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March 17 - Green

Marchphotoday

Wild, country style cottage gardens, I love.

Dusty, weed infested paths and rotten tomatoes, I don't. So I spent all day outside today, ridding the garden of summer's debris. I love this time of year, when the weather is perfect for a full day's gardening chores. Gone are all our tomato stakes and bean poles, hidden behind the shed until next spring when we'll dust off the cobwebs and drag them out again.

I swept neglected paths and scooped out the awful stuff wedged between the bins and fence. I washed window frames, hosed down the clothesline and even collected all the clothes-pegs for an overnight soak.

My Saturdays don't normally look like this but every now and again I'm carried away by a frenzy of spring/autumn cleaning.  I already know I've done too much and will hunt down my bed very soon, but with the change of seasons, I've been itching to clean away the old and make way for the new.

I still have pruning and weeding on my list. There's an exuberance in the garden around Crabapple House which I've not yet tamed. Dear friends have pointed out the overgrown wisteria by the front door and I've nodded and smiled and thrilled at the 'secret garden' wildness lapping at my porch.

For while I will gladly tuck my weary bones into bed any minute, content with clean paths and windowsills, I'll also be glad for the unruly favourites with their roots firmly stuck in the ground, whose lusciousness survived another day.