GARDENER'S WORD

At this time of year my little garden starts to look a total mess. The neighbouring ash trees are shedding leaves over everything - lawn, path, plants - and as fast as I try to tidy, down they come and they keep on coming until the trees are bare. Then there are other jobs to do. Now my precious little James Grieve apple tree is down to one apple, I have removed the 'shepherd's crooks' (steel fencing pins) 👇 that I put around it in summer to support the weight of the branches; it has been a good crop this year.  Dwarf James Grieve apple tree - branches supported with Shepherd's Crooks The Shepherd's Crooks which I bought off Amazon have been invaluable; I also use them for my Wild Eve roses. 👇 Wild Eve rose supported with Shepherd's Crooks I've pulled the courgette plants, Courgette Buckingham F1, out of their tubs as the fruits (yes, courgettes are fruit because they develop seeds, unlike vegetables) were starting to rot before developing (possibly due to...

I posted about the problem of seeds getting into an animal's skin in July a couple of years ago ( Seeds penetrating animal skin ) and this year the seed problem arrived later. Alfie, the resident Ragdoll cat, has been coming in with various kinds of seeds working their way through his thick fur. The seeds really are a nuisance and it's necessary to watch out for them as they can be serious if roots form and they penetrate the skin of an animal's body, ears, between their toes, and particularly their eyes.  Seeds penetrating a cat's paws Isn't nature clever though, the way the seeds are all pointing towards his skin. The picture above shows them on my cat's paw. Seeds removed from animal fur All the seeds in the brush above were removed, at one time, from around my cat's neck and paw.  Grass seeds burrowing into an animal's skin Seed burrowing into an animal's face The weed, Galium aparine (commonly known as sticky willy, and the RHS calls them 'C...