What are we doing in the garden 2024

@Butterfly6 we also have had issues with hops. There was some growing wild near us and the owner was quite happy for us to take some and we put them in our garden. BIG BIG mistake but then we were new to gardening and didn't know that we should have checked what the hops would do. Then a great friend gave us a golden hops. You can't say thanks but no thanks so we did plant it and then a few years later we were able to remove it entirely. HOWEVER not the original hops! We have to be very vigilant and can only pull the stems as it is impossible to dig down and get at the roots as it is entangled with so many other shrubs now. This is after 30 years!

 

In the polytunnel this morning because of rain....but then we didn't have any! So lifted the bolting lettuces. They have done us proud as we have been eating leaves (not all the time) throughout winter up to now. So new seedlings transplanted in the tunnel. Not in the same place. Planted out the pak choi and kohl rabi seedlings in the tunnel. Weeded the areas I could reach. Picked some lovely strawberries to have at lunch.

 

I’ve yet to dig out the roots @On the Levels but all the top growth is gone. I suspect it won’t be possible s they seem wrapped round the base of the fence post I need to clear away some rubble to get a proper look. This was our dumping ground for all the bits of paving etc when we were uncovering the garden. We’ve reused most/all of the paving pieces and bricks but lots of small rubbishy bits left

 

I spent about an hour hand weeding and sweeping the patio. Another several hours of weeding to do. Then a weed killer spray of the whole area to kill off the miniscule seedlings I cannot see.
It will look lovely when I have finished.

 

I started clearing my front garden, it's been looking like a recluse
lives here, now just someone who can't be bothered what others think

 

@Butterfly6 all you can do is keep on the look out and pull what you see as soon as you see.

 

I cut both lawns and then removed three lavenders which have been bothering me for weeks. I had planted them in pots in early April but they had got very sprawly, with the flower stems spreading outwards rather than upwards. This is evidently a characteristic of intermedia varieties, confirmed by Monty in a recent GW episode. I wish I’d known that earlier! So they had to go as I’ve got no suitable sunny space in the ground. I then tidied the border next to my seating area which was covered in leaves from a couple of Griselinia and leaf litter from some bamboo. I gave a couple of dahlias in pots some tomato feed and watered the plants I put in my sandstone wall earlier this week which haven’t gone brown yet or been removed by the birds.

 

Dead headed masses of Welsh poppies and pulled up masses of greater celandine.
I quite like it but I don't want it to seed. Did a bit of watering. We've had rain but mostly drizzle.

 

@Busy-Lizzie wish we could have welsh poppies that we could dead head! They just do not want to grow with us.

 

We have Welsh poppies everywhere, yellow and orange. I keep pulling whole plants up as they get tatty with rust. We do have a problem with rust.

 

Sandy soil here in south Norfolk @On the Levels. What do you have?

 

I love Welsh Poppies and have them self sown in the slate chipping path around the pond. They never seem to grow in the soil beds. I just leave them to get on with it, they are very easy to weed out if needed.

 

They [welsh poppies] grow everywhere here too - in the gravel and the borders [clay soil]. I love them. I often see banks of them alongside hedges in gardens too. I agree they're easy to pull out if you don't want them. I deadhead as much as possible too, because they spread so rapidly.

I'll be doing more concreting today, after my walk, and painting and attaching battens to the shed for the new timber - weather permitting. Other than that, deadheading and sowing more lettuce, and trying to make myself sit for a cuppa for more than five minutes.
If it stays dry, I'll cut the grass and the newest hedge as I haven't got round to that either. Too many jobs needing dry [ish] weather, so I have to prioritise quite a bit.
I also have to eat....

 

I hate it when it's too warm to put a rug over my lap when I sit down!

 

@Busy-Lizzie CLAY! Been here since 1978 and with all the home compost added throughout those years we are still CLAY. When we have dry spells we have cracks in the land that you can easily put your arm down. In the rainy times it is porridge. So yes that is why we can't grow those lovely poppies.