- A disc of ice from the top of the birdbath…
2. A sycamore sapling popping up in the border – this opportunistic, resilient tree will pop up just about anywhere. I learned this year about the ‘generalist’ species, like crows and sycamores, that can cope with just about any conditions, and could be all we have left in the countryside if the biodiversity and climate crisis carry on unchecked…
3. Laurel, more laurel, and strawberry propagation. The large laurel bush dominates the boundary of our garden. The little pot on the left is another laurel, which we got free from a local garden centre. Of course, we don’t need more laurel, but it was free, so here it is. Also in show is a tiny propagation box with strawberry runners from the parent plant on the right. The little sculpture of the dog was here in the garden when we arrived. It’s just on the right side of naff, veering towards kitch, and I’ve grown to rather like it…
4. Winter kitchen garden: with a little thyme, kale, oregano, sage, and chives all clinging on for life as the cold sets in. I hope to be able to grab a few herbs from the garden throughout winter, but time will tell if that plan comes off.
5. Patio pots with cyclamen and clematis, reflected in a sunburst mirror.
6. A project for 2020… There’s lots of potential in the space where the shed and summer house used to be. Both were on the verge of collapse and so had be demolished. And until we figure out what to do with this space, and save the money to do whatever that is, it will stay as it is – with the remnants of a summer house and small tarpaulin over a little pile of things that should be in the shed.
Perhaps if we leave it long enough it will be covered in weeds and sycamore and I can call it a nature garden. đŸ˜‰
Gardeners around the world share ‘six things on saturday’ with the Propagator at his wonderful blog. Pop over to his space to see what’s growing on this week.Â
Doing The Plan 
You are not far from me, and yet we had no ice…..Liked your picture of the ice from the birdbath.
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Thanks for your comment Noelle, it’s very nice to hear from a nearish garden blogging neighbour đŸ™‚
That birdbath is in a sheltered spot on a north facing hill, overlooking fields around the valley of the river Frome. It’s a spot that often has low lying misty clouds in the morning, and at this time of year the garden is cold and shaded. Now that we lived been here through spring, summer and autumn, I can see the conditions we have here in most of the garden for most of the year are quite shady and cool, so I need to look for plants that can thrive in such situations… salads, ferns, and the like I suppose?
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Your garden centre freebie laurel looks like it might be Aucuba, which at least makes it a different sort of Laurel, i.e. not a laurel at all. A better garden plant on the whole. I think when the prospect of being unable to garden looms large I’m going to let all the seedling trees grow and take over so I can leave a woodland when I go.
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Thanks for your message, that name for the laurel certainly rings a bell! Should I expect flowers from Aucuba?
And I like the idea of the weeds taking over in some ways… I guess the funny thing about gardening is we are just holding back the “weeds” for a while before they reclaim the land.. đŸ˜‰
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Now that you mention it, it does look like an Aucuba, with too many twiggy branches. Flowers are not much to look at, but they sometimes produce just a few bright red berries.
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Great picture of the ice!
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Definitely agree with you about sycamore, there’s a tree we wouldn’t have any difficulty growing 2 billion of. Probably do that just in our 2 gardens…
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Two billion trees as a target seems to be (in my view worryingly) seen as ‘get of of jail’ card to excuse continuinous resource extraction. We need to stop taking peat and oil and gas and coal from the groud, and stop pretending that planting trees will fix it all…
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Is the sycamore a species of Acer? I know Acer as maple, and sycamore as Patanus. Yours looks more like an Acer.
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