What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2019

Upsydaisy, thank you so much for sharing photos of your dad's garden/estate. This to me, cries out....'Paradise'. Would I be correct in thinking that the garden had at least in part, at some time been professionally landscaped. Truly I can't find the correct words. It really caters for so many tastes. The pleasant attractive lawn areas, then the teasing venture into the wooded area. Yes. Your special spot, quiet, secluded and peaceful. A mini paradise for the thinker, poet and artist. Not forgetting the 'chippy' Koi & chips on the poolside. Yes, as a fine lawn promotes a garden, so does a pond, or water feature introduce an aire of freedom, relaxation and a chance to wander into that other aspect of life.

 

Thank you so much @Mike Allen for your kind comments .

No there wasn't any professional landscaping it was all down to Mum ...with Dad following instructions!

When they moved there, back in 1970, the big pond was there but it was bare with no greenery planted around it. There was an old barn ( for want of a better word!) down one side but no flower borders at all just grass. Mind you to me and my 3 siblings and the dogs it was paradise!!

Mum was a traditional 'stay at home' mum (as most were then) and set to work ,first installing the two greenhouses, and spent most of her free time out there. I still half expect to find her in the big greenhouse with her radio on potting up, sowing seeds or busy preparing cuttings....13 years later!!
We even found old photos recently of her digging out the 'small 'pond!
She wasn't a trained gardener, but seemed to know everything and had a natural gift I think.
My biggest regret was not appreciating her wealth of knowledge and talents... if only we could rewind time!

 

Going to cut the grass, take out the spent broccoli "bushes", pull up the spent wallflowers and anything else that irks me.

 

Yep likewise @NigelJ ....the irksome wallflowers went to the great compost heap in the corner this morning. Not before taking loads of cuttings first, never tried this before as I normally grow from seed.....so I'll wait with bated breath to see if it proves successful or not. I particularly liked the colours of the ones I took the cuttings from.

 

What amazing gardens you guys have... it's a real pleasure to see the photos. Thanks!

Cut the grass, potted up the herb container after washing the herbs with Fairy, greenflies are having the time of their lives just now. Potted up Agretti and planted the Gladioli I had dug up for the winter and started in pots in the gaps between the ones left in beds. The ones left in are way ahead of the pampered ones.

Now the front side border. It's heavy clay and has a poorly Pieris and a nice Rhododendron, plus two Hydrangeas. The previous owner apparently loved Hydrangeas and propagating, we have a fair few

Moved one Hydrangea to clear room for Cosmos and summer bedding, dug the concrete (aka "clay soil"), removed the most hopeless chunks and mixed in compost. Whilst my face was at it's reddest all the neighbours decided to come out to admire the sweaty panting swearing me.

Now a little break and then back, there's so much to do

 

I've been busy in the garden cutting kitchen worktops and a sink insert........ would be nice to actually do some gardening!

 

Plenty of watering today....at times it got very warm The odd shower promised but never materialised.......hope we get some rain tonight
Pulled out lots of dying daff foliage and sorted out plants to take to my nephew on Tuesday.
Still potting on plants too
Picked some carrots and a lettuce

 

Got back from Shineyland and was straight outside planting up purchases I am quite tired now so after dog walking I've come in and watching this weeks Chelsea Flower Show programmes on iPlayer.

 

Done a bit of routing on the last two pergola posts and started the tops, I wanted to shape the tops a bit but my brain just wouldn't work, went in the house and my wife said my face was really sunburnt, it's been warm but didn't realise it was that warm.

 

Didn't do much today, just a bit of pruning wisteria shoots on the two pergolas,



A bit of tying up new growth on clematis and pruning the three quinces on the side fence. I don't like them growing too high as they block the azaleas from the sun.

Went to Wyevale to spend my vouchers. One of our ceramic rose pots had a crack in it where the wind had blown it off its pot mover last year, so I bought a replacement.... and three alpines for the gaps in the rockery, plus another pot mover. It was for my wife's blueberry plant she wants to keep on the patio. Wyevale wasn't at all busy for a bank holiday week-end. This is one of those planned for closure and housing development if they can get the planning permission. it's happened to at least two nurserys that I know of in the Altrincham area.



Re-arranged the roses on the new paved area, to give my wife a better view from her chair in the lounge. They're all doing nicely and some are already flowering.




Did a bit of greenfly spraying.



One other "non gardening job." I've several sets of "scruff" I wear around the house. At any time I can drop what I'm doing indoors go straight out to the garden or garage, get involved in a mucky job, then come in shower and change into clean scruff.

I've a bad habit of not always properly checking my pockets for the odd screw, nut or washer. There's always a chance something could end up in the washing machine's filter. So every six months I check the filter for any lint or metal objects, as I did today. I do it when my wife's not in the kitchen as "there'd be trouble" if I found something. (This machine is on at least twice a day, every day). Anyway, I didn't find anything in the filter.



I can't win with her, she's never very well and often in pain, which makes her a bit cranky sometimes.



Yesterday on one of these occasions, I jokingly said to her "What would you do, if I wasn't here for you to moan at?"



She replied, "If you weren't here, I wouldn't have anything to moan about!"

 

Planted up 6 baskets yesterday unfortunately they are not for me.

Received a email from dove cottage nursery during the week, there been a mix up with one of my sanguisorba i bought late march ended up with one called Martins mulberry unknown to me but they seem to know they had been a mix up, Excellent excuse to go and have a visit and pick up the sanguisorba scapino I order free of charge even though I offered to pay , got a couple of plants nothing fancy another Agastache Black adder - salvia Love and wishes and another lobelia tanna to increase my stock.

Its a bit rotten outside today so I am go in the greenhouse and sowing some seeds for next year and some veg. Got some plants to move later when the weather supposed to improve.

 

Very envious Perki.....Used to buy lots of plants from Dove Cottage by mail order. Now it is collect only
Share your fondness of sanguisorbas too.... under used and under rated I think
For some reason my cuttings of agastache black adder are unusually slow??? Very sluggish whereas most other cuttings have produced flowering size specimens On the other hand, black adder growing outside all winter are not far off flowering!

 

My agastache Black adders have been very slow to get going this year, I should take cutting but my attempt last year failed. I reckon my agastache BA are about 6weeks away from flowering.

 

My three witch hazel plants arrived at 2.00pm Sunday afternoon. (There's eBay for you).

I gave them bigger pots, (the three in which the alpines came I bought the other day) plus some John Innes No 2 growing on compost. They are sitting in a tray on the patio steps.
They'll get a bit of protection there for now.

Seventeen quid for three and free postage seemed a fair price.

 

Managed to sneak out another border extension today Hubs kindly did all the hard work for me!! Might have it as a Dahlia section.