I took a stroll in the garden tonight to check out what’s happening with the fruit bushes and trees.  The chickens were out free ranging but pretty hard to see.  The grass has grown so tall around their pen you have to look for their red combs to pick them out.

It struck me as I wandered that we have our own veritable Watership Down here at Domestic Executive HQ.

Before I explain that let me show you what I mean by losing the chickens.

Not easy to spot eh!

Luckily I have a zoom on my camera to help you out!

Now that’s enough about chickens.  What about my Watership Down?

Yes, those pesky rabbits have been making themselves at home.  Very at home.  They have taken to eating the fruit bushes and munched their way through the blueberry for sure.  As a precautionary measure I recycled some of the old basset fencing to stop them getting at the bushes.

I admit it’s not very attractive but does have the benefit of allowing me to see where the bushes actually are.  I’m afraid the native bush is back with a vengeance and the ferns in particular are asserting themselves.

Hard to tell?  Check out how they were when they were first planted here.

These are the raspberry bushes. I admit that there is a bit of lazy gardening going on as I’ve not trimmed the grass between the bushes.  That’s because the strimmer is being repaired and I need some new sharper shears.  Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.  I bet Geoff Hamilton would have been more diligent and taken a pair of scissors to it if necessary.  Actually probably not as Geoff was a stickler for looking after his tools!

We do have some success.  The blackberry is flowering and despite being nibbled at a low level I’m hopeful for some fruit this year.

The blueberry is a little pale and thin.  In need of a rest from nibbling rabbits and a tonic to pick it up again!

The fruit trees are fairing much better and look great against the newly mown sweeping path.

Aside from the mown area the grasses are overtaking the thistles and we’ve got a true garden au natural.  I’m aiming for the Sissinghurst orchard look.  It’s not quite an English castle in the background but it’s home!

When I finally get the thistles out from here we’ll be able to plant some wild flowers and make it a pretty place for the rabbits to roam.  Perhaps they’ll start to eat those instead of my fruit bushes.

You can get a sense of scale of how high the grass is growing from this picture of Fortnum.

He is well on the mend and after a few days of no walks and restricted hooning he seems back to his normal self.  Tomorrow we’ll get them back on a “normal” exercise regime as they’ve become increasingly over energised which can be an exhausting experience for the humans in the house.

Before Fortnum twisted his leg he did chase a rabbit that dared to venture into his territory.  It’s fair to say that the rabbit had a swifter standing start than Fortnum and he was never in danger of being caught.  I’m not sure that either of the bassets have quite worked out the entertainment value of chasing rabbits so for the moment they are safe to come out in vast numbers and partake of the grass and peer through the rabbit fencing of those juicy fruit bushes that are now well out of their reach!