Month: June 2015

Why a pool ladder for insects – and how to make one

~ Eva the Gardener ~ Leave a comment

Insects like mosquitos, beetles, bees and bumblebees are vital for the ecosystem, and they are getting scarce due to pollution and a lot of other things. Everything in my garden needs the insectsIMG_0142. So when I saw insects drowning in my water cans and bird baths, I got the idea to make a pool ladder for insects, so they could easily get up if they fell into the water when trying to drink.

Making a pool ladder for insects: Take a piece of those artificial green lawns with a rubber backside that you often find on rolls in gardeningIMG_0143 shops. Use a scissors or a knife and cut a piece that is about two fingers wide and as long as your forearm. Dip one end into the water and let one end hang over the edge of the bath/can. If a can, I tie the edgeend of the ladder around the handle, so I can water and handle the can without it falling away. See photos and good luck! PS. Not one single insect has drowned since I started to use this 🙂 IMG_0148

Trimming the hawthorne hedge

~ Eva the Gardener ~ Leave a comment

Fiskars secateurs, the best!IMG_0138Did you know the old sayings tell you to trim the hedge before the end of June. Actually before the midsummer festival in Sweden. Why? I have tried to find facts about it, but could not. Our hedge is long, about 150 feet. I trim it by hand with only a secateurs. It isn´t so hard. I like the soft sound of the chopping of the branches, no noicy machines, I stand there and hear the birds, neighbours talking, the sea, the wind. It is a relaxing moment. And look at the result! No halfcut leaves, no jagged branches, just a wall of green. Beautiful!

Every step of the way …

~ Eva the Gardener ~ Leave a comment

Wooden trunk in sunsetToo much gardening, I wonder? After one day at home in my garden, I made a false step and strained my leg. So now I walk on cruches. Even to go around the corner of the garden is like climbing the Mount Everest. Pew! Luckily I have a supportive husband!

This tree showed its beauty in sunset, by a café outside Stockholm.

Opps, beware of your nearest ones in the garden!

~ Eva the Gardener ~ Leave a comment

Home in my garden again – so so sweet to see everything after one week away. My husband had done a great job watering – but did he see everything? And what about the deers, did they find their way to the roses? With husband in charge of the trimmer, I was right behind to stop him from devasting different kinds of plants on his way around the garden. To him everything looks like something worth chopping with the trimmer. I remember first year here, it was the time of trimming the apple trees. In the middle of us trimming, I got a phone call and went into the house for five minutes. Back in the garden, I discovered he had emptied a whole branch from all its buds, and he was so proud he had done a “good job”. Took some years for that apple branch to recover!

Last minute gardening at Skanda

~ Eva the Gardener ~ Leave a comment

The rain just poured down my last day at Skanda. I watched the rain from under the roof of the lower garden, water transforming the soil between beds to canals. The woodchuck living under the barn had temporarily been blocked. I discovered he had a convenient entrance to the garden by the side, so I blocked that entrance with metal boards and steel bands. Hm, will be exciting to see what he makes of that!

After a nice warming tea and something to eat, it was already pitch dark outside. I borrowed a flashlight, attached it eva1to my forehead, grabbed the planting tools and headed for the upper garden. It was 10 PM and a drizzling rain. But I wanted the herbs into the garden before leaving for Sweden early in the morning. Took a final look at the attractive corner with two chairs, an installation that I invented the same day – what a nice spot for a cup of coffee in the morning.

Good bye Skanda for this time, see you soon again!