What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2019

Snap!!! @Snorky85 I did the same the other day . I love them, they are very easy to propagate aren't they

Planted out my 'newly pinched from the path' Dahlia border this morning , but have left some gaps as we are planning on moving a couple of Azaleas there that are in need of rejuvenating when hubs feels stronger.

Thanks for asking @Logan . He's taking it easy a bit until we know what is going on with his heart. Not sure yet if it's the old problem back again or a different one. He has an appointment next week
What with his recent chest infection that caused him to loose even more weight, all in all he's had a tough couple of months, poor love

 

Rain all day but also strongish winds ( set to get stronger ) . No gardening other than tying up my Poppies and Sea Holly in front garden this morning. Not sure my efforts will be strong enough to resist the battering . Forecast is very unsettled for rest of week so might not get much done. I've been trying to add some pics of the front garden but can't do it, not sure why, just says ' a problem with uploading your file ' . I so hate computers .

 

Trying out peat discs, so planted Ylang Ylang. Carissa, Kaffir Lime, Jatropha podagrica, Hibiscus sabdariffa (Roselle) and an Orange climbing rose, all for fun. Not holding out much success.

My Valotta (Scarbough Lillies) are all doing fine, all four germinated and are doing well, must take pic.

 

Popped in to cut niece’s grass whilst passing....and repairing dog dug section
Just cut my own 2 lawns..... very, very warm and humid. Sweated.....er perspired....profusely in so doing. The heat will only build up over the next few days so ideal for the beach.
Tempted then hypnotised into getting alstroemeria Indian Summer....despite my doubts about alstroemerias (have a beautiful princess type now flowering though) but Indian Summer has nice bronze foliage so it was a must have
Lots of small slugs ..are they keel slugs?.....around and my night time torch vigils are having an effect I think; I hope

 

Didn't do much today.

Went to Wyevale to buy another ceramic pot and pot mover, for the new acer, we've ordered. This one will be going on the patio for now.

Also bought three more alpines for the former waterfall. I'm slowly filling it, I'll let nature take over now.




Started the re-paint of the pagoda. Did the "grey, white and gold bits." The white may need another coat. The brown and red bits will get done tomorrow or Saturday.



The sorin, "that thing on the top" was the biggest challenge when I made this over thirty years ago. I tried to make it look as authentic as possible.




Just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it.

I made it by putting "stuff" on a long steel threaded rod.

From the bottom,
it's the cap off a Decleor shaving gel cannister.
1 drilled out wooden cupboard knob
9 drilled out brass cupboard knobs.
9 re-cycled shower curtain rings
9 green plastic milk carton tops.
1 nut and a couple of washers (there's another nut on the other end of the rod under the shaving gel cap)
A drilled out plastic garden lighting stake and two wooden beads from an old necklace.

 

It has been raining lightly all day, and the wind has not been very pleasant. However, managed to dig around the giant-conifer-and-mint disaster also known as the border next to the front door, isolated the section nearest to the door with weed fabric and filled with compost to house some summer bedding and an afterthought of Jasmine.

It actually looks quite ok now, the mint is pretty at the other end and hopefully the weed membrane keeps it there.

Probably got "she must be a decent person"- points from elderly neighbours who saw me digging in the rain.

The weather is turning better now so hopefully tomorrow I can get much more done.

 

Just been puttering. Decided my Shiney hybrids could use some company so I put some lavender and cauliflower in with them. Also was mounting some curtain rodding along the inside perimeter of the 6 x8 greenhouse. The flat rodding is obsolete stock so I decided to use it up this way. The holes for the screws on the brackets were too small for the bolts that fit in the greenhouse channels so I had to get out my Dremel and enlarge the holes. It's pretty thick metal so it took a little while. I put up the rodding so I can use it to mount my led grow lighting but you know, I can't find the stupid bag full of the wiring... Nature's way of making me exercise.. I'll find the darned thing eventually or maybe I'll remember where it is!

 

Had a busy few days just planting stuff out in the garden and general making a mess and tidying up. today I dug up some lavender plants I put in the outside perimeter border last year and planted in the crocosmia that had been kindly given to me by Shiney @ Shineyland 2019.

I've also planted up a few big yellow iris that had been growing in the rockery which has now been removed. My grandma has filled in her pond and made a bog garden (with the help of my uncle), so going to see if she would like these yellow iris'.

Also tidied up a few pots. I've got one more big pot to clear out. The pot itself if pretty big and was left by the last owners. Its a bright blue glaze but doesn't go with anything else in the garden (at all). I'm wondering whether to empty it and sell it and buy something that fits in better. Hmm.

 

Did some more planting out this morning, and have moved one of the ailing Azaleas to its new home in the Dahlia border. It was given a drastic hair cut ....a very sort back and sides ...all we can do is wait to see if it makes a recovery now.

Visited some friends for the afternoon but had another couple of hours in the garden this evening. Found a pkt of Cosmos seeds so I direct sowed them, might be a tad late but I have already planted my other Comos seedlings so thought I would take a chance with the seeds.

Packed up 3 more boxes of plants to take over to my Dad's tomorrow.

 

Mulched strawberries with straw....ripening now and looking good
Pulled out dying bulb foliage to clear light for growing plants.
Glorious weather Very warm and almost total blue sky.
Cut back large clematis Montana

 

Didn't do much today.



Cut and scarified our small front lawn. Mowed the back lawn, dead-headed a few roses got the garden vac out and collected a lot of fallen azalea blooms.

Watched a lot of tennis on TV.

 

Hard labour and slight (and totally undeserved!) hangover. I finally tackled the large front border which until now has just received some cosmetics i.e. bulbs and dahlias. The soil is ridiculously heavy clay and fist size rocks. Now it has hundreds of liters of manure in so hopefully the existing Hortensias and sickly looking Hebes cheer up.

My lovely Climbing Iceberg rose went in the middle (obelisk to follow), some leftover dinnerplate Dahlias and seed sown white Snapdragons in the gaps. The edging is Campanula which is invasive everywhere else except in that bed. I added some pot grown cuttings to the old ones to turn comatose together. Some houseleeks went in the dry-and impossible corner.

It's still a total mishmash of too many things but is starting to take shape. I'll see how things work this summer and make more plans. I'm not in a hurry

A week of daily rain and slugpelleting around newly planted plants lead into the inevitable result. A lot of dead slugs everywhere! I have near phobia of them, even a thought of doing the right thing i.e. hand picking them instead of (wildlife safe) pellets is not an option.

I might still want some bedding plants here and there but the assorted pots of seedlings, cuttings and overwinterings are now planted. Tidied everything up by chucking things in the garage and realised that we need a bigger garage.

An odd phenomenon is just now appearing in the western skies. Could it be... the... whatdoyacallit... sun?

 

One of those days when you’re busy doing lots of things, with little to show for it....

Today we had a special offer on hydrangeas/hortenseas, and edible figs at the supermarket. So bought one of each. This meant a big rearrangement. A dead fig to be removed from a pot alongside the house, soil replaced, and new fig planted in its place. I took this opportunity to sort most of the pots next to the wall. My main bay tree needed potting on, a smaller one is fighting back from the brink, so needed a soil refresh... I also cleared behind all the wall pots. The replanted pots were top dressed with a few bedding plants (lobelia and impatiens).
Basically, lots of work,,with little to show for it!!
(The hydrangea will be planted tomorrow)

 

Went mad and pruned/shaped 15’ choisya. Trimmed large shrubs like pittosporum garnettii, Irene Patterson, lonicera baggesons gold, euonymous japonicus and ligustrum aureum. Shaped neatly they set off the summer perennials I think.