Archives for 

Lavender

#Lavender, a garden hedge and lessons in patience

#Lavender, a garden hedge and lessons in patience, bees, circle of friends, garden, how to grow a hedge, Grow lavender, grow lavender from cuttings, hedging, home made, Lavender, make do, Memories, plant cuttings, Sharing, simple living, Transplant, vegetable garden

Lavender is one of my favourite flowers and once established in a friendly spot is as tough as old boots, as you can see in my photo!

Lavender a symbol of an old worldy age, a simple life.

From Wikipedia…
“Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found from Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, southern Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia to southeast …are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils.”

It make me think of when times were slower, when seasons were followed, when thought was given how everything could be used wisely.

No waste and carelessness, but a time of learning , how to make do, work hard but enjoy the fruits of ones labours. Of helping and supporting one another. Of time to ponder instead of always having to race around or wanting to try something new. Of being content.

The story to my hedge stared over two years ago. My garden was and is getting to be like a very aged person who needs lots of loving care and rejuvenation, but with not too much time I wanted to spruce it up a bit…it is a slow work in progress.

Where I wanted to plant this hedge was a long bed which had a lot of overgrown old plants which needed ripping out and poisoning, a very slow process which I undertook over time. Then had to wait for the Nandina Bamboo and ivy to really die and with a pick dig out the roots…needless to say it was hard work. The soil needed to be enriched a little so I just dug and turned it over where each cutting was going in. Once everything was planted and watered I put down cane mulch of which I had a bale needing to be used up from the shed….it broke down beautifully to feed the soil over time. With sunshine and rain and day following day.

#Lavender, a garden hedge and lessons in patience, bees, circle of friends, garden, how to grow a hedge, Grow lavender, grow lavender from cuttings, hedging, home made, Lavender, make do, Memories, plant cuttings, Sharing, simple living, Transplant, vegetable garden, My lavender flowers, grandchildren, clouds

Let’s start some new plants…by harvesting cuttings from my proud “Mother” plant. A large scruffy old bush which I had been tempted to rip out but kept. I have grown so new many plants from this one bush :)

In July last year I just took soft cuttings and stuck them straight in the ground. I put in excess cuttings knowing I would loose some. Water was applied to keep them moist over summer. A lot of going out everyday to cheer them on and watch as they grew from drooping cuttings. By September the cuttings had “taken” and were well growing with new shoots by October.

I cut off their first flower buds in sacrifice to give strength to the newly grown plants. Once the next flush of smallish flowers had finished I thought I’d better trim the whole hedge to make it even…after some days I thought I’d killed it and was so very upset. But by mid January there was re growth much to my joy.

Now in mid May which is the next year I have a lovely hedge which soon I must prune again to remove spent flowers and let the plants regenerate and so the process goes on. Time after time.

#Lavender, a garden hedge and lessons in patience, bees, circle of friends, garden, how to grow a hedge, Grow lavender, grow lavender from cuttings, hedging, home made, Lavender, make do, Memories, plant cuttings, Sharing, simple living, Transplant, vegetable garden, My lavender flowers

A beautiful sight for me every day out my back door and windows. A lesson in time and patience. To keep going even if it gets tough…hard work never killed anyone , except for the aches in muscles I forgot I had :)

International World Permaculture Day, What is simple living, simple living with children, story time with children, simple living , rain, nature walk in your garden, nature walk, open your eyes, blue skies, new start, lavender, bees
I love my hedge bordering my herb garden as do the bees and can watch and admire it for an age standing with my back to the sun….and now the lavender is sheltering new cuttings which when a little bigger I will transplant for another type of hedge …a Japanese Box

#Lavender, a garden hedge and lessons in patience, bees, circle of friends, garden, how to grow a hedge, Grow lavender, grow lavender from cuttings, hedging, home made, Lavender, make do, Memories, plant cuttings, Sharing, simple living, Transplant, vegetable garden, Japanese Box cuttings

….and in between loving the sprinkles of joy and sun shine some of our little grandsons bring when we visit their homes x

#Lavender, a garden hedge and lessons in patience, bees, circle of friends, garden, how to grow a hedge, Grow lavender, grow lavender from cuttings, hedging, home made, Lavender, make do, Memories, plant cuttings, Sharing, simple living, Transplant, vegetable garden, My lavender flowers, grandchildren

Life skills and learn Spanish

{morgueFile free photos } So a little chicken talk turned into a story, which goes to show how much is involved if one chooses to keep these feathered friends…. This is how I ended my last post, but on further reflection with a rested and refreshed mind there is so much more that can be gained from these memories […] Continue reading →