A cautionary tale …

Leading into our courtyard garden from the parking area I have always had a small collection of large terracotta pots where I ring the changes with the planting through the seasons. See above…

I recently decided I wanted a flowering tree planted through the gravel there instead & spotted this beauty whilst tree shopping for clients @ Deepdale. I thought this flowering cherry will look fantastic at home in the Spring. It is a Kanzan if you were wondering…

Last Saturday whilst having breakfast in the garden we decided we would move the planters to their new spot in advance of the landscape crew arriving to plant the tree. I went off to grab gloves & Tony found the sack truck in the shed….

You can’t really see in my photo but amongst the planters there was a huge alibaba style pot which was not particularly stable. We had moved it together to its new spot when – BANG – Oh *+#// !! …. the fingers of my right hand had been crushed between the terracotta pot & the stone wall. My reaction to the intense pain was somewhat bizarre; I ran around the drive screaming my head off & I then passed out on the gravel.

I subsequently spent the weekend in hospital. Saturday was the small injury clinic in Witney & I spent Sunday @ the John Radcliffe plastic surgery unit in Oxford. The NHS staff were amazing & jumped me to the head of the queue thanks to open wounds & broken bones taking priority. Thank you again to all the lovely calm people who were looking after this slightly hysterical one.

All will be well thankfully & I am able to type this with one working finger. So please learn from me & take enormous care when gardening – ideally call in Tom & his team who don’t do stupid things like me!