Time for the garden

The weather has improved over the last few days, so I have been able to get out into the garden to do a bit of basic maintenance.  Over the winter there has been a whole run of days where the temperature has been well below freezing.  This has left my water butt by the greenhouse completely frozen.

Rosie blogged this recently where the butt bulged at the bottom and fell over.  I rolled the butt over again and tried to remove the ice, but it was far too solid to make an impression on.  The collar has split and the water butt (an old slip carboy) is a write off.

Further impact from the frost and snow has crushed the stems of a mature heather plant.  The plant has died back and parts of it have obstructed the steps up to the top lawn.

This was quite a big heather and much of it was simply pulled apart by hand.  I only used my cutters to reduce the size of the branches so that they would fit into two bins.

I left the root stock in place, but I seriously doubt that the heather will grow after such severe treatment.  We also have a dead Killmarnock Willow to dig out, perhaps another day.