What are we doing in the garden 2024

Smart idea @Bluejayway

 

What I wanted to ask you @Plantminded is what I have to do with the Geum Tangerine Orange. It no longer flowers, but with the plant itself is bushy green and looks absolutely healthy,
I could imagine, I need to cut it down at some point?

 

I was thinking of getting a new shed @CanadianLori , because the bottom of the right hand side was rotting. My fault, as I'd let the soil from the adjacent border get too high, and it's always moist, so it was inevitable. I then decided I could re build it - from the outside, and it would be cheaper and easier than a new one. The thought of emptying it, dismantling it all, and then constructing a new one was just a bridge too far, as the site is quite small for access too. I'm glad I've done it, as it should now last another ten years hopefully! I put some pix on another thread a while back - I think it was @Michael Hewett 's one with all his renovations as I'd been chatting to him about his work.
I've always done lots of DIY. Learned from my Dad. The storage box in some of the pix I posted has memories of all that - holding bits of wood for Dad to saw, and the notches and scratches on all the edging timber are all still there
Hope you get your clearing work done. I know what you mean about the days - I can't remember what day of the week it is at all, and now older daughter has had her shifts changed, so I'm even more confused!

 

@simone_in_wiltshire . I dont wish to steal @Plantminded ‘s thunder but geum’s are a brilliant plant - i divide mine evry other year . I Just lift them and separate the individual rooted plantlets , pot them up and leave them in the open air and plant into the ground in spring. I started with 2 plants 5 years ago and have dozens now , very few fail. They quickly thicken out and form a clump of little plants. Hope that helps

 

Alexa tells me its 1 degree outside , no frost or ice though . Clear blue sky , sun is very low in the sky now and doesnt penetrate the garden too well so everything is cloaked in moisture. The prospect is a couple of dry days so mid morning will be time to get the garden gear going while the workmen continue on week 5 of the kitchen works which has taken over inside and outside of the house , not much fun when its relentlessly wet . So , i have more to do than i could shake a stick at . Start with tidying and dead heading , sort out the apple harvest and go from there.

 

Marvelling at my yarden still looking pretty colourful on 3 October !!

 

Found some brambles and nettles lurking at the back of a border yesterday, which reminds me how long it is since I last got in there. I fear it might be time to think about how to reduce the amount of maintenance this garden requires...

Might be cutting the grass today, if the forecast is correct.

 

I'd leave it until it starts to fade @simone_in_wiltshire and then only cut off the foliage if you don't like it or leave it until new foliage appears in spring. They are hardy and over winter well. If there are any browning leaves now you can just cut them off at the base to tidy the plant up, along with any spent flower stalks. That variety is a good strong one and flowers well. As @Robert Bowen says, they are very easy to divide. I think you planted yours this year so it may not be ready to divide for another year or so.

 

Thanks @Plantminded. The plant looks like newborn and has grown since then. Not one single brown leaf. I leave it as it is.

 

Very useful, thanks a lot @Robert Bowen

 

Today I pulled up most of my tomato plants and then wanted to reuse the planters so decided to add some compost from the compost bin.

My bin is a Green Johanna and I bought and installed the thermal jacket earlier in the year. The foxes have been digging at the jacket and managed to destroy a section of it.


I had chicken wire wrapped around it for some protection when this happened but they managed to push the wire up and get under it.

Anyway when taking the jacket off to get the compost it was clear what was going on:


The worms get too hot in the bin and escape out of the ventilation holes, from where they fall down under the cover. Worms are a tasty snack for a fox.

Then in the bottom section of the cover I found this amazing caterpillar. Some type of tussock moth I should think:


I put that part of the cover back as soon as I'd got my compost out, but left the other sections off in case the birds want to have a go at the worms.I'll put it all back this evening and install the chicken wire again.

The compost was perfect, best I've made yet.

 

Hurrah, I actually did some gardening today. Warmish and sunny with hardly any breeze for a change. I started by clearing all the leaves on the front drive, then I remembered we needed potatoes for dinner tonight so dug two plants up, smallish potatoes but good for salmon and Mediterranean veggies. After a rest and a cuppa, I weeded the Side Bed and half way down the driveside of my main bed. Had to give up then as my back was starting to protest.
OH washed the windows and cut the lawns.

 

Emptied the battery on the strimmer, now on charge. Then started weeding a border, untouched since May, completely filled with violets and Nigella seedlings.
Noticed that the Grevillea rosmarinifolia is not flowering and has lost a lot of leaves, I think it's on it's way out; it has until next spring to buck it's ideas up. Also looking rather sorry for itself is Rosa "Peace" which has never enjoyed the Devon climate.
On a more positive note the first Autumn Crocuses are in flower.

 

@NigelJ I lost that grevillea the other year too - that snap in Dec 22. But might be worth cuttings. I heartily recommend grevillea miquelliana. Seems tough, and though it doesn't have one big flowering, it has flowered for over a year continuously

 

I found a couple of autumn crocus too @NigelJ - forgot I'd planted them.
Some will need moved though - I think they've been covered by other plants in recent years.
I got my Grandpa's storage box re roofed yesterday, and another coat of paint etc, so that can go back to it's spot today. Did more pot painting, and quite a lot of sitting with a cuppa, to take advantage of the glorious autumn day we had.
Back to murky today unfortunately, but will hopefully be dry enough to do some bits and pieces. It'll mostly be a bit of tidying, pot prepping for more bulbs and maybe some shrub lifting if I can face it.

Apologies @CanadianLori - you asked about curtains too. I was altering a pair I made over 20 years ago for my own bedroom. The material is lovely, and daughter had them for her bedroom when we moved, and now that youger daughter has moved out, she has her bedroom. They're too long for the window as it has the radiator under it and they're too think to tuck behind. All fine now.
We had a slight problem with the new sewing machine though [long story with that too ] as the bobbin winder was faulty - a vital bit missing. Daughter faffed around for an hour or so with it, and got it going. Not much use if you can't wind thread on the bobbin...