WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2022

Potted up my new arrivals this week, three Adenium obesums and one Plumbago coccinea ...

 

I have finally finished digging up, trimming and potting up for overwintering all the Pelargoniums ..hopefully , 58 so far. I often come across a couple at a later date that escaped me.
I have also made a start on the tender Fuchsias.

I didn't give in to temptation this time, but it was so hard to resist saving cuttings from all the trimmings.

I had to give myself a stern talking to as I really don't need anymore plants

All safely housed in the lean to coldframe , obviously it's still too mild to warrant the roll down doors to be closed yet.

 

Yesterday: weeding
Today: tidying

 

Collected a lot of leaves for the back garden.

 

Today in the garden I made a stupid, stupid mistake that could have had very serious consequences. I'm very careful and take safety very seriously, so when I decided to have a controlled burn of all the bramble and wild rose clippings I'd produced in my ongoing battle to reclaim Far End (the bottom end of my garden), I planned everything carefully, I made sure the surrounding area was clear, I had the hose on standby, I even checked the wind direction.

The bonfire was built up inside a metal cage. So how to get it going? This is where I didn't think it through properly. I used an old wok that I don't use any more. I put some old newspaper in it, and to help it along, I poured about half a litre of used cooking oil in. Lit it, and slid it under the cage.

All was well until the fire got bigger than anticipated so, watching very carefully, I had hose in hand ready. That's when the magnitude of my stupid oversight hit me. My idea of using the old wok with paper and a bit of cooking oil in it was effectively a chip pan fire, and you don't spray water on a chip pan fire. If I wasn't such a boringly logical chap, I might have panicked. I'd planned the whole thing to be safe and not put any burden on the fire brigade, but my one stupid oversight nearly caught me out. I thought about grabbing my spade and chucking soil on it, but in the end, I went with spraying everywhere except the burning wok, and let the wok part just run its course. I then spent about half an hour dousing down the surrounding area, and checked back every few minutes until the old wok was cool enough to handle. It's all safe now, and I won't be doing that again.

I didn't manage to burn off all the clippings. I took the decision that it doesn't matter how inconvenient it is, I'm going to do multiple tip runs to take it all to the recycling centre.

 

Oh my that was a close call @Clueless 1 v2 !!
So glad you're Ok and that it all ended without drama or disaster.

Very scary though for you.Phew!!

 

@Clueless 1 v2 that was a good idea to wet everything around it and glad that you're ok, apart from being a bit shook up a bit.

 

Finally finished planting out the bulbs this morning

Sorted , cleaned and stored away in bin liners all the pots and trays that I will need for sowing seeds next year.

Emptied out the greenhouse so that it can be swept and cleaned in readiness for Winter....and typically it started to drizzle so everything has been speedily chucked back inside. It now looks worse than it did before I started!!

 

Just come in for the day as the drizzle is definitely here to stay , managed to get a little bit of order in the greenhouse restored but there's still a lot of scope for improvement!!

I was giving myself a pat on the back for finally completing the bulb planting this morning but now I have just come across a load more!! I have absolutely no idea what they are , there's a variety to choose from by the look of the unearthed stash.

Think I will just dig a few big holes in the borders and bury handfuls and wait with baited breath to see what emerges next Spring.

Why do all bulbs look like onions.

 

I can't do anything until the windows are in my greenhouse.
When they're in I can finish putting my cacti and succulents there,
and then I can put the half hardy perennials and shrubs where the cacti and succulents are now, i.e. in a perspex shelter at the side of my former garage.

Then, when the perspex shelter is all nice and tidy, I'll be able to take the shelving which was in the old demolished shed (site of new greenhouse) into the former garage, to be used as storage.
At the moment it is strewn all over the place ... and that's another reason I can't do much in the garden.

 

Gosh that'll keep you out of mischief for a while Michael.

 

I've been washing all my large pots with Fairy Liquid.

 

Sounds as though you did the sensible thing, C1v2. I've had a few close calls here, mainly because the heap is between a walnut tree, an old wine press, an electric fence and a polytunnel The only really vulnerable thing is the walnut tree, so that gets hosed down before and during, but wind direction is absolutely critical. Timing too. We're surrounded by fields, so no fires while there are standing crops or stubble. Simply couldn't get rid of the vast quantities of waste any other way, though.

 

Well, apart from thoughtlessly starting a chip pan fire under a pile of bush clippings

 

Tied up some of the blackberry canes for next year and mulched one of the deciduous Azaleas with leaves.