BASKETTCASE

The plants in the foreground are in a tiny bog garden made in an upward fold of the liner. We had a much bigger bog round the pond but it was a pain to keep clean because we used garden soil, full of weed roots and seeds, and the moisture made it difficult to weed. Also it was so big we had to stand on it to look after it. So we'll see how we get on with this. I was worried about it drying out quickly in hot weather, so put some water-retaining granules in the soil, which was bagged aquatic compost. After the rain we had overnight and this morning, the plants look good. It will be interestingt to see how the hostas compare with the ones in the ordinary garden soil on the other side. We are off to Devon tomorrow on a cheap Flybe flight which makes the journey even cheaper than driving when you factor in thes two stops we would take for refreshment. It will give our aching muscles a chance to recover. (That's not definite - we haven't heard yet what jobs Mary-Ann has lined up for us!)