It was exciting to be in London in the Spring. All the trees and plants were bursting into bloom and fresh new leaves were making their presence felt everywhere. My walks were an overdose of sights and smells, as thankfully in the UK sounds are not that intrusive at all. We had come to see the new baby and also to meet up as a family, in my sons newly done up home.
Since the house had just been through a year of work, with workmen and bull dozers everywhere, the garden had taken a rough beating. Thankfully because it is the UK, the weather kept the plants which had been shifted, well and they looked quite prosperous except that huge weeds had sprung up, choking the smaller plants. And ofcourse the lawn had tried to over come the beds yet again.
The Rhododendron bushes were fine upfront and were in full bloom when I arrived. The white was the most startling to look at while the pink and red tried to keep up. They are miniature trees and so dont need much clipping and keeping down.
At the back where the bulk of the flowering plants are was where the work killed me the most. I knelt on the kneeling pad, day after day for one week to try and weed the place of the dratted weeds which had overtaken everything.
But finally it was worth the effort and soon the beds began to look almost perfect and the plants looked happier and bloomed with vigour, as their food was not stolen by the weeds.
The hydrangea, the roses, the new delphiniums, the hostas, the Penstimons, all the plants we had put down over the years, sprang up and began to show their joy at the warmth and the rain which signals spring.
David picked up his favourite marigolds from a tiny nursery nearby and put them down symmetrically under an apple tree. Sadly they will bloom after I have left.
