What are we doing in the garden 2024

It was actually warm enough to sit out for half an hour but the sun has gone behind the clouds again. I dug up a peony which was being strangled by thuggish geranium Rozanne and put it in a pot for now - not much hope that it will prosper but better than where it was. Also ate two tiny strawberries and picked three small courgettes for my tea.

 

@shiney we have the same problem in our orchard and veg areas with the cracks being large enough to put your hand down...if you wanted to! But our "lawn" doesn't show this. Strange.

 

We have continued to remove the ivy from a brick wall between us and neighbours (our side only!). This has allowed us to reposition some bamboo supports for Clematis armandii. Being able to see the brick wall has made all the difference in the small courtyard....it looks so much bigger.
Carried on AGAIN refinding one of the paths that I did only a few weeks ago. Why do so many of our plants want to grow across the path and make in half the width it should be? I know less competition.
Planted out the only dwarf french bean that germinated out of 40!

 

Yesterday I spent 2 hours tidying OH's Norfolk cottage garden. I did it before we went to the Lake District and Yorkshire for 8 days but it needed doing again. Lots of deadheading, tying up, cutting down etc. I filled one of those big green cylindrical containers as the garden bin is full again. Our gardener who looks after the garden here when I'm in my home in France had cleared a lot down the drive. Surprised at how dry the soil was. I put the sprinkler on the long border. Water pressure here is pathetic.

 

Last week I removed a couple of Iberis growing in the dry sandstone wall in my back garden as they had got woody and stopped flowering well. Several gaps were revealed as a result so today I've planted some Sempervivums, Sedums and a Thyme in the gaps to join the self seeded Erigeron which doesn't seem fussy about where it grows! Whether the plants take is questionable as the last time I did this in my previous garden, the birds decided to remove them!



I also refreshed my alpine trough.

 

Top of my gardening rules.

 

Weather today will dictate what I do. I have some concrete to mix and put in, so I'd rather it wasn't too wet for doing that, but it's looking a bit iffy.
I might plant a little hawthorn seedling I have into the end of the front boundary hedge, and there are quite a few lonicera cuttings that can also go into the other B's Gold hedge. All those little jobs I mean to do - but something else always seems more important. That lonicera hedge needs a trim - didn't manage that last week either. I'd rather it was dry for that too, but it won't take long to do. The grass could do with a wee tidy, especially the edges, so I'll try and factor that in.

Nice trough @Plantminded.

 

We spent yesterday clearing ivy and hops off our back fence behind the greenhouse. Am planning to reclaim the metre wide bed for raspberries. Up until now it’s been a working area aka dumping ground. I liked the ivy but the neighbours behind don't and continually rip at the bits going through the slats which is damaging (our) fence. The hops were also inherited and are a nightmare, rampant growth and the bristles give me a rash, never any sign of wildlife either even though it’s meant to be beneficial. It took two of us nearly four hours.

Some of today will (has to) be spent doing the work I was procrastinating about yesterday. I also have a plant delivery arriving, hoping that comes this afternoon so I have a chance of finishing my work TTD list before I’m lured out into the garden.

 

A brilliant idea. That is what I call thinking outside the box.
I need to replace my vacuum cleaner, was thinking of investing in a Henry. Now I might revise my idea and buy one to use inside/outside. I have a large, very weedy patio which needs repointing.

 

Thank you @fairygirl. You gave me some tips a while ago.

 

I love my Henry @Goldenlily26 , but it's a bit cumbersome when you've got used to a cordless. Henry can't be beaten for suction though!

 

I have never had a cordless, always preferred a drag along behind type. It will be a case of finding which one does what I want that I can afford. There seem to be so many different styles from itsy bitsy pink fluffy ones to massive big burly industrial ones strong enough to suck me up their pipes!

 

@Goldenlily26 .We had a pull along Miele which I began to find a bit heavy so bought a Black & Decker cordless stick one a year or two ago from Argos. It's brilliant and so light and easy to use, I'd never go back to a corded one. You can detach the top bit to do sofas, stairs etc. It even has a light at the foot which shows up the dust (and therefore the bits that you've missed).

The only drawback we've found is that it does need emptying almost every time which again is quite easy, just press a button to empty into the bin and do a more thorough clean say once a month.
From memory it was about £150 or under.

We also have an old industrial type 'Henry' which does wet/dry stuff, outside and inside which we bought whilst renovating this house. OH keeps it in the garage for rougher work.

 

I have an AEG cordless vac, and previously had a Dyson. As @lizzie27 says, they are light and easy to manoeuvre. However, as owner of two indoor cats with litter trays, I find that they are useless at picking up the litter which gets thrown out of the tray and spread around. So I also have a corded vac. The cordless mainly gets used for upstairs.