WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2022

My plan for today was to weed around the Hibiscus, but instead I cut back a bush in Kathy's (my neighbour) front garden that was coming well over my side. She planted it right against the fence.

Then I pruned back part of a Silver Birch tree that she again planted too close to my boundary, the bugger was slapping me in the face when the wind was blowing.

After years of having lovely Lille's, this year's display has been rubbish, so I've tied labels with their colour on. When the bulbs die back I'll plant in another bed.
The Hibiscus can wait.

 

Went out this afternoon and lifted the "cuckoo" plus a second one I found. The ground was so soft I carried on and hand-weeded my bit of garden.

 

Picked some more raspberries, loganberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants and pink currants.
Pink currants and black currants
Picked these gooseberries before they were fully red and ripe, they taste better when this colour.

 

Busy few days trying to empty the GH planted up loads of pots , I ve got 2 or 3 pots left and the GH doesn't look much different Lobelia everywhere . Next door just had a tipper load of horse manure delivery I get to help myself to it I did use some for my pots and various other plants .

Tended to the tomatoes this evening and potted on some nepeta / clematis cutting and stuck some sedum cutting in I accidently broke the other day. . Verticut lawn earlier and mowed ready for a feed this weekend .

Had a plant delivery earlier today from Tortworth plants - 2x pennisetum rubrum - 2x morina - penstemon garnet and a Californian fuchsia I can't spell the Latin name I am happy with the plants and cheap shame about postage cost but it is what it is , the pennisetum are top notch plants better than my other one bought in a large pot it half the size and cost twice as much

 

We pretty much have a day off as our gardener is back to finish the hedge. I did buy a Coreopsis while shopping at Morrisons. It is rather bedraggled but down to 90p. Being a Scotsman I couldn't pass up a bargain! I'll plant it out this evening.

 

Dodging the showers this morning mostly but did feed the Strawberries, Blackberries ,Blueberries and both Grape Vines.

 

Mowed the lawns. Cut back the Geraniums hoping to get a second flush. Watered the pots in the back patio then looked for the Lupins I planted a couple of weeks ago

 

Ended up both my wife and I helping the gardener stripping the overhanging roots along the pavement. We tried edging shears, tree pruners, saws, an axe, an edging spade and eventually a Stihl chain saw. The Stihl did the job but destroyed the chain in the process. We still have half a van load of debris to go to the dump tomorrow or Saturday. Both the boss and I are knackered and sore.

 

I love Lupins but feel like giving up on them after they've flowered the slugs demolish them , I do try and hide them behind later flowering plants .

I've been trying to grow some petrea seeds @Victoria failed so far , I've removed the husk and chipped them but nothing has come to pass so far. Think I'll try soaking the seed next time.

 

I didn't do anything with them, just popped them in compost barely under the surface. I really couldn't find much info on them. They were little cone shaped seeds so I put them in pointy side down. I'll let you know if anything develops.

 

@Perki I so agree with you about the Lupins...if it's not slugs then it's those ghastly giant Lupin Aphids horrible, horrible things.

 

@Upsydaisy Talk about aphids - I've had a third round on getting rid of them on one pot of Dahlias! They are blackfly but as fast as I get rid of them the ants seem to bring them back again! Strangely enough it's just the one pot that's affected but not the other two. If I need to do it a 4th time I shall put Neem oil in the sprayer & see them all off once & for all! All this squirting to blow them off with a strong squirt of water is making my arms tired & I'll end up with carpal tunnel syndrome!
.

 

Same here @Balc , I've about 25 Dahlias and check them every day . One in particular had some aphids around it's emerging buds but I found that once they were removed it has since been clear and the buds opened beautifully. I've found that with Dahlias you just have to get them past various stages safely and then they seem pretty bug free.

The 1st stage is as they emerge through the ground ( I don't dig mine up, they remain in the borders) the slugs make a beeline for them so I cover them each night ( and on days when the ground is damp from rain) with big clear plastic bottles that have had their base removed. Once the leaves have grown a bit bigger the slugs seem to lose interest in them and leave them alone.
The 2nd stage is as mentioned earlier ,aphids around the developing buds. I use a small paint brush along with a jug of water and just clear them off from the whole stem that carries the bud, the bud then opens and strangely the aphids don't return.
We are fortunate to have a good supply of Ladybirds and at this time of year I also make a point of collecting up Ladybird larvae and placing them on any plant I find that has a heavy infestation. Generally speaking though most get left to their own devices so long as the plant isn't showing signs of damage or distress.

 

I've noticed a lot of black fly this year.
Ants are moving them around and as soon as I squash them within days they are back.

 

Last year i cut the lupins down after flowering like they say and when they grew back the stems were so tender that they had lupin aphids, couldn't get rid of them, it killed 2 of them.
Today potted on some of the young wallflower plants.