WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2021

Today was the day to take the lemon tree back outside (washing the wooden floor covered with honeydew is a task for tomorrow), and treat it with neem oil. I also treated the two downstairs palms as well, as we have an ongoing problem with mealybug, that came in with an orchid. (Ive now given up on the orchids, and the mealybug is winning out). One of the palms has been sitting on an old dog-towel for the last few weeks - when I took the palm out to treat it, I noticed that the towel was dotted with lurking mealybugs. Horrible things!

We set up the other bean wigwam, although we will be having another go at pushing them in after some rain. The onions were planted, some near the wigwams, and the rest in normal rows. We shall see how it works... The cloches were taken out of storage, and two set up with covers, the third placed “bare” over the strawberry bed, ready to take netting when the fruits are ripening.

 

You've brought back happy memories Woo..thank you!

My Grandfather painted the whole of the outside of their bungalow that colour!!.. certainly stood out from the rest, bless him.
He was a real character. He ' designed and built ' a lean-to conservatory on the back of their place. Trouble was the walls were 3/4 high in brick with tiny windows above...when you sat in the chairs the only view you could see was....you've guessed it......brick walls!!!

They don't make Gandfathers ( or mistakes) like that anymore, sadly Google will help you out of a tough spot now so you can't giggle at mistakes!!

His envious ' every home needs one ' design was constructed back in the late 50s - early 60s , despite being very young my siblings and I still get a fit of the giggles over it.

Sorry off topic I know...but thanks again Woo.

 

Righty ho....back on track, another enjoyable day in the garden, mainly spent trying to figure out where to plant all the successful cuttings that I took from my parents garden. Didn't help that I didn't know what most were and wow didn't I take a lot too !!!!!
Also did some more p ricking out and potting on.

 

The colour of your steps look like purple to me Woo

 

@Sian in Belgium are you leaving your Lemon out now overnight?? We are still having minus night temps. It was my Dad's tree so I want to be careful with it.
Thanks

 

I totally understand your concern - our tree is precious to us too.

We hope that we are at the end of the below-zero temperatures now.... The forecast for the next 10 days has a low of 2c. I will wrap the tree in horticultural fleece for these two nights - and keep my fingers crossed!
The tree was suddenly getting very unhappy indoors. Most of the winter it’s fine, in the corner of the lounge, even though it is standing on an under-floor radiator. We sit it on a thick rug, to dissipate as much heat as possible. But then in early spring each year, the pests which thrive without the tits’ grooming get the upper hand. The tree starts dropping leaves, and getting sticky. When I see the ants come indoors to gather the honeydew, I know I need to start counting the days!
Its outdoor site is next to the water barrel feature (so a heat-source, as the water is always above freezing), and against a west-facing brick wall, as well as being near a large patio window.
As with all these decisions, it’s rarely clear-cut, but rather a compromise, weighing up the pros and cons of the two options.

 

Ok thanks Sian.
My Dad kept his in their smaller greenhouse that was up near the house in a fairly sheltered position.

I've overwintered it in our unheated porch just fleecing it over each night.

It tended to loose it's leaves before but I have to say it's looking really good now, no leaf drop or stickness. I've checked it over regularly for scale or other bugs and all has been fine....so far .

This one is at least over 16 years old, my Mum bought for him and because I loved it she bought me one too....sadly mine only survived a few years.
I thought it was because I kept it indoors over the winter, it became so infested by scale insects and so very sticky, it just gave up in the end.

I've used the winter feed regularly and have just given it a second summer feed now.

 

Put a lot of marigolds into bigger trays and put them on top of the greenhouse until later then they'll go in there for tonight. Also potted on 12 tomato plants they're still in the conservatory.

 

Lovely warm weather!

Had a friend round yesterday for a BBQ, the first in a long long time. For that reason I spent a lot of time in the garden trying to get everything looking nice.

I potted up two hydrangeas and got rid of some old plants not looking so sharp. I gave an azalea to my friend as he's just bought a house and wants shrubs to plant out. Also gave him a courgette so I'm slowly getting rid of my glut of plants!

Potatoes have had their first earthing up as the green was showing quite significantly above the ground.

I decided to plant out my first lettuce in the veg bed. I had to relocate a few onions to make it work (I've got loads so if the transplants "fail" from here on I'm fine with that). Pulling up the onion and they are not looking that grand... they are basically still like spring onions. Fingers crossed for the next 2 months because they were overwintered specifically so I could get them out of the ground early enough to plant things up due to my limited space! Ack. They're supposed to be harvestable from now but clearly are not! I think I can hold off planting anything in that particular bed until early June so fingers crossed one month of growth will give me some fat onion bulbs? Seems unlikely but then I know some plants just run away with growth (like that time I left a courgette for a week and came back to a marrow).

Got some free trellis for my pumpkin patch so that is my next job this weekend. Pumpkin seedlings are coming along well and have been going daily into the greenhouse along with the tomatoes.

 

Lovely day today, had me smiling even if it is a dreaded Monday I filled in a few holes in the lawn (technically it was the same hole several times lol), applied mulch and watered everything

 

Only had time after work to run around with cloches and cloth to cover as much as possible before the temps plunge tonight. So much to do and so little time!

 

Just pulled in my plant trays overnight and noticed the courgettes are already looking like they want to bud. Facepalm. I sowed them last week of March which I thought would be good for a late May plant out but I think next year I'll sow even later!

I buttoned up the greenhouse tunnel today at around 5pm, a lot earlier than I usually do, in order to monitor how it holds the heat overnight. It's currently at 10 degrees when the outside temp is reading as 5.5 so it seems to be holding a little better than most nights this week at this time.