April Jobs

 

Spring is really here 
in all its beauty. 

gardeing-fairy-actinidia

It is time to think about the 

season ahead and plan 

what you want to 

achieve this season.

As the leaves start to unfurl, 

we watch the changes 

every day and revel 

in its spendor.

gardeing-fairy-buddleia



1. Look at any large shrubs
you have and decide if they
need to stay or if they
need to go. 



2. Any shrub or plant you
don't like can be dug up.



3. If it is necessary,
then remove it and later
you can see what
you could put in its place. 



4. Look around your space
and see where there
may be gaps to fill.


5. But take notes always
or you will forget.



This shrub above,
is a buddleia
 which you may know
grows absolutely
anywhere it can.



I started to prune
it on Easter Sunday
and this is as far
as I got. 


I will continue to
cut it down a lot so
that it will grow better 
and have a nicer
shape. 

gardening-fairy-vinca




6. Observe any flowers
that are coming into flower
and decide if you like them
or you don't.



This is a dainty 'purple
vinca' which is really a
ground cover plant and
very useful.


But as you can see
growing up towards
the light. 


It likes growing up
into the large
rose bush above it.

March tips in your Garden

March Jobs 

See my blog on my website 

www.gardening-fairy.co.uk/

my-blog-gardening-fairy

"Whether you tend a 

garden or not, you are the

gardener of your own 

being, the seed of your

destiny."

The  Findhorn Community

Days are starting 

to get longer 

which is truly wonderful.

  

Gardening-fairy-clematis 

1. If you don't currently 

have a garden

but desperately want 

to grow something

get some old egg boxes, 

buy some seeds like cress

or parsley and plant 

them in some 

compost on your window sill.

2. Cover them over 

with some cling film 

idealy and leave them 

in the light.

3. Leave them alone 

apart from a little water 

and wait until some growth 

starts to appear 

through the compost. 

4. It is pure delight when 

your little seeds start to show 

through the compost.

Gardening-fairy-sarcococca

Some helpful tips 

for beginners

Snowdrops, crocuses 

and daffodils 

grow from bulbs.

 

They have to be planted 

during the autumn

 so they will flower 

in the spring.

Gardening-fairy-hypericum

5. This is just an example 

of a shrub that I have just 

pruned in my garden.

By this I mean, cut off 

its dried seed heads

and cut it back so

 it looks tidy and

ready for the new 

growth to start over 

again. 

So the leaves you 

see is the new 

season's growth.

Gardening-fairy-winter-savoury

This is a winter herb 

which is healthy but needs 

to be cut back, removing

 the old dead growth

 so it will keep growing well. 

We gardeners like a tidy plot.

Gardening-fairy-sage

More gardening tips for March

6. As it is still early in the year

if you can't wait any longer,

then buy little vegetable

plant plugs to grow indoors.

Gardening-fairy-miniature-daffodils

They can be peas 

or broad beans.

But they need to be 

in direct light on 

a window sill 

where they can keep 

growing evenly.

gardening-fairy-compost-containers

7. We need to start 

thinking about

using our home made 

compost around our plants.

Here are two compost 

containiers 

which I have in 

my garden. They are just 

for woody stems and 

bigger garden compostable 

branches, raked up grass etc.

gardening-fairy-daffodils

Composting is a really 

importatnt part of 

having a garden.

gardenig-fairy-composter-bin

If you do not have 

a lot of space you can

 buy large composter bins. 

Like these ones here. 

I have two large 

composter bins which 

I fill up with vegetable 

scraps,egg shells, 

cardboard etc.

gardening-fairy-fig-tree

What to do in February?

February Jobs

See my blog on my website

www.gardening-fairy.co.uk/

my-blog-gardening-fairy

Tidying up your garden 

is a job that feels a bit like 

hard work at this time 

of the year. 

It is cold and not usually

 very inviting. Try having 

a warming ginger tea 

beside you.

 

1.So wrap up well and 

try to keep moving. 

2. If you have bulbs 

you previously planted, 

clear away the leaves 

and twigs around them 

so you can see them

as they push up through 

the earth.

3. Keep watching out

for new shoots as 

they appear. 

Be gentle when clearing 

so you avoid snapping off 

any new growth.

Gardening-fairy-cyclamen

New cyclamen 

leaf I just found in the ground.

4. Keep pots well watered 

as they will always dry out. 

5. For some seasonal 

colour find some nice 

small pots and fill with 

primulas and violas.

Without a doubt 

it will lift your mood.

Buy from any good garden 

centre, not online as you 

can't see the quality 

of the plants

Or a good market stall.

6. Tidy around pots and 

sweep up any remaining 

leaves.

7. Make sure your plants 

are protected from frost 

and cold winds 

by using horticultural 

fleece or place in 

the shelter of your 

door step.

8. It is a good time 

to look at seed 

catalogues
to get some 

inspiration for the 

year ahead. 

Find out more about me at

www.gardening-fairy.co.uk

Gardening-fairy-geraniums  

and nasturtiums

February is the month 

that starts us thinking

about the gardening year. 

I look out at my garden 

sometimes and think 

how sad it looks 

but as the days go by 

there is a glimmer of hope. 

Planning is the key to 

any garden space.

 Have a good look 

at your space.

While there is a 

skeleton of a garden 

go out and take

some notes

of what you see and 

what you would 

like to create.

Today's haiku

Winter's garden 

Ah, the moon, 

a silvery thread

As insects hmmm

Matsuo Basho

fuyu niwa ya

tsuki mo ito naru

mushi no gin

More jobs for February

Gardening-fairy-daffodils

1. Make a note of bulbs 

you would like to plant 

next season.

2. Think  about 

the colours 

you really like 

Gardening-fairy-primulas

3. Cut back any dead twiggy 

growth on shrubs 

4. Remember to 

clean your tools with a 

safe disinfectant spray.

Gardening-fairy-bamboo

5. Clear pathways of debirs 

and old leaves

6. Cut back any 

dead flowers,

berries

you have left

from the autumn.

Gardening-fairy-hypericum

Depending on how tidy 

you are, you could 

leave berries

for the birds to 

feast on.

Gardening tips January 2021

 

Gardening Jobs 

for January

Leaves need to be raked up 

(good exercise for the day).

Put your leaves into their 

own compost bay.

(not with the rest of 

your compost).

If no space for above, 

gather into plastic bags

 and makes holes in them. 

Tie the bags up and leave.

Leave for the season until 

the leaves break down

into beautiful homemade

 compost. 

Feed the hungry little birds 

in your garden.

Give them shop bought 

bird feed and place 

in bird feeders.

Can give them bread

 or fruit too.

Put out clean 

water regularly. 

Watch your winter flowering 

plants and take in the perfume.

Make sure your pot plants

 are well watered 

as terracotta dries the plants out. 

 

Winter Season 2021

January 2020

January 2020

Summer scents inside
 a conservatory

January is a time of hope 

for the new year ahead of 

us but it is a difficult 

time of year 

to feel inspired. 

Out of the cold and protected 

by an old glass 

conservatory feels comforting

and a good place to be, as 

in this beautiful photograph above.

These beautiful fruits and flowers 

take me back to being a 

young and care free kid in 

warmer climes. 

Mostly Haiku

"What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms."

Kobayashi Issa 




"Where flowers bloom so does
hope."

Lady Bird Johnson






"It was one of those March 
days when the sun shines hot
and the wind blows cold,
when it is summer in the light 
and winter in the shade."

Charles Dickens




"It is spring fever.
That is what the name of it is.
And when you've got it, you
want -oh, you don't know quite  
what it is you don't want,
but it 
just fairly makes your heart
ache, you want it so!"

-Mark Twain 

What is haiku?

Michael Dylan Welch wrote -

"There's something poetic about a garden.

A japanese garden seems 

especially poetic."

Haiku 

is a poetry of nature

but it is also a poetry of 

human nature. 

It gives readers feelings 

and shows human 

existance amid nature.

On reading a good haiku, 

we are mentally and 

emotionally moved to experience 

what the poet experienced. 

"Haiku is a means of sense awareness,

of mindfulness, a poetic window to the

suchness of the full range of existance."

"Birds singing

in the dark

rainy dawn."

Jack Kerouac

"The taste

of rain

- Why kneal?"

"Warm winter evening-

the chairs asked."




Poems by Kaga no chiyo 

"In this lively place
the peony
most beautiful."



"The morning glory!
It has taken the well bucket,
I must seek elsewhere for water."

James W Hackett was quoted to say

"A Haiku,

is like a finger pointing at the 

moon, and if the finger is bejewleed, 

one no longer sees the moon."

Haiku is comprised of detail 

observed by the five senses.

The poet witnesses an event 
and uses words to distill that 
experience so others may
understand it in some way.

What did you notice 

about the subject?

What colours, textures, 

and contrasts
did you observe?

How did the subject sound?

What was the tone and 

volume of the event that 

took place?


Did it have a smell, 

or a taste?

How can you accurately 

describe the way it felt?




More haiku poetry 



Red Oak

red oak tassels gone
yellow pollen lingers, coats .....
spring storms stir ...

Sara Kendrick




Spider running ....
cat's pink tongue ....
nature's breakfast, sparkling
spring sun ....


Panagiota Romios





How wild the sea is,
and over Sado Island,
the River of Heaven



Morning and evening
Someone waits at Matsushima!
One-sided love.





On Buddha's birthday
a spotted fawn is born -
just like that


Behind Ise Shrine,
unseen, hidden by the fence,
Buddha enters nirvana