Mary, Mary...

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There is a well known nursery rhyme that begins "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"

Well here in retirement mine is growing very well and benefiting not only from the time I have been able to give it, but also a new spade. 

Typical British weather in April means that conditions have varied daily but  have generally lent themselves to at least a couple of hours outside every day recently. There have been times when the temperature has been benign and I have worn shorts, and others, like today, when the wind has borne a chill and I have donned a fleece.

I have decided to concentrate this year on getting my flower borders into order as opposed to spending hours tending a vast variety of vegetables from seed. Being at home has enabled me to seize the opportunities presented by the weather. It is very different  to working where one spends the week looking at the sun through an office window, only to find that it then rains most of the weekend and hence my historic confinement in April to the greenhouse and seeds.

In the last decade, weeds, perennials and shrubs have all grown rampant with little check save for an annual tidy up at the end of the summer. This year, however, I have divided and replanted overgrown clumps of plants as well as using the hoe to eliminate so far as possible the weeds that grow up in between. 

As a result I decided it was time to invest in a quality transplanting spade and what a fine tool it is proving to be. The carved wooden handle is a delight to hold and the stainless steel blade makes quick work of digging out roots. It even came with a lifetime guarantee which has caused pointless speculation as to what that actually means. Whilst  presumably it would have been better value to have been gifted it as a Christening present, there is no denying that bonding with a nicely engineered gardening implement at any age makes hard work a joy. Hopefully we are destined to share many years moving earth together.


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