WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY - 2017

@luciusmaximus also forgot to mention i use gravel to bed all my Allium and tulip bulbs on as they would most likely rot in my rich wet ground- they too are fab for pollinators and are one of the most, loveliest of bulbs when planted in large drifts
there are such a lot of Beeutiful varieties to choose from and they all bloom at different times so you would have a lovely bed with bulbs and perennials potentially flowering continuously

 

@BeeHappy

I have some short stemmed Alliums and other Spring bulbs planted up in pots - with lots of gravel. I have 2 tonne bags of new gravel as well as the dirty gravel I've started removing. I doubt I will ever run short of gravel .


I'll take some pics today to explain what I mean. The gravel garden has been neglected for years but in comparison to the rest of the garden its a relatively small area so I thought I would work on it in stages throughout winter, weather permitting of course. And I'm not going to remove all of the gravel and membrane, just enough to make better planting areas. I did consider redoing the whole lot, but very quickly talked myself out of that I have already made a space under the Willow tree which I've back planted with some Ferns and a few Spring bulbs. The dirty gravel has weed seeds and roots in it, so I might be just transferring the problem to another area unless I were to sieve and wash it all first. Far too much effort involved in doing that .
These pics were taken in the Spring. The hedgehog houses will stay where they are and probable the bench. I have cut down the Fuchsia and Hydrangea ( not clearly shown in the pics ) as, although very pretty, neither are wildlife friendly. Will replant with something that is.

 

I had another enthusiasm to get back into the garden again today. The big jobs aren't quite going to plan so I will come back to them when I have re-grouped.

Today I just pottered. My seed pots desperately needed thinning out so I did that.



I also re-utilized the flower planter bucket as a compost holder.

I also re-housed the chrysanthemums from various pots around the garden.



I now have 3 different varieties in one pot. If I'm lucky I will have a nice display next autumn.

I was thinning out the unwanted red robin and I found this.





Any idea what it is? I didn't know it was there. Is there anything I can do with it? Next summer the red robin will go.

G.

 

@Jack Sparrow Love your garden Squirrel . I like the blue colour of your pots too.

 

@Jack Sparrow The pink flower is a Viburnum Bodnantense, it should be scented

 

The new border. Ran out of topsoil yesterday. Sink pond needs some pebbles and things.

The progress on the gravel garden so far. I have spread some of the collected gravel in the soakaway ditch as the new soil that was added is a bit clayish. Still working out what to do with rest of the dirty gravel. As mentioned I need more topsoil, but I can carry on clearing until it arrives. The fresh bit under the Willow has been planted with a few bulbs but going to buy a few more to stick in tomorrow.

 

Looking good lucius....have I missed something but why dont you use all your gravel there? Or use a lot more of it there anyway in place of more soil...???
Gary, those chrysanthemums will be much, much bigger next year. I think having 3 varieties in one pot will produce lanky plants.

 

@luciusmaximus The squirrel is great isn't it. I bought it a while back for half price. It was one of those impulse buys. At least that one justifies itself. Until today I had one big pot and the squirrel strategically placed to stop the dogs getting through the catflap in the summer house. I actually think the 2 smaller pots looks better.

Thanks @Perki. I will keep an eye on it over winter. I guess if I cut it back hard in the spring it will start to bush out a bit more. Its a shame I can't move it. At the moment it seems to be stifled by the acuba next to it.

@Verdun I'm sure you're right. Its too late now. We will have to wait and see.

The upside of all the above is that I now have a reasonable sized pot to play with. I have bought some tulip bulbs to start me off. I am still looking for a feature plant. Monty Don used wallflowers. At this point I'm not to worried if nothing special presents itself.

B&Q have lots of 10cm ivy pots for 50p each. Is ivy any good for adding intetest to pots?

Its all quiet here as my wife has just taken the grandchildren home. Ahhh peace. Cup of tea time I think.



G.

 

I've just planted some Ivy in pots this morning, with wallflowers , forget me nots , heuchera , pansys with lots of bulbs. A lot of people use dwarf conifers and healthers but there not my cup of tea.

 

A phormium Gary? Feature plant! Yes, ivies are good for evergreen impact in pots. Nice varieties incl goldheart and, one of my favourites, Buttercup. This has yellow foliage particularly attractive in spring and early summer.
Enjoy your cuppa and peace

 

I'm a little confused . I am removing some of the gravel to remove the membrane and create more planting spaces. Once I've done that and planted up I was going to lay fresh gravel on top of what I've left in situ. Why would I want to replace all the dirty gravel? It won't look very nice.

 

recently I had to move gravel to do some digging. I returned gravel, raked it and it is now looking just as good as before
However, I thought you wanted to see incorporate gravel into your existing soil? (Assisting drainage etc)
So.....remove membrane, dig in gravel, plant, mulch with fresh gravel???
Do you intend to discard old gravel completely?

 

Only needed to add drainage gravel to the bit that is subject to flooding, which is the strip of border where the sinks are. The rest of the garden, where the Willow, the bench and where the Hydrangea was before I cut it down, are just fine, never had any issues with waterlogging. Some of the old gravel I intend to leave untouched where I am not going to be planting. Too much effort to redo the whole lot. And where I have removed membrane to start creating new planting areas I'll also leave a bit of the old gravel and cover with soil, just to make less gravel to remove.

If I rake gravel that is covering soil would it not also rake up the soil underneath? I tried raking some of the gravel I'm not removing and it didn't look a lot different - almost 6 years worth of debris accumulated in it.

 

In my experience, rain and raking will refresh gravel lucius

Anyway you seem to be doing well there

 

I will have another go at raking then when the weather improves . Very cold and windy today, so stayed indoors and baked a chocolate and banana loaf cake - currently sat on a wire rack cooling and looking decidedly edible .