What are we doing in the garden 2024

Shed painting today. Looks smarter now so next job is putting up the poly greenhouse. The tomatoes need to get a wriggle on - hopefully the warmer temps will help. Sweet peas can go out tomorrow (oh that reminds me - I left the compost in the car!).

 

Garden centre visit today, came home with a dwarf photinia Chico, a knautia macedonica to replace one that didn't survive the winter, and a little fuchsia to go in a pot. All planted, a few cosmos potted on, and that's about it today. Not much more I can do till next weekend, we're away next week. Zinnias, dahlias and cosmos can hopefully begin to be hardened off after that.

 

All I've done today is some rose dead heading. The garden is so wet. There was very heavy rain here in Dordogne on Sunday when we were enjoying sunshine in Norfolk.

 

We've trimmed our long privet hedge at last, a pig of a job. Several bits of it have now died off so it looks threadbare in parts. My secret plan is to replace it next year with a fence - expensive but worth it!

I did sit in the garden later with a glass of cold wine and just contemplated - absolute bliss.

 

Managed to load my car up with 3 big bags of old turf ready for tip then had migraine. 4 hours later managed to get to tip, stopped in Tesco for a cuppa with mum and they had a load of plants reduced from £3.50 to 88p…nothing wrong with them, just needed watering! (Don't know why they are so rubbish at caring for plants).

Had to sleep after that til about 8pm then decided to go outside and planted up a load of the plants I bought recently. Got in at 9.30pm.

 

Weeding the lawn, oh, what a toil and trouble!



Cut the grass and did general maintenance. We'll move out in about a month or two so I want to make the garden less of a "Gaaahhh!!!! A labour camp!!!" and more into a "Gosh, I'll cut the grass and then the trampoline can go there" kind of a place for whoever moves in.

Used up the old bottles of fertilisers to give a boost to the roses and other hungry ones I'm leaving behind. The oldest bottle of Tesco Fertiliser made an alarming, rattling noise when I shook it, either the compounds had crystallised or some chemical reaction had turned the liquid into rubies, sapphires and diamonds. Whichever, it's now under the roses.

 

Started half past 5, cutting neighbour’s ivy on my side (of course), a bit weeding (Verbena bonsarensis now germinate), dead heading (Scabiosa, Geum), planting catmint, watering new purchases.
Job done. I go back to bed now.

 

Took all of the spring bulbs and plants out of these and put in some snapdragons, Erigeron and fuchsias in. Changed the first 8in of compost with new.

 

Second coat on shed done.

The sweet peas are in! I’ve put fine gravel around, sacrificial phlox seedlings close by and beer traps. I might do a slug patrol in the evenings too.

I hope the sunscreen from last year still works, otherwise I will be burnt after all that!

 

A few bits and bobs done over the last few days. In frustration, I've lifted the rudbeckias as it was getting too much to see them demolished by slugs. They'd only been in a few days so hopefully it won't be too stressful for them and it'll given them some recovery time. I'm considering collecting up the slugs in a container and relocating them to the spinney at the other end of our street. Plenty of plant material to get their chompers into and plenty of things that'll eat them. Seems like a win win situation. The slugs are also continuing to munch the narcissi which are STILL sending up more buds in the hope that they won't be eaten. The last of the planters I ordered arrived, just cheap plastic ones which I'm going to paint up to give a stone effect. The idea is to put them all around the edges of the raised beds and fill them with vinca minor Atropurpurea. I had some more of the vinca minor arrive and while they looked more mature in the packaging, I think it was more a case that they just hadn't been pruned in quite some time. Fingers crossed the trim I gave them will perk them up. The 9cm cucumber plants arrived and, as is often the case when Yodel are delivering, they weren't in the best condition when I opened the box. Hopefully I'll be able to get them back on the right track. I finally sowed my carrot seeds and potted on my tomato and purple sprouting broccoli seedlings and am going to be taking the excess to work to give to one of the supervisors who has an allotment. Usually by now I'd have pruned back the old growth on the ferns but I just hadn't got round to it. Leaving things until last year's growth has flattened it seems, is a whole lot easier. No secateurs required, just a strong tug. It was so much quicker so I shall be doing that again next year. Barrel pond v.2 is in progress. I spent more than I'd anticipated on pond plants yesterday and today I emptied as much of the remaining water as I could, yanked out the old liner and put a few pots in there to soak up the rest of the water.

At the moment, the hawthorn is in full bloom and the pollinators are absolutely loving it. The alliums that I'm growing for the first time this year are going down a treat as well. As with last year, I'm blown away by just how stunning the camassias are looking. They really suit the dappled shade.

 

I cut my lawns again today. The 4 in 1 treatment I gave them seems to have resulted in me cutting them 4 times a week! It’s the lushest, green growth I’ve seen for a while, thanks also to the rain and increased temperature. I repotted a Hosta and swept the steps and paving in my lower garden where an Acer and Rowan have been dropping pollen, spent flowers and other litter for days. Trees can be messy but I’d grow more if I had space!

Yesterday I repainted a wall which had been badly scuffed by bamboo blowing against it in the winter winds and also repainted some fencing with similar damage. The bamboo is making a rapid return at the moment with lots of new canes emerging so I’ll be on runner watch over the next few weeks!

 

Managed to cut the grass after work….rain forecast tomorrow so good to have got it done

 

Planted up the strawberries well what's left of them after the vine weevils, and I dismantled one half on the compost bins and rebuilt a new one out of pallets, started to fill it up a bee was rather upset and a wasp were buzzing around as well so left it for today. Moved a few plants and pulled some weeds .

 

Steady drizzle so no gardening to speak of, yet, except ordering a new lawn mower, if that counts. OH managed to cut almost all the grass yesterday with the old one, but had to mend the switch assembly four times in the process. We'll keep the old mower and hope to be able to replace the worn parts. Had hoped to get a cordless electric this time, but they're too expensive.

 

OH is jealous of all those who've cut their lawns. We've had such a lot of rain in Dordogne, the lawn is squelchy and full of puddles.

I'm about to pot on my tomatoes, peppers and courgettes as the veg garden is too wet to plant them into, though the chard seems to be loving it. I only just bought the toms etc as I can't grow from seed anymore as we were in the UK and I don't have a GH since I moved house.