Yuppie shed

I don't know if there are any yuppies any more - very eighties - but this is how our new shed was described by a neighbour. Yuppie means young urban professional. I suppose the shed is young, so that fits. Urban - definitely not. Professional. Mmm. Depends on what goes on inside. Joe's workshop? My gardening stuff?

Anyway, we're very pleased with the shed, yuppie or not.

There's a drain that runs along the north of the property next to the road. Between the drain and the road is a stone wall. This lad seems to be living in the wall. I was delighted to see him/her.

 

It's a common Irish lizard, but the only place I've seen one before was in the Burren. This one was sizable - several inches long.

There are also ladybirds.

These are a rare sighting in our present garden. I love ladybirds. However, to have ladybirds, there must be aphids, and aphids are not good news for your garden plants. Even so, I think I'd go for the delight of the ladybirds.

I've started transplanting from here to there. I peeled back the polythene and dug over a patch. The soil is so very different. It was thick and black and like cutting through butter. Some big fat worms, which is a good sign. We'll have to see how things do. Here's the start:

The deer fence experiment is up too:

This is fishing line stretched between six-foot posts. Joe found all sorts of ideas online, particularly as used in Canada and the US where deer are a major problem. Apparently the deer don't see it, so when they touch it they get spooked and don't go near it again. This wouldn't work on their usual routes - they'd simply plough through - but in a new area it should do the trick.

The trees are just coming into leaf, so this will be the test time. No incursions as yet!

In the fenced area we planted spindle, crab apple, walnut, cob nut, guelder rose and hornbeam bought from the Celt tree nursery, and hazel saplings transplanted from the present garden. I've also put in two oak and a beech alongside the birch at the other end of the site. Two crab apple are not thriving, however. Not sure why. Enquiries are under way.

Wild flowers too. Primroses, cowslips, water avens, flag, meadow sweet, bluebells, wood anemone, purple loosestrife. Some of these are along the drain - I have an idea of making it a linear bog garden. Here's some primroses:

The only thing is the name. Drain. If this was another part of Ireland we could call it a ditch, which would be altogether less sewerage sounding, but in Clare the ditch is the bank around the field. Someone came up with 'cut' as in canal, and a canal is a type of drain too, so we'll see if that sticks. If any of my readers have other suggestions, do please say.

I put in 100 whitethorn (aka quickthorn, aka hawthorn) too along the bank (ditch) that borders the south of the site, dividing us from a drive to a house / the East Clare Way. It doesn't show up terribly well here, but you'll get the gist. They're all growing splendidly, but I'll have to keep the bracken under control until they're established.

 

It's tricky to know when to move plants to the new place. Our original sale on Gortavrulla fell through, the lovely people who were going to buy being unable to sell their house. We've had a couple of viewers since, and property here is definitely moving, but the more plants I shift, the more I'll have to keep two gardens on the go.

We have someone coming to look tomorrow, arriving from England on the night ferry. Uncertainty rules.