WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2018

It's the start of three months of leaf clearing here in Shineyland and I'm going to be doing it myself from now on. It doesn't fit our gardening budget to have it done for us as gardening prices have increased . We need it for jobs that I don't want to, or can't, do myself.

@Liz the pot I'm about to order a leaf blower. I'd appreciate your opinion. I've looked at some and chatted to neighbours about theirs. The one that seems to fit the bill well is the Honda four stroke model. It's supposed to be easier to start (very important to me because of my back), is fairly light compared to a lot of them (under 5kg), will use the same petrol as the mower (convenient) and seems to do an excellent job (watched my neighbour and had a go with it myself).

 

I've finally finished clearing and digging our very overgrown area in the front garden. It was so solid with overgrowth, and undergrowth, that we couldn't get in there. Mainly dogwood (between 8ft and 18ft high, and very wide) and self seeded laburnum plus very overgrown Viburnum etc. The undergrowth in there was anything from self seeded flowers to loads of weeds. All we had been doing was planting and tidying the front few feet.

These are not good photos as the lighting was too high a contrast but they give an idea.

The dogwood had thrown out dozens of suckers and had also covered the area with a solid mesh of roots. The whole area was covered in ivy as well. It's about 50ft x 30ft

 

It was full of Hellebore Foetidus until this summer heat and drought. We lost over 100 of them.

I'm going to wait until I can see if any sprout again. Having the laurel hedge alongside and the bed having trees and very tall shrubs it needs something that likes the shade. The Hellebores were ideal for their longevity of blooming, their bright green flowers through the winter and summer with the dark leaves as a backdrop.

Another thing that impressed me with the Honda was how quiet it was. We could easily carry on a conversation whilst it was working.

 

@Snorky85 I'd defer to Verdun's knowledge on this as we don't normally have a problem with them being in a big area. We have others that don't tend to sucker but I haven't the faintest on which varieties they are.

If you're looking for winter colour then dogwood is good, but so are other thing (such as witch hazel in a couple of these pictures. Dogwood can be kept under control but it depends on the variety.

What I would suggest, for a day out, is to go to Anglesey Abbey (NT) in February to see their winter garden. It's just off the A14 east of Cambridge. You can check their website for the best time as it can vary slightly depending on the weather. You can then have a chat with their gardeners.

They're famous for their snowdrops so you can check on 'snowdrop time'. What they don't advertise much is that they also give private viewings and talks about their snowdrops (areas where they grow and propagate them that are not open to the public). You can search it out on line. They don't charge but only have limited numbers. The guide also takes you through the winter garden and you can ask your questions then.

They have the typical National Trust restaurant/cafe which is not bad value but gets busy. They also have some interesting grounds and good summer gardens. They have a working mill but it's not open to the public very often (I think it's alternate Saturdays) but, if you're interested, you could try and see whether the snowdrop tour is on one of those days.

The Winter Garden at Anglesey Abbey

 

@Liz the pot thanks for the info.

As I can't do too much in one go I think that the handheld would be sufficient. The thin nozzle on the Honda seems to give it extra oomph. The idea with the ton bag is good although I wouldn't be able to fill it too much as I'm limited on how much I can drag in one go. That area that I cut back, cleared and dug (above) had to be done over a period of a couple of weeks to make sure I didn't overdo things.