WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Branch cut up and stacked. Weeding started off with a bucket, a hoe and a trowel; this has now been added to with a border fork, a pruning saw, a pair of secateurs and a pair of loppers. After lunch this will increase with the addition of wheelbarrow and spade.
As well as weeding the activity has expanded to include pruning, moving, dividing and general forking.
Found a missing lily, to be repotted and grown on, also relocated Impatiens flanaganae tuber was a couple of feet from where planted 4 years ago.

 

Nothing today it's raining.

 

I tried digging over a small area of the allotment, its going to be a bit of a slog this year I'm thinking.
The ground is digging over nicely due to the absence of any real rain for nearly a month but my back knees and feet just aren't up to it, the rest of me just wants to get on with it.

 

I have the same problem with my Back and when this starts hurting I just stop.

If you can see where you have dug, even if this is a small area, it's win Pete.

 

Recommend you seriously consider No-dig; its just so easy, especially from a previously cultivated site. I adopted this method seven years ago, converted poor pasture to a productive plot in 1st year. When I moved here 2 years ago did the same to poorly growing lawn and although its not yet reached its potential, confidence remains high. Any reassurance you require/queries please either ask or send PM. It works for me.

 

I tried a bit of that last year and the area I used is now rock hard.
I dont get enough organic matter to make it work and barrowing that a few hundred yards and spreading it is as hard as digging, or would be if I bought some in, which is expensive.

 

Mid Kent ? is that Wealden clay or chalk with flints etc
Have you dug that area?, send photo to show soil profile. What do you feed your vegetable plot ? What do you do with your trimmings, prunings, weeds etc

 

Finally planted up my new communal planter, and added the Astrophytum seedlings and the plump seedlings I carefully labelled two years ago into the nursery area. It's much easier to control the watering when the weenies are in a large planter.





Also re-potted various houseplants, spreading compost all over the newly scrubbed kitchen floor. Got told off by my daughter (who had done the scrubbing) so meekly swept around and didn't tell her that the Toms seeds need to be sown. I'll do them tonight after she has fallen asleep .

It's raining so outdoors gardening will have to wait until tomorrow.

 

My efforts were rewarded today with 2 bundles of chicken wire!

When our neighbors hedge was heavily cut back last year, a lot of the cuttings were left to rot underneath the hedge row, but now look very unsightly. As I was clearing up these pieces, I came across some chicken wire which had long given up pretending to be a fence and was doing a pretty effective job at protecting nettle roots from being dug up. So I started pulling, and found myself clearing, weeding, and tilling all in one action.

Hard work, but was left with a neater hedge and two big rolls of chicken wire




Made a new heap of the rubbish to allow it to break down and be a home for bugs. Not in my compost heap though, would take too long

 

Need more practice at posting images!

 

Just the job!
1 roll for sweet peas, 1 roll for 'tough' compost/leaves (2 year cycle) and all for free!

 

Its clay but been cultivated for 50 plus years, so not just solid lumps of clay anymore, the texture is good to be honest.
But it still packs down overwinter and becomes solid and airless, needs fluffing up in spring at least.
I have a compost bin that makes enough in three years to dig in on half of the cultivated area which isn't very big tbh these days.
The chippings go on my small woodland area which suppresses the weeds and rots down slowly to create more of a woodland type soil.

I've used FBB and chicken pellets in the past for fertilisers, and a small amount of growmore for a boost in summer.
Last year I bought in a bulk bag of veg compost and dug it in to the half that I didn't try the no dig on.

 

Checked pots of baby Dactylorrhiza that I started from seed in Sept 2020. They take a long time...
Repotted some separately and had a short period of mourning for the ones that had been nipped off by mice in the greenhouse.
Shifted some overcrowded snowdrops - yes, they're in bud, but I'll forget later.

 

Yes, clay once tamed with organic matter is a delight(?), I've had both London , & Wealden in the various gardens, just makes different coloured bricks!
You make a good point regarding the supply of compost*. Few of us (no-diggers) are self sufficient.Even Dowding buys/collects some from 'outside' his plot. Its that you need just as much, possibly more ,to dig in.
*Can be home compost, greenwaste (PAS100) compost or well rotted/composted fym or mix.
In the application annually to existing beds one needs only 25-30mm across the growing area. In extreme cases, just dress the rows you plant out into. This is best done in autumn(Nov3rd!) and allow worms to work through the winter, either under tarp cover or cover crops.(such as brown mustard.) You can of course collect (and barrow!) to store until then .Less of a chore if just 2 barrowfuls a day over 4 months
Come Spring you can simply uncover and plant out your plants/sets into what will be a soft ,clean and warmed soil. Any weeds will just be easy to pull out of the loose compost.Meanwhile, grow your plants indoors or under covers until ready to plant out (6 leaf stage) Personally use Vitax q4 rather than growmore as it is organic based and not harm the microbes.Dont give up, work smart not hard.