What are we doing in the garden 2024

I'm getting more and more moss all the time now, in the lawn and on the shady borders - the back is about 60% moss now. I'm going to let it go because:
•I like it
•It's soft to walk on
•It keeps the moisture in
•The birds love it for nesting and whatever lives in/under it
•It's massively more effective at C0² capture than trees, apparently.
•I don't like using chemicals
•I'm too lazy to bother fighting it

 

I agree @Mrs. B.

Don't get much here as we're usually sunny and drier but I don't disturb what we do have.

 

I leave it on walls and vertical surfaces @Mrs. B. but not on horizontal surfaces as my garden is on a slope and I’ve done enough damage already!

 

Spent some money on plants yesterday (OH wasn’t watching that closely) and planted them up today. A fatsia jap. “Spider’s Web”, hydrangea “Limetta”, some variegated ivies and ferns nowin large pots for my northwestish patio area. OH has started dismantling the vast areas of inherited decking for conversion into a raised bed area. Spotted a RAT a couple of days ago, so hope there aren’t any more lurking beneath the boards….

 

@Mrs. B. I agree with you about moss. There is lots in OH's lawn in his rather shady garden in Norfolk but my garden in SW France gets hot in summer so there is much more in the way of clover, daisies and dandelions. I don't mind so long as it's green.

At last I've planted the new silver birch tree Jacquemontii that OH bought me after CB the handy man strimmed all the lower bark off the last one when I was in the UK and it died. It took me over an hour. I dug a huge wide and deep hole and added a lot of compost as the soil was pretty sticky. I took out the worst bits of clay and added some better soil. Monty Don said not to improve the soil when planting trees but he hasn't seen my soil! He's been improving his soil for years.

 

Planted out two types of foxglove this afternoon.
Digitalis Mertonensis Summer King, and Digitalis Purpurea Virtuoso Lavender.

But had to clear an area about 6ft square of Spanish bluebells.

Then, in emptying a large tub of old soil, I found large numbers of orange/red/brown spheres (I'm colour blind) about 2mm in diameter.
Does anyone know what these might be? They crush easily between my fingers, so am assuming an insect egg of some kind.
Thank you.

 

@fairygirl I definitely need to do something with them. I haven't checked yet but I suspect the roots have made their way out of the root trainers!

Have finally gotten some annuals sown. With any luck, I shall have Nicotiana Bronze Queen/Deep Purple/Perfume Blue, Phlox Crème Brulee/Isabellina, Scabiosa Fata Morgana/Black Knight, Snapdragon Madame Butterfly Ivory, Limonium Apricot Desire and Stock Apricot this year. Didn't do too badly considering how windy it was

 

I actually did some work today. Moved thirty odd pots, a couple of water butts and took out a few yards of ivy and cut down a self sown cornus sanguinea. Swept up three buckets of leaves and compost. Scaffold going up on two sides so I was sort of forced out of procrastination!
Oh and I cut the grass. The garden is starting to look sexy again!

 

@Busy-Lizzie I love silver birches, I spent half my childhood in one, lol! Show it off, go on.

I've no idea what the moss in the lawn is, but it's growing on the side that gets all the sun!

 

Moved some cacti up to the greenhouse for the summer. Some are getting plenty large enough to cart around.
Sowed some more seed, including basil, nasturtium a number of different Ipomoea types.
Then tidied up, repotted, two tubs of Sarrcenias. Sadly when I offer the surplus on either Freecycle or Nextdoor nobody is interested; so they will go on the compost heap.

 

@NigelJ is it worth sticking your sarracenia in a damp area of the garden instead of chucking it? I accidentally left mine outside in its pot all winter and it's fine, so I'm going to try it in the soil. I have some disgusting sodden infertile clay - I will add lots of gravel to open it up without improving fertility which should suit sarracenia

 

@Mrs. B. My silver birch is only a baby, it would look like a stick in a photo.

 

Many years ago I split up a lot of sarracenias and took them to a local nursery, he let me swop them for some of his plants that I liked.
Bit lucky really but I just asked and was surprised, to be honest I would have let him have them rather than dumping them anyway.
I hate dumping good plants.

 

Gosh that was a lot of work @flounder but I expect it was very satisfying too.
You obviously had better weather down your way as the rain stopped any gardening here yesterday.

 

I'm on a catch up mission. Making up for all the times I should have been doing stuff rather than just thinking about it!