My gardening diary

MONDAY Hedgerows were awash with blossom this spring and though not so obvious, so too were the trees. It’s not so clear on trees simply because most tree flowers are green. Some distribute their pollen via the wind, some are insect pollinated and some, such as willow, rely on both methods.

TUESDAY We bought open ground roots of agapanthus ‘Castle of Mey’, which reputedly flowers reliably. They’re now all in bud and we’re going to plant a big wave of them through the raised bed, alongside eryngiums and Geranium sanguineum ‘Album’.

WEDNESDAY The path in our brick garden is a constant source of work. Weed seeds find spaces between the bricks and are the perfect place to germinate. We’re trying to resolve it by weeding thoroughly then working in sand with lime in it.

THURSDAY Nowadays we only have one rhododendron in the garden. Neil’s mum and dad bought it for us 40 years ago when we moved here. It has big crimson flowers. Now the flowers have faded and it’s time to snap them off to allow new shoots to grow.

FRIDAY Although it’s always a mistake to prematurely remove the foliage of daffodils or any bulbs, they look dishevelled as they’re dying. It’s good practice to clear them up and, at the same time, to weed annual weeds that spring up in the spaces they’ve vacated.

SATURDAY I’ve seen so many different rodgersias this spring, it would be good to try out a few more. We already have several and they all make such an important contribution with their bold leaves, bronze in the spring and burnished red in the autumn with tall panicles of flowers.

SUNDAY Our bronze-leaved elder has pink flowers. There are so many of them this year it seems a shame not to make champagne from them – pink champagne naturally. I wonder if Neil will oblige...