WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Hi,

Thanks for your welcome advice @Logan; when the plants arrive they'll go straight into the garden which is prepared in readiness; the soil is already soaking wet so no need to water them; I can plant them and let them do their thing.

In the meantime I'll press on with the rotavator restoration; a new cylinder head gasket is due to arrive on Wednesday then I can complete the engine; I sorted out it's new exhaust yesterday. After dinner today I might do more general assembly refitting the handles and covers etc; I'm keen to get it fully running then I can rotavate the meadows in order to shred the grass which is taking over; I'll rotavate again next springtime then rake and broadcast new wildflower seeds; I think it's all coming together at last. I need to make a ramp in order to get it into and out of the garden hut; it's much too heavy to lift.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Your welcome @Retired good that you're getting on well with the rotavator.

 

Hi,

Thanks @Logan.

A mixed afternoon with no rain; whoopee. Tidying in the garden; resetting edging stones; gathering up ground cover pebbles and using these to line the bottom of three planters I've emptied; a bit more digging; sorting out the debris from the planters which was removed getting it ready for the tip. Attacking yet more ivy this time by the garden hut half way up the garden resulting in another pile but lots more to remove; will I ever clear all this ivy.

Then I popped into the workshop and carried the rotavator handles up to the hut getting them out of the way now fully painted; back into the workshop and fit a new tap to the rotavator petrol tank.

Now indoors enjoying a mug of tea and ordering petrol piping for the rotavator through eBay. It's too dark to do anything else in the garden; after tea I'll have a violin practice whilst I have the time; busy every day from getting out of bed to going back to bed with no let up but it's good for me keeping me fit and active.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

Two and an half hours of very hard graft this morning; by dinner time I was running on empty needing my dinner to fuel me up again. I've just returned from the tip having taken up another full load having to leave some behind for the next tip visit.


Standing near the hut yesterday looking down at yet more ivy I decided to pull some out as seen above. There was a high risk of eye damage as I bent over due to shrubs so I quit.

I've already run many full loads of ivy to the tip from other areas of the garden and here I am again staring at a lot more.

It all looked so untidy so I decided to sort it out; here's how it looked when I started this morning. There's full ground cover ivy over this entire section plus Snowberry shrubs; small laurels; brambles and of course more small hollies all mixed up.

Knocking off for dinner this is now what it looks like; I've flattened the lot using secateurs; loppers; strimmer; and large strimmer/brush cutter with steel blade fitted; I wasn't taking prisoners this lot was in trouble.

A longer view; tomorrow I'll resume hostilities removing the remaining stumps and roots; the pile of debris to the right will enjoy the next ride to the tip; no room for it the car was fully loaded to the roof.

I'll bag this up tomorrow then work on the remaining roots and digging over with a spade. 22 years into full retirement and still can't decide if retirement is pleasure or punishment. I'm considering turning this area into a bluebell patch it being under a huge tree casting a shadow; Cerastium too would be a good choice for here. Ivy; Snowberry; Laurels; Brambles and hollies are banned from our gardens; I'm fed up of removing them; lets have a change.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired You sure are a glutton for punishment! Most people in their 50s would have given up by now! But what you are doing will make an impressive difference next year & for years to come! (Dare I say, "Keep up the good work"?)

Yet I'm curious, how did you let it get so bad in the first place??? You seem to be a guy that not afraid of hard graft & you like to be on top of things. You've shown us all the work you have done on your bungalow over the years, so to let a little Ivy get the better of you seems strange!

 

Only have to turn your back on ivy for a short while then it's off everywhere

 

Well done @Retired, i have a pair of safety glasses when i garden, in the past I've been poked in the eye from branches and had soil go in them.

 

I went and checked on the Brugmansias in pots (4) and the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in pots (7) out front due to our drop in night temperatures of 10c and had J move my Adenium Nursery to The Baffa as they can't tolerate temps under 10c.

The windows with the green plastic openwork are West facing and the ones with the cane blinds are South facing ...

 

Thought I'd have a go at clearing all the soggy leaves that were looking really untidy and making the paths slippery.
Not one of my favourite tasks, ungluing leaves, but it had to be done.

 

Hi,

Thanks @Balc yes I'm front of queue for hard work and always have been and will definitely carry on as I am hopefully for some time to come.

Thanks for asking; I didn't let the ivy get the better of me because I've kept trimming it to prevent it spreading too much until I could concentrate on getting rid of everything in the gardens not wanted. As @Perki kindly points out ivy takes off getting everywhere.

The time has finally arrived for me to spend more time in the gardens hence I've declared all out war on ivy; hollies; brambles; cleavers; laurels and other things which are keen to make my life harder.

This morning was taken with an hospital appointment; after dinner I struggled for a couple of hours not only fighting the garden but high wind bringing a real chill factor with it up the valley side; I was well wrapped up but normally standing upright is a challenge but the wind was buffeting me around making it very unpleasant indeed; I thought I'd have to nail my cap on it was so bad whilst I pulled ivy out and dug up lots of small shrub stumps. Two hours was all I could stand; the wind had increased and I was working in our usual Yorkshire black hole; it was so dark I was treading on low stumps making it too dangerous to carry on so I quit for today but tomorrow I'll resume hostilities.


What our rear garden looked like @Balc full of huge trees; I've removed over 30 trees up to 80' tall all on my own during the last 36 years.

Here's what tree felling looks like for me; neighbours loved the free logs when I'd done all the heavy work and carried them all the way down to our driveway; I should have offered to pop round and put them in their wood burners; only my wonderful wife for support keeping me going with tea and biscuits.

These laurels were huge forming a 60' long hedge across the top of the garden adjacent to the lane over the drystone wall. I'd had enough of climbing ladders every year to trim them.

A bit of hard work to keep me fit; here's the rootball from the laurel seen above; this one took an whole week of hard graft to get out and there were more.

I've finally got around to the finishing touches and even so it's still hard work with over 50 big bin bags of ivy taken to the tip also I'm now using extra large heavy duty bags with handles to replace bin bags; two trips to the tip with these also lots rolled into a bed sheet; more yet to do; if the weather was better I could get stuck into some serious work. I'm still dreaming of time to practice playing my violins but firstly I want to complete the rotavator restoration; I love being retired.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired you've been doing well with everything, it's good to keep busy even after retirement.

 

Thanks @Retired for your explanations! As I don't grow Ivy on the balcony I had no idea it could take over so quickly & cause such work to get rid of it!

I've read some of your older posts so I knew about the trees you'd already cut down as well as the Laurel. Now I look forward to seeing your renovated garden next year!

 

Today I potted up some cuttings of Tradescantia zebrina. I also took some pictures of the other Tradescantia plants I have in the kitchen.
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Hi,

Thanks @Logan so many people retire after putting in 50 years work then die the day after they retire due to boredom; when I retired 22 years ago I had lots of heavy jobs lined up to do and I've not stopped since but now it's seven days a week morning to night and no holidays; I love it; what's a few aches and pains.

Many thanks @Balc and you're most welcome; ivy can become a major problem if left to grow; not only have we had ivy ground cover but it took over our Oak and Hawthorn trees also a tall conifer causing lots of extra work and it doesn't respond well to shredding. I have posted same pictures previously but add them again for new members to view.

Your plants look very healthy indeed @Balc rewarding you for your ongoing TLC which they obviously appreciate; well done.

I've just knocked off after a normal morning in the garden; working near the top of the garden it's blowing a gale which certainly isn't warm and at times bringing some horizontal rain to ensure I don't become too hot.


I intended to give the ivy more grief this morning but changed my mind ready for a bit of light exercise; the conifer in the middle of the picture looked out of place so it had to go. I removed all the lower branches I could reach with fully extended loppers as seen. It's only about 30' tall.

Fuel the chainsaw and top up the chain oil then carry it together with rope and loppers up the mountain wearing my heavy "site" coat against the wind; cold & rain my ear defenders doing a good job holding my cap on.

Having removed the lower branches and dragging them down the garden keeping the ground clear for safety reasons; it was bad enough fighting the climate being buffeted around; the chainsaw eventually started but refused to come up to speed after many attempts so carry it back down to the bottom hut and collect my old but trusty Timberwolf chainsaw and fuel this and top up chain oil then head back up the garden.

Here whilst being blown around I started the back cut having removed the wedge; it was difficult standing upright on the steep slope whilst the wind pushed me around; checking the back cut it wouldn't do it was a bit too low so correct this with a second cut; as the tree swayed in the wind I knew when to stop cutting then went up the garden to the rope end and gave a good pull on the rope to be greeted with the tree landing perfectly as planned in spite of the wind.

A lot of the branches are removed and dragged down the garden now I logged the trunk using the chainsaw seen; I left the top branches still in place saving a number of trips up the garden I dragged the top section down and finished cutting it near the hut; the logs I carried down to the hut; I'd cut the trunk at waist height so the last job was to cut it at ground level.

Job completed; both chainsaws drained of fuel & oil and put away done entirely on my own in terrible working conditions taking just two & an half hours; I tried taking pictures of the logs and brash but the camera battery decided to die; I dislike batteries with a passion and will never even consider buying an electric car.

I feel pretty good here at the keyboard enjoying a mug of tea and a couple of chocolates whilst the camera is charging. This to me is my retirement; hard work has never bothered me and looking around at many people my age I think a lifetime's hard work has done me good.

An horrible morning but I'm pleased I wasn't put off by our dire weather having made use of my time; it's dark and miserable outside as I type. I've rambled on enough; after dinner I think I'll wander down to the workshop and do more work on the rotavator restoration; life's here to be enjoyed not to be idle.

Kind regards, Colin.