I cannot believe I haven't blogged since 2021! I have certainly not neglected the garden as badly as the blog, although it has been a tricky couple of years. Ill-health, deadlines on two books, a novel and a non-fiction, together with rotten weather have sapped my enthusiasm. Last summer was mainly taken up with the under-gardener building an extension to the greenhouse so the far end was more like a building site. There were some areas I couldn't even access because of piles of wood, or a workmate and bits of guttering in the way. I  concentrated on maintaining the areas near the house. A few weeks ago, I began work clearing up the winter debris. We took down a strawberry tree that was leaning over and robbing the light from a magnolia. We are hoping it will grow back. We also coppiced the ash tree again as it had grown too big. Nasty weather throughout January has hindered me  but we've had a few good days more recently and I've finally managed to clear all the winter