WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2018

Lovely morning pottering around through various autumn jobs was abruptly cut short when I picked up a bag of compost wrong and wrenched my back So now I'm stuck inside in the hope that it improves in time for work tomorrow, and looking at the sun out the window and thinking of all the useful jobs that aren't getting done

 

The "Nasty Neighbour" fencing hasn't turned up but we have managed to get rid of Carol's daughter!!!! She's off on an Australian adventure, we will miss her as will the dogs.

 

Cleared the old gazebo from the garden, took a couple of bags of rubbish a day and dumped them in the skip at work and Freecycled all the timber today, still a bit of a mess but chuffed I've got rid of big chunk of the rubbish, now comes the concrete breaking.

 

Moved twelve box plants into a new home a few feet away so I can extend the stoned area round my greenhouse. Now I have an aching back but feel as if the day has not been wasted. Getting the stones tomorrow so the job should be completed.
The worst bit will be moving a large tin bath and a large builders wheelbarrow both full of plants. Lots of overwintering pots will have more space. On the positive side there is less grass to cut

 

The garden will be easy to avoid - work is a whole other matter. Hopefully no one's booked me in any large dogs or fat cats tomorrow

 

Lots to do still haven't put any bulbs in will empty so pots later maybe , Hard frost this morning my dahlia's and others have been blackened Winter COMING !!!

 

Just lugged the treeferns into the garage as its already frozen outside and -5c is forecast. Last night blackened the dahlias and ive brought in the fusias and geraniums. Some yuccas and more geraniums are still outside under a triple layer fleece as is the 7ft treefern. Heavy beastie.

Really need to get some straw sorted asap now. Winter is definately here,freezing cold in yhe shadows all day...

 

Cut down most of the dahlia's when I got back they still need lifting but clocks going back doesn't help nearly pitch black at 5.30pm . Emptied most other pots of bedding plants all put onto the pile for shredding later , I might put them through the wood chipper or mow them choices.

Made plans for Spring pots for next year and I don't have enough bulbs. I been holding out for cheap bulbs to be sold off, most places have sold out now or they don't have the bulbs I want. Now I am having to buy them online for more £££ than I would of payed if I picked them up in August / septmeber . I was only plan on get some white tahlia daffs and some muscari, now I am over budget with a expensive long list of bulbs I wasn't planning on getting .

 

I started tackling the Bamboo that's coming out this afternoon and pruned it almost down to the ground. It's canes had reached about 12ft high - to the right of the picture below.


It was obviously planted to hide this Lilac stump which I'll also dig out. When these are gone the garden will be pretty much a blank canvass apart from the trees and ready for me to start planting next Spring. Hmmm.....there's still a number of small rocks to dig out of the left hand lawn though, a couple of hours out there will sort those.

 

Pruned the "lollypop" acer in the front garden.
I take up to a foot off it all round every year. Have done for the last twenty years, if I hadn't it'd be twice the height it is.

Pre "haircut"



It's dfficult to get it completely symetrical, as it doesn't cooperate. If I tried, there'd be gaps in the foliage.

Post "haircut."
Doesn't look a lot different, but I took quite a bit off and shaped it up.



My extending Barnel pruner will reach the top, but won't cut thick branches. Best used for twigs.

It would be easy to break tackling something too thick and at £100, not worth the risk

.
For thicker branches I use my Fiskars anvil pruner. I've adapted it to extend the reach in two stages with some steel tubing. It'll easily cut branches an inch thick or more, with little effort.

 

Just had an enjoyable break from work in the polytunnel.

26 degrees in there currently

Potted out some Iresene cuttings that will be ticking over inside until spring

Then sowed some periploca graeca (silk vine) and bomarea hirtella seeds. Hopefully I'll have a couple of new climbers to plant out next year