Gardening
Sprinkling Fairy Dust on the roots of a damson tree as I plant it in Keswick; the box is labelled “Rooting fertiliser”. Geologically, this part of Keswick is elevated on a drumlin, a hard piece of rock that resisted the erosion of the glaciers; consequently, there’s lots of fertile topsoil but also plenty of small rocks left behind by the glacier or brought down by the meltwater. So it took a while to dig the hole. But it wasn’t long before the Cumbrian weather watered in the new arrival and its leaves perked up in response.
This tree is the Farleigh variety that has been cultivated in England since the early 19th century and is known for its hardiness and heavy crops of fruit. The local Westmorland damson has been recovered from near-extinction and is popular in the many orchards in the Lyth Valley in former Westmorland. However, Westmorland damson is not widely available from commercial nurseries.
Trimming and shaping my patio garden in West London. The Wisteria dates from the Sixties, before my time but I’ve been looking after here for many, many years. This patio garden was a great solace during the lockdowns. Problem with here is that it’s a canyon so everything is up a ladder. Nonetheless the tree fern is really happy and as the patio garden is a heat trap (31°C today) I get good fruit from the apple trees and the lime, lemon and mandarin trees in the pots. The green plastic box is a nest for a colony of Mason Bees as local pollinators. My face mask isn’t complete protection against dust and pollen but it helps a lot.
