WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2021

The weather has been good here this summer but wasted. For three months I've hardly been near the garden due to arm muscle injuries. Nature is gradually taking over, even though I've temporarily employed someone to take over strimming and mowing. It's going to be a busy year next year getting it back into shape and carrying on with the plans I had for this year.

 

Planted two Centaurea nigra in my new border yesterday and today two Lythrum salicaria plus an Alcea rosea 'Nigra'. Hardly anything's in its final position yet but at least it will look full of plants for Autumn and there are loads of late flowerers in there, I can shift everything based on colour and its eventual height next year, I'm happy enough with it and just loving the huge diversity of insect life I'm seeing on all the flowers ATM.

Edit: Oh wow, so glad I planted that Salvia 'Icing Sugar'! (the one with pink flowers in the second photo) A Hummingbird Hawk-moth came and drank from it this evening, spent about a quarter of an hour in the border!

Nick

 

Cut the grass patch at the front, it was plenty long enough and I thought I better cut the yarrow down a bit, the daisies had stopped flowering. The moss always makes it hard work pushing the mower. I must have been a bit under the weather as I heard myself telling a neighbour I might give it another go Saturday. Even though there have been a couple of dry days it was still damp at the bottom. Anyway that was about a third of the grass cut before I got bored and wandered off up to the greenhouse for watering and a chat with the plants.
At the greenhouse I put out the red spider mite predators I've bought, just got the sticky traps to hang up. RSM has been bad this year so I thought I would give the bio controls a go.

 

Planning on a border revamp at the moment..still only at the' in my head + in my notebook stage'.
Like you @Sheal I have been (and still am ) incapacitated by my spine, leg and knee issues for the past 18months and this year the garden has been left to, somewhat, it's own devices , with just a tidy up to keep it from looking unloved.

If this is going to be how my health is from now on then things need to be scaled down to easy management. Thats the plan .

 

Looking forward to seeing the border revamp @Upsydaisy. My gardening is always at the 'in my head' stage. I don't plan but make a start and see where it leads me.

Also like you my body is decrepit, to which my arm problem was added back in April. We mustn't let it get the better of us though. I've got nothing here to down scale but have been/will be planting shrubs and perennials to make upkeep a little easier....well apart from the lawns.

 

Your garden definitely sounds like hard work @shiney!! So glad you don't live near us with your huge bonfires!

Hubs has just done all our hedging and finished putting it through the shredder yesterday.. I have made a start on brutally discarding non performers and drastically cutting back plants that have very much outgrown their allocated spaces. This is all new to me as I don't like taking such drastic action, not even sure if I'm doing things correctly or at the right time of year. Have been taking lots of cuttings as a back up measure.

 

In case a spark flies off and ignited it I presume @Loofah

 

Snap @shiney !

 

Yesterday picked some chillies and the first blackberries, then did some watering, the polyanthus needed it.

Today just watering, had to do other things today.