What are we doing in the garden 2024

Since we're moving I extricated the three obelisks from the garden...had forgotten they had four massive anchors each, hard work but I'll be damned if I leave them behind. And of course didn't wear the rose gauntlets I've got somewhere so picked up a few scratches from the roses. Oh well, part of the course.

 

Well at least it wasn't raining....for a while..... so took advantage and planted my new hellebore, which involved moving an aquilegia to another spot..... Did a bit of weeding and tidying up, loosening the top inch or two of some of the borders ready for mulching...till my back screamed at me that I'd tortured it enough... Also pricked out a heap of silene pendula, potted on some scented pelargonium cuttings, sowed two more types of cosmos and some sunflowers, and chucked out the trailing pellies I've been nurturing all winter....too scruffy and taking up too much room in the potting shed/secondary greenhouse (basically an area in the back passage between the house and the neighbour's fence with a perspex roof and a door.....very handy for storing composts, playing with plants and overwintering....frees up the small proper greenhouse for just growing things...)

Wet again now though.....

 

Finally finished off the steps this afternoon, had to rebuild the little wall to the left of the steps , its been a trying few days with the weather I've been treading mud everywhere .

Managed to get a few plants moved while I were at it , had a Sanguisorba Lilac squirrel in the bed near the top step they are very difficult to dig out with the thick fleshy roots , got a few divisions and give next door one . Planted Abelia Kaliidoscope in its place , moved a few snowdrops and had a tidy up.

I haven't really got any old pictures of what it were like before it were just a grass slope with stepping stones


Finished its a bit of a mud bath, I've left a few planting holes just to the sides of the steps thinking maybe some ferns to the right at least and maybe Erigeron to the left or just all the same . With digging down I've got quite a bit of exposed soil under the wall ( right side ) I could fill it with stone but I'll see if anything grows in it first , had a campanula portenschilagania laying around so trying that for now.

 

First non- drenched day for ages so managed to carry on moving the garden.

We'll move house sooner rather than later so it's a mammoth task to sort out what will come with us and what will stay, and in what size or form. Quite sad, but also exiting

Weeded the pots of cuttings I took last autumn, Lacecap Hydrangea, Viburnum, Gojiberry and Climbing Iceberg rose are all doing well. Vinca Minor variegata if of course doing well (it's rather prolific), it's a lovely plant and always useful.

Dug up various Semprevivums and potted them in a shallow planter. Wherever we move it must have a south facing place for them, I'm rather addicted to Sempies. There's a batch of seedlings on the windowsill too. "Wanted: a house with south facing corner (preferably with rain shelter) for a rockery/ green roof/ arid planters, bathroom and a bedroom or two are an added bonus! "

In a week or two I'll make a round of spring cuttings/ divisions from new growth.

And then the clearing out part 57: A binbagful of rusted flyaway greenhouse, 3/4 binful of assorted recyclables and there is not even a dent in the hoard formerly known as "garage" There must be generations of accumulations, which is a bit odd as we have only been in this house for seven years

Also potted up a Fishbone cactus rooted cutting as a present for a friend.

 

The wall is really nice, it looks like it was built the same time as the walls. You must be pleased, I'd be delighted.

 

Cut the grass, done some cutting back of dead stems, planted the contents of a couple of tubs that had last year's hyacinths (purple ones) and some self-sown Lunaria "Chedglow" in them, turned the compost and started a new batch off. Three hours out in the garden before I got rained off. I think I'll pay for it tomorrow (lightweight!!)

 

That’s a very impressive afternoon’s work @Perki!

 

I have been mowing. The garden is too wet to use the tractor mower on quite a bit of it so I used the battery mower which is quite a good one but the battery ran out after 40 mins and I hadn't finished.

This was at my home in Dordogne, France. I moved here 3 years ago and there wasn't really a garden, a lot of grass and a few trees. I downsized from the big old family farmhouse where my late OH and I brought up our 4 children. There was a huge garden there.

10Years after OH died I met 2nd OH who lives in England. His current cottage is in Norfolk. We come and go so I have 2 gardens to look after.

My French garden last year, not quite all of it.

 

This is part of OH's garden. It's a lot smaller but it's on 3 sides of the house. I re-planted a lot of it as it was full of rampant things like yellow lamium and ground elder.

 

I've just bought a few more terracotta plant pots for the patio, will have to decide what I'm going to plant them up with..

 

Weeding, cleared out the shed, further planning of what will go where, picked another big bag of salads from the greenhouses, they are producing enough now I can eat quite a few salads a week from them. Planted some sorrel in a border

 

oooo... very nice pots they are @LeadFarmer , where did you get them from and what kind of price range are they please?

Proper terracotta pots seem to be made of diamonds and petrol nowadays, judging by the price Always on a lookout of a good deal , terracotta pots just feel so right.

 

Managed to get outside this afternoon-its was dry/sunny and then cloudy a bit later. Very mild all day!

Had a bloomin migraine too-but managed to get new raised beds bit laid out and lined and started to empty out old planter/pig trough. Need lots of soil.

Also buried the electrical cable I’ve had installed in the garden (for the little pond i built last summer).

Was hoping to get a new patio laid this year but just had to spend £10k getting my car fixed so will have to make do this year.


Ps @Perki steps look great!