake, hoping that it will be enough to unroot and kill it.

The next type of narcissus has opened, as the tête-á-têtes start to die down. Looks like I’ve magically made a bed full of successionally flowering bulbs.

I’ve also sprinkled some Amazing Grey poppy seed for summer flowers. More poppies will be added a bit later.

John’s put my trellis panel back after the storm blew it down. Since it’s old and brittle now, it’s not been screwed on, but rather wired up into place.

At home, I sowed:

• 6 x pepper
• 6 x Jazz zinnia

The tulips are getting closer to opening, and a new kind of narcissus is waking up too. I’ve sprinkled some poppy seed all over this bed for some summer colour.

Before putting the compost into Bed 2, I gave it a sprinkling of phosphorous, good for root growth. (I must stir some into the parsnip bed too.) I’ve planted all the Sturon onions – I think 47 of them? There’s a bit of space at the end of the bed, so I’ll find a companion plant for there.

Before lunch I got Bed 8 edged, lined and half-filled with manure. I’m emptying my bags halfway, so that I can move them around to elsewhere. I’ve added some more to Bed 3 in my continued efforts to up its level a bit.

The bug hotel is now finished. I added another small level and tucked in a couple of leaf-filled flower pots. I’ve incorporated a couple of planter modules, which are planned for nasturtiums. Hopefully, they’ll sprawl a bit over the pile, climb the fence and then later drop seeds everywhere!

Bed 8 is now complete, having had its top layer of compost. So there’s just one more bed to do.
Over in Bed 10, I’ve added a dusting of coffee grounds for the future acid-loving kalettes.

I’ve sown the first seeds of the season and now have a few trays in the office. The first to be sown are:

• 24 x lobelia
• 24 x alyssum 
• 12 x nasturtium
• 4 x sunflower
• 4 x zinnia
• 4 x kalette

The lobelia and alyssum seeds are ridiculously small, the lobelia in particular, so I won’t have any idea where they’ve landed until they actually germinate.

18/3 – I’ve sown half a tray of marigold seeds next to the nasturtiums.

The blue tits have finally dared to try the nuts and there were two in the tree flying around. Maybe they’ll find the nest box that’s *right there*.

The garlic is big enough to see from a distance now. With any luck its roots are now big enough to stop the plants being pulled out by curious birds.

I uncovered Bed 2 and found that buttercups left from last year were starting to break through the newspaper. It was only a thin layer, but I decided to go with cardboard to be sure. It turned out to be double-walled cardboard too, so the weeds are going to be really up against it. I got most of the bed edged before lunch.

Mum dragged the last of the homemade compost down to Bed 1 and spread it as the leaf mould layer.

After lunch I spread a good layer of compost on Bed 1. It won’t hurt to add more if I have leftovers. I’ve realised that I’m going to need another round of manure to do Bed 4, plus compost for Beds 2, 4 and 8.

Bed 2 has been fully lined with cardboard and filled with manure. So that just needs compost and then it’s ready for covering before the onions go it. I did some light weeding in this Bed, which was just as well, because I unearthed an acorn that had sprouted. I imagine that would have gone the through the cardboard if it had wanted to.

I’ve made a start on the bug hotel at last and after less than half an hour of working out how to stack the edging, I put down cardboard on top of the mint (of course now I think I should have put more, but never mind) and started building.

I’ve filled the middle of the cells with moss, decaying wood, fallen pine cones and needles, leaves, bark and so on. I’ve smashed up empty suet coconut shells and put them in, hessian strings attached. The remaining hügel sticks are going in to this and I’ve been picking up more stuff from the rec. I expect the big park might be visited again too.

I’m not sure how my design is going to work out as it grows, but I’m looking to integrate the previous bug box, some small terracotta pots, some bee holes and maybe the lacewing hotel (but its shape is more difficult.) A sloped roof would be best, but probably fairly impossible to make.

I think all the garlic is up now, pretty much all still in line.

I escaped from the office in the afternoon to get my Tête-à-têtes planted, as they’d started blooming. They’re dotted among the various narcissi. I’ve left the left corner for the tulips. I want to get more and more bulbs in here, but I’m picky about what exactly. More tulips need to go in the corner and then in among the narcissi too.

I’ve added the remainder over in the front bed, around the pear tree and under the elder. Space has been left for the bug hotel and for mint to come up again.