What's New
2002
Autumn
At last we have got round to getting the
dead poplars shopped down on the eastern perimeter. Bits of branches and
bark had been falling off them throughout the summer so it was good to
see them finally out of the way. This has given much more light to the
greenhouse, though, as usal, it has come too late to be of much use this
season.
Summer
On a sunny bank-holiday weekend towards
the end of summer, inspired by the neighbours' gleaming house, I bought
a large can of paint and set about painting the walls. Three days and three
pots of paint later it was finished, though the texture of the walls and
th tone of the paint is such that you'd be pushed to notice it'd been done.
The same can not be said though for the shutters! Still undecided between
provençale or toy-town.
Bought two trachycarpus palms and planted into
the west lawn together with the sole surviving chamaerops. Unsure yet as
to whether to give them any protection over winter.
 I
bought a replacement cordyline and planted it in the west lawn, next to
a yucca and a grassy thing. On the left is the canna which, although slow
to flower, seemed to go berserk this year.
By mid-summer the nana was beginning to look
a bit sad in its tub, so I planted it out in a raised bed in the grove.
To join it and to break up the length of the grove, I also planted a bamboo,
sasa palmata.
Spring
Took stock of the casualties of the winter.
Lost in service were the bird of paradise, lemon, cordyline, a chamaerops
and a pheonix palm, all supposedly protected in the greenhouse. Maybe waiting
until mid-February before fitting the insulation was a contributory factor.
It's not the end of the story for the cordyline though; after abandoning
it for lost, a few new shoots appeared which I have since potted-up.
2001
Autumn/Winter
Apart from the transformation of the trough-bed
under the balcony into separate, larger beds, only a little light tinkering
has been performed. Some iris bulbs were planted in the col.
Summer
The children's play area was installed in the
park.
The ground was dug and rocks transplanted
to form the structure of the col.
Beginning of the battle for some nice lawns.
The last three weeks of July were very hot and dry (no, really!) so some
sprinkling was used in an attempt to keep the grass green. This was combined
with selective weed killers, lawn fertilizer and seeding the bare patches.
No doubt this was the wrong time of year, wrong weather etc. for this kind
of thing, but hey ho!
The hot and dry weather of May is continuing
so the citrus trees, olive and bay are put out in the grove.
A banana, obtained from Courson, and some herbs and spices join them.
The pergolas are erected at either end of
the grove gravelled area. A grape vine, never having been a great success
in the two years that I've had it, is transplanted from its pot into the
ground and trained up the eastern pergola. A camellia is bought and trained
up the other.
The canna, fuschia and bird of paradise were
potted up together and placed at the entrance.
Spring
Finally obtained the greenhouse from my parents
house in England. The ground was not absolutely level, but close enough
for government work. Erecting the structure wasn't a great problem; each
side took an evening to construct, so after a week it was ready to put
up outside (no, there aren't seven sides, but the roof, door and vents
had to be done as well!). Whilst constructing the frame I had also laid
deep concrete foundations on the downhill side (i.e. the side that had
to be built-up the most when levelling the ground) in order to stop it
falling down the hill. This then presented a problem when it came to fitting
the corner stakes as there was only a couple of inches until the concrete,
so I had to cut about 6 inches off two of the stakes.
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