My strategy has been not to strive for an immediate out and out conquest, but to aim for what might be called a colonisation of the ground. Or to put it another way I have planted as many things as I could possibly afford, knowing that the ground was not remotely clean. These have then become the colonies which I have then striven to protect, not only of course from weeds, but also from my extremely active rabbit population. I guess that this is not the recommended strategy, but given my age, the means at my disposal, and no doubt my impatience, it is the one I thought the best. Moreover, I do not believe that on this ground there could ever bee such a thing as clean ground. As I made clear in my first blog I am not against the use of weedkillers, but my use of them has not prevented the return of weeds, and as I contemplate the new so-called lawn around the swimming pool, which was seriously 'poisoned' by a professional, my view is rather too clearly confirmed. As for double digging . . .
But there is weeding and weeding. When I was in England I was a very strong believer in the 'on your knees' school of weeding with ones face close to the ground. I still prefer this method as it is by far and away the best method of getting to know ones plants, and the only way of saving all those self sown plants that would otherwise be destroyed. I have however given up the trowel for anything that can penetrate more easily our heavy clay. This includes what I think is called a planting trowel, but also a heavy screwdriver, and more recently a largish penknife with a slightly hooked blade - Opinel would call it a 'serpette'. The great advantage of the last of these is that it can cut off, as well as dig out the weeds, and thus you can progress a little faster.
It is this notion of cutting off weeds that may possibly save my garden, not however with a little knife but with the mattock. It is of course rather heavy but the secret is to use its heaviness to do the work for you. No need to bring it crashing down, unless you have got something very resistant; just gently scrap away, and you will find that you can cover a lot of ground in reasonably quick time. Moreover, with a little practice you can become really quite skilled with it, so that unless things are very closely packed together, in which case there are probably not very many weeds, you can work around plants without causing damage. Of course, many of the roots remain, though it is surprising how much comes out. Nor does it produce a fine tilth, or that finished look that you will find in the best English gardens. But what I am hoping is that it will do is give my 'colonies' a chance to expand, so that next year that won't be the space for so many weeds. On verra!
Meanwhile it is of course a very exciting time in the garden with new things appearing every day. One thing that is doing particularly well for me at this moment is a rose, Emmie Grey. It is a single deep red, no scent but almost continuously in flower, even during the winter months, which is especially strange since it comes from Bermuda where it was discovered by John and Becky Hook of La Roseraie du Desert (www.frenchtearose.com). it is very similar I suppose to Sanguinea, so you might not want both in your garden, but if I had to chose between them I would now go with the lady.
