What jobs are we doing in the garden today 2016

Kicked off my 2016 garden with 4 large containers planted up with some daffs. Late in but they were only a pound for a good sized bag of fat bulbs. Rootrainer garlic got a feed also and a smidge of seaweed into the treeferns.

 

With my garden still to wet to work in I made a five minute trip to my carport. I have a dozen pots of stratifying Iris seed there and need to keep them from drying out. They could do with the weather being colder though.

 

yesterday, started a nice burn pile over a stump with leaves and branches. as of now this time, 12:30 PM, still smoking. cleaned up the kitchen, putting shoes and socks on and raking more leaves to the pile. No new match will be needed.

 

Earlier than intended, but it was a fair day and I felt like getting going with something since its been so mild.
Started a planned alpine project having found a nice container on sale recently and have colllected a few plants over the last while. So, container prepared and ready for planting now so just waiting to buy a few more plants (my favourite local nursery which sells alpines year round is on its annual two weeks closure).
Pruned to reshape a few more shrubs. Chard seedling have survived the recent cold snap so make-shift cloche has done its job though they seem a bit nibbled despite slug pellets.

GG

 

I was doing a lot of pruning yesterday before the heavens opened. Cutting back all my grasses and clematis

 

I always get confused when to do this as advice varies from "winter" to "end of Feb/early March" I'm guessing it probably doesn't really matter when it is done in winter? I was thinking about it because of the mild weather, all of my clematis and grasses are shooting now. So waiting til Feb feels too late?

 

Removing plant labels that survived longer than the plants.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I've always done mine in January and they are still going strong.

Today I finally finished my compost bin made from old pallets and chicken wire. Had to go out and buy the hardware but am happy with it.

 

I've been busy! I now have raised beds in the back garden and moved a bulk bag of compost (in the wettest weather of the month so far, to my dismay) to mostly fill one of them. It felt like 3000 wheelbarrow loads! I've calculated I need another 7 bulk bags <gulp> but it's on a roll now and they'll all be filled by mid March. Also ordered polycarb panels for the greenhouse to replace the multiple glass panes that smashed in the high winds in November. But it's all so slow. I'm one of those terrible people who would really like an insta-garden! Magic wand... poof! Done!

 

I was telling a fox off before work this morning not that it was bothered,I think it was hoping I would open the door it was sat at to my hens run for a free breakfast ☺

 

nothing, raining again.

 

Planted some cyclamen in the bottom of my standard lilac pots and put a fat ball in the new bird feeder

 

Thinking of taking up bog snorkeling.

 

I did a little bit of weeding of the pots I'm taking with me. Some of the weeds have gotten a bit big but I've been packing other stuff up and they've gotten a bit neglected. It started raining so I gave up.