The Reluctant Gardener ...

As yesterday was a fine day, I decided to do a little gardening. The operative word being "little". One of my tasks was to replace the old white ornamental pebbles in the communal garden around the flats where I live. They hadn't stopped the weeds from coming through, so I nipped down to the local shops to buy some garden membrane to place over the soil, to stop the weeds, along with some new pebbles. I wanted something cheap and cheerful, as my neighbours don’t care about the communal garden, and I didn’t want to be too much out of pocket.

Instead of pebbles, I decided to go for plum slate. I figured that bright pebbles always look dirty after a while, so I think these were a better idea. Time will tell.

Once back home, I found a few rocks languishing in the garden, so I decided to use them to hold the membrane in place and make it look a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, only one of the fuckers fit. I might have to get the hammer out. Gardening is very frustrating at times.

I started raking up all of the white pebbles and weeds. I might salvage some of the pebbles, though. Even though they're a bit weathered, it seems a shame to throw them away. I quickly realised it wasn't going to be an easy job. After about half an hour, I packed it in. I decided to stagger the work, as I get bored very quickly. Fast forward to this morning ...

Well, after a few coffee breaks, stops for rain, and me wondering why I ever started this, I finally finished removing some of the pebbles. Once I realised it would be better to sit on a stool and trowel the stones, it was a lot easier to do.

The next stage was putting the membrane down and laying the slate. Fortunately, I ran out of slate so I couldn't quite complete all of it. Thank goodness, because I was getting bored again. Even though I only managed to do half, I think it looked quite nice when I was done. Well ... better than it did. I will continue doing the other half when I can be bothered.

I dare say my neighbours won't even notice a difference!

The Escallonia Rubra is blossoming nicely. I know it's called this, as there is a name tag on it, else I would have no idea!

I also trimmed the top off this shrub, as it was getting too leggy. The branches were quite thick, so the secateurs weren’t strong enough for some of them, and I ended up getting the saw out. Anyway, it looks a lot neater now.

I dare say, my neighbours won't even notice a difference!!

I noticed the dustbins belonging to my neighbours downstairs were quite dirty. I don’t usually worry too much about dirty bins, but as I’d swept a lot of moss off the ground, I thought they would look better if clean, so I washed all the algae off them.

I dare say my neighbours won't even notice a difference!!!

At least the tulips look good.

To be continued ...