What are we doing in the garden 2024

Spent all morning on the front garden today, mowing (first time since May!) and weeding. Whilst doing so I noticed for the first time that the little hedge on one boundary had died. It had never occurred to me that it was Box, but it has clearly succumbed to Box Tree Moth. It's full of them, and they were fluttering up out of the grass as I was cutting it too.
I had been assuming it belonged to the neighbour but on closer examination they have a little wooden fence behind and the bulk of it seems to be on my side.
So one of my winter jobs will be taking it out (after double-checking!), and then thinking of something different to plant.

 

I’ve just retired my courgettes as I don’t think we’ll have the warmth and sun to make many more now. My yellow ones, didn’t make a very big rootball, and the green ones weren’t exactly pot-bound either. Maybe that’s why the yield was mediocre. I had lavished my home made compost on those!

 

I took off the last tomato plant yesterday and cut back a bit neighbour’s ivy.
Today, my neighbour to the left, where I got the bindweed from, cleared the entire row including Ash tree shoots which had grown 4 metres in two years. I was always divided on this. I liked the height, but Ash tree can’t grow like this close to the fence. Now, the view is again open which I don’t like. I wished I had a neighbour with nice hedge.
I had a lovely pink wildflower in my raised bed this year and took a dry flower head upstairs to get the seeds. Today, I opened the flower head and found approximately 10 seeds. Great, I will plant them out in March.
When I cut down the Phacelia in August, I saved some flower heads and left the others on the raised bed next to it. Those germinated and are now around 2 inches high.
I have also sown my Linaria Canon Went seeds. Should have been done in August, but shouldn’t be too late now.
Finally I had a nice talk about god and the world with my neighbour downstairs.

 

I planted my birthday bush at last, a Deutzia rosea Cherry Blossom that OH bought me back in July. It's in the main bed by the side of the drive and near two roses, one pink and one white so hopefully will all look good together.
I also planted 10 Tete n Tete daffs in the revamped curved wall bed in the back garden to give us some colour in the Spring.

 

I love Deutzia, too. They grow marvellous and look really aesthetic with their brown stems and lovely green leaves.

 

Pruned (removed a third of) Viburnum odoratissimum that had outgrown it's permitted space. Cleared out ash seedlings from around it, carted away prunings for shredding, then removed the last few days long grass trimmings, weeding and dead heading; compost bin now nearly full.
Planted some recent purchases.

 

Those nettles will be handy for you next year @ArmyAirForce - they make a great foliar feed, and best of all - it's free!
Lovely to have those little areas near the property, and great habitat for wildlife, although as it's near the road, they may not use it as much.
I only did a few small bits and pieces outside yesterday, sa the weather was a bit hit and miss, and decided to tackle the 'new' sewing machine in the morning instead. That was fun - not, as there was an important bit missing.. Sigh....
Thank goodness for a daughter who likes 'footering'. Gets that from her mum
I started swapping some bits and pieces around with the pots they're in, so that I can plant the rest of the crocus I got, and gave one small terracotta pot a first paint layer. Not ideal weather for it to dry, so I'll get more of that done later today. I have some seed grown aquilegias that need spaces for them, so I might get those in. I cut off the remianing manky foliage of the Convallarias that were trashed by slugs this year. That was disappointing as they're usually very resistant.
Other than that, it'll be deadheading and trying to keep Bob the pigeon off my white rowan....

 

The oak tree in the front garden is shedding bucket loads of acorns onto the lawn and drive. We had to move the car as they were damaging it. It's very difficult to remove acorns from the lawn - a stiff broom works best. Last year there weren't any acorns so I don't know why some years they have them. Lots of squirrels have appeared too!

We had a large ash tree at the bottom of the back garden and a few years ago while I was mowing the lawn it fell down - it went thud. Then it sprouted at a 90 degree angle. So hubby dispatched it with a saw. Now its babies come up everywhere. A pest tree!

 

That's just my neighbour's driveway, not a public road. We have a fox, bats, rabbits, hedgehogs, squirrels and pheasants that frequently visit.

 

I thought there wasn't much passing traffic in your video, @ArmyAirForce.

Opposite acorn situation here, @cactus_girl. Last yr we had zillions and the squirrels were a right pain. This yr, very few. I have to pick them up individually off the grass and gravel with my grabber, so the fewer the better as far as I'm concerned.

 

What about a vacuum cleaner using the hose attachment?

 

I took a chair into the garden and sat and cut back my large Lavender bush and a Senecio bush.The next job will be to remove a lot of the oxygenator weed from the pond and top up the water before taking the prunings down to the compost heap.
I went to my club in the afternoon to watch the final of the Golf Croquet singles competition. Nip and tuck from start to finish, the best of three 45 mins. games, followed by tea and presentation of the club competition trophies.
The weather was perfect.

 

Nothing in the garden yesterday apart from feeding the hedgehog (hopefully, and not a cat or rat this time... trail cam is still on the blink). Just about to go out scything again.

I see you have a shredder, @ArmyAirForce . If you wanted a more informal path through your lovely wood, you could use the arisings from your shredder, leaving more room in your green bin for horrible laurel...

 

I have been spreading the chippings around the woodland, but for the path, we are planning on using some circular tree ring stepping stones. I'll then probably use chippings around them.

 

The good news is that Project Dig is complete, with all the rubble now removed.

Now just to get about 6 tonne of top soil....