Good gardening weather is always in short supply in the English climate, but not this spring. Over four weeks of dry, sunny conditions have left most gardens here quite parched. Consequently, watering my garden has been high on the agenda and together with all the other spring jobs; it's been and still is a busy time of year.
It's also a busy time of year for the garden wildlife too. A pair of Robins have successfully raised a brood of youngsters and a very dapper Song Thrush has taken up residence nearby, visiting the garden each morning. Seeing the Song Thrush is a special treat as this bird is one our best songsters. Although still relatively common this shy bird is in steep decline all over the country due to a variety of environmental factors and stiff competition from blackbirds.
The fine sunny weather of March and April has also brought out the butterflies. The resident Holly Blues appeared right on cue a few days ago, followed closely by the first of the spring and probably one of the earliest sightings of the Orange Tip. This early glimpse of summer was brought to a climax by a rare view of the Wall Brown butterfly.
I probably would have seen more of my garden wildlife had I not been so preoccupied on my hand and knees feverishly re-potting. Being the slave of so many potted plants means that once in a while a major shake up is needed.
As mentioned previously in my March article, I am currently re-potting some of my containerised camellias. This has been a slow job as many are quite large and require new pots and fresh ericaceous compost, but the work continues. They are also receiving a moderate pruning. The best time to prune camellias is just after flowering has finished. As with the pruning of any shrub, always remove weak growth or any crossing branches. The aim, at least for me, is to reduce the height of many of them, thereby reducing any potential wind rock from high winds. I also try to keep the centre of the shrub open by removing any small short shoots. All this should encourage the camellia into fresh new growth resulting in a much bushier shrub. Finally, I like to finish the job by feeding all camellias whether recently re-potted or not by giving them a good ericaceous liquid feed. This feed for acid-loving plants is of course excellent for any rhododendrons, azaleas or magnolias.
