WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2021

@shiney Yes! that's the one-nicandra!

Been busy today-painted some old wooden drawers, lined them and filled them with soil and wildflower seeds. I've taken them up to my lotty and they are sat on the top of the IBC tank.

Dug up two hydrangeas that weren't doing well and have potted them up instead. got rid of one old hydrangea in the garden waste bin-it's been rubbish for years so time to get rid.

Also cleared a border that wanted tidying. The fence posts need replacing so now it will be easy to get it done.

I also attacked a holly. It has a bare patch on the right from another plant that had blocked it's light. 2 years and no growth on that side so have been radical-I've "standardised" it. Hopefully i'll be able to shape it nicely now.



Also dug up some Heuchera and have split it and repotted it.

 

Made a cold frame cover for the spot that used to have an old french door as it's cover. The door rotted and I never replaced it until now. And I just decided to get it done as it will be going down to 28f tonight. It is simple and removable to hang out of sight in the summer.

And discovered something had been having fun digging in the garden and uprooting plants so got them put back in place.

The wind is bitter so not much else.

 

I've been out in the garden this past week and a bit today didn't feel like posting earlier after the recent sad news.

I got fed up earlier on in the week waiting for some rain so I've had the sprinkler out to water the lawn mainly so I can get some fertiliser down.

I've moved all the perennials out of the GH round to the back of the shed freeing up space . Took a load of trays of seedling in from the house I can see out my windows a bit easier now .
Decided I'll dig up and divide the Sanguisorba Lilac Squirrel , by god wish I didn't bother didn't realise they had some a thick root system ended up destroying my dry stone wall getting it out , chopped it in half and replanted and divided the rest into 13 plants . I am running out of pots particular 9cm pots I usually have stacks of them but they seem to of disappeared because someone keep potting plants up . Dug out some Agastache Blue fortune while I was there, I am replacing them with a slightly smaller Variegated Agastache called Crazy fortune but need hardening off first, potted up A.blue fortune because I am waiting for Agastache black adder to grow a bit more so I can move that and replace with blue fortune I am surprised Black adder survived the winter , its all getting a bit confusing on the Agastache front

Today I've planted a Acer Garnet for next door . More watering . And I've pricked out and potted on some Begonia mocca - dahlia unwins - Asclepias tuberosa - Ammi - petunia . I took some clematis cutting seen as the wind had snapped it .

 

I finally got round to sorting out my shady corner after the dog decided to dig it all up and destroy my planter (she's lucky she's cute lol). I think everything looks a bit happier now - the ferns are still a bit sorrowful but hopefully they'll perk up a bit once they've had a chance to grow in. I've lost track of what's what but I should have two anemones, a bloodroot and some gallium in there somewhere between two clematis (I was able to identify those lol) with the fern off to the side. Everything is now behind a barricade to keep the dog out, and I'm seriously considering a moat - I've been taking notes from @Selleri

 

Yes Muscari have made themselves too at home here for my liking as well.

 

Not doing much in the garden, just a bit of watering.
Pulled my back yesterday when I bent over to undo my shoes but it's a bit better today, so it can't be too bad.
Have a good day all.

 

Anyone got a recommendation for something fun to grow on a 1m tall metal obelisk in a pot?

Last year I grew Petita cucumbers on it, and they were great but I started my cukes very late and even then by the end of summer they were starting to reach above the 1m. This year I've grown a taller variety so will be buying a 1.8m tall obelisk instead, leaving this obelisk with nothing planned.

I always prefer things I can eat, but I guess I'm not against a nice pollinator-attracting flower. I'd have to keep trimming it back though once it reaches 1m.

Any ideas? Passiflora maybe? Or anything a bit more petite but with some impact?

Other than the above I've simply been playing more with my micr-drip irrigation. I was having lots of trouble with the sprinklers not seeming to have enough pressure but realised because I've yet to cap the system, once I cover the end in a stop the pressure in the system goes through the roof and the sprinklers are plenty. For that reason, I've been able to start branching the system off to do another 6 pots on the opposite side of my deck and also started progress of moving it into the grow tunnel. At present there are lots of bags of compost in the way though and I can't be bothered to move them, so the system won't be set up in full until next weekend when I build my pumpkin patch and start lugging all the hoarded manure and compost out and clear the area for what will be my chilli pot plant area.

I am seriously considering purchasing a second master unit and running pipe all the way down the side of my house to water the front garden tomatoes when they are in place. It's a long way though (Victorian side access property, so full length of the house) but we have gravel paths so easy to hide the pipe along the fence edge and would mean I have ZERO watering to do in the garden come summer as my veg bed is all soaker-hosed too!

 

@FrancescaH I use low flow/mini irrigation in my back yard. I've got lines running for all of the hanging pots, into the greenhouses, onto all the raised beds. As soon as freezing is not going to happen anymore, I will be hooking that up again. I also bought a fertilizer injector and put it in the system so that it automatically distributes feed through all the lines. I have solar powered pumps for my rain barrels to pull water collected from them, into the capillary watering reservoirs in the greenhouses.

Depending on where this year's plants are going, they all need to be adjusted every year to suit the new inhabitants.

Today I will be going around that system to inspect the lines which will be after I remove all of the cloches and fleece and other coverings that have been protecting my plants. It was well below freezing last night but the weather guessers say that is the last of the hard stuff.

I'll also be moving plants from the heated greenhouse into the unheated ones and setting lots of pots out in the sun for the soil to heat up and be ready for the seedlings I'm going to bring up from the cellar.

Lots and lots of spring fun

 

Planted up a rose I got last year for £1.Trimmed back a load of plants that needed a tidy up.



About to plant out a Loropelatum firecracker that hasn't done well in a pot.

 

It sounds like you've got a great setup! Exactly the sort of thing I want longterm. I've said before here, but we are hoping to buy our first home this summer and you bet when I get my garden I'll be going full-on with irrigation systems! Of course it depends if we need to "do up" the garden at all which I suspect we will. But I wish I'd bought this system years ago. At least having fiddled with it for a few days now I'm pretty content that it'll be easy to dismantle and I hopefully won't need to buy too much more to replace for a new set up. The pipe is cheap enough (6 for 15m) and the parts seem to stand being unplugged and moved around a lot.

Now trying to decide whether to run more 4.6mm pipe off the same system to feed the front garden tomatoes, or purchase a splitter + extra master unit and 13mm pipe to get the front garden stuff direct from the tap rather than having already gone through a pressure reduction... if that makes sense. I thought OH would be annoyed at me spending money on this when we're trying to save for the house deposit, but at least I've made a lot of money selling seedlings and that's probably covered most of the expense!

 

You can use valves @FrancescaH - I created a little set up to water various "zones" . This is one of the spots where I have split out.



I've just finished topping up the reservoirs downstairs where my seedlings are- totally blew me away that the impatiens have flowers. Guess I'd better get those moved out the greenhouse first!

 

Having a hobbly day today as my knee kept me awake for most of the night and is really painful today, so pacing myself out here today.

Geraniums are all in the water trays enjoying a soak at the moment.

Deadheaded the Hydrangea .... a tad late I know.
Sprayed all the Roses.
Just popped in to put a laundry wash on, then MUST emptied the 3 large planters this afternoon. Keep meaning to do them but get distracted into doing something else. Want to clean them and refill with fresh compost ready for planting up soon.

 

My concern is less with isolating the system and more getting enough water through it to serve a long distance! Having played around with the current length of pipe I think 30m is about the limit that I can serve on one master unit, so I doubt I'd be able to then funnel it down to the front on the same amount of pressure. So I think I will split and run it down the front off a separate splitter at the tap level, with two different master units.

Ordered the rest of the bits I need to finish the current set up. Will need to order more splitters when I put my chilli plants outside but they won't go out until the end of May anyway so I can wait.

 

After all the digging and stone carrying my arms were not up to very much this morning, legs and the middle parts of my person do not even get discussed. Pain aside, it's just so rewarding to do something physical and meaningful aside of home office work, and I am indeed very thankful for being blessed with good health. So no complaints, apart from the continuous complaints, moans and whinges I have enjoyed inflicting on my nearest and dearest all day.

Houseplant round number two took place, all the Orchids are now sorted out, small pots of whatnots combined and the giant fern unpotted (20 minutes struggle in the front garden, much to the amusement of passer bys) and re-potted into the same pot with fresh compost and granular fertiliser.

I'm not good at feeding houseplants so the big ones just get a handful of Homebargain's slow release fertiliser with some fresh compost in spring and that's about it.

All the houseplants got a good shower, and then my bathroom got a good scrubbing. The plants looked very fresh and dust free, so the surfaces where they live had to be scrubbed as well. I need a maid!

Anyways, the new pond edging is progressing, perhaps one or two stone stealing trips will cover the needs.