What are we doing in the garden 2024

The snail massacre here includes stripping a new young magnolia Butterflies of its new leaves so I've moved it up onto a garden table to try and keep it safe and let it recover.

They've made lace out of the central one of my 3 rhubarb plants, eaten 2 of my wee clumps of Greek basil in a window box, consumed several tomato seedlings and 3 of my chillies as well as all the cavolo nero seedlings in the polytunnel. Once again they got to my hostas in pots and they need a major rescue mission but not today.

It's raining!

 

Today I’ve been making some adjustments to misjudged decisions earlier in the year! I’d forgotten how large one of my grasses gets and had to relocate a Helenium that was getting overshadowed. It was used to replace another one elsewhere that had been chewed by an unwanted visitor . I also moved a Hosta from another unsuitable location into a pot which is now in a slug free zone by the front door. Finally I clipped the Iberis growing above my sandstone walling which has just finished flowering and was getting a bit bulky. A blackbird was making a racket nearby so it had either seen me or my neighbour’s cat. It must be nesting in the large laurel hedge in my neighbour’s garden. I used that as an excuse to stop!

 

Mostly mooching today...deadheading season has begun, which makes me happy....and possibly weird! Cut back some pulmonarias, rescued and potted up several agastache Golden Jubilee seedlings from below the mumma plants, moved my grown-from-seed dahlias from the cold frame where they've been attacked overnight by slugs (seriously considering putting them out in their pots where they might be out of reach....), had a poke at another probably had-it monarda....there's only so many chances I can give it..... Hoping for a garden centre trip tomorrow...
Yesterday managed to get shot of the spare tomato and cucumber plants to friends, which has freed up some space in the greenhouse. Trying to simplify as much as possible as we're away next week and daughter is dog-sitting and in charge of watering......still a lot of annuals growing on.....

 

Pulled up all of the wallflower plants, cut them up a bit and put them in the compost bins.

 

OH Fitted new water butt, rain due in 15 mins so looks like no gardening this afternoon. Top soil being delivered imminently so moving it to raised beds may have to wait…. Desperate to get my veg in.

 

I’ve power-washed the area where my poly greenhouse sits, ready for setting that up on weekend. I’ve also attacked a few brambles poking through from next door and weeded a small area by the potting area which might be big enough for a wigwam of peas or a pot of veg. We’ve also patched the shed roof, which had a leaky bit. I might paint the shed tomorrow (?).

 

Planted out the last of the decent-sized cornflowers (more recent sowing still growing on) and the last of the limonium bonduelii, deadheaded a few things, hoiked out a perennial foxglove digitalis lutea to give a just-growing aster a bit more room and light. Potted on some little foxgloves camelot cream grown from saved seed (so may not come true....it's a mystery!), planted up a pot of annuals for the patio and chucked a miniature rose that had died.

 

Finished work at 4 and was really tired. Thought id better do some weeding and it really perked me up and got me going. Finished off digging up a patch of turf and have dug over a shady area and planted in a few more plants.


Will go to my mums and see what shady plants she has that I can snaffle he he

 

Spent all day weeding in the front garden, interspersed with chats with neighbours out for a walk. Planted an Eleagnus, hopefully it won't get attacked by the honey fungus on that side of the garden. (Three roses in the R. rugosa hedge have succumbed this spring. Might fill the gaps with fuchsias instead, which are resistant to HF...) Now trying to read the latest Book Club offering, but sleep is overtaking me...

 

That's a pity re the honey fungus @Liriodendron
I did a lot of repotting of various plants - some have been languishing for a long time. No idea where they'll be going though! Some basil moved into larger pots too. Planted out a pot of sweet peas...I wonder if they're still in one piece.
Other than that - finding trays to fill with water for putting the lettuce in to keep the molluscs off, which was a bit soul destroying. I think the two clematis I dug up and did that with a couple of days ago are already breathing a sigh of relief though. I also put some supports in for a few plants.
Looks very good @Snorky85 . If you'd like some white dicentra, I have loads of plants - all from one original plant, and can easily split one later and send it?

 

@fairygirl Oh that would be lovely if you could! I used to have lots of pink dicentra in my old garden but haven’t got any here at all. White would be fab. Would you like any hosta? A few weeks I split a nice medium sized one-cant remember name off top of head but can let you know it as I ordered it from crocus online.

 

No problem @Snorky85 . I have one that's potted, so it's going over now, and I should be able to split it in a month or so. I'll message you once I have it sorted.

I've given up with Hostas - they get eaten here as soon as they appear, but that's very kind of you to offer.

 

Did some weeding in the front garden where i pulled up the wallflowers around the path.

 

Weeded the next area for planting out dwarf French beans. Poor germination so will sow some more tomorrow, indoors as if outside the mice get the seeds!
New polytunnel so work inside started. Replacing some of the boards that keep the soil off the path and adding more soil (as length is longer now). Hopefully will be able to plant out plants that have been indoors for some weeks.

 

I cut both my lawns again today, just three days since the last time. One good thing about all the rain we’ve had is that the lawn is thriving. It could also be due to that overdose of 4 in 1 a few weeks ago! I also tidied up a few shrubs and trimmed a Fargesia to make it more column like as it was starting to waft about too much. I removed the seedheads from some bluebells in my neglected corner of the garden and hoicked out a few weeds too. I’ve just noticed that a Clematis I moved a couple of months ago is about to flower so the sulky look it’s been giving me may soon turn to cheer!