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Garden Journal 2007

Ten Moosey Garden Journal years on - my goodness, how time flies. And so much in the garden changes, too - as my plants grow far too big for their alloted spaces. But I still have far too much to write about!

What will the year 2007 bring to the Moosey Garden? How many new roses can I justify purchasing? Where will I possibly plant them all? And what will the weather patterns be like? Hopefully nothing too extreme.

Imagine how amazing my garden would be if I rationed my journal writing time, and left my flowery prose for more of the real thing - like weeding...

January Week 1... Thu 4th Jan 2007: Happy New Year! Let's get straight to the point - how about some gardening resolutions? Same old, same old - stake the dahlias, weed every day, prune the shrubs after flowering, don't mulch your secateurs...
January Week 1 - More... Fri 5th Jan 2007: Yippee! It's sunny and warm again - that makes two days in a row. Could it be summer? I usually go by the red daylilies in the perennial garden by the pergola. When they're flowering - then it's officially summer. And they are!
January Week 2... Thu 11th Jan 2007: Right. I am going to be a real summer gardener for the - third day this summer? Wow! I am going to make a sensible list, after some equally sensible comments regarding summer colour.
January Week 2 - More... Sat 13th Jan 2007: Oops. Tra-la-la. The Head Gardener has weaseled her way into a choir which is performing Bach's Mass in B minor quite soon. Gardening will have to be accompanied by some serious warbling - perhaps I have found the perfect gardening music?
January Week 3... Sun 21st Jan 2007: Hmm... I haven't done much gardening this month. I've done a lot of swimming, walking and singing. But generally the garden is looking good. This may be more due to the high summer rainfall than the gardener...
January Week 4... Fri 26th Jan 2007: Now the hot dry winds have arrived, and everything is blowing over. My gum trees are shedding their bark, and a certain blue weedy forget-me-not has burst back into life - everywhere! I didn't plant it, honestly!
End of January... Wed 31st Jan 2007: Aargh! Distractions like singing are over - now the gardening can commence in earnest. And the New Shredder arrives any day. How large and industrial will it be? In other words, will I break it?
February Week 1... Sun 4th Feb 2007: February - wow! This time last year I hadn't quite retired. I'm so glad I took the plunge. Here I am, almost one year on, sillier, busier, and happier - and naturally the garden should be tidier and better. I think it's bigger...
February Week 1 - More... Wed 7th Feb 2007: We are enjoying warm, sunny days - finally summer has arrived! So the big irrigation has been awakened from hibernation, and I've been kept busy shifting the smaller hoses around. I'm very lucky to have an abundance of good water.
February Week 2... Wed 14th Feb 2007: C'mon, Head Gardener, get out there in that garden! Where have you got to? The borders need weeding, the lawns need mowing, the paths need raking... Really!
February Week 3... Tue 20th Feb 2007: At the beginning of February I remember making a serious New Month's Resolution to work really hard, and finish absolutely everything that needs finishing. Well, it's the same old story - I'm lagging behind! And the weeds just love me!
February Week 4... Sun 25th Feb 2007: I knew it! I just knew that February would zoom along, leaving me behind. It makes me wonder about gardening goals - if I didn't have any, then I wouldn't know I'd missed them. Blast!
End of February... Wed 28th Feb 2007: Secret strategy - if I start a brand new page in my gardening journal, I will have to spend the remaining three days of February gardening madly. Otherwise I won't have anything to write about.
March Week 1... Sun 4th Mar 2007: It's March. Oh dear. I've got no time to write anything - I need to be outside in the garden. There's mulching, weeding, raking, and watering to do - and later this month some upcoming plant sales to look forward to.
March Week 2... Sun 11th Mar 2007: Oh dear - I am having a mild gardener's crisis. I am a very messy gardener. This is because I am a messy person. My car, my house, my kitchen drawers are all messy. Even my hair is messy.
March Week 2 - More... Wed 14th Mar 2007: My March garden reformation continues - long may the Head Gardener continue in her reformed, revitalised, remotivated, recharged mood. All this to justify some nursery sale spending? And it's the spring bulb buying season. Oops.
March Week 3... Sun 18th Mar 2007: Autumn continues to 'march' in - I feel like I've gone to seed, a bit like my lettuces in the vegetable garden. It's Moosey the Moocher, let loose in her large country garden. And there is a slight problem with the Moosey garden photogaphs...
March Week 3 - More... Tue 20th Mar 2007: My efforts to stay inspired by Rosemary Verey continue - I'm imagining I'm welcoming garden visitors into an orderly, cared-for garden. And I have some great news regarding the Moosey garden photographs...
March Week 4... Mon 26th Mar 2007: Grr... Spam. Just how many loan requests does a busy lady gardener need to have approved? Some legitimate lottery winnings would be nice, and could pay for the new pond, and the new rose garden, and a floating paddle-wheel water pump...
End of March... Sat 31st Mar 2007: I have some practical garden plans. I have some impractical piano playing plans (last night's was to play every piece of piano music Albeniz ever wrote). I can't remember making any gardening goals regarding March, but I'm running out of March time.
April Week 1... Tue 3rd Apr 2007: Hee hee. I thought I could do an April Fool's joke on my garden, but I only have until lunchtime. Several thoughts occur, but the very fact that I am thinking of silly things to do means only one thing - it's called procrastination! Aargh!
April Week 1 - More... Fri 6th Apr 2007: Well, I've certainly written a lot so far this April. Not sure if this is a good thing for the garden, though. I should be weeding and mulching madly, getting ready for the arrival of scores of Easter sale plants.
April Easter... Tue 10th Apr 2007: Happy Easter! Full moon, full tummies (chocolate eggs, oops), and a full cat house - we are fostering a little grey kitten. Full trailer - bricks for the garden. Full wallet? Oops - the Easter nursery plant sales are in full swing...
April Week 3... Sun 15th Apr 2007: It's the weekend after Easter and most of my nursery sale plants are still patiently waiting for their planting moment in the sun. They've been well watered by the rain - so where am I going to plant them all?
April Week 3 - More... Thu 19th Apr 2007: I'm taking part in a Great Race - a southerly is forecast, with rain, arriving this morning. I have plans to beat the storm - planting, laying bricks by the hen house, and continuing my autumn clean up - before the weather gets nasty.
April Week 4... Mon 23rd Apr 2007: Oh dear. Overnight we have lost both the cricket and the rugby league, to Australia. That's so sad! But sadder is the problem that Australia is having with water supplies. Poor Australian farmers - and poor Australian gardeners!
April Week 4 - More... Sun 29th Apr 2007: Autumn is here, April is almost over, and most of my burnable rubbish has been burnt. Yippee! Those beautiful autumn colours are really firing up my garden, too. And I've started to finalise plans for my Semi-Grand World Garden Tour.
May Week 1... Fri 4th May 2007: May is here! Good morning, mellow May, late autumn month in the Moosey Garden. From the office I can see gold tops of Prunus trees, out the bathroom window the cherry red Maples and Dogwoods in the gardens over the water race.
May Week 1 - More... Mon 7th May 2007: Is it too early to make lists for my Semi-Grand-Global-Garden-Tour? Camera, notebooks, hiking shoes, sunscreen... I've started to get excited, and I have over four weeks to go! Meanwhile, back to reality - the Moosey Autumn garden...
May Week 2... Wed 9th May 2007: Today I have to work fiercely in my garden. There are four weeks to go until I fly off on my trip. I must leave a tidy, well-organised winter garden behind. Every dry and warm day (like today) must be spent wisely!
May Week 2 - More... Sun 13th May 2007: Another Great Garden Race - a southerly storm is trundling up the island, which means rain and cold winds. I need to get plants planed, newspaper and mulch laid, before the wet weather comes, and let nature do the watering.
May Week 3... Wed 16th May 2007: Right. A new gardening week. New gardening goals. What needs finishing? What needs starting? I can't think of much, apart from the same old autumn garden maintenance chores. Official warning - the Head Gardener is a bit bored...
May Week 3 - More... Sun 20th May 2007: Eek! It's three weeks until my Semi-Grand Global Garden Tour. I'm starting to do a lot of pre-trip visualisation - I can see colourful summer gardens full of roses and a lightly tanned, fluster-free Moosey in a beautiful flowing cotton shirt...
May Week 4... Wed 23rd May 2007: Now there are nearly two weeks to go until my world trip. I have to confess - I'm thinking about it almost as much as my garden! It's probably time to write the first serious list.
May Week 4 - More... Thu 31st May 2007: This is the second to last weekend in the garden before my world travelling trip. Theoretically the weekends should feel the same as the weeks do, for a retired lady gardener - but no! My garden helper is available...
June Week 1... Sun 3rd Jun 2007: It's June - in five days time I will be off, flying towards Singapore, the first stop in my world trip. So I have four gardening days left, four days with the dog and the cats, four days to do my minimal packing...
June Goodbyes... Tue 5th Jun 2007: Right. This is goodbye. All packed - one green shirt, one blue shirt, one white shirt, three-quarter pants, a skirt, and my red gardening shoes. What have I forgotten? Hairbrush? Aargh!
Holiday 1 - Singapore... Thu 7th Jun 2007: Here is my very first holiday journal page, covering the few days I spent on the beautiful island of Singapore. I even went to the Botanic Gardens twice! Due to very red face (heat and humidity), many smiling photographs of visiting self have had to be omitted.
Holiday 2 - Europe... Tue 12th Jun 2007: I've left the hot humid garden island of Singapore behind. Here's my second holiday journal page, beginning in Europe, ducking efficiently underneath the English Channel and ending up in front of the Cordylines in Kew Gardens, London. Be very impressed!
Holiday 3 - Scotland... Tue 12th Jun 2007: Now my Scottish adventure really begins. I have flown half way around the world to see the New Zealand native trees and shrubs growing in a Scottish Highland garden. This may seem excessive, but I'm really excited - it will be like meeting old friends.
Holiday 4 - Scotland... Fri 15th Jun 2007: The fun and adventure continues, as I zoom in my little blue rental car over the narrow roads through the most beautiful scenery to visit Scotland's famous gardens. Finally I arrive at Inverewe, the most famous of them all.
July - I'm Back... Sat 7th Jul 2007: The first week of July is spent reacquainting self with the realities of a wet, cold winter garden. My gumboots leak, and it gets dark so early! But it's so nice to be home with my piano, cats, and the dog.
Holiday 5 - Scotland... Sun 17th Jun 2007: There are still more West Coast of Scotland gardens to visit, some of which are on the Isle of Skye. The car ferry from the Kyle of Lochalsh has been superseded by a huge bridge, and I'm not sure which sea-crossing makes me more nervous!
Holiday 6 - Going Nowhere?... Thu 21st Jun 2007: It's time to say goodbye to the lovely gardens of Scotland, then a quick hello to London, then goodbye again. But I don't get very far, ending up in Frankfurt Airport to experience my first serious airport jam - a day-long rebooking queue.
Holiday 7 - USA... Mon 25th Jun 2007: We've arrived in North America! Finally Air France flies us out of Frankfurt to Washington DC, where the Moosey fingerprints are ceremonially taken. My neighbour on the plane tells me I have 'farmer's hands'... Hmm - where's my gardeners' hand cream?
Holiday 8 - Canada... Sat 30th Jun 2007: It's the last part of my holiday - some relaxing family time in Ontario, Canada. My garden visiting will be minimal. I might even do some serious outdoor clothes shopping instead!
July Week 2... Sat 14th Jul 2007: I've been back from my holiday now for over a week. Gardenwise I've only spent one muddy hour in the patio garden cutting back the Nepeta. This is simply not good enough!
July Week 3... Sat 21st Jul 2007: Yippee - my seed catalogue has arrived! I have ticked lots and lots of yellow flowers, some interesting new perennials, and organic heirloom vegetables. This is the easy part.
July Week 4... Wed 25th Jul 2007: Happy Birthday to non-gardening partner. I have planned an exciting day for him in the garden - birthday chain-sawing, followed by birthday shredding. Blast - he has escaped to a rural fire-fighting training day. The best laid plans of mice and older-lady gardeners...
End of July... Sun 29th Jul 2007: Oops. July has 31 days - it hasn't ended just yet. Are there enough days left for me to finish all the rose pruning, and cast my critical eye on all the garden areas? I have plans for some big winter spending - at more than one specialist nursery. Details to follow...
Very End of July... Tue 31st Jul 2007: My winter gardening has kicked into overdrive, as I prune and dig, weed and plant. The Moosey paths are being formalised, too - widened and covered with wood shavings. There can be no more path shifting!
August Week 1... Sat 4th Aug 2007: My Welcome Garden looks better - it has lots of new plants, including warm red flaxes, a trio of red Ake Akes, lots of glossy green Hebes, and some chunky Pittosporums. I think we both deserve a huge terracotta pot.
August Week 1 - More... Mon 6th Aug 2007: I'm having problems choosing suitable garden ornaments. I am not confident to choose something artistic, not creative enough to make one myself, not rustic enough for a wagon-wheel, and not classical enough for a statue. One large pot that I like is shaped like a supersized sewer pipe... Oops...
August Week 2... Wed 8th Aug 2007: I am going to adopt a more flexible attitude. If I garden for hours and hours and don't get anything finished, I must still find cause for personal celebration. For example, not losing any of my garden tools, or hurting any body bits too much...
August Week 2 - More... Mon 13th Aug 2007: Simple things lift a winter gardening spirit - like seeing again all my summer holiday pictures, and me smiling in front of a Walled garden in Scotland. I absolutely love these garden memories - and I'm glad I courageously interrupted other visitors to get Head Gardener photographs!
August Week 3... Fri 17th Aug 2007: I need to think very seriously about the new waterside garden. I need a shortlist of - say - six great ideas. And I also need to think about the possible integration of bridges and paths. Building a garden around a new Monet style bridge would surely create some sense of cohesion!
August Week 3 - More... Mon 20th Aug 2007: Now I have two new garden digging projects on the go, simultaneously, and still I'm tempted to sneak off and buy more roses and hebes. And when am I going to start weeding all the beds, ready for spring?
August Week 4... Sat 25th Aug 2007: The new glass-house garden is nearly dug, and the new back lawn is nearly finished. I'm ready to go shopping for a small specimen tree - I'd like another wine-coloured Cercis Forest Pansy. Hmm... What a good excuse!
End of August... Fri 31st Aug 2007: I am back from a short road trip to the West Coast to see the glaciers. I have finally bought a book on New Zealand forests - trees, shrubs, and wildlife - prepare for a flood of information about podocarp forests, and the two different types of tree ferns!
September Week 1... Tue 4th Sep 2007: Hello, September, springy month. To show appreciation of my lovely egg-laying hens, I have started having a morning egg for breakfast - the first of my September resolutions. Power packed with protein, my gardening days should be even more amazing...
September Week 1 - More... Fri 7th Sep 2007: Spring has sprung a cold, wet weather surprise, so I've been inside resting my gardening hands and digging feet - and plotting my next garden spending spree. Lots of fun...
September Week 2... Mon 10th Sep 2007: I am a silly old (medium-old) lady! It's my birthday today, so I've been busy telling everyone I can find. So far, 'everyone' consists of nine cats, a dog, and six chooks, who I've thanked out loud for laying me birthday eggs.</p>
September Week 2 - More... Fri 14th Sep 2007: These settled spring days are so peaceful. There's no wind to tire out the gardener or dry out the soil, and the lawns look magnificent. Long may this continue!
September Week 3... Mon 17th Sep 2007: The garden is springing nicely into shape. Sunshine streams into the house until late afternoon, and the patios are calm, warm places to sit with a cup of tea and a good book.
September Week 3 - More... Thu 20th Sep 2007: The nine Moosey cats are gorgeously colour co-ordinated - grey, ginger, white and black - and the feline feeling in the house is mellow and settled. Food bowls and sleeping boxes are now shared. But the two ginger boys, Fluff-Fluff and Percy, are still my best gardening cats.
September Week 4... Sat 22nd Sep 2007: Where is my web-master? He is about as elusive as the male pheasant that shrieks and struts in the wooded parts of my garden. September is nearly over and he hasn't sent out the Moosey September Newsletter. So sorry...
September Week 4 - More... Tue 25th Sep 2007: I love, love, love being in my September spring garden. Plant growth low to the ground is fresh and green, and the spring shrubs and blossom trees fill the air above with beautiful colour. Yippee!
September Week 4 - Yet More... Fri 28th Sep 2007: I've just been for a walk in my garden with camera, fluffy ginger cat, and red Border Collie dog. There are so many lovely flowers out - I can choose any colour and find it blooming somewhere, even if on a small scale.
End of September... Sun 30th Sep 2007: Let the very last September gardening weekend begin. And may it stretch out and keep the Head Gardener warm and busy, and please don't let her be grumpy at the end of each day.
October Week 1... Wed 3rd Oct 2007: At the beginning of a brand new spring month gardeners are supposed to wake up full of new ideas and resolutions, feeling fresh. How to make a good start to October? I know - I could promise to weed every day!
October Week 1 - More... Sat 6th Oct 2007: I've had a slow start to the gardening month - no sore knees, no sore hands, but no accomplishments either. Ouch - it's time to put that right! And if I feel like being dreamy and repetitive - well, there's always a little light weeding!
October Week 2... Mon 8th Oct 2007: The weekend livens up with nor-west gales, resulting in much tree damage to clean-up. Gloom descends on the nation (and the sports-fan lurking in the Head Gardener) as the All Blacks lose their quarter-final match at the Rugby World Cup. Vive la France! Aargh!
October Week 2 - More... Fri 12th Oct 2007: My Crab-Apples and Apple trees are now spring-blossoming. The local plant nurseries are full of beautifully bright flowering Azaleas. My garden has so many gaps which are just the perfect size for a splash of Azalea colour...
October Week 2 - Yet More... Sun 14th Oct 2007: I am so annoyed with my home-made compost. I love the pansy and forget-me-not seedlings in it, but the other dozen or more weedy species are not welcome. It's time for a sacrificial hoeing session.
October Week 3... Thu 18th Oct 2007: There's more spring blossom, the first aquilegias and irises are out, and my main troupe of rhododendrons are ready for their festival of flower. Mid-spring is beautiful in my garden - but please, no more gale force winds!
October Week 3 - More... Sat 20th Oct 2007: It's Labour Weekend, when the vegetable garden is traditionally planted in my province. Hmm... So that spring frost we had last night was our last for the year? I jolly well hope so!
October Week 3 - Yet More... Mon 22nd Oct 2007: My spring garden is changing every day, with new flowers discovered. Walking past the patio Wisteria I am delighted by the fragrance - I didn't know that Wisterias did this! What a splendid spring climber - though rather difficult to capture in a photograph.
October Week 4... Sat 27th Oct 2007: More and more of the rhododendrons in my garden are in flower. Later this week I'll be busy visiting some 'proper' Azalea and Rhododendron gardens. Nice - but I hope the strong winds have left some flowers on the shrubs. Nude rhododendrons - aargh!
End of October... Sun 28th Oct 2007: Right. It's the end of October a mid-spring month in my garden, and my vegetable seeds and seedlings are still not planted. My lettuces are busting out of their containers, desperate for soil and space.
November Week 1... Fri 2nd Nov 2007: I'm back from the garden tour with my head full of rhododendrons and azaleas. And lush green gardens, with decent rainfall, and no wind - neatly trimmed edges, freshly mown lawns, smiling hostesses serving yummy afternoon teas...
November Week 1 - More... Sun 4th Nov 2007: My lawns are disgraceful! Of course, I have just returned from a garden festival - I am now used to seeing beautiful lawns as well as beautiful rhododendrons. I will have to have words with NGP - Non Gardening Partner...
November Week 1 - Yet More... Wed 7th Nov 2007: I'm allowed to write lots and have extra journal pages this November, as long as I work hard in the garden and don't grump about sore hands or knees. And there are so many lovely flowers to take photographs of.
November Week 2... Sun 11th Nov 2007: Oh dear. It's already the second week of November - these pre-summer gardening days are rushing by. Many of my roses are starting to flower - I forget how beautiful rose blooms look against the fresh green foliage.
November Week 2 - More... Wed 14th Nov 2007: I reckon it's summer. It's suddenly time for no socks, compulsory sunhat, sunblock, and retreating inside in the middle of the day. Maybe mad dogs go out in the midday sun but Englishwomen - well, born-in-England gardeners - certainly don't. Think of their English rose complexions!
November Week 3... Sat 17th Nov 2007: My garden is full of flower colour from aquilegias, irises and pansies. Foxgloves everywhere are almost flowering. Lots of beautiful roses have started blooming, too. Yippee - it really is summer!
November Week 3 - More... Tue 20th Nov 2007: Each day I titivate another messy area, weed another border, shift something, plant something else, uncover a precious plant, rip out a poor doer - all to get the garden ready for the visiting group of choral ladies. It is such fun having a deadline, for once!
November Week 4... Sun 25th Nov 2007: The summer garden visit is looming - just four more days! And I'm heading off south with a gardening friend to spend the next three days at a rose festival. While I'm away the weeds had better not decide to have a home-alone party!
November Week 4 - More... Tue 27th Nov 2007: The phrase 'Back to reality' can have such a gloomy edge to it. But for a gardener it's positively nice to relax back into the boring, mundane, everyday tasks - like cleaning up after the tree fellers. Tree fellas? Hee hee...
End of November... Fri 30th Nov 2007: At the end of the gardening month little things matter a lot - like planting out the seedling annuals, clearing out the spring forget-me-nots, staking the tomatoes. These could all be done next month - oops! That's nearly tomorrow!
December Week 1... Mon 3rd Dec 2007: November was a brilliant month for my irises. Now I'm hoping that December will be equally brilliant for my roses. I'd like to order in lots of natural rainfall, and not too much wind please...
December Week 1 - More... Wed 5th Dec 2007: Flowery writing for a flowery garden - colourful prose, colourful borders... Garden journal writers do take themselves so seriously at times!
December Week 2... Mon 10th Dec 2007: Ha! My favourite non-canine garden helper will become available this weekend, and the weather forecast is good. I have lots and lots of fringe-gardening jobs for him - where to start? Aha! Make him a list!
December Week 2 - More... Fri 14th Dec 2007: Summer is here. Roses and annuals in my garden are blooming, the New Zealand flaxes are in flower, and the sun shines down expectantly on the Moosey pond, subject of a most serious beautification plan.
December Week 3... Wed 19th Dec 2007: Yippee! The weekend! I love starting a new journal page for the weekend. Every possible gardening verb will have a chance in the action - weeding, shredding, chain-sawing, digging, mowing, planting, mulching, dead-heading, pruning...
December Week 3 - More... Fri 21st Dec 2007: I've just spent a furious hour doing some preparatory weeding. What is this gardening task? You may well ask - my intention was merely to pick some delphiniums and pink roses for the house.
December Week 4... Mon 24th Dec 2007: It's the weekend before Christmas - will I be able to get all my Christmas gardening done? I still have sale plants (roses, and perennial geraniums) to find garden places for, and my vegetable garden is a semi-disgrace.
Christmas Week... Thu 27th Dec 2007: Merry Christmas from the summery Moosey Menagerie - cats, dogs, chooks, sheep, lovely relatives, lovely Non-Gardening-Partner, and the Head Gardener. Have a very happy Christmas, with lots of warmth, peace and joy.
Christmas Week - More... Sun 30th Dec 2007: Having floated around my garden for the last few days in a holiday mood, it's time to return to my serious post of Head Gardener. I can listen to the summer cricket (the game, not the insect!) while I weed and trim.
New Years Eve... Mon 31st Dec 2007: I can't believe how fast time goes - molto allegro, whenever I peep at the calendar. It's the last day of the year 2007, and there are so many things in the garden I've still not done. But wait - what about all the things I have done?