What are we doing in the garden 2024

Clearing bindweed and ivy. I know the latter attracts bugs, which in turn, attracts birds, but if I don't tackle it, shrubs will be overrun.

 

Pulled up all of the pot marigolds around the path, cut off all of the spent flowers on the verbascum, put everything in the compost bins so next year they'll be everywhere.

 

Today has been very warm here in West Yorkshire. Our staffies (Lucy & Franky) were stretched out in the living room with the fan turned on / hubby was sunning himself outside until he was feeling guilty, then made himself useful by taking the tomato cut offs to the bin as soon as I had finished pruning each plant
I can now see at a quick glance which are ready for harvesting, and if the weather keeps like this it won't be long before the others toms follow suit. (May be the met office was right in saying we will be having a short Indian Summer)

After a lovely cuppa laced with my favourite tipple from hubby - I took down one of the two cucumbers plants which had been growing on the patio, leaving the other one as it has tiny minuscule cucumbers on - don't know if they will come to anything but it seemed silly not to try.

 

I ordered 40 tree trunk effect stepping stones for my woodland this morning and spent ages this afternoon, spraying gallons of weedkiller on the lawn, which is increasingly becoming everything but grass! The park over the hedge doesn't help, as seeds from every type of weed seem to levitate over my hedge and deposit themselves on the lawn.

 

Finished scything the meadow and clearing up the arisings. There's a huge heap now; the robin has been very appreciative, presumably hoovering up insects. Tomorrow I'll mow it all on the highest setting to remove the tufty bits, and then I can plant the bulbs which came from Farmer Gracy a few days ago. Camassias, pheasant's eye narcissi, snowflakes, fritillaries & crocus. Should be pretty in the spring!

 

Spent most of the afternoon digging out leaf mould from Bin No.2 but found to my annoyance that feeder roots from a nearby bush had sneaked under and up into the bottom couple of feet. Thought we'd solved that problem last year with a triple layer of plastic underneath - obviously not, so back to the drawing board. Might have to take out the bush which won't be easy.

 

Cut most of the flower stems of the lavender that's covering the path and border.

 

Mowed the scythed meadow and got very hot.

 

I did some more garden furniture painting yesterday. A bench this time and it’s now a dark blue, like ink. It contrasts well with the green background of grasses and ferns in my lower garden. Today I moved some of my recently planted containers around and returned other containers with Hostas in them to their over wintering location up some steps. I deadheaded some pelargoniums and a dahlia, swept today’s Sorbus berries off the steps, refilled the birdbath and watered some Heucheras which I moved into a border recently to get some winter colour.

 

@Plantminded what do you use for painting the garden furniture please? I find paint degrades so fast outside

 

Apologies @ArmyAirForce - I can see now that it isn't a road! We have quite a few areas round here that look like that though, with bits and pieces of woodland next to roads and properties. Hopefully you'll get plenty of use from your little woodland now that you've cleared it and made it accessible.
Just mind those rabbits for any new plants

I moved a few plants yesterday, and planted some out that I was growing on, as well as a honeysuckle that was needing a site. It'll do some 'shed covering' later. Potted up the rest of the purple crocus I had after moving the lettuce that was in the pots, and they now have a new home, but I won't get much more from them anyway. Wasn't sunny, but it was warm so I also managed to sit for quite a while watching the birds etc. I'm trying to be better at doing that. Won't be around today so nothing will be done.
@CarolineL - I use the Cuprinol stuff for my bench - the kind in small tins that's made specifically for that. I find it quite good, but all paint wears here due to weather, and also the slugs grazing on the wood, although the latter is mainly on the fences and raised beds though. I use the Ducksback stuff for that though.

 

@ArmyAirForce, you have my sympathies regarding your weedy lawn. May I ask what weed killer you used for such a large area and how you applied it? I ask, as I have a similar problem and find having to walk up and down with the watering can a nightmare!

 

The full bottle of SBK did about half the lawn and then I switched to some Resolva Extra which I still had. It was applied with a 7.5 litre pressure sprayer; filled about 6 times! ( it's quite a long lawn ). I don't know yet whether it's doing anything. All the way through the Spring, it was too wet to scarify and it does grow quite a lot of moss in the shaded side of the Laurel hedge.

 

@ArmyAirForce , thanks for that, never thought of using a sprayer!!

 

Hello @CarolineL. There are two garden paints that I have used recently. Here's my thoughts on both:

• Ronseal Garden Paint - Many of the colours are only available in small 0.75L tins and you need three coats. You have to allow at least 4 hours between each coat. It's supposed to last ten years. We'll see . (I haven't used it before.) I like their range of vibrant colours.

• Cuprinol Garden Shades (Not Ducksback) - I've used this several times on garden furniture and fencing. Many colours are available in 2.5L and 5.0L tins. It's supposed to last five years but I'd say it needs a refresh after two years due to the constant wet we have had recently. (It lasts longer on fencing, probably because a vertical surface gets less wet.) The good thing, depending on how you like to work, is that it only needs two coats and you have to apply the second coat within eight hours. I completed the bench I did this week with two coats easily in an afternoon.

Both paints are water based and easy to apply, a bit runny so don't overload your brush. I have found that the Cuprinol colours vary in their final colour depending on the original surface or paint colour, apart from Black Ash, which is definitely black! The Ronseal paint that I used, once dried, looks exactly like the colour in the tin (sounds a bit like one of their slogans .) I'd recommend buying a sample pot, if available, to test on your furniture so that you can be sure that the final colour is really what you want!

I used to oil my garden furniture and did this for about for about 15 years, but cleaning the black mould off before re-applying was not easy, hence resorting to paint.

I hope this helps!