Wet but warmer

Plants doing well underwater

The parts of the orchard that were water logged last week are still waterlogged. Though the ice has melted. I can see that some of the grass that's under the water is now brown in colour but some of the plants seem happy living underwater. It must be good for some creatures and plants and as time goes on, I should consider planting more water loving plants in that area. It's still cold and I don't see any creatures venturing around the orchard, not even insects, I could see hoof prints from horse riders that have been riding in the mud. 

Willow tree buds

Part of the orchard that flooded no tree trees in the area though

Its not all bad the plants that are happy under the water are a lovely shade of green., it makes a good contrast with the brown. I can also see some of the buds from the willow that I planted some time ago doing very well in this weather, too. They have also been water logged but they continue to grow, and the buds are beginning to stretch out.

Conker trees to be plant this year

The plan is in a couple of weeks once the water has receded  plant some more coppiced willow, lots of it will be around at this time of year. Well the willow will be it will just need to be coppiced.

Last year from my parents garden my mother and father he collected a number of conkers trees that had taken hold from conkers so that I could plant them in the orchard. The trees will add more diversity to the fruit trees. Recently the UK had as problems with conker trees but I still plan to plant these. I'm not sure how many will actually survive, we shall see in a couple of years. I also have other fruit baring plants that need to be planted, including strawberries. I have to wait for the weather to improve so that I can start planting.

Strawberry plants that were in my garden last year

The weather has been so bad, that I haven't had a chance to clear the ground. One of the things I wanted to do, was to burn up the brambles that I had cut down during the late autumn. The problem is I have piles of them  brambles that are soaking wet, they just haven't had time to dry out so that I can burn them.

The weather was good enough for me to check on the bees and I made sure that they had stores, and the numbers of bees are still good. I check from above I could see large numbers of bees in the hives and lots of fondant. All good signs.