What are we doing in the garden 2024

As winters are mild here and not very wet I leave all my dahlias in the ground @Loofah except new ones grown in pots for a year while they develop a decent root system.

It's been extremely wet here since mid October so it's a case of fingers crossed here.

 

Planted some mesclun lettuce and two types of tomatoes today, hopefully will see some signs of life when I get back in a couple of weeks, have warned the neighbor who is looking after the cats that she needs to take the cloches off if they go nuts too quickly…. Fingers crossed.

 

Had a lovely couple of hours in the garden today, the sort of day I love, I had no set plans, so just pottered, moved the odd plant, divided a couple of things, and wandered round pondering.

 

My kind of day.

 

Daren't wander around pondering. I'd frighten myself with all the catching up I need to do after no gardening since last June.

Instead, I headed straight for the polytunnel as planned and had a good clean and reorganise of the potting area before sweeping th ecentral path and washing the inside walls and roof. Just the old chillies to pull tomorrow and then manure to spread on the beds.

Filthy now and a bit damp but a happy bunny.

 

Took young tomato plants up to the greenhouse, covered over with fleece. Checked and watered as necessary. Then finally got round to pruning the gooseberry bushes, then started to weed the fruit area. This afternoon continued to weed this area, still got away to go in there.

 

This morning I put cardboard and compost on my new mixed border, not finished yet. There is already an amelanchier there and I've just planted 2 roses, Blush Noisette and Gentle Hermione. I have 2 shrubs that daughter 1 gave me for Christmas but I haven't yet planted them. I need to buy some more perennials

 

Been working on the summerhouse in the garden. Got the electrics working. Onto the prep and internal decoration stage now.

used the chop saw in the garden to chop up a load of wood for the stove

 

I've been out with a torch picking caterpillars of my clematis.

I had hoped the blue tits would put in more of an effort.

 

Busy with work today but had a nosey in the greenhouse when I got home and I have my first ever Tomato seedling! A lovely little Sungold seedling.

 

You must have a fair old size garden Shiney.

I did manage to get out in the garden yesterday and plant 9 Verbena bonairiensis just before the heavens opened (dry all morning, typical).
Hoping to get some more seed sowing done this weekend.

 

@shiney your garden sounds wonderful, and big! Are there any photos of it somewhere in this forum?

I had a big garden too, up to 3 years ago when I downsized. It took 4 hours to mow as well, with a tractor mower mostly, apart from the steep bits. It was in Dordogne, France and I used to open it with the French version of the NGS.

The flower garden I have now, also in Dordogne, is about 1/4 of an acre, another fenced off bit for the vegetables that has quite a bit of grass and 2 big old apple trees, an orchard and a hay meadow that the farmer mows. The flower garden was just a large grassed area in front of the house and I have been making beds and borders and planting.