What are we doing in the garden 2024

I weedkiller sprayed the back steps, they need new sleepers putting in, the patio and around the rotary dryer. I also sprayed the "gully" as I call it, at the back of the house. It is a pedestrian access to the manholes to 2 of the cottages and what was the back door. A dark, dank area very prone to moss, weeds and leaves.
Potted on 3 scented geranium cuttings.
Checked the greenhouse, cut the first mini munch cucumber, delicious.
Discovered the hippeastrum given to me for Christmas has a new flower bud growing!
Discovered a bright red salvia, which I thought I had lost, was in flower, amongst the weedage in the border.
Discovered my first cyclamen neapolitanum flower, again, amongst the weedage.
A good day really.

 

Back pain is so depressing @ViewAhead, and yes - it makes garden jobs much more wearing.
I only notice my back when it isn't sore, and that's not often. I suppose I'm just used to it as it's been bad since my teens. Hope you're better soon.

 

Thank you, @fairygirl. It's ongoing. I had a big seize-up in August 2016 (yes, while gardening) and I've never got the movement back. I can only sit for very short periods (20 mins or so) and only with a very hot hot-water bottle behind it. I do a lot of lying down. It's why I get through so many library books ... and so little housework.

I do a fair amount of plant growing, but not really "gardening" as other people understand the term. No matter. I feel lucky to have a garden at all.

 

Lying down is certainly easier for me than sitting. I use one of those heat pads when sitting, and I make sure there's a good support from cushions. That helps too.
I also had problems when driving long distances, or when driving for several hours, which I do quite often. The car I have is pretty good as it has heated seats and better support, but for the last car, I got an inexpensive mesh/metal support which was really good, and made those hours of sitting much more pleasant. If you do any driving, that's worth thinking about

 

There have been several comments on this thread about the weather this year and the impact on the garden. Since the end of October until June in my area it was very wet and cool and since then , a couple of mad hot spells but largely indifferent weather with lots of wind drying everything out . i lost so many seed sowings in spring and even things that germinated seemed to stand still. Is this the general experience in the UK ( and beyond) everything is late and there is a considerable lack of insect life although good bee activity in my lavender rubbeckia and sedum.

 

This is why we sow later here where I am @Robert Bowen. What others are experiencing re wet and cool, is fairly standard here. The winter was slightly wetter, but only because it was so mild, and it would normally have been snow rather than rain. Still plenty of ice/ frosts though, but as I've said before - it's all relative. What I call a mild winter is probably still colder than what many people in the south would see as cold. Spring was very mild here, so plants started growing much earlier than they normally would. I even Chelsea chopped Sedum spectabiles - which I've never done in all my decades of growing them, because they're usually only about 6 inches high by the end of May.
For long term gardening, it's always a case of being able to adapt, and be aware of any real, or more permanent changes, but it can still be tricky because we don't have a crystal ball

 

I dont know if anyone can identify what is in the photo. I am demolishing an old wooden greenhouse and took a bracket down holding a shelf . Moulded perfectly into the groove of the metal bracket was this “ structure” which had been made against the wooden shelf. The shelf is undamaged/not chewed/ not holed. It looks like a row of individual cells joined with something like sawdust ( but not from the wood of the shelf) . Each cell is about the size of a piece of sweetcorn.
i have never seen anything like this and wondered if anyone has had experience of it or can identify the critter ?

 

Some kind of mud dauber? Not quite what I've seen before and perhaps a bit small.

 

Started to remove conifer number three. Down to 3ft. I'll tackle the rest another day.

 

@ViewAhead and @fairygirl, I can sympathise with your back problems as I suffered a crushed vertebrae at waist level following a peculiar fall back in 2007. I have found my back is much better with a monthly back and shoulder massage to keep me supple and largely painfree so is worth every penny. I also had to consult an osteopath last year for a different problem and he was very good, kind and gentle so I would urge you both to think about what else you could try to make your life easier if you haven't done so already.

I had somebody in today to get up on a raised bed in the back garden and severely cut back my out of control trachelospermum and the NDN's shrubs on top of the wall which had pushed through our fence. Not an easy job as the wall is 4ft high and the fence 6ft on top of that. She did a brilliant job over nearly two hours with a battery operated long reach hedge cutter but of course it has exposed the trashed fence (I knew it would). Several of the horizontal slats are broken or bowed so I'm now contemplating our options. The house next door is likely to be sold in the next year or so (the owner is over 100) so I'm inclined not to do anything for now. Unfortunately the fence belongs to us!

 

I've been to chiropractors etc @lizzie27 , but it doesn't work. I have one leg slightly shorter than the other [don't laugh!] and that affects it too, but I've had long term problems with my back and it can't really be fixed. I'm so used to it now, that I only notice if it isn't sore, as I said earlier. The one good thing about ripping my rotator cuff, and breaking several ribs, some years ago, was - I barely noticed my back for a few months!

Nothing done yesterday in the garden, due to weather and being away most of the day, but hopefully I'll get something done today, although it's looking pretty iffy again, and the timing of that depends on which forecast I look at. I might get a few more things done in the shed if that's the case.
@Robert Bowen - I wonder if you might get an answer if you post that on one of the wildlife threads? A few years ago, I had some very odd little larvae, wrapped in a kind of sticky web, inside the hedgehog house I built. It turned out to be a wasp of some kind, and was related to the trees it was under. I can't remember much else about it, but it could be that sort of thing.

 

Yes, I have done the rounds of osteopaths and chiropractors. Plus acupuncturists, kinesiologists, and much else besides. I actually find it easier to live without the transient hope these appts confer ... and my bank balance is healthier too. That said, I would recommend anyone who has a back problem to explore all the options as different things work for different people.

Beautifully autumnal here. Might get a bit done out there later. A couple of osteospermums need bigger pots and my green bin was emptied yesterday so I might start the refill with some prunings from this and that.

 

They look like butterfly eggs to me.

 

You're welcome

 

I've just read back from 10th August, gosh there were a lot of posts on that day! I enjoyed seeing @shiney's home improvements. It has been a bit of a chat thread as well as gardening which made it more fun to read. I'm afraid I'd forgotten this thread as I haven't had any alerts for it. I've posted on the edible gardening threads though.

I've been at my home in SW France since late July. We were at OH's cottage in Norfolk in before that. It has been hot and dry, think I've lost 3 fuchsias but 2 others are fine. The green in the lawn are from weeds but I'm pleased to have them, the lawn would be beige otherwise.

Most of what I've done in the garden has been weeding, watering, cutting back, dead heading and supporting. It's starting to fade now, a bit autumnal, but the roses are putting on new growth and buds for September. I hope I will get to see some of them in flower as we are going back to OH's cottage on the 9th.