WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Cloudy day today but still dry and pleasant. We've been out there all day , weeding and removing plants that are either deceased or that have spread out and become a tad thuggy.
I am pleased to find more of the left insitu Dahlias throwing up shoots.

Busy old day and I'm a bit on the achy side now but am very happy at what we have achieved out there today.

Have yet to move the plants back inside the greenhouse though, not a job I look forward to, but at least they can stay outside until 8pm now. I will probably have really stiff joints by then too.

 

Damp this morning so greenhouse repotting and pricking out, als9 moved cacti out from windowsills to greenhouse, covered over with fleece to prevent sunburn.
This afternoon weeding.

 

Opened the bbq season, finally . Beef steaks, chicken and pork, grilled mushrooms. Then heat was still enough, so baked a couple of apples, and potatoes.

Gave my variegated ivy a bit of a cut early in the sping, now leaves are growing green. Did it revert forever?

 

Hi,

Yesterday was sort my Hyundai petrol chainsaw out; it wasn't oiling the chain; I browsed YouTube for information and as usual many video clones virtually with the same information; it beats me why so many clone similar information on YouTube.

Into the workshop and follow YouTube suggestions involving partially stripping the saw but what did I expect with my usual luck nothing worked and the saw sat there laughing at me. Having exhausted the suggestions I did the job my usual way the hard way and stripped out the oil pump; I then blasted everything clean using the compressor airline blasting into all the holes then I found the problem; one hole blasted back covering my face and chest with a splattering of chain oil; it was a blockage between oil tank and pump; now it was oiling very well indeed and I was waterproofed.


Do it the hard way remove the clutch assembly not actually a difficult job. Here it's all blasted clean.


Here's what lay beneath; the oil pump; this was removed then everything given a blasting with the airline; by now I'd dismantled and assembled a number of times so knew how to do this blindfolded; I should have done this in the first place ignoring the experts on YouTube but I live and learn; I'll drain the oil and fuel then run the saw until the fuel runs out then it can be stored until needed again; I have two 20" petrol chainsaws and they've saved us a great deal of money over the years. The picture shows after covers were removed before blasting with the air line.

Today I was in the garden early to tackle the left side of our very steep garden which was overgrown with weeds and grass; initially I started to dig with a spade but soon tired of this; next I dug out lots of ground-cover conifers and Cotoneaster's I'd planted a few years ago but now couldn't see them for weeds so as ground-cover they failed miserably; next I strimmed flattening weeds and plants alike I'd seen enough of this lot then I rotavated over everything; if couch grass appears again I'll be able to attack it more easily and if it decides to take the Mickey I'll give it a spray with "Pistol" herbicide and leave the area alone for a year whilst everything gets killed right down to the roots; I've had enough of constant hard work I want some quality time to myself; 22 years into retirement and fighting for time it's just silly so I'm doing something about it.

I'm stopping restoring machinery and yesterday sold my metal cutting bandsaw;

I look after my kit and the saw was still much like new; I posted it on Gumtree at a fixed price of £250 with collection from my home address; it took two of us to lift it into a van. I also posted the Howard Bulldog petrol rotavator on Gumtree at £100; this I bought as a vintage restoration project and had disassembled it intending to give it a full and comprehensive restoration but simply haven't the time so reluctantly decided it had to go; a guy's interested in it so it might soon be history.


Howard Bulldog rotavator.

I've had violins and my new music studio for about 18 months but have done very little violin practice; this is going to change; this year is going to be my first year doing something I want to do not something I've got to do; I've done nothing but constant work since I was 11 having paper rounds getting up every day of the week at 4am until I left school aged 15 then went straight down a deep coal mine; I've done my bit.


Well overgrown with all kinds of weeds and couch grass; the time has finally come to sort it out.

Strimming under way.

Into my stride with the strimmer strimming a large area irrespective of what was growing; I'd declared all out war.

Lots of ground cover plants which failed to work so they came out; what a waste of time and money buying this lot when today they couldn't be seen for weeds and couch grass.

First go over with the petrol rotavator; I didn't bother raking after strimming I simply rotavated the lot.

I've just taken a ginger with cherries cake out of the oven so now I think I can knock off for today.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Sowed my sprouts, went with Brodie, Brenden and Igor all F1 seed. Planted out some chillis. Moved the marigolds to the greenhouse. Put out some pea sticks for the mange tout and sugar snaps

 

Today in the garden I smashed up the patio table and put fire to it in the incinerator bin. Just because.

 

Sowed radishes and rocket in a washing up bowl. Potted dwarf beans into a 40cm pot with dill seeds all around.

Now that my garage is so well organised and roomy (been watching out for a cat to swing around, thankfully none passed by as cats are way more wilful and of stronger character than I am) I found a bag of Ericaceous compost.

I bought it for my lovely Gaultheria, in hindsight 40l bag was perhaps a tad too much for one small plant.

*shall not buy blueberries. Shall not buy blueberries. Shall not buy blueberries. *

Then spent a joyful hour sitting on my trusted skateboard, trimming the lawn edges with scissors and digging out dandelions as I went. Our Degus love dandelions especially when there is some soil attached to the root so I had to do this carefully. The harvest is now in a washing bag over the radiator to crisp up ready for the Degus. Pampered?

Oh and the Toms went into the blowaway greenhouse for good, the intention was to carry them indoors for the nights for at least a week but laziness won. The scent of tomato leaves is my favourite.

More de-aphiding indoors plants with Fairy washing up liquid, the scent of Fairy bubbles is my favourite.

All scents are my favourite just now, it's the Spring Feeling

 

Begin to plant up area cleared, of trees, last December, mycorrhizal fungus, blood, fish and bone, water and hope.
Planting to include a mixture of perennials, shrubs and small trees. Today an Aralia fistulosa, a Colletia spinosissima, Rubus "Betty Ashburner", Rubus ichangensis, Clethra monostachya, a hydrangea, a buddleja, a berberis, Aconitum henryi. Other things to follow as they get big enough and are hardened off.

 

Sounds fabulous Nigel.

 

Potted on 21 small tomato plants and did a bit of hoeing.
There was a hole where i dug up the redcurrant bush so I've been filling it with spent compost.

 

Same as yesterday....well when I'm not nattering to my neighbour and his son !

Just preparing the borders for the Big Plant Off later in the month...can't wait!

 

One of our Lavenders didn't make sadly, very strange as all the others did in pots and in the borders.

How sad is that.

Deadheaded the Wallflowers. Cut the flower stems off from the spent Daffs and Tulips. And did a load more potting on.

Still making up my mind as to whether or not to cut back this grass, I have several pots of it around the garden. I don't even know what it is as I just grabbed chunks of it from one of my Dad's plant's , hubs hates it as it always looks dead!!

 

Spent this afternoon weeding down the bottom of the garden (or up the top, depends on your point of view) cleared along the border fence including behind the compost heap; lots of nettles, Herb Robert and Allium triqesetrum.

 

Today I had my little "helper" helping me on the balcony! She didn't have school today because of the teachers being on strike & so she spent the day with us.

I showed her the Morning Glory seedling that had resulted from her sowing a seed a couple of weeks ago. She asked me if it could go outside on the balcony as it's been in the kitchen since she sowed it. I said it was a little early as the nights are still rather chilly. But she "begged" me & so I gave in &, once I told her she could put it in the tub where the climbing Fuchsia had been last year, she got her hands dirty:
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She wanted to be "famous" & asked me to take photos of her planting the seedling & post it on the Internet! So, here it is!

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Well done @Balc's granddaughter. I hope it thrives for you.