What are we doing in the garden 2024

Hope your cuttings succeed @RowlandsCastle.
Since getting our greenhouse I've also started to try various cuttings for the first time so no track record to compare

 

Thank you @Bluejayway
Out for a walk this afternoon, and came across the Golden Samphire plants with flower heads ready to expel seeds. What to do? I didn't bring a smallish plastic bag to put them in!! How remiss!!
So I detoured to the nearest shop. Best I could do was buy a 125g pack of Minstrels - and eat them!!

Bag emptied and very handy for transporting the seeds safely home.
Shame I had to eat the chocolate.

 

They do say aaper bag for seeds and plastic for cuttings @RowlandsCastle so you could have bought a card or some such to get the paper bag...........

 

I didn't think of that.
Anyhow, seeds are home and transferred to a paper envelope. AND marked.
Chocolate is far more fun to eat than a card!!

 

Card with a picture of a castle beats M&Ms for me.

 

I've spent quite a bit of the day cutting back brambles which are trying to come through the fence into my orchard from next door where it's a jungle of brambles. I think that land is owned by an elderly lady who has gone into care, no house on it. Haven't finished yet.

 

That's hard work @Busy-Lizzie, we've only got brambles in both front and back hedges so reasonably easy to keep under control with a hedge trimmer. It's sneaky when they climb up and over the fence in long strands that can then take root whilst you're not watching.
I keep finding little wannabe brambles growing in the cracks of our paths - very irritating!

 

We have a 100m long fence separating us form our stupid neighbour. He has let the brambles grow all along about 80m his side and so, of course, they throw stems over our side. OH spends a couple of days at a time cutting them back. He's learned just to switch off and get on with it.

We also have them in the hedges and trees along the other boundaries but they are mixed in and less obtrusive and rampant and we try and leave as much of those for the birds and beasties as possible. Then there's one that's taken up residence in my tree peony and another in the buddleia globosa. Much harder to deal with but they have to go.

@Busy-Lizzie could you ask the mairie about your neighbour and maybe ask if she has family that could/should clear the problem weeds and brambles?

 

I always look forward to bramble picking at this time of year. They're still a wee bit sour, but I don't mind that, and the ones in the better, sunnier sites are pretty good. Good crop everywhere this year. We had a lot in the last garden, but we just hacked them with a hedgetrimmer if they got a bit too lively.
Not much will be happening here again today, as I should be able to get my walk soon, and then I'm going back over to daughter's for some more work on her abstract wall painting. I literally watched paint dry for a large part of yesterday!
Might get a couple of things done before I go, if the weather holds. I have a couple of foxgloves to plant that I keep forgetting about, and there'll be a few toms to pick - I think. Might get the roof of the birdcage finished, or something like that, if there's time.

 

I don't want to bring it to the attention of the Mairie, @Obelix-Vendée. There is a new law to prevent fires which says you have to maintain land up to 50m of your house and if your neighbour can't do it then you must do it. The local paper reported that someone had to pay 6000€ to clear their neighbour's land as she was elderly and hadn't any money. They were very upset. Seems a very unfair law to me. The area is 30-40m from my house.

 

I haven't done much in my wilderness for several days, too hot, then daughter dropped a bomb shell, my son and daughter in law are arriving for a 4 day whirlwind visit from Canada on Thursday evening so I have been sorting out indoors, Planning food etc.
However, I went into the kitchen last night to give my cat and dog their evening meal and found 4 chickens sitting on the mat. My kitchen is tiny, ended up posting 2 of the young ones out of the window and the mother and remaining chick I caught, on top of my cooker, they can all fly now, and posted them back over the gate. Dog and cat had eyes on stalks, trying to catch them
Pandemonium.

 

I have been checking daily on a mole in my garden. One of my annual plants had drooped badly and I thought surely I haven't forgotten to water it. No, there was a soft pile of soil under the plant. So I pressed it back down and watered the plant.

Next day I noticed a neighbour's cat sat with its face in the plant. Obviously listening in to underground movement. So on inspection the mound was back.

So I squashed it back down firmly and was surprised that instantly the soil was pushed back up while I was watching. Cheeky thing.

Now there are also tunnels under the lawn, so time for action. I drilled small holes in the ground and dribbled in some white spirit. Moles have very sensitive smell and usually vacate the area. I sometimes use creocote.

So far so good. But still doing my daily inspection.

 

I hadn't heard about that new law @Busy-Lizzie. Seems utterly unreasonable to me.

I have to stay clean today so, other than taking some cuttings i'm not planning any serious gardening but I'll have a wander about and take stock so I can decide priorities in the long list of jobs to get done this autumn now that I have two functioning knees - except for kneeling on hard surfaces.

 

My Delphinium has given me a lovely second flush, but all this sudden rain has caused her to become droopy so I did some emergency staking and tying up last night

 

I cut down another tree - although I could hardly call it a tree. A 20ft sapling is more apt.
Thankfully it has a couple of shoots from below ground level, which I have retained, along with half a dozen softwood cuttings. I've no idea what the tree is, but I'm just trying for the sake of it.

Also been pruning a jasmine, which is hanging over the fence.
Now resting before going out.