Needed to be a bit earlier today as Jenny’s helper was working for us today. It didn’t quite work out that way as Jenny’s meeting only started at ten and she needed him till then. I had to prepare the brush cutter anyway and then it turned out that the new blade didn’t fit so we couldn’t do the planned cutting of the first bike track.
Of to the arboretum which looked stunning in the early morning light, everything still in order except a small tree in “The Gem” had fallen over because it was no longer supported by the chicken wire and needed to be trimmed. Mark’s marsh” also looked good.
To our amazement Tony turned up for a tour of the arboretum and he was full of praise and showed interest in what we are doing. After he left we carried on trimming shrubs, digging over and removing old wire till it was time for tea. We also fixed last week’s leak, it must have been the glue because this time it went ever so smoothly.
We delivered the new planting bags, had our coffee and with our helper returned to the arboretum and I got him to clear around “The Gem”. I could barely keep ahead of him cutting away the vegetation while he followed digging over. Ellie in the meantime busied herself behind “Niel’s nookie” doing pretty much the same including getting rid of another Bohemia.
We are pretty chuffed with the result. Of course not finished yet.
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We rewarded ourselves with a leisurely stroll along the path and this is what we saw:
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The Sterculia near “Bob’s burial” is in full flower, a sight to behold.
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Our freshly planted little Aloes in “The Gem”
The impressive Albizia overhead
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The Leucodendrons along our “Rudi’s Ramble” are getting pretty tall.
Finally, on the way out we made our usual stop at the first circle where Ellie did some more weeding while I tried to get my head around this upgrade of the entrance. Fourteen massive strelizias, fifteen scraggly coral trees, haphazard rockeries, remnants of an entrance gate, it will take more than a few willing volunteers to make it something special.