What are we doing in the garden 2024

I hope you had a good time @Meomye and had some good views. The weather has been a bit hit and miss, but that's always the case regardless of time of year. Late August/September is often good though. Glencoe is one of those places that can be stunning, but also brooding and mysterious, which is why so many people visit.
The knees are definitely dodgy, but the other bits that are starting to fail now too!

 

Nothing going on in the garden.
In the morning I enjoyed a walk around the water garden in lovely weather, with my family from Canada. Met up for a meal with them in the evening after prepping veg. and a massive piece of brisket for dinner tonight. I am slow roasting it and taking it to my daughter's this evening to save her having to cook. Honey roast parsnips, carrots and cauliflower cheese, dessert is Chocolate Orange mousse. It is like a military exercise getting it all cooked, into the car and over to them, but I love the challenge.
The family have gone off today to take part in a charity swim/run at Gribbins Head. They had to get up this morning at 6.00am to go and register between 8.30/9.30am. They must want something to do They win a medal and a T shirt if they complete the course. Wow! Lucky them.

 

I am available to do gardening today. However ... just stepped out there for the first time since Wednesday and everything is so soggy, there's no point starting. Plus, there is more rain in the forecast and it looks like it might arrive even earlier than expected.

Not happy.

 

Neighbour's cat in our front garden.
Shoo! Shoo!! I screamed.
It -- sex unknown -- opened one eye, then resumed the big sleep.
So I sent the good Wife out with the camera.

 

@fairygirl the Robins are down to 1 just now - Mrs R. Think he has long gone, else we would have seen him. The 4-5 chicks were around together for a while, but like your lot started to squabble and then Mrs R waded in and chased the lot! I have seen them once or twice and they all had their red breast almost in full, but not quite. It's odd as "Mrs" would never go to the feeder when he was around, and actually got the "tut, tut" if she tried. Now she proudly jumps up there and eats from one of those plastic feeders we stuck on the window just for Robins. It looks pretty naff and they have to be very brave to use it as we sit inside next to it. But it is also ideal as the squirrels and larger birds can't get on it as it also has a roof which you can stick above the feeder.

 

Jet washed patio part 2. The recent rain made parts slippy and it was well overdue. I can’t really use the ‘black spot’ stuff as too near plants. I think perfect stones would look un-natural in my mature garden anyway (that’s my excuse).

 

Planted daffodils in the large pots, in the smaller ones hyacinths and some polyanthus.

 

We were having coffee on the patio when our neighbour started mowing her lawn. Just by being out, she guilted us into doing something, so we ended up trimming the three Yew trees some more, plus a few other bushes that have spread a little too much.

 

Trimmed a load of long grass, thinned out some excess bamboo canes, pruned a Helwingia, dug out a geranium that had gotten way too big for where it was, a small bit will be replanted.

 

I moved a few plants from containers into the ground to fill some gaps and add some winter colour, including four Heucheras and a new Euphorbia. I mowed both lawns, mainly to remove fallen leaves, and swept up Sorbus berries and leaves off my steps which is becoming an almost daily task. I then removed a couple of runners from some bamboo, they were about a foot long but I got them early and they were easy to pull up and remove with secateurs. I check all my bamboos regularly to ensure they remain well contained, reducing the number of canes by up to two thirds every year. I then tidied up my garage and put some empty pots in the storage area under the house accessed from the garage. It’s becoming a bit like an underground loft .

 

I started cutting down the Beans to put in the compost bins.

 

Still picking my runner beans and there are lots more to come. I have started leaving some pods on to develop seeds so I don't have to buy any next year.

No need to water as it started raining properly this afternoon.

Tied up the passion flower to the fence. It is fairly young. My first two died - from underwatering I think. The first lived decades and produced orange fruit that looked like light bulbs.

 

I just saw a toad jumping and walking from the entrance of the garden when I had opened the door. He probably was looking for grass but all he found was concrete, and disturbed by me, he went back to the garden. Isn't it nice to have so much variety in a town garden? I love it.

 

I've often thought about getting one of those little window feeders @DiggersJo , but I don't want any more birds hitting the windows, whch I've had several times. Nice when you get them at close quarters though. The dunnocks, and other birds, often come near the windows to check out the planting there, but the house is quite elevated, so I have to stand at the window to see them. When they use the fence nearest the house, it's easier.
I got my smaller birdcage tarted up yesterday, and also got the front gate painted and put back on. Planted out a little pot of Convallaria that also had some Heuchera in it, beside the recently planted rowan sapling I grew from seed. The primulas I divided and put in with it are flowering, so that should all be quite nice in the next few years.
Not sure what will get done today, but I have a slef seeded hawthorn that's been grown on this year and could do with planting, so I might do that. There's some stuff in the compost bin that needs shifted, so I can do that too. I could get on with clearing the front bed, and putting in the rest of the lonicera hedging there too.

I meant to say @ArmyAirForce - cold frames are always a useful thing to have. I've always made mine from bits and pieces, but those look very smart. Hope you get loads of use from them - but it looks like you've already started that!

 

No prospect of time in the garden today , heavy rain woke me about 0300 and i listened to it drumming on the roof after that and more forecasted for the rest of the day. Two swallows have been perched on the phone wires avross the garden for the last half hour , looking very bedraggled, sadly our summer visitors will be leaving us soon. Time to make plans for the garden next year methinks….