Perfect Day

Here in Killingworth, today is ideal for transplanting. The plants are dormant, the weather is mild and humid, and the sandy soil here at Stonewell Farm is workable.

Last week I transplanted this wonderfully fragrant Meyer Lilac to this open sunny site

as its previous site by the wall was becoming increasingly shady.

This last summer, I also noticed less of these beautiful, fragrant flowers on our Mme. Hardy rose

which is planted to the west of two shrubs, a spirea and a hydrangea, neither of which are getting any smaller.

In the last two years, our clump of three tree peonies have gone from this

to this, due to our ever expanding magnolia shown encroaching from the right.

What may look like the perfect site, in ten years could be totally inappropriate due to the growth of the plant itself, or those around it.
Live as if you'll die tomorrow. Garden as if you'll live forever.

Maybe, just maybe.

Our ducks are checking out available nesting sites. Even Sir Francis is getting in on the act.

Mayo, (so called because her sibling Cinco chose the cupboard on the other side of the pizza oven underneath the sink) is going for the safety of the under counter cupboard.

Nora, named after her sibling Dora, who loved to go exploring in the woods, until her encounter with Mr Fox, is in her duck house.

Let's hope Sooty shows more sense this year. 

With all this early activity. Maybe, just maybe, we're in for a mild short winter.

Meyer Lemon

A photo of our Meyer Lemon tree to brighten this dank winter day.

26 incase you were wondering.

It's not just the wild west that is full of cowboys.

 This is a photo from an Andrew Pighills Facebook post back in July, and that is where it should have remained, but this afternoon I got a call from the owner of the wall to say the wall  has fallen down again. This photo is after the wall had been repaired 3 months previously

This is a photo I took this afternoon, just 2 months after it was repaired for the second time, by the same person who did the first repair

 The wall on the other side of the entrance, also rebuilt by the same person, is full of small stones that have no structural integrity whatsoever

and this large flat stone placed on its edge and just leaning against the wall.

This photo was taken in July.

This photo taken this afternoon, shows the smaller stones falling down behind the large flat stone which is slowly being pushed out and eventually, over.  

For a wall that will last a century or more, go to www.thestonetrust.com and look for a certified waller in your area.

 I can promise you this.

The feeling of sadness as your wall collapses before your eyes will far outlast the joy of the perceived inexpensive build.

Wild flower patch extended.

I think my wildflower patch has been somewhat successful. According to the package, the basil was added to attract pollinators. I thought the smell of basil might deter deer.

It doesn't

In my garden, hanging white strips on fishing line to emulate the alarm signal of the white tailed deer does.

Last weekend I tilled 4400 sq ft of part meadow, part orchard. obviously this is too large an area to cover with tarps as I did with the patch. This area will be flame weeded, raked and flame weeded again before sowing with a perennial wildflower mix this coming weekend. Hopefully the seeds will have a month to establish before the first frost.

Speaking Engagements

This Fall I have 3 speaking engagements.

Sept 21st, 1.30pm 

Greenwich Library

 101 West Putnam Ave Greenwich Ct

The Stone Walls & Structures of England & New England: an Evolution.

Concentrating on the stone structures of England and New England, this lecture draws comparisons, similar and dissimilar, between the geology, building styles and techniques, and follows the evolution of stone walls and structures from colonial times to the present day and explains how they fit into the garden and broader landscapes, past and present.

Oct 8th, 7pm

Guilford Library

67 Park St Guilford CT

The Yorkshire Dales, from Herriot to Home

From Herriot to Home. So called because we will travel through the dales, from Leyburn in the North east corner of the Dales, where Herriot, or Alfred White better known as James Herriot, the author of All Creatures Great and Small, first entered the dales as a newly qualified veterinarian back in 1939. to Airton, the village where I spent my formative years, in the southern most dale. Airedale.

22nd Oct 11am

Mystic Garden Club

Mystic Congregational Church

43 East Main St.

The Stone Walls & Structures of England & New England: an Evolution.

(Description as above)

Making pizza while the sun still shines.

This is where.

 I will be this evening 

Guess what I will be eating ?