No Mow May

The state of this lawn. But there's a reason for it.

We're taking part in No Mow May. I'd never heard of this until recently, but apparently if you cut back (ahem) on mowing, the pollen count in the lawn goes wild. Simply changing our mowing habits can result in a tenfold increase in the amount of nectar available to bees and other pollinators.

According to the charity Plantlife, 'the average square-metre patch of lawn surveyed after the experiment produced enough nectar to support almost four honey bees per day.'

Work getting in the way

It's been incredibly difficult to get time in the garden this week, a situation made worse by the fact that it's beautiful, sunny and warm out there. But it's peak marking season and I have all sorts of other desk-bound work to do. Feeling resentful and then guilty because I am honestly glad to have work.

Around the garden

The salad leaves are very healthy and sustaining my daily sandwiches. I may never buy another watery supermarket salad.

This thing burst out!

It took a while to identify it but in the end the 'Friendly Gardeners' Facebook page came good. It's a weigela, which I had never heard of before. Incidentally, those plant identifying apps are utter rubbish, aren't they?

And we are very good at growing ferns, apparently (there are several like this). No skill needed, they just pop up.