What are we doing in the garden 2024

Anyone got a second hand military flame thrower I could borrow??

 

Put some rose food on the roses and put some compost on top.

 

Well done @Logan. I have some pelleted chicken manure to scatter everywhere but these days my hands find opening some of the containers quite difficult so I have to brace myself before tackling that job

 

Please let me know your secret @Plantminded.
Psst is it relating to Cherry Laurel?

 

Funny you should say that @Ladybird4, my neighbour has a 12 foot laurel hedge running right across the back of my garden …………… not far from where the Crocosmias were.

I’m pretty sure that they were the typical Montbretia type. I quite liked them when I moved in. I think it took a few episodes of digging deeply over a couple of years to eradicate them.

 

Bit scared now of tending the crocosmia seedlings

This morning the back and front lawns were cut, and now I've got a good wheelbarrow full of grass clippings that will go round the base of fruit trees as a mulch in a few days time. Tonight looks like we're having quite a downpour, so once that's been through, the clipping can be spread.

Sorted out a flower bed that I've been putting off for a while. Last year it had discarded soil from laying some pavers dumped on it, together with some old turf that I've been trying to compost for a year or two. The patch never really got tidied after being a dumping ground; I did grow tomatoes on the patch last year though they were in growbags. So today I got down to knocking the area into shape. It's had a good sprinkling of FBB and a thin layer of spent compost from several last year's containers. Planted a few seedlings on the bed a few days ago; borage, lupins, and some sunflowers, with plans for many more plants to go in.

 

@Plantminded I am inclined to think about cherry laurel seriously now
@Jenny_Aster, I think borage is such a pretty blue flower. It is much loved by the bumblies in my garden.

 

It is, and edible too. They're planted right next to the strawbs, so hopefully they'll entice pollinators to visit strawberry flowers. There's one problem that I have with borage, their lives are cut short by powdery blight, they always seem to get it.

 

@Jenny_Aster I read somewhere that you can freeze borage flowers in ice cubes and then they are a pretty addition to a drink. You are right about the powdery mildew though.

 

That's a good idea! Have heard the flowers go well in fruit salads.

 

Managed to get outside in garden in half hour lunch break. It has been a beautiful sunny day today. In lunch break I managed to plant out 3 verbena bonariensis that were growing in a big pot.

Wish I could have carried on gardening all afternoon but had to get back to the computer

 

Do enjoy reading your exploits in your gardens on this thread that's what I like about this GC Forum , can't wait to get back in our garden back home in Wales ! Happy gardening everyone .

 

Good morning @shiney. I am loving the pictures of your garden. Your lawn is magic! I got rid of mine as it just filled up areas that could hold more colourful and pollinator attractants but if I had a lawn I would prefer a wild life meadow. Is that a bat box I can see in the second picture? I have one on my house and pipistrelles are occasionally observed. Its a summer roost rather than a winter one. I have a rhubarb patch - much smaller than yours I admit - and I have already have two rhubarb crumbles this year.