Yesterday's rain and today's winds have wreaked havoc in the garden. Don't get me wrong it was lovely to have the rain because the garden was in desperate need of it.
The pond has had to be topped up quite a few times over the last few weeks to keep the frogs and newts happy but the dry weather hasn't helped the willow tree and I think it is lost. By now it should be covered in green - the long, cold, wet winter and very dry spring have killed it. I'm sad to lose it as we bought and planted it when we lost our beloved cat Biddy in February 1997. It looks sad and brown against the pink of the nearby tamarisk tree.
Meanwhile, something has been attacking our pond! Is it badger? Is it fox? We don't know but whatever it was has pulled weed and mud out of the pond and overturned the marsh marigold.
The raised beds seem to be coping with the vagaries of the weather and the chives are now in flower.
The little fern we planted a few years ago has spread this year and the forget-me-not is everywhere.
The raised beds are looking good Rosie. Maybe you have got a fox that is pulling plants from the pond. The fox cubs in my garden are regularly digging holes in the flower bed and digging over the soil in my potted fruit trees so I wouldn't put it past them! However much I like to see wildlife in the garden, they can be very destructive! Have a lovely Bank Holiday Monday. It is looking very overcast here so I think it is a day to be spent inside! x
ReplyDeleteIts always a sad thing when a tree dies..I hope he will bloom again next spring, you never know..The Forget me nots are doing there very best to say..don't forget this beautiful willow tree..
ReplyDeleteWe also had a lot of rain and cold weather the last couple of days..but..Summer is on its way!!
Lovely garden, dear Rosie. Hope you solve the mystery of the attack badger or whatever it is!
ReplyDeleteHope it's not the end for your willow tree. Perhaps an arborist might have some magic up his sleeve? My chives are blooming too!
ReplyDeletesimone - it could be a fox, we get those as well, we thought it may be a badger because the same night they had also dug a hole in one of the raised beds, too.
ReplyDeleteDutchess - I'm always upset when we lose a plant or tree - this one had a special meaning so it seems worse somehow - we are leaving it for the moment to see if it will recover but I'm not very hopeful.
Karen, bless you, thanks - I wonder if the badgers were attracted by the frogs?
Teresa, we are going to wait and see if the tree recovers - we thought it might be that the soil had got too dry with lack of rain but the other trees and plants in the bed around the pond are fine so I'm wondering if it is something else that has affected it. Chives are so pretty aren't they?
The rain was very welcome and it wasn't that heavy here so no damage done. Have you discovered who your pond visitor is yet? Sounds badger-ish to me. Don't give up on your tree yet, leave it at least a year as it may well shoot again from the ground.
ReplyDeleteRowan - we are sure it is a badger as it has also dug a latrine in one of our raised beds. On the loval TV news last night someone had had their garden destroyed by badgers - they even went for the garden gnomes - one was found at the entrance to their sett!
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