30 Days Wild: Day 9

Alliums, cuckoo spit, and a tidy garden

On day 9 of 30 Days Wild, I decided to do something I've been putting off for a while. For a couple of years now, we've had grape hyacinths growing in our garden. They first appeared when I pulled out the weed membrane that covered most of our front garden. (The membrane was put in by a previous owner to make it easier for them to garden with minimal weeding.)

Since then, the number of bulbs has naturally increased, as they are now able to grow. One problem with this, however, is that they had spread to underneath the gravel in our front garden. From an aesthetic point of view, we didn't mind, as it makes the garden look more wild. The only problem with the bulbs being everywhere is that, come the spring, we want to plant new things and do some garden maintenance. It's very difficult to do this without treading all over the flowers!

A few months ago I decided that I would dig the bulbs up, and put weed membrane down under the gravel. At the same time I would also level the edging stones to make it all look tidier. I overslept this morning so it was almost 3pm when I got out into the garden, as I had other things to do first! At the height of the day's sun, shifting a lot of gravel was not going to be fun.

I really don't like this gravel. It's far too dull, grimy and industrial looking. We're not replacing it though, as at some stage we'll be putting a driveway in when we can afford. From that one corner, I managed to fill an entire pot with bulbs! At this point, I decided I wouldn't bother digging the rest up as I had more than enough for my intended use (more about that tomorrow for day 10!)

While I was digging, I noticed some cuckoo spit on a flower that is growing out of the hedge. I'm excited by this, as soon we should hopefully have some more froghoppers! We had one in the house last year, sitting on my office window. I've no idea how it got into the house and found its way upstairs, but it was nice to see! I'm happy to see that they've taking a liking to my garden and have found a suitable site to grow.

About halfway through, I took a break. It was so hot and I was getting really dehydrated. While I was having a glass of squash, I noticed that the alliums (main photo) are getting ready to flower. I've seen so many places where this has already happened, so it seems ours are a little slow this year! It's a brilliant display when it happens.

After my break, I pushed on. In total it took around three hours, which isn't too bad considering how much work I had to do on it. It looks much tidier now and will remain low maintenance for many years to come.

As for the grape hyacinth bulbs, I do have plans for those but you'll have to come back tomorrow for day 10 to find out what!

You can read all of my 30 Days Wild posts here!