What jobs are we doing in the Garden today 2015

MORNING all!!!!! well this is not in my garden but thought id take a pic loool..... what a lovely sunrise today....hmm well it was half hour ago, just went outside to take a pic and its looking rather dull now lol

Morning Bekie76, why thank you, i love a clean and tidy shed, my wife moans at me and says why cant i keep the house clean like i do my shed lool :D

Morning AB, sounds like you keep a tidy ship lool, thats how we like it

Edit, morning Shiney! sounds good, im hoping to mow over the weekend also, were not due no rain so fingers crossed

 

Hope you're feeling better today @Dips.

My bulk bag of compost has arrived and so the plan for next week (while on holiday from work) is to get cracking on a raised bed for planting, among other things, my autumn garlic that arrived from the Van Meuwen offer.

 

I agree, it's as if we are doing Spring growth cuts again, but it does look good, especially eith Autumn leaves on it!
I will be clearing the raised veg bed - with temperatures forecast to be as low as 1c on Monday and Tuesday next week, we are not going to get any more beans, or aubergines! Then I can finish topping it up with the part-rotted horse manure I got in the summer. That will probably ke-nacker me, and I'll have to sit down and watch some rugby. Go Wales!!!

 

Today I did some deadheading and took cuttings from a hebe, verbena and some annual geraniums I liked from this year.

 

Moved about half a ton of chipped bark put down weedproof membrane, moved a few plants around, filled one green wheelie bin will fill the other one tomorrow, had a really productive day

 

Today I started potting my begonias, lupins (just in case.. sown this year), fuschias and flaming katy's up.. Done 4 or 5 layered/lasange pots with some bedding on top.. another load of bedding displays in pots and troughs for the front. Put fred loads rose bush in, a climbing blue moon and the hardy fuschia in the front garden. Potted a bay tree (at least I think it is), a spirea gold and lifted a dahlia for a pot, I was desperate for one (that matched another)
end of my cosmos..
looks as if I've grown grass in pots... there's lillies in there somewhere ha!


And last but not least the cherry tree... the mr was told by some gardener when he was on a job Hereford way to dig the hole 2 times the root ball (our root ball was like twigs..) back fill as you go and shake the tree slightly.. DIG UP 2 days later (!?) and replant.. now that last bit sounds mental to me. So anyways he dug a hole.. we didn't completely fill with new compo we used some of the soil that was there tooand mixed well just , my questions are..is the hole to big/deep and will the wall be affected as it seemed very close to me. I read that roots can grow upto 3 times the length of the height..

my sons digger and dumper helping out .. and the hole is wider than the trug, middle is about as deep.


So any thoughts, tips or advice on the tree will be greatly appreciated as we are new to fruit trees!

 

Root spread depends on the type of tree @Lynd. In most cases the roots will spread to roughly the same height as the tree but there are exceptions like Willows and Conifers etc. I think your tree will be okay where it is but it looks like you've buried the graft below the soil surface. That should be raised to sit just above ground. Don't forget to keep it watered over the coming weeks while it establishes it's roots. Rain will penetrate the top few inches of soil but not reach the roots.

 

Looks like I will be digging it up in 2 days lol! Thank you I thought it was in too deep, this might sound stupid but I can't think how else to explain, is the graft the area where it looks as if it has changed colour? The label said it was on colt root stock, which google told me is semi vigorous so will roughly grow 3 meters.. that really scared me!

 

With just a couple of hours to spare today I decided to finish clearing my tiered bed of annuals, weeding and digging over as I went. A beautiful sunny peaceful afternoon, the soil is like crumble and clearing it is a pleasure. The Robin has joined me and is sitting 3ft above my head in the tree, he's singing his heart out and waiting for me to budge over a bit so he can come down for the pickings.

My new neighbour who lives at the back of my garden appears at the other side of my fence and starts up a petrol strimmer and spends ten minutes revving it before he gets to work! I could quite happily have turned it into a neck scarf for him! If there's one thing I can't stand, that's petrol strimmers and hedge trimmers, the noise drives me mad!

So! The Robin's beautiful song was drowned out and he flew off anyway. I couldn't hear myself think so abandoned my quest. Adding insult to injury, no sooner had I cleared up and retreated indoors, said neighbour stopped! I hasten to add this man doesn't seem to be happy unless he's creating a din with one of his many noisy tools. All I wanted was a little peace and quiet surrounded by nature, that's not to much to ask is it?

 

I don't know whether you can see it in this picture but there will be a knobbly bit at the base of the trunk and above the roots where the graft will have been made. If you don't keep that above ground it will send up suckers, stems that grow from the rootstock which you don't want taking over. Growth of 3 metres is not a problem so there's no need to worry about that.

 

Sheal, find his petrol supply and sweeten it a little ...

I tested the heaters to make sure they are in good operating condition. Tried out a new ecofan and found it to be quite dandy so went and got a second one at a nearby town which was also a place my grandson wanted to visit to hang out with his buddies (read: parent/teenager clash over messy room, granny breaks up the fight, tells parents to chill, kid to smarten up and then separates them for a cooling off period) Cleaned my potting table so I can use it as a place to crush peppers tomorrow. These peppers are far too hot to process indoors.

made a fitting to hold a dish of water on the top
of a pole so the birds can get a drink and the raccoons can't use it as a place to wash their muddy paws.


Tidied the shed a little PRIOR to taking a pic for another thread here.

 

If only I could Lori!

My grandchildren are quite a way from adolescence yet.....thank goodness!

 

@Sheal Thank you yes I can see the knobble, I'll have to dig it up and have a good look I didn't see much, the mr just rammed it in. And I feel your pain, I have a neighbour who likes noise and to shout at his kids all day/night then gets drunk.......had to come in early as well before too much was said. It's really no fun when someone else is disrupting your own space. If you haven't spoke to him yet as he's new, maybe you could go round and say hey and suss him out.. or not if you just get the impression he's a big arse!

@CanadianLori You cheater! I'm not tidying my shed just for a pic lol! Those peppers sound hot if you gotta cut them outdoors too. Are the racoons friendly or just pests?

 

Raccoons are extremely destructive. Got under our hot tub and ripped the insulation out, froze, end of hot tub. They invade attics. If I see them, i scare them off with my mop or shoot a bb in the behind of the aggressive ones. They are powerful animals with sharp claws and are part of the bear family.