What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2019

Happy albeit belated birthday @alana .

Today I've been filling 2 ton bags with leaf mold after emptying my leafmold bins ready for this years contributions..cutting back,dead heading and collecting seeds before the forecast rain comes...and the best bit...spent plenty of time sniffing the evening primrose flowers,such a lovely fresh sweet scent and ofcourse been sniffing the Roses too.

 

Oops did I miss a celebration!!


Happy Belated Birthday
Wishes. @alana

 

Happy belated birthday @alana

 

Pruning down a bunch of hydrangeas, and transplanting a few things. yesterday washed the mold off the house outside siding using a mop (that was tiring) but looks good now.

 

Managed to cut the grass in the paddock this morning just before the rain came in. After that its been a day of pottering. Tidied the tunnel a bit - my fault that it was messy as I'd dumped everything in the entrance throughout the year. Potted on a few plants, filled the skip some more - skip being exchanged tomorrow so that hedge trimming can continue.
Spent an hour weeding the borders before rain stopped play again.

 

done some more work on the front lawn adding more top soil / sand and bit of leveling but its to wet to trod on yet , it were thundering and rained really hard this morning woke me up . Hopefully added more top soil - level it more and trod on it with the heel to push out any air pockets and then seed it tomorrow .

Put some gloves on while preparing the lawn soon as I finished took them off and started planting autumn crocus and weeding resulting in filthy hands my logic is impeccable I don't know why I even bother with gloves .

Potted on some seedling this evening as well echinacea pallida - verbascum nigrium album and some agastache Liquorice white.

 

Hi,

Over the last few days I've been attacking our laurel hedge adjacent to the lane; over the years I've kept reducing its height and width; a couple of weeks ago I removed front sections including digging up the stumps and roots; now I've reduced it further both in height and width.

Yesterday I felt ill and think it due to laurel poisoning from the fumes as I've done lots of shredding; the smell of almonds was powerful and there were lots of cherries. Every bit of a laurel is poisonous and I'm careful to wear gloves and wash my hands etc.

I scattered the shredded laurels as mulch in our rear garden but I think I'll gather them up and use them as mulch on the lane at the roadside; the verge between our wall and the lane has been a problem for many years allowing mile a minute vine and mass of cleavers with nettles to enter our garden. The shredded material will tidy everything up; I had intended to sow wild flower seeds on the verge; hopefully the mulch will save me lots of work next year.

The logs have been collected by a wood burning neighbour.

Kind regards, Colin.



One of many laurel piles I've shredded; as I cleared one pile I pulled another pile down the mountain using a tarpaulin as a sled; it's always hard graft working on our steep site.


The laurels being cut back a few months ago; they are now cut back further and lowered.



A few months ago from our garden; the laurels had grown out of control due to me spending so much time working on our bungalow. The laurels under my body warmer are now completely gone as are those in the middle of the picture including stumps and roots.

 

I sympathise with you @Retired. Our neighbours have a laurel hedge on the boundary and until recently we cut and disposed of the branches. Due to the neighbours neglecting the hedge we now give them back the overhanging branches. It is a poisonous shrub and we have always been careful when handling any part of it.
I would love to see the back of it completely
I've been planting primroses on a bank and general cutting down, dividing and weeding. It is really hot today but rain is expected this evening so the newly planted primroses will be watered in well. My dahlias are staying in the ground again this year some of them have not flowered yet so I'm hoping for another few weeks of good weather

 

Moved a lot of potted up wallflowers and polyanthus which are waiting to be planted out.So i can move the blueberries away from the patio sliding doors so we can clean the patio there. So we can have the patio doors replaced and they can get to the rest of the house. We're having a opening door instead of sliding they'll be a lot better.

@Retired oh dear i hope that you feel better now. It's strange all the trees smell of almonds when they're shredded. At least you get a lot of exercise going up and down the mountain.

Just finished cleaning the patio, it had a lot of weeds growing inbetween the slabs and lots of moss.looks good now, i always weed it every year.

 

Hi,

Many thanks alana. I too would like to see the back of all our laurels because they are so well established and a lot of them; every year they grow like Triffids; I can trim them one week and they are up again a week later; they love the growing conditions here. Your primroses will look lovely once they get their feet settled; a couple of years ago I planted lots of primroses including two long rows at the top of the mountain. Fingers crossed your dahlias will put on a show; there's time yet.

You too have been busy Logan and you'll be pleased to have your new side hung patio doors installed ready for winter; I didn't like our up and over garage door so I made a pair of wooden side hung doors and they are a great deal better; I can pop in and out now without having to fully open a door. Bron enjoys cleaning our patio flags; she uses Morrison's 21p vinegar with a dash of Morrison's cheap washing up liquid with some water just gently brushing it in; it's amazing the difference it makes and I can't get it cleaner with power washing. When I installed the patio I used very heavy 3' x 2' x 2" flags leaving about an inch gap which I then filled flush with mortar so we aren't troubled by weeds.

Thanks Logan for your good wishes which i very much appreciate. Yes I was feeling better but then I had to get off my backside and get busy; I'm wet with sweat as I type having just had another session of strenuous exercise at the top of the mountain; I've been attacking the laurels again with the petrol chainsaw; these were stumps left over from 30' tall laurels and they were sprouting as laurels do so I've taken them down to ground level but firstly I had to dig around removing lots of stones; I really need to walk around with my eyes closed because everywhere I look there's yet another big heavy job I can find to do; the laurels at the top of the mountain are just a few of the laurels we have.

I've decided to leave the shredded laurels as mulch in our garden; next year I'll sow meadow flower seeds along the lane verge; this will not only look pretty but be a bonus to wildlife.

Kind regards, Colin.


Chainsaw in action again this time cutting laurel stumps to ground level.


It's virtually impossible to kill laurels; these were 30' tall a couple of years ago until I lowered them leaving short stumps; the stumps had put on a lot of new growth so I've just lowed them to ground level; it's been hard graft but I've yet to find an easy job here on the mountain.


A picture down to the bungalow.


Two rows of primroses I planted a couple of years ago overshadowed by the new wild flower meadow I created.


What a difference now; trimmed down to a height I can now easily look after and also greatly thinned in width. 60' long so a lot of laurels and bushes in this one section. I've just lowered the laurels and cut back front and back; I just keep attacking the garden and the garden keeps coming back for more.


A picture down the other side of the garden to the bungalow; I've now cut the neighbours conifer hedge right back; it was taking over the garden in this area.


A picture taken from the lane towards the bungalow; the wild flowers can be seen still in bloom/


Lower down the mountain a flower bed I created; the stump in the middle is what's left after I feeled the 80' tall conifer this being one of two I disposed of together with other big trees; my chainsaw is well used.



Here's the top of the mountain two years ago before I removed the 40' long hedge together with all its stumps and roots; the hedge had been 8' tall and well established; it was a nightmare to get rid of; I also removed an 80' long x 8' tall conifer hedge and here I am still digging up more and cutting back. I've been retired 19 years and am still grafting as if I was working full time.

 

Thanks @Retired /Colin yes we should like the new patio doors.We don't use them to go out into the garden because we have all the blueberries in front of them.
I'm glad that you feel better, didn't you do the same thing last year?
You're always busy like me and i wouldn't have it any other way, i always like to be doing something.
If you want to get rid of the laurel there's a root killer that you can get.

Never thought of putting mortar in between the slabs thanks Colin.

Your garden is looking great with all the hard work that you're putting into it.
I've got to plant the wallflowers but now we're going to have rain for this week and next, never happy with it no matter what the weather is like.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan.

You're fitting the new patio doors just in time before winter kicks in so you'll get full benefit of them.

Yes I did a lot of laurel cutting back last year and have now cut them back even further; I think I'm getting on top of them at last but they are time and energy consuming. You and I are alike in keeping busy and it's definitely better than paying to watch someone knock or kick a ball around on TV?

If you decide to mortar between your patio flags here's an idea I came up with years ago and it works like a dream;

Pointing tray.

Thanks for your compliment; I'm sure we only get out what we put in; the harder we work the better the result. I planted lots of wallflower plug plants straight into the garden last year and was surprised by how well they bloomed; good luck with yours; please feel free to keep my personal cloud Blackie for as long as you like.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Great idea Colin! I even thought of using a piping bag for narrow joints at one stage - in the end I cheated and filled with dry mix, then watered carefully.

 

Thanks Colin for the tip about mortar, might get around to doing it sometime.

Yes I've got your Blackie but the garden does need it but i don't want to get wet walking the boys.

 

Squashing vine weevil grubs ive just found in my primroses. Strangely satisfying watching them burst!