Diary of a lazy gardener

[guardian]

Good morning from sunny and mild Lossiemouth; the sky is blue; the birds are singing fit to bust and it truely feels as though Spring is in the air.

It astounds me how the weather changes so drastically from day to day here; even from hour to hour. The snow has virtually disappeared from the hills almost overnight and the gorse is coming into flower and smelling wonderfully of coconut. I think these last few days have felt much more springlike; the primroses I planted are blooming well and the grass is growing already.

Taking the dog for his walk this morning reminded me that not all creatures that fly are on the go, the moles are very active and for some reason they love to dig in my garden leaving their tell-tale hills everywhere; great earth for seed trays but they have an entire field over the fence I'll never know why they choose our garden instead. I don't like to kill anything and I don't really approve of the 'thumper' things you can get, I (probably foolishly) think that it may disturb other creatures and frighten them away, so we will just have to get on together.

The rhubarb is poking it's head up aswell, I fully intended to move it earlier than this because it freaks my daughter out, she hates the huge leaves; finds them sinister.

I'm hoping that we have house martins nesting in the garage this year. Last year was a disaster for them, they reared a clutch of five babies but none of them survived, the parents seemed inexperienced and they didn't seem sure of how to feed them. The previous years had been very successful, a pair reared two seperate clutches successfully and they looked so cute all lined up on the lighting cable waiting to take off and join their parents.

Guardian

[pat t]

Hello lazy gardener,
I have just joined wab today and this is my first message. It is a fantastically sunny and frosty morning in Coupar Angus and the birds are singing merrily. You do not have a monopoly on molehills!

[guardian]

Hi Pat

He He moles have no respect do they? All our hard work in the garden and they don't care one bit. Someone told me to put mothballs or old perfume on a tissue down the holes to drive them away, I know there are some really nasty methods of evicting them but I can't bring myself to do these things, just too squeemish I suppose.

Sounds like you had a wonderful morning too, doesn't it just make you feel good.

Today is very quiet, intermittent sunshine but fairly mild.

I noticed our friend Mr Pheasant is back, he gathers dropped seed around the bird-table; he returns every year and brings his lady friends and chicks in the breeding season. It's fun to watch him call to them and stamp proudly and herd them towards it when he's found food, you'd think he put the seed out himself

I have some very poor photos of them all taken on a mobile phone and digital camera, I must see about uploading some. To be truthful I'm quite ashamed of them after seeing the quality of the pictures on this site, people are very patient and talented.

[wyevilla]

Hello Guardian and Pat t.

Hope you both enjoy WAB. Go ahead and ask questions, post news and generally have fun!

[pat t]

Hi everyone
The moles continue their activities undeterred by attempts to stop them! We have a couple of male pheasants who hang around all winter eating the bird seed put out for the robins, spuggies etc. Any time now they will be waking us in the mornings calling for their lady friends. There is also a covey of partridge around. Our garden must be on their "flight" path as they appear quite regularly. In Spring/Summer they bring their young. The oyster catchers returned about 10 days ago. It is always a welcome sound and sight.
bye for now
Pat T

[FungiJohn]

Hi Guardian and a very warm welcome to WAB. Enjoy!
John

[Owl-Light]

Hello Guardian and Pat t. Nice to meet you
I keep meaning to tidy up our garden a little but never seem to get round to it. We intentionally keep it wild for wildlife but ideally it could be a wee bit neater. No moles here, but I'd be pleased to see one.

[canonman]

Hi
A warm welcome to WAB, nice to have you with us
Mick

[Tursiops2]

Hi guardian

So you think you have a mole problem ...



Wecome to WAB
Tursiops2

[guardian]

Good Morining All, lovely to read all your thoughts , I don't envy you Tursiops2
It's pouring with rain here this morning, driech is a good descriptive scottish word for it.

Mr pheasant is fattening himself up and his plumage is coming on nicely for the breeding season, I have heard a few calls and seen a couple of territory fights, it'll be hotting up soon.

We've only seen the one hare so far, they were quite prolific last year and enormous, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more; I seem to remember someone saying that the more hares there are the better the summer will be, not sure about that but it would be nice to think so.

I can't believe it's February in north east scotland and the grass is growing already, the jolly old mower will be out sooner this year.

We've decided on the crops for this year, we eat a lot of leeks, onions, and garlic so I'll be planting the seeds soon. The soil here is very poor, mainly sand and shingle and what there is is only a couple of inches deep. I've tried very unsuccessfully to grow various types of carrot and potato but without much success. Even the disease resistant varieties end up with scab and the carrots are very tiny. I'm not happy to use artificial fertilisers so the compost heap has to suffice; there is an enormous pile of cow poo in the field and I'm wondering if the farmer would mind me having a barrowload or two.
We've built a couple of raised beds which have been heaped with compost so that gives a bit more depth of soil.

When I can I definitely need a greenhouse and a shed to potter in; the woodshed has to suffice for a potting shed just now.

Off for more tea.

Guardian.

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by Tursiops2

Hi guardian

So you think you have a mole problem ...



Wecome to WAB
Tursiops2

Hello Pat.t and Guardian welcome, everything in control the gardens sound fine and well attended
Molehills as in Tursiops picture can bring in Buzzards sometimes in sizable numbers
for the earthworms

[Crowman]

Originally Posted by Owl-Light

No moles here, but I'd be pleased to see one.

You can have mine for a small fee

[guardian]

Afternoon everybody

Well what a day it can't make up it's mind between sunshine and hailstorms today. This morning I woke to a light covering of slushy snow, the first this year.

We're pretty fortunate most of the time, we seem to have our small weather system so the heavy rains and snowstorms miss us and concentrate on the hills.

Yesterday there was a very high tide, the dunes on the shore were more submerged than I've ever seen them before. The Lossie struggled to empty into the bay.

Have to say I've not been outside today, even the birds are shivering.

Regards

Guardian

[guardian]

Originally Posted by pat t

Hi everyone
The moles continue their activities undeterred by attempts to stop them! We have a couple of male pheasants who hang around all winter eating the bird seed put out for the robins, spuggies etc.
Pat T

Hi Pat

I have to know, what are spuggies?

It's so good to know that all over the country there are good things going on, it's been great to read about your visitors.
My next job will be to use the molehills for seed trays, they do turn up some fine soil so I suppose that's one good thing about moles.

regards

Guardian

[smartie]

Originally Posted by guardian

Hi Pat

I have to know, what are spuggies?

Northern (I think - we certainly used it) word for sparrow.

[pat t]

A spuggie is indeed a sparrow.As well as all the usual "bird table" birds we have regular visits from greater spotted woodpeckers. For most of the year we only see them singly but come the breeding season the youngsters are brought along to master the art of the nut hangers. It is lovely to watch them but they are not team players and frighten the other birds away!
Pat T

[guardian]

Morning all,

I've been a bit neglectful of my scribblings lately but the garden has improved instead, so it's not all bad.

The lawn's had its first mow and the beds are cleared for new stuff. I can't get into the potting shed to start everything off as it still has the winter coal in it, he who must be obeyed has decided to have it delivered to the potting shed which severely restricts my activities. Heyho.

Anyway the collared doves have returned in their pairs and Mr Pheasant has paired up with his lady friends and is in fine plummage. The rhubarb is coming up nicely, a week or so will see me harvesting the first stalks.

It's been lovely weather for a while, if windy, but today it's absolutley freezing, not by the thermometer but because the wind is strong and gusting from the north. The weather men have threatened us with wintry conditions over the weekend. It's such a shame the daffs, crocuses and primroses are in full flower only to be broken and frozen to death.

A couple of large deer have wandering through the undergrowth by the river so I expect to see young again this year.

The molehills have been collected for the seedtrays and it looks as though there'll be a bumber crop of ash seedlings to harvest and bring on for planting out in a few years.

Best get on with it then.

Guardian

[Gaina]

Originally Posted by guardian

Taking the dog for his walk this morning reminded me that not all creatures that fly are on the go, the moles are very active and for some reason they love to dig in my garden leaving their tell-tale hills everywhere; great earth for seed trays but they have an entire field over the fence I'll never know why they choose our garden instead. I don't like to kill anything and I don't really approve of the 'thumper' things you can get, I (probably foolishly) think that it may disturb other creatures and frighten them away, so we will just have to get on together.Guardian

Hello Guardian .

Have you tried wine bottles for your mole problem? No, I'm not suggesting you try to get them drunk then dump them in a remote area . If you put a few wine bottles in the holes with the necks just popping out of the ground, the breeze flowing over the bottle top makes a gentle hum that sends the moles off in the opposite direction.

I can't remember which stately home it is, but one of them definately uses that method successfully because I saw the head gardner talking about it on TV.

Might be worth a go.

[nightshade]

Canes and Taut video tape the humming drives away deer and the
vibration through the canes into the ground annoys the moles

[guardian]

Morning all

My thanks to Gaina and Nightshade for their intrigueing advice, I like the wine bottle idea and of course it will give my partner a perfect excuse for buying wine I'll definitely give it a go.

Last night was, well, what can I say, howling winds, snow, sleet, ho hum I hope March goes out like a lamb

Now the sun is out for 30 seconds and the winter barley is starting to grow, they'll be round soon to spread the muck and nitrates. Not unhappy about the muck spreading but not keen on the artificial fertilizers, a bit concerned the birds might eat it and be poisoned as the stuff comes in tiny pellet form. It's after the fertilizer goes down that there's an almost miraculous increase in growth, you can almost watch it grow, quite creepy really. Just shows what can be done I suppose.
They seem to grow the same crop every year, what happened to crop rotation? I don't suppose the whisky business is complaining though.

Dinas, my golden retreiver is an old man now but he still likes his brush every day and the birds get the benefit this time of year as they collect his balls of hair for their nests. I wonder if they can smell 'doggy' on it and if it puts them off a bit.

Just wondering if I dare brave the outside chills and sleet, I'm not good at being cold and miserable.

Here goes


regards

Guardian