What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2020

@mazambo I like the shape of your bed. Very nice.

So far I've washed the outside of the greenhouses and cleaned out their troughs. Lots of crabapple blossom petals were jamming up the works and needed to be scraped out. Then I hosed down the side deck to clear it off. Still have the back deck to do and am looking forward to that. Who doesn't like playing with a strong stream of water!

Number 2 son called and wants to come by to get a few more pieces for his low flow irrigation so he will be here after work. I put some beer in the fridge for him to have a cold one and we can sit outside 6 feet apart and chat abojt bis set up.

If I run out of some of the parts for when number 1 son is ready to put his system in, I'll simply buy a bunch to top up supplies. He was laid off work and every penny of compensation he was to receive from the government was taken for child support. Luckily he starts back at work today. He loves gardening and this watering equipment will make him very happy as he won't have a pay cheque for a few weeks but can play with it this weekend instead of having to wait.

Number one son gave me some seeds the other day and they were germinated in their paper towel within 24 hours and now already outgrowing their soil blocks so I need to figure out where to plant them. These are from a cannabis strain named "Shisbkeberry". Wonder what that will taste like

 

Its been a long day , didn't get back in the house till 10 .15 pm lots to do and the list seem to grow everyday. Emptied more pots today so I can plant some summer plants in. Potted up and divided plants for the pots for next spring show . Planted a couple of pots up, GH is slowly starting to empty . Running out of compost .

Depends on what conditions you've @JAS on what hedge would be best? Yew are ideal for dry shade for example.

 

@Perki - we have a yew growing on the other side of the driveway (plus a Laurel) it seems to grow ok, Ive taken some cuttings from it but its going to take yonks to get these to a reasonable size. I think I may have to bite the bullet and buy some larger ones. I think it would be good as it is reasonably slow growing and I think it can be cut back fairly hard and it re-grows?

The other possibility is to rip the whole lot out and plant more beech hedging - as the main hedge running along the road is mainly beech and it seems to grow ok despite our heavy clay soil, possibly as its on the edge of the garden and the ground drains better.

 

@JAS yes you are correct yew is one of the very few of the conifer family that can take a hard pruning. I like beech hedges and yew , if you want it to match I suppose you'll have to bite the bullet and buy larger plants ( larger plants can take a bit longer to establish ) . If you are worried about the clay Hormbeam would be a good alternative to beech. I cut quite a lot of laurels they can look well for a short period but they will never match a yew hedge and many other types.

 

I am delighted to say that I did nothing in the garden yesterday, apart from check the veg beds, as we had RAIN!!

 

Hi @Perki, I think I will need to bite the bullet and get some larger Yew plants. I dont need an awful lot and L think longer term it will be better. I took out a large clump of Laurel with the help of a mini digger last Autumn as it was impossible to maintain. It was a clump of about a dozen Laurel planted at I would think 2m centres. The whole lot had grown together making it impossible to get in and prune, the only answer I could see was to get rid of it. We have one remaing lump of laurel on the other side of the garden which is just a mess. Some time soon I will need to try and scale it with ladders and chop off some of the branches with a pruning saw. I think it would be fine if it was kept under control but It seems to grow quite quickly.

 

Planted out the rest of the snapdragons and calendula.
Hubby cut the back hedge, the council supposed to cut it but that will be in the autumn and that's too late.

 

Dug up a clump of primroses to split up and pot ready for replanting later in the year in a shady area.
Potted up cosmos to place around the garden to give pops of colour in the borders. Cut sweet peas for the house, then stood and admired the roses which have been stunning this year.

 

Aphid patrol on the veg and roses. Checked on my courgette, growing beautifully, not ready to eat yet. My huge rambling rose has black spot so I'm removing that, a bit every day until it's done. She's being moved this winter so hopefully the Big Prune will help eradicate it. The new location (no longer up against a shed) should be less prone to dark damp conditions, too.

 

My cosmos plugs arrived this morning so they've been potted on. I forgot about my cosmos seedlings this year, but just as I was resigning myself to a cosmos-free summer an email popped through from Sarah Raven with 50% off their remaining plugs; it was limited choice and at 50% off still probably a bit more expensive than the garden centre would have been, but I have to say the plants are the best-looking specimins my garden has ever seen! My cosmos always end up leggy and skinny but these are lovely thick bushy plants, and at nearly 30cm tall not really plugs at all. So all in all quite pleased!