The long and the short of it ...

Another brief post this week - but you'll probably know the feeling! Everything seems to be happening at once - flowers bursting into bloom everywhere: as the dazzling yellow of the forsythia begins to fade, the ceanothus just below it is poised on the brink of exploding into its usual show-stopping intense blue display. The bees love it and happily hum busily all over it ... in my Mum's border the daffs may be fading, but the aubretia is spilling in red and lilac swathes over the edges, the wallflowers are in full fig and the violas planted in a container last autumn are getting their second wind ... Weeds are also popping up everywhere and I'm making the most of the current sunny weather to keep dug beds on the allotment well hoed ... the grass has been growing fast too. Of all the jobs in the garden, mowing is my least favourite: I've already given the back lawn three trims, and the allotment has had one and a half. The half because I ran out of petrol before I'd finished - so there's another job for tomorrow. Archie and Angel have been enjoying spending more time out in the sun:
mowing the lawn is also their least favourite chore because I shut them indoors while getting on with for the safety of all concerned. Weeding might be tedious but they get to be outside with me while I'm getting on with it and are always happy to divert me if things look like getting too boring!

Archie checks out the obelisk I made from willow prunings

 

Here's one I made earlier

Here's the heather bank in all its former glory ...

... and here it is looking rather sad and neglected

As I may have mentioned some time ago in this blog, one of my goals this year is to revamp the garden a bit, making it a bit lower-maintenance so I have more time to spend on the allotment, and creating more space for Archie and Angel to scamper around in. The heather bank at the end of the garden was looking rather sorry for itself, having become somewhat overgrown, and the ancient heathers were leggy and past their best. I decided it was time for it to go - the frogs were the only ones who appreciated it. Although I felt guilty about removing a habitat where they could often be found lurking, I have replanted new heathers along the edge of the fence - and there is a pond and wildlife area in the front garden. As the frog population seems to have increased there recently, I'm hoping they have simply relocated.

I didn't want to lose the bank that the heathers were growing on completely, just to reduce its size and make it possible to push the mower around behind it, but I was a bit stumped about what to do with it otherwise. I did toy with the idea of covering it with artificial grass, but preferred the idea of something living. While pondering on it, I noticed there was quite a lot of moss in the lawn: I'm not a lawn purist and I rather like moss - you won't catch me raking it out.  It feels glorious to stand on in bare feet, has a wonderful cushiony quality that grass lacks, and of course, is very low maintenance - unlike grass it doesn't need mowing. So I don't object to its presence at all.

And here's the transformation to a mossy bank.
Well, it will be eventually.
(Archie apologises for still being in his pj's, but it was a chilly morning
when I took the photo!)

And then it struck me - rather than planting the bank with plants which would need maintaining and might object to whippets jumping on and off it, why not try creating a mossy bank instead? I love seeing the soft contours it creates as it takes over tumbled logs and stones out on our woodland walks, and am hoping that I can create something similar here, on a small scale.

Watch this space, as they say.

In the meantime, if you want to know more about creating your own mossy spot - you can make a miniature moss garden in a pot if you don't want it anywhere else - here's a link which will tell you all you need to know:

http://www.mossandstonegardens.com/blog/

Click HERE for link