A perfect morning to prune

The original plan for this weekend was to spend one whole day up the allotment where I could tidy, prune and dig the plot ready for Spring. What I didn’t anticipate was the heavy frosts we’ve been having lately… The ground was far too frozen to do anything with so instead I opted for a morning of pruning and an afternoon of planning (which I’m supposed to be doing now!)

I pruned the grapevine, the two rose bushes, the black currants, gooseberries and the raspberries too. Everything has had a good, healthy trim ready for this years growth and it got me all excited for the growing year. I’m especially looking forward to my fruit cage as this will be it’s second year with the protection of the net and I can’t wait. I have yet to harvest any gooseberries so I’m particularly looking forward to them, last year the bushes were weeded over so I couldn’t get to them and the 2 years before that the birds beat me to it! My Autumn fruiting raspberries have always provided a bountiful harvest so I did the same as I always do and pruned all the canes back to ground level. I’ll be on the hunt for some well rotted manure to mulch the area where the new shoots will be sprouting and hopefully I’ll be rewarded with more delicious raspberries again this Autumn.

I also managed to prune the climbing rose ‘Penny Lane’ which sits behind the other rose near the back of the shed. The idea was to let this one climb up and onto the roof of the shed so that the beautiful white roses sit in contrast with the purple shed. This is the first year I’ve actually got round to pruning the climbing rose but if it’s anything like the shrub rose next to it I’m hoping that it will have a growth spurt after it’s little trim.

It’s been an absolutely beautiful morning, the sun has been shining and the birds have been singing but it’s far too cold to do any gardening without a cup of tea to warm the fingers. Although I don’t really need an excuse to drink tea… This is the first time this year that I’ve had the time to tick things of my extra long to-do list and I couldn’t be happier. I sat on my shed door step with a cup of tea in one hand and some freshly picked leeks and flower sprouts next to me and just sat there, enjoying the view and the peace and quiet. This really is the good life…