Hazel came home for the day and commandered the camera. So a rare couple of pictures of me working follows. Friday’s project was to get the new big borders ready for planting – the somewhat optimistic aim is to at least get the remains of the tulips in by the Easter weekend. The arm band is just a precaution against an annoyingly recurrent tennis elbow injury. Anyway, here’s Hazel’s sequence.
The soil is pretty good under the old turf – sandy but enough clay to keep it moist. What it lacks is organic matter so I’ve decided to work a layer of the mulch into the top few inches to open it up a bit. I’ll add a dressing of fish, blood and bone when we plant it up.
The gardener’s shuffle – a wonderful technique for firming, levelling, blending and breaking down lumps in one go. Superb leg exercise too. The trick is to scuff your feet messily, like your mother told you not to.
It’s then ready for raking over.
And here’s one I did earlier… The bags in the middle are bark for the paths.
See you next week, Hazel, bring your old clothes this time. Ding, dong…..
4 Responses to “Do the shuffle…”
Hi Sue, I’ve developed tennis elbow over the last couple of years, just after I got my carpel’s fixed….such a pain as most of our work is using the arms…does the support work, I’ve just been gritting my teeth.??
How are your designs coming on ?
Hi Elaine,
It’s a tricky injury to shift. I’ve found ice, ibuprofen and a significant reduction in using the arm is essential for a good few weeks to get the inflammation down. I really had to stop doing anything that made it hurt – especially lifting, repetitve actions like potting up, and raking. It’s much better now, and the support keeps it warm, supports it a bit and reminds me not to do anything stupid!
Ooh what a good photographer i am 😀 The hi-tech camera is nothing to do with it of course.
I see why you have such a nice figure but it looks like too much work to me.