We have a raised bed at the front of our property. It has a privet hedge at the back of it to give us privacy from the road and a dry stone wall at the front. It is well drained and gets a moderate amount of sunlight.
But it is not all good news. The hedge bottom is a Mecca for weeds and other unwanted plants and there is a (supposedly attractive) perennial which is invasive to say the least. We have been trying to kill this plant for years to no avail but we are very good at spotting it and digging bits out. There is a weak and sickly looking laburnum but we cannot bear to part with it until it decides it has had enough and there is also a small Christmas tree that may or may not come in useful if we ever get round to outdoor lighting at Christmas.
We have overhauled the bed, planted an ornamental Sorbus Sargentiana at the opposite end to the Laburnum and planted small shrubs, bulbs and perennials which should fill he bed with colour in a couple of years. I am also adding some alpines to hopefully colonise the dry stone wall. It’s not perfect but it has more potential than it ever has before and since it is our primary view from the kitchen window, we increasingly like it. The only thing we don't like is the large manhole cover in the centre of the bed.
Doc says that the manhole cover must remain accessible because, apparently, it is one of the laws of drainage. (Grrr.) I considered positioning a large ceramic pot on the metal cover, perhaps containing a specimen shrub. Doc said that once the pot was filled with soil and a shrub it would be difficult to move it. He also asked me how we would climb on to the bed with the watering can and in any case, why would we want to climb up a wall with a watering can? He had a point. So, I looked for an attractive, plastic stone-look-alike large pot and a watering system. The pots looked like plastic pretending to be stone and the watering solutions were too much hassle. We must conserve water not use more of it.
Then, one morning when Doc was filling up the bird feeders, he had a Eureka moment. A bird bath! And so the deed is done. This morning I took delivery of a lovely grey stone bird bath for the birds to dip into when they have finished eating the nuts and pooping on our cars. It took me a while to install the bath and not just because there was a hail storm. There was an Alfred Hitchcock-sized flock of birds sitting in the hedge, already in their swimming costumes, hurrying me up every five minutes and there was enough packaging to start a packaging company. However, we now have lots of useful polystyrene and bubble wrap to go with all the other useful polystyrene and bubble wrap in the garage.
Now all I need are some bark chippings to complete the disguise at the base - and some natural yogurt. I am told that if I spread this on the stone it will help it age more quickly. There was a time when yoghurt went with muesli. At least I know not to spread yoghurt on my face. I have enough wrinkles as it is.
 |
| Crazy perspective - the daffs look as big as the bird bath! |
 |
| The transformation is not quite complete but it soon will be |
No comments:
Post a Comment