As usual I forgot to take any before pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was very reminiscent of a wild jungle! I kept expecting to find a small tribe as yet undiscovered by civilization lol. Sadly all I found is slugs, snails and about a dozen worms in weird and wacky places!
Considering that the garden had been ignored for about 18 months it could have been much worse. We (Mum and I) were out there for about four hours yesterday, and we got quite a lot done. I lopped down some of the huge cherry tree next door (before the rapidly falling blossom turned into cherries); pruned some roses, a forsythia, a Japanese maple (which I also repotted after sawing through the roots that had burst through the bottom of the plastic pot it was in! The pot is now a heap of plastic pieces as I had to smash it to bits to get the plant out lol), pulled up about a thousand weeds, planted a sad looking pink camellia in the ground, emptied the ashes out of the incinerator from the Beltane bonfire, top-dressed another Japanese maple, chopped down and fought with some suckers on the roses, swept the small patio and struggled with Mum to put up our gazebo. There is still a lot to do, but we both felt too tired to carry on. Mum was suffering with her back and dodgy shoulder and my right ankle became too painful to stand on for very long... all signs to go indoors and rest.
All told, though, I feel very happy with the progress we've made :0) Fingers crossed we both feel well enough to go out again later today and do some more.
