Developments

Another pretty busy home day. After an early walk around the ‘hood, and coffee at the Hideout, we did something we have been avoiding doing for ages. We dug out the contents of our largest ceramic pot, which I have previously just surface planted with some new plants, and in which we used to have an acer, which died.

Once we had dug out the two plants we wanted to keep, the experience of clearing the rest of the pot was truly awful. It was worse than cleaning out drains. The stink from the rotting compost  was terrible. It was really hard to get the old compost out because it was riddled with fine roots, but also completely soaked. We realise now that the acer probably drowned. I swapped some pots around a few months ago and put the camellia in the place where the acer lived and died and it is doing really well. It’s probably the wettest spot on the balcony which gets soaked whenever it rains hard. In retrospect it was probably not the right place for the (deciduous) acer, and is the right place for the (evergreen) camellia which is promising a lot of flowers for next spring (fingers crossed). Anyway, digging it out was filthy work, for which I proved to be most well adapted. It probably says something that when I was five years old I was always happy to get muddy. I still am.

Halfway through all of that, we needed a trip to a well known commercial garden centre/DIY place in order to procure some better tools (i.e. a new trowel…., and a mini fork and a scoop which all proved their worth before the end of the afternoon), (lots) more compost to refill the big pot (now relocated in the corner with only a fuchsia in it), and a few other bits. We bought some dwarf daffodil bulbs (still to be planted out) and a gorgeous pink lily which is in flower now, and hopefully will see us through September (and should also be hardy).

After curry for dinner, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Campervan Brewery for a few beers. Soon it will be too cold to sit outside. It makes sense to grasp the opportunity whilst we can.

Anyway, colour corner is looking really good, and we are pretty pleased with what we achieved today, involving the clearing and re-establishing of two big pots, and the re-siting of about ten plants into better situations. Hopefully, there will be no casualties and everything will thrive.

Gosh, I hope I’m not a (balcony) garden bore.