The search for poo

As usual, I'm playing catch-up in the garden.
A crazy work schedule combined with a hectic and snowy December meant the veg patch didn't get dug over and, although I cleared it and removed all the roots some weeks ago, I still haven't fulfilled my plan of replenishing the soil by adding composted manure. February is now here so I'd better get a move on.
I dug over my compost heap last week, hoping the bottom layer would be rich crumbly compost but it still has some way to go before it is ready.
The wormery has arrived too but with the frosts still lurking, I daren't populate it just yet.
I remember, in years gone by, passing farms and stables displaying signs advertising well-rotted manure. I always pondered who would take up such a revolting-sounding offer, but here I am at the age of 36 wondering where the signs have gone. I tried Twitter, eBay, Friday Ad and was generally keeping my eyes peeled but with no luck.
Hilliers Garden Centre is selling selling 80 litre bags of manure compost of £3.99 or five bags for £15 but it seems a lot of money for a few bags of poo.
But this week, to my joy, I discovered a stables in Isfield, East Sussex, which has a small mountain of the stuff - eight-year-old rotten horse manure - so today we took a drive down there and picked up a couple of bags at £2 a pop.
My plan tomorrow morning is to dig the lot in.
It might sound funny, but I can't wait!

Birds: a minute in my garden

Birds in my garden - 10 January 2011 from Roz Tappenden on Vimeo.

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Happy New Year

Well, with all the snow and festive celebrations, I haven't spent much time in my garden lately, although I have been watching the birds from the comfort of my living room.
My brother bought me a new bird feeder for Christmas and on New Year's Day I attached it to my shed.
I can report that within 24 hours, my garden had turned into bird chaos - I've had a male greater spotted woodpecker, two nuthatches and countless blue tits and great tits squabbling over the peanuts.
When I have a little time I intend to film them and post the video on here.
Ridiculous work commitments in recent months have meant I put off planting my narcissus bulbs for way too long and they had started to sprout on my window ledge.
On Sunday I whacked them in the ground and hoped for the best. The professional opinion of my gardening partner is that I probably won't be lucky enough, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will grow.
I've planted dwarf February gold (narcissus cyclamineus), dwarf baby moon (narcissus jongquilla) and dwarf hawera (narcissus triandrus). They are in a cluster on a protruding ridge in my lawn. I just hope I don't regret not putting them in sooner.

Sussex in the snow

Snowed in

After an overnight stay in a B&B, I finally struggled home in the snow. It took me four hours to complete a train journey which normally takes 1hr 45mins.
My resourceful other half braved blizzard conditions in our new-to-us car to collect me from the station but we were forced to abandon it in a neighbouring office car park - our drive is too steep to negotiate right now.
This morning I awoke to 14ins (36cm) of snow. The veg patch is completely buried - the only indication of its existence is the rabbit fence around the edge.
The bird feeder on the shed is empty - I can't even reach it - so I've scraped away the snow and put out two trays of food near the back door. So far the birds have either not noticed it or have not been brave enough to venture that close.
I had been due to go to an important meeting today in Guildford and was prepared to struggle to get there, but with the car snowed in and the roads blocked, I have little chance of even reaching the station, six miles away.
My new plan for today is to venture outside with my new camera.

Lace bugs on pieris japonica

After admiring my mother's pieris japonica shrub, I was kindly donated one which appeared to be suffering from an unidentified pest.
I know several of the shrubs from a neighbouring garden had to be removed with a similar problem. The leaves turn black and blotchy underneath and eventually the whole plant is affected.
Trawling the internet, I found a number of sites saying this type of pieris is susceptible to andromeda lace bugs.
The bugs aren't visible to the naked eye so I took a close up picture of some dead bugs on my shrub and magnified it in Photoshop (left). It more or less confirmed my suspicions.
I found a really useful piece on the Conneticut University website about the bugs which explains aggravating causes and treatment.
I am, however, wondering whether to look a gift horse in the mouth on this occasion and turn down the free plant for my garden in case the bugs could spread to other things.

Controlling bamboo

Today is the first dry day in a while and my only day off work this week so I'm grabbing the opportunity to cut back the bamboo which is taking over the corner of my garden and next door's hedge.
When we arrived a few months ago, it provided a useful screen for the compost heap and gave us a good supply of canes to use around the garden but it is so vigorous, I have not spent enough time trying to contain it and now our neighbour's hedge is starting to suffer.
I read a guide to controlling bamboo which recommends cutting into the soil with a straight bladed shovel, therefore severing the sprawling shoots to stop it from spreading.
Using this method, it says, this year's shoots should die off but previous year's growth could survive so the roots should be dug out.
In my case, I doubt digging around the plant would be successful because the shoots are large and too close to the hedge. The best plan, I think, is to chop it down, dig it out and put something else in its place.
I thought the cutting down part would be a simple task, but I'm taking time out to write this because I am less than half way through and already aching.
I'm dreading digging up the roots. Perhaps that's a job for another day.
Some of the foliage is over 10ft high so I should have a fair number of canes to store in the shed ready for the spring.
Anyway... tea break over... back to the garden.