Green and grumpy

Hah! Bet you thought I'd have given up by now. Probably, from many miles away, you heard me swearing. Because weeding is the work of the devil. And as I may have mentioned I am 'forking' my way through a sod of a slope, with its nasty, hard, compacted soil.

Moss dross

And moss. What about that stuff, eh? When you scrape it out of the soil, what are you supposed to do with it? It's pretty tough. I'm thinking that I may have to learn to live with some of it here and there. (Sorry, Mrs Jackson, as I know you will disapprove). But, apparently, it can be useful: it can be an alternative to mulch as it absorbs moisture and prevents soil erosion. Some people in Japan devote whole gardens to moss, so I think I can get away with a patch or two.

Pond progress (sort of)

We've been trying to de-murk the pond. This involves the pleasant task of twirling a net around and fishing out the unwanted greenery, which is strangely relaxing, and adding some (wildlife-friendly) magic potion to the water that claims to make it clear and sparkly. I would not call it sparkly yet, but I can see the bottom of the pond (and I can see tadpoles - hurrah).

Lockdown problem: we have water lilies ready to go but no aquatic compost. No answer when I call my local garden centre, so I suspect they've succumbed like so many other businesses and had to close. Sigh. Online orders are going to take a couple of weeks, and I don't think the lilies will survive. I've googled alternatives but they involve sand and no, we don't have a handy bucket of sand either. Although, wait - I live next to a beach. Watch this space.

Springing up

Things are still growing, mostly "historic"plants rather than anything I have done recently.

This. Is it an anemone? (I want to say, "Any anemone is an enemy of me"). The flowers close when the sun goes in. Cute, eh?

This grape hyacinth, which I never planted because I don't really like it, but I won't actually kill it.

This berberis, which my mother gave me. She liked these. It's dark and prickly.

And this. What is it? Answers gratefully received. The berries are an amazing colour, sort of deep pink rather than red. Is this not a weird time of year for berries anyway?