Anticipating wind this weekend

A week or so ago I unboxed a new garden tool from Stihl, which I'm fully expecting to help us tame the leaves in our garden.  You can see from the first photo in my conservatory plans post just how many trees we have in our garden (just) and how they're all pretty much bare right now. As you know all those leaves have to go somewhere and I can tell you it's not up, it's most definitely down and along some. We've leaves covering the flower beds, in the slate (much to MOH's disdain) and quite a few have sought solace together in random sheltered spots around the garden. You know the places that you'll twist and turn to get into and then struggle to turn and twist to get out of without dropping the clutch of leaves you've gathered. 

Yes exactly.  Collecting leaves by hand is often a futile task, and one that kills your back, even more than digging I think. 

But leaves are good. Well rotted down leaves are good, so in a year or two's time, the leaves that are creating quiet chaos in our garden will be the stars of the show, providing valuable leaf mould. We've a leaf mould compost bin over on the allotment as well as a smaller bin in our garden, as we gather sack fulls of leaves. And as we'll use most of the leaf mould on the plot, it made sense to "make" leaf mould there, of course the challenge is to get the sacks of leaves over there in the first place, but that's a small logistics matter...

Did you know that the simple black sack is your friend when it comes to leaf mould?  

Making leaf mould is one of the few things I use black sacks for, and I buy the cheapest ones I can get hold of. Before I fill it with leaves I take great joy in laying the sacks out on the grass and stabbing them with my garden fork. The leaves need some air, and I tell MOH that it's good for his grass too...

If your leaves are wet then simply fill your sacks and tie the top and leave in a quiet corner of your garden until you find them about the same time next year, when you can give them a look and see how they're doing. Depending on what kind of leaves you have, they may take longer to do their thing, but it won't be long before you've got some fabulous homemade goodness to use in your garden.

But back to my new garden tool

You'll know I'm an advocate of STIHL, the company and its products and am already the proud owner of a compact grass trimmer which now I regularly "wrestle" MOH for. It's his favourite too, but don't worry I do pull rank and claim it back as my own, most of the time... Sometimes it's just as well to let him get on with it, while he's happy.

The new tool I've unboxed is a compact cordless blower, hence the prediction for more wind to come at the weekend.  Once again it features a 36V Lithium-ion battery and Stihl's quiet technology, which they say on their website means you don't need to wear ear protection. Remembering my visit to their Competence Centre in Kufstein and the work and testing they undertake on their products, I'm looking forward to hearing - or rather not hearing - what they've achieved with this model.

Like the grass trimmer before it, this is easy to manage and designed to be easy to use.  There's a couple of other features which I'll be testing out at the weekend, these include the length-adjustable blower tube which can be adjusted for whoever's using it to ensure that the blowing force (now get me) remains at the optimum level to make short work of those leaves and twigs.

The blurb says that everything you need to operate the blower control functions and the safety locking lever are incorporated easily into the handle, which has been designed so it's easy to use for both right or left-handers. I'm sure that for many lefties, that's music to their ears. 

So let's hope the weather is as nice as it was last weekend (sadly I don't think I'm going to be that lucky), or at least let's hope the only wind around is the self-made sort courtesy of my new leaf blower! I'll let you know how I get on, but in the meantime if you want the technical details they're readily available on the Stihl site.

* This is a collaborative post, but all views are my own.

Post Comment Love 16 - 18 February

Hello there and welcome to another #PoCoLo, if you were here last week it was great to see you and if you're new here then you're very welcome.

It's been another week of weather hasn't it? And I hope you've managed to stay dry, wind-free (as much as you can) and enjoyed some of the warmth from the sun too. For me the sun was especially welcome. 

It's been a busy week too hasn't it - pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, Valentine's day on Wednesday and Chinese New Year today, and quieter on the roads, but not in Greenwich town centre, because of half-term. 

Last week I told you we've booked in the work for our conservatory, and this week that's the post I've linked up. It's one of those gritty, real posts and the photos are necessarily pretty, but I'm hoping it'll be a great "before" post.

My photo this week is another old one, and it's in a garden with a story behind it. The story's for another day, but this photo seems to sum up my week, which has been calmer than those previously.  And I hope you're sitting down for this next bit, but I've even left work on time twice this week. It feels such an achievement, a small one maybe, but very much enjoyed too!

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Succulents galore, sigh...

I do enjoy a succulent, and that's why almost every visit I've made - and no doubt will continue to make - to Wisley involves a trip to the Alpine House. I've already shared the Spring colours of the irises, narcissus and muscari, the small flowers that pack a big punch and today it's the turn of the succulents. 

It's all too easy to forget these are also alpines, some are outside the greenhouses while others are nestled amongst the flowers I've already shared. My favourites were those outside, so that's where most of my photos come from.

It's only recently that I've learnt that succulents can change colour, somehow I think if the ones above were just green, while they'd still look great, they wouldn't look anywhere near as dramatic?

The ones growing out of the hexagonal brick below are densely packed and therefore no doubt highly promiscuous. But in succulents, that's a good thing!

I was intrigued by the leaves on this one - it's inside, and almost has the look of a cyclamen doesn't it?

The ones above had an almost water lily-like feel to them don't they, with gravel obviously, not water.  Having scoured the inside of the Alpine house, I was back outside admiring those nestled among upturened slabs and stones, which I'm sure is why these are a rockery favourite.

Even with the weeds and decaying leaves they manage to look interesting don't they?  Maybe I should refer to my plot as "interesting" from now on...

Seeing them nestled amongst the slabs here with the lichen has given me an idea. I'm struggling to find something that will grow in a narrow strip between our patio and fence, so I'm wondering if some succulents may help. While I've got one or two already, perhaps I should add to my collection and introduce some different varieties to try it with... 

I'd be keen to have something like these above too - just look at the detail? I love their spikiness, oh dear I've a feeling a trip to the garden centre could be coming on...