Diary of a weekend gardener

Record low temperature

The mercury fell to -4.4C last night - the lowest so far for 2005. Yesterday I tidied the border under the birch tree and smothered it in compost and leaf mould - but I don't think it was deep enough to keep that level of frost at bay. Still, everything in there is supposed to be hardy so frost shouldn't be a problem.

With all the leaves now down (and in the leaf mould bin), the garden looks much lighter. I can see now why the birch border does so well in early spring, then struggles later in the year. The tree is definitely staying, but I might think about taking out one of the larger low branches to let more light in underneath.

posted by Sue Beesley @ 10:03 am