We’re only two weeks away from leaving, so the dilemma of what to do with the front garden before we left arose. Although we know it’s not the ideal time to prune roses, we also know any pruning is better than none at all. We had decided to prune prematurely sometime over the next two weeks. Frosts are rare here so they should be okay with the earlier hair cut.

That then left the dilemma of what to do about the seaside daisies that are popping up everywhere and look like returning with a vengence. If you remember, last year when we took possession of the house, the roses were completely buried alive under the daisies. I didn’t want to return to the same thing again.

We’re reducing the size of the rose bed next spring anyway, and are planning to increase the paved, parking area. We’d worked out how best to to accommodate the existing roses, minus all the pretty blue salvia which have been planted to fill up the gaps, and provide a united colour scheme.  We were going to leave the transplanting until spring.

One thing led to another, and hey presto – they’ve all been transplanted. We’ve found a spot for the red roses around the back. All the pink and creamy coloured ones have been transplanted to what will be a much smaller, colour co-ordinated, semi-circular garden bed, once the pavings finished in spring. All the annuals have been removed, and the garden now looks like a big plot of bare dirt. The seaside daisies were predominantly at the front of the garden bed where the paving is going to be, and it looks like that’s mainly where they’re hell bent on popping up again. So, any that come up while we’re away can grow to their hearts content until we get back – all the roses are safely transplanted out of their way.

It won’t be looking as pretty when we leave as it would have been looking had we stuck to our original plan. It won’t be looking pretty at all!  It will, however, look a lot better in spring when we return than if we’d stuck to our original plan (I think). And, most of the hard work is behind us. The rest is now up to the brick paver. Of course, the neighbours won’t know the reasoning behind the garden demolition – they’ll no doubt be thinking i’ve lost my marbles. It was looking pretty….