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Time for some fresh air and sunshine. Please come
with me round my garden and have a look at some of the things that I
enjoy. It is not a huge garden but it is full of flowers and interesting
corners. Non-shorthand visitors are equally welcome
to join our tour! As a wind-down after
working through the shorthand, at the end
there is a short video of the goldfish behaving as described in
paragraph 6.
1. Just to get us in the mood, the hosepipe just
about says "shorthand". The bird bath is often full of starlings
having a splash and sometimes a pigeon will sit in it and have a
soak. Of course the grass grows a lot greener around
the base. The marks
on the grass are where I left some trays of sunflower seedlings for
a little too long. Even in dry weather the grass is always green and
I believe the subsoil in my area gets rain run-off from the
surrounding land further uphill. (92 words)
2. My garden soil has a lot of clay, making it very dry
and hard most of the year. After many years, I have found that the best
way to garden is to have permanent shrubs and perennials, and
then have the flowers in pots around the back door. They can be
moved at will and are all very near the outside water tap. It makes a
big difference having coloured pots, providing extra interest. I am
rather fond of the stripey pyjama one. In
winter I empty the pots down by the compost bins and bury the tender
plants such as fuchsias in the spent soil. I do not want to risk the pots getting damaged in a hard frost.
(120 words)
3. We had these two water butts near the house to
collect rainwater, which we saved for filling up the fishpond.
Because it is natural soft water it is much better for the fish than
chlorinated tap water. I put some plastic netting in front and grew
some long floppy euonymus stems through it, to provide a soft screen
that hid the containers, but which was flexible enough to open like
a door when maintenance was required. In the photo there is also
some plastic ivy and nylon poinsettias to help fill the gaps. The
problem was that the butts were only full in rainy weather, and at
those times the pond did not need topping up. The mosquitoes
breeding in the stored water were a source of annoyance and so the
butts were moved to another part of the garden. They will be used
occasionally to store tap water for the few days that it takes for
the chemicals to evaporate, before filling the fishpond. This will
avoid storing water for long periods and at the same time solve the
mosquito problem. (182 words)
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4. This rose is called Maid of Kent and is a very
prolific grower, although not much scent but plenty of small thorns.
It is leaning on the garden shed and has travelled along the trellis
in both directions. I have many climbing roses around the garden and
I think it is well worth braving the thorns to get the blooms in summer. The only care they get is tying in where
necessary and a good chop back after flowering. It is always worth
preserving any new long stems, which should be bent down horizontal
to make the buds break and produce new shoots for next
year. The roses are never sprayed and the sparrows enjoy nibbling
the greenfly. (118 words)
5. Beyond the lawn is the fish pond. As soon as you walk past, the fish come swimming
at you from all directions, expecting food. I believe they sense the
vibrations of feet before they see the person. Sometimes they make a
big splash so it is not a good idea to sit by the pond with your food on
your lap. We have some tench at the bottom, who are there to eat up
the leftovers, but they are difficult to see as they are dark green
and stay below. Sometimes all you
can see is their red eye. Goldfish are easily tamed so long as
you don't make any sudden movements. You can train them to eat bread
from your hand. The fish like to settle in the blanket weed and snooze
amongst the oxygen bubbles. Blanket weed is very good for
lining aquatic baskets. (146 words)
6. We have a large water filter box and in hot
weather the fish line up at the outlet to enjoy the fresh oxygenated
water. This is normally a sign that the water lilies have too many
leaves and are depriving the water of oxygen by blocking the
surface. The fish also enjoy this corner because there is a lot of pond
weed and small insects for them to eat and I often see them pushing
into the corners to flush out any edibles. This is also a
favourite place for frogs, who spawn every year. The tadpoles and
froglets hide behind the pots of irises. (105 words) (Video
of goldfish at page end)
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7. Creeping jenny is a very good "semi weed" to have around the
pond perimeter, as it spreads everywhere and provides good cover for the
frogs. It also likes to grow down and root into the water, and
so covers the butyl liner at the edges. Very early one morning I looked
out the kitchen window to see a huge heron, which soon flew off, and since then we have
plenty of netting around the pond. It is important to get the height
and width of the defences right as they are very big birds, with
greatly extending necks. In flight in the sky they appear smaller,
but you realise their actual size when they land in your garden!
(118 words)
8. At one corner of the pond is a
Spartan apple tree. I planted the tree in 2004 and right from the
first year it has produced a large number of clean pest-free apples.
I never spray any plants and this apple tree is completely trouble
free. The apples mature to a very dark burgundy red with white flesh which
has a delicate perfumed flavour. It is not crisp or sharp at all. I am always looking for Spartan apples
to buy when they are in season, and
when my ancient Bramley apple tree eventually died, this was my chance to
have my own supply of Spartan. It is on a medium rootstock so it
will not grow too big. I think it enjoys having its roots underneath
the pond where the soil accumulates rain water and does not dry
out. (140 words)
9. I wish you could smell these lovely pinks. I
used to think the name came from their colour, but it actually comes
from the word "pinch" referring to the serrated edge of the petals –
remember pinking shears? They are growing in a circle around the
base of a pear tree. I am surprised they have done so well as they
normally like a lot of sun. It may be that in the shade they have
more moisture. No man-made perfume can improve on natural flowers. You only need one of these
flowers in a room to fill it with perfume and you can enjoy
it knowing that you are not breathing in harmful chemicals. (114
words)
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10. Honeysuckle is also highly perfumed with a
very heavy scent, and not everyone likes it. I enjoy it in small doses,
which is exactly what you get in a garden as the breeze moves the
perfume around. The flowers are followed by bright red berries
which will feed the birds. Honeysuckle makes a very good
fast-growing screen, but it does need firm control and periodic
chopping back if it is not to take over completely. Even the clothes
line post is covered in plants, so much nicer than grey metal, and
often the clematis grows along the clothes line as well. We always
seem to have tiny spiders making webs around the pegs, so socks are
always pegged up toe first! After gardening for many years, I don't
mind spiders, but I prefer the butterfly. (135 words)
11. Every year we grow sunflowers. We have better
results when we grow them in pots, because the garden soil is so dry. The snails love to chew them and
I have found it most effective to smear the stems with a thick layer
of vaseline (petroleum jelly). It seems to work, but you must not leave
any gaps near the base – the snails will bite through and fell the
plant, as surely as a beaver felling trees! Putting vaseline round
the rim of the pot should work in theory, but the snails may
possibly get sealed in, rather than out, especially if they have
already laid eggs in the soil. These sunflowers are the mid-size variety
and have reached about one metre. Hopefully they will put their
energy into flowers rather than producing tall stems. When the
flowers are fully open, they are alive with bees, and later on
occasionally goldfinches and greenfinches may come to eat the seeds.
(159 words)
Update on the snail defences
2010: thin copper tape around the pot rim is working very well!
12. Sweet peas are the most delicate scented flowers,
but I am cheating a bit here because this one is the perennial
variety and it has absolutely no smell whatever. It is a very
vigorous grower and always produces lots of seed pods, which must be
removed before they dry out and propel the seeds everywhere. It is not one to grow over
the fence where your neighbour may get frustrated as the dried
crackling pods fling unwanted seeds in all directions. The
rootstock gets bigger and thicker every year, and I remember digging
one out that was as thick as my arm. After flowering the top stems all
die, and then the plant comes back again next year. (118 words)
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13. The middle part of the garden has paving and a
circular path, with seats and more bird baths. I like to bring a
meal out here and enjoy the flowers, and not be always gardening and
pulling out weeds. The white flowers are feverfew which is growing
through what should be clean neat gravel, but it is so lovely that I
could not possibly pull it out. The bright yellow-green leaves are
as decorative as the flowers. Feverfew is a very variable plant and
only those with the best flowers should be allowed to seed
themselves. It is not troublesome and you can easily remove any
unwanted seedlings. (108 words)
14. This is the central part, looking back towards the
house, with the blue seat out of sight on the left. This is early
morning sun coming from the left, on a warm October day before any
cold weather has finished off the plants. Top right you can see the
black water filter box for the pond. This area used to be one big
shrub bed but one day I was working in the middle of the bed and
realised what a good view I had from there. I also had nowhere to
sit and admire it all, apart from perching three feet of my wobbling
chair on a narrow and sloping curving path. I was too greedy for
plants and ended up working but not admiring. The decision was made
there and then to reduce the work and increase the enjoyment. Now
the plants are
established, flowers are in pots, and the seats provide different
viewpoints. (156 words)
15. The end of the garden is very dry because of the
surrounding trees and after many years I found the only solution was
to make decorative stripes out of gravel and variegated ivy, which
does not mind the dry conditions at all. Skimmia bushes do very well
in the dry, and these young ones are growing well. A lot of
bluebells come through the gravel in the spring, as well as a good
covering of forget-me-nots. I did have some pots down here but it is
a long way from the water tap! If you sit down here, you are at
eye level with the surface of the pond. When we moved here in
1982, this part was solid with saplings, weeds and brambles, and
when viewing the house we
did not realise that this was part of our garden. (140 words)
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16. This is the final far corner of the garden, either gloomy
or shady depending on the weather. These compost bins are looking very
smart
with the shadow patterns and I am tempted to draw round the shadows with
some chalk! They are always full of creatures, working hard at
chewing everything. Sometimes ants nest in there, so I
have to wait until they have flown before making my excavations. I
always put the sticks and harder stems in, to ensure there are
plenty of air pockets, to keep the compost fresh. When the bins are
emptied, it is easy to rake off the sticks and put them back in the
bins. I leave it in heaps around the garden to weather over the
winter – any seeds remaining can sprout and then be raked off. (134
words)
17. I keep lots of pots near the back kitchen door.
Blue glazed pots are my favourites, as they set off the colours of
the flowers so well. Not a single one of them was bought new, they
have all come from boot sales. Someone got tired of them, or maybe
moved house – one person's trash is someone else's treasure.
Fortunately for me, the price of trash is much lower than that of
treasure! It is best to have big pots so the compost does not dry
out too quickly, although this really depends on the size of the
plant in it. They are mostly near the outside water tap, so watering
them is not too much hard work. I always empty them before winter so
that the frost does not
break them. (132 words)
PHRASES:
from there, so well, that you are not, if it is
not
clothes line, better results, rootstock, hard work
there and then, very well, that this was, part of
the*, someone else's
*Note: "part of" overrides the
normal rule where hook F/V is sounded before halving for T – this
only occurs in some phrases (e.g. report of, instead of, in spite
of, sort of) and never occurs in normal outlines.
Goldfish video
1 min 53 secs WMV 7.6 MB
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