What are we doing in the garden 2025

Not just tulip bulbs and bird food . This is interesting:

What Do Squirrels Eat? What to Feed Grey Squirrels | Ark Wildlife UK

 

That's a fascinating article @Plantminded, thanks.

 

Indeed, though personally I’m not about to rush out and buy them a supply of dried banana chips. The pesky wotsits need no encouragement here and my grass looks like an 18-hole putting green with all their excavations.

 

I’ve only ever seen one here, using the fence at the back as a route to my neighbour’s garden but never actually in my garden. I don’t have bird feeders though, the lawn, trees and shrubs provide food for the birds at no cost for me .

 

One! I have many visits daily, often in gangs of 3 or 4 together, even though I have no food for them … unless you count my fatsia leaves! Their favourite pastime seems to be leaping through the air between the oak, a cherry tree, and a pine.

 

[QUOTE="ViewAhead, post: 1533276, The pesky wotsits need no encouragement here and my grass looks like an 18-hole putting green with all their excavations.[/QUOTE]

I was going to say the same but you beat me to it!!
Managed to do a bit in the garden today but finding it hard to get going with all this dull weather.

 

Potted up 18 lilly bulbs, 3 in each.

 

I spent an hour pruning, that was enough for me, its was downright cold and damp, getting motivated is not easy if the alternative is to go and sit in the warm.

 

I cleared dead leaves from iris (sibirica I think) and noticed new shoots. Had to prune roses because new growth was happening all along the stems. All a bit early!

 

We have a group of grey squirrels, maybe 4-5 at a time, living locally. We don’t actively feed them but they do eat all our walnuts, hazelnuts and enjoy the apples we cannot reach (shared with the birds).

They also used to strip the fat coconuts we put out for the birds but I now mix chilli powder in which definitely puts them off. The odd youngster will come onto it occasionally but once tried they don’t come back. Am not convinced it’s about the taste as they will take far more than one mouthful but then don’t return. I think they either get the heat effect or it upsets their digestive system

 

*trots out, step-ladder under arm, to sprinkle generous cloud of chilli powder on fatsia*



I jest! Squirrels - 1, ViewAhead - 0.

Glad it’s not just me, though I feel I will regret letting January slip past without making much progress.

 

Just about ready for my charity sale in March. Talking severely to the Hellebores to tell them not to flower so flaming early as would be good if they were not passed it by the sale, likewise the Pulmonaria which is threatening likewise.
Buyers can be a little tedious when I tell them they will need to wait to the following season before certain plants flower again. Maybe I should just sell things which flower from April onwards

 

I am very lucky as I get red squirrels visiting the garden, not all the time but relatively regularly. On a few occasions my large, pretty athletic cat will attempt to catch one. Not a chance despite his best efforts. I am convinced the squirrels tease the cat into thinking he has a chance. They don’t stick their tongues out at him or give him “ the finger” but I expect there is a squirrel equivalent. Like Viewhead’s score, Squirrels -1 Pancake-0 I am glad to say.

 

I've had visitors tell me that my neighbourhood squirrels are fat. Really big and fat. I don't feed them but in spite of having a tray under the bird feeder, lots gets spilled. I'd rather have those tree "rats" eat up the seeds than have the land rats think there's a daily smorgasbord and take the risk of encouraging them to move in under my deck. And if they're really efficient, those seeds won't be around to sprout in the spring. And I put metal cloth on my hanging pots before sprinkling seeds in them so the little so and so's can't dig the seedlings out.

It's not really gardening because we are only up to -18c and the ground is hard as rocks but I am getting my plant labels ready and putting them in order of sowing date.