What jobs are we doing in the garden today 2016

Today I started on the "walk around" border and armed with a sack, two buckets, a Hand Fork and Garden fork started taking out the ever present Couch Grass roots. This particular border is stuffed full of plants put in over decades and a lot of them have got too big and were crowding into others.
Saponaria is one of them as it uses runners to propagate and spread. It had spread up to 12' and was popping up every where so it had to go. So today I used the Garden Fork more than the other tools and found Saponaria roots to be as bad as Couch Grass Roots to dig and tease out. I've filled some more buckets with hundreds of Crocosmia corms that had also spread and become too numerous and only left a few in the ground.
I dug up a large old Kniphofia that hasn't flowered for about two years and I'll split it into several pieces and select one piece for replanting. Some Day Lilies needed dividing and replanting so that was another job done today. After that I planted Peony "Immaculee", Clematis "Marjorie", and Lychnis "Alba". Peony "Immaculee" is a white flowering variety so I've planted it back to back with Peony "Karl Rosenfield" which is a red flowering variety........hopefully they should look good together.
So I've managed to dig out and replant a 4' by 12' part of the "walk around" border and filled the Waste Bin to the top with Couch Grass roots and unwanted plant roots. That was enough for today.

 

I use it quite a lot, Anthony. The Peat added GPC is pretty good but I've never found the Peat Free GPC to be to my liking.

 

We only use the compost from Wickes as it's a lot cheaper and we can get through 6,000 litres in a year.

 

Below is a quote from the RHS..........


"Bulbs: planting
Bulbs make a fine display planted in containers or borders, especially daffodils, snowdrops and tulips in spring. They are one of the easiest and most rewarding garden plants to grow.


Quick facts
Timing Plant spring-flowering and hardy summer-flowering bulbs in autumn, tender summer-flowering bulbs in early spring, and autumn-flowering bulbs by late summer
Difficulty Easy
Jump to

• When to plant bulbs
• Where to plant bulbs
• How to plant bulbs
• Problems

Suitable for...


Bulbs are useful for adding colour to spring borders. Tulips come in all shades, from dark purple to white, and bloom at a time of year when many plants offer muted colours. Other bulbs, such as snowdrops and scillas, are some of the earliest flowering plants in the garden, brightening up the short days of very early spring.

Planting summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies and gladioli can provide dramatic, tall blooms that are scented.

Autumn-flowering bulbs, such as nerines, can brighten up the late season with unexpectedly colourful displays.



When to plant bulbs


Autumn

• Plant spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths, preferably by the end of September
• Plant tulips in November
• Plant hardy summer-flowering bulbs, such as lilies, alliums and crocosmia, in September and October

Spring

• Plant tender summer-flowering bulbs, including gladioli, in early spring

Summer

• Plant autumn-flowering bulbs, such as nerines, by late summer

Where to plant bulbs


Some bulbs need specific siting;

• Most hardy bulbs, including tulips and daffodils, prefer a warm, sunny site with good drainage as they come from areas with dry summer climates
• Bulbs from cool, moist, woodland habitats, such as Cardiocrinum, need similar garden conditions. Improve light or sandy soils with garden compost and heavy soils with compost plus grit

How to plant bulbs


Most bulbs are acquired and planted when dry, in a dormant, leafless, rootless state. Plant as soon as possible. They may flower poorly following later than recommended planting or after lengthy storage (see Problem section for more detail).

Planting in borders
Aim to plant in groups of at least six, as the more bulbs that are grouped together, the better the display. Typically, 25 to 50 bulbs may be needed to make an impressive show.

This method applies to spring-, summer- and autumn-flowering bulbs:

1. Dig a hole wide and deep enough for your bulbs. Work out the planting depth by roughly measuring the bulb from base to tip and doubling or tripling this length – this figure is the rough planting depth. For example, a 5cm (2in) high bulb should be 10-15cm (4-6in) below soil level
2. Place the bulbs in the hole with their ‘nose’, or shoot, facing upwards. Space them at least twice the bulb’s own width apart
3. Replace the soil and gently firm with the back of a rake. Avoid treading on the soil as this can damage the bulbs

Some bulbs, such as winter aconites, bluebells and snowdrops, are thought to be best planted, moved or divided ‘in the green’, when flowering is over but they are still in leaf. However, dried bulbs are often offered and can be successful.

In containers
Most bulbs are ideal for growing in containers, but this especially suits those with large, showy flowers, such as tulips, lilies, arum lilies and alliums. Here are some tips for success:

• For bulbs that are only going to spend one season in their container, use a mix of three parts multi-purpose compost with one part grit. For long-term container displays, use three parts John Innes No 2 compost mixed with one part grit
• Plant at three times their depth and one bulb width apart
• Water bulbs regularly when in active growth, but you can reduce watering once the leaves start to die down and then through the dormant season. However, continue to check pots in winter, ensuring they do not dry out completely
• To promote good flowering next year, feed the bulbs every seven to ten days with a high-potassium fertiliser such as a liquid tomato feed. Begin feeding as soon as shoots appear, and stop feeding once the foliage starts to die down at the end of the season
• If you bring pots of hardy bulbs indoors during flowering, put them in a sheltered spot outside as soon as flowering is over

Problems


There aren’t many problems to watch out for, apart from checking that the bulbs are healthy to start with (discarding any that are soft or show signs of rot). However, pests to look our for include slugs, snails, squirrels (particularly with tulips and crocus) and diseases such asdaffodil viruses, grey mould in snowdrops, narcissus basal rot, tulip fire and tulip viruses.

Missed planting your bulbs at the right time?
It's easy to forget about bulbs, lost at the back of the shed or in the boot of the car. Or perhaps circumstances meant you weren't able to get them planted when you should have. If that's the case then the best thing to do is get them in the ground or potted up as soon as you can. If you leave them until the autumn or correct time, they'll simply have deteriorated further.

Of course, discard any that are soft or rotten first but the remainder are worth a go, even if they have started to sprout. Some bulbs store longer than others (tulip compared to daffodil, for instance) so it will be a bit hit and miss. If you are relying on a display maybe top up with potted bulbs from the garden centre.

You might also find they don't perform as expected in their first year - short flower stalks for example - but if they're a type of bulb that comes back year after year they should get better in subsequent years. Try adding a well-balanced fertiliser into the soil at planting time to help them recover."

 

I managed to get back home from Chester before the light failed and put on my mucky "for the garden" jeans to do a couple of jobs in the garden. So, after making a mug of tea, I took the spade and garden fork dug up Roses "Oranges and Lemons" and "Uncle Walter"



from their temporary sites and replanted them into their permanent positions in the "Walk Around" border. They're about 4' to the rear of Roses "Crazy for You" and "Trumpeter"



where they'll get plenty of sunshine, [when it's out], and I've included plenty of compost into their planting sites so they should settle in quite nicely.

 

Hi Anthony, yes, it's one of Woo's recommendations and it sits nicely alongside "Crazy for You". It'll probably take 2 to 3 years before it gets to it's proper size and shape, but it's worth the wait.

 

Sounds very much like all my work

 

It was a big gardening day yesterday although it doesn't sound like a lot of work. It was 'c
Clear the ShineyFrames for the winter', day . So I started off with picking the last of the beans - 3lb .

Taking apart the frames doesn't include the main posts and wires but needs to have things done in the right order. First, naturally, the plants need to be cut at ground level but there's too much bending required for me to do that. So Mrs Shiney did that for me. Then it's two hours of cutting the strings that hold the canes together and that make the woven roof over the area. After that it's the hard job of pulling out the canes and trying to get the plants disentangled from them. That is followed by carrying the 200 plants to the bonfire and clearing all the plant debris that is left

This was just less than a quarter of them (had to have a big bonfire the other day in order to make room for them).


Then comes the easy bit . Rolling back the anti-weed membrane, digging all the area, adding 1.5 tons of horse manure and digging it in. I had Michael to do all that bit whilst I made the tea and then stood and watched. Including going to get the manure the whole job took 7 hours - but it looks fantastic .

This is one of the two bean areas (ignoring the small section of beans to the left of the picture which were where I just stuck some extra bean plants that didn't sell on Open Day - sold 300 plants ). The part under the membrane to the right is where the courgettes were and had just been dug and recovered - to get the membrane out of the way.



The manure had to be barrowed 300ft. I can do the barrowing but can't do the filling of it . It's too much for my back to get the muck off the truck.

Once the digging and manuring started we stopped regularly for cups of tea and to let the eight robins, that were waiting patiently, have a feast. We only usually have three pairs nesting in the garden so I don't know where the other two live. The one that normally sits on my shoulder whilst I'm working was too busy keeping an eye on his chosen patch of lunch worms and insects.

We've left the plastic rolled back overnight so that the birds can feast. I'll put it back later this morning.