What are we doing in the garden 2024

The plant itself looks still fine, @Plantminded, but the flowers are over and are getting brown already. Let’s see how the new Helenium will behave next year.

 

I appreciate the variety of bird life in the garden but they can be quite contrary. About a month or so ago i was struggling to keep the blackbirds away from my blueberries despite netting them. They also has good success with my blackcurrants and strawberries despite netting. So i took the netting off the blueberries 10 days ago to let the blackbirds have a share whilst away on holiday. To my surprise i noticed that they totally ignored the bluberries in my absence and i have just picked a bowlful of ripe blueberries with at least as much again still ripening. I wonder if they just enjoy the challenge - if only slugs were as obliging!

 

I would guess they had young birds to feed as the very same happened here. Currently we still have quite a few blueberries and strawberries and no netting for 1-2 weeks. I also spotted MrB flying off with berries before the netting went on. Perhaps the fledglings no longer need the fruit and we certainly don't mind having it!

 

The shrubs here are a good mixture @fairygirl but the garden is only postage stamp size (the smallest I've had) and they tend to dominate and lack colour. I will remove some in the future and introduce flowering perennials.

Happy birthday to your daughter - it's my other half's birthday too so we visited one of our haunts for dinner this evening. Coincidently my husband had haddock, so big, it overlapped the edges of the plate.

 

Yes, you need some ongoing colour when it's largely shrubs @Sheal . The good thing is that they provide natural supports for any perennials, which is very useful with a windy site!
We shared 2 special fish suppers between the three of us. I don't really like chips that much [I'm a poor excuse for a Scot ] so I have more of the fish. It's a while since we had a fish supper, and I was pretty horrified at the price! That's certainly more typically Scottish
Funny that you were also celebrating though - Happy belated birthday to your OH. Daughter is like me, and we don't get too excited about birthdays, but cake is always welcome, so the fairy cakes went down well. I'd have sent you some but they wouldn't have got there in time....and daughter's gone home with the remaining ones. I used to make quite fancy cakes for their birthdays, but it tends to be fairy cakes now.
More of the same weather here today, so it'll likely be mainly indoor jobs and nipping in and out if there's garden jobs needing doing. I had to resort to sawing wood in the kitchen yesterday [for the shed] but I got most of that finished before youngest came over. A few other bits and pieces were done though. Had to resort to bringing Clem. Julka over to the back steps and tying it onto the railings beside the sw. peas. It was just getting too much grief from the wind, and I was moving it over by the shed every day to stop it being knocked over. Once I get it into a bigger pot and back where it should be, it'll be easier.

 

Hope you get a bit of the damp stuff soon @shiney . Makes such a difference to the garden - you'll almost hear it give a sigh of relief!
I couldn't cope with the dry weather you get for such long periods. I'm wondering when I'll get the grass cut, because it's still mild enough for growth, but there's been no properly dry days here since it was last cut, and no long term, drier weather in the forecast until next week.

 

We need more rain. But not a month's worth in a day. The lawn was so dry yesterday. Basically I mowed hay, dry leaves, and dust. And a few wild flowers.

 

I think that's the problem @RowlandsCastle - a heavy spell after a long dry spell, because it doesn't penetrate the soil well enough. Consistent rain does more good because it means the soil's well dampened lower down.
It does have it's disadvantages though!

 

Pretty wet here too , but i cant tackle anything in the garden as Mrs B has come down with a bug so i am hands on with the indoor jobs, including baking my first ever cake - i posted a picture of a massive courgette the other day so i made a courgette cake. It tastes good but the courgette sank to the bottom. I couldnt leave it as we are having our oven removed today and will have no kitchen for the next month. Frankly i definitely prefer garden chores to the household ones.

 

All the best to Mrs B and may you survive this challenge of an unknown task

 

I am fairly optimistic that my cake wont kill me .

 

Nothing in the garden because it's raining, but i have 5 fuchsia cuttings to pot up.

 

Lots of rain here overnight too , far too wet to get on the garden , more optimistic for tomorrow

 

Got the lawn mowed and the borders tidied yesterday evening after the wind. Fortunately the only casualty was a branch off a tomato plant, so not bad!

Been to the GC today to get a good pick of the tulips before all the best ones get taken. Also picked up some Daffodil Replete bulbs, which I've never had before so hopefully those will go well next year!