At 7.30 this morning there was a hammering on the door. A man with crane truck and bags of mulch had arrived. In my dressing gown and bed-socks (on a frosty morning) I stood on the front path directing operations as he lowered a great bag onto the front lawn. At this point we discovered that there was a misunderstanding about the order – he had been about to deliver three assorted bags – and he had to lift the bag up again. Luckily he had the correct one of loam which he dropped, and I spent the rest of the day distributing loam, creating a bank of earth. It looks quite shallow here but there is a drop of about 3 feet.

.

I was still planting as the sun was setting, more tomorrow, but it is beginning to shape up. At this point a car drew up and the man from the mulch company delivered the two small bags of bark that should have been on the lorry that morning – amazing service.

I am in maple heaven as they all slowly come into leaf. Though yesterday I found blackfly on the barely emerging leaves of a big purple maple (Trompenburg). This seems tough on the maple as the leaves are so tender that it is difficult to remove the bugs without harming the leaves.