What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2020

Lovely afternoon pottering about today. Weeded...and weeded to my hearts content. It's actually great now because they're not growing back as quickly as im pulling them. Tied up my rose bush that had fallen in high winds. Pruned a few things here and there. Planted in daffodil and 'eton mess' tulip bulbs. Got lots more to do still! I already can't wait for the flowering next spring. Anyone any ideas if my herbs will survive the winter? My thyme is planted in the ground, so is mint (annoyingly so...not done by me...it's rampant to say the least) my basil and chives are in planters. All looking lush at the mo!

 

Beautiful resin art @luciusmaximus
Just mowed the lawn today. Thanks to Monty I'll be giving the tomato plants a trim tomorrow and I have a few plants I need to move.

 

Had a look at my pots on the patio today. Several weeks ago I removed three plants from my failed herb baths, two lavender and an Oregano and put them into pots. I also bought a marjoram from hardware store and put that in a pot too. All of them seem to be doing okay. The lavenders and the oregano are showing signs of recovery. Pleased but not sure why they will grow in pots but not in the baths. Pulled a few more weeds from around willow tree area. Wandered aimlessly around the garden trying to make a plan of where and how to start getting it back to the way I want it.

We are besieged by slugs and spiders. Don't mind spiders but not terribly keen on the idea of sharing the house with large, green slugs . Wondering how long it's going to be before I wake up and find one in the bed

 

Morning @Perki Can I ask what you are painting the aluminium with please? I have a secondhand aluminium greenhouse to put together (sometime in the future) and as it’s all dismantled I have thought I might paint it first. Also, do you use a primer first?

Thanks.
Tink

 

Hi Emily! All of your herbs, apart from the basil, will survive and come back in the spring. The thyme will be available to pick through the winter - it’s an evergreen plant. The leaves of the mint and chives will die back, the mint leaving hard stems behind. They will both re-emerge next spring - around the same time as the tulips!!

If you want some mint or basil through the winter, you can harvest now and preserve them. The sideshoots of mint should still be quite soft, young leaves. Chop these finely, and mix with some golden syrup or honey to form a thick, near black paste. It looks awful, but smells gorgeous! A teaspoon of this gloop mixed with wine vinegar gives you great mint sauce, or stir a teaspoon (or more) into natural yoghurt to give you mint raita.
For the basil, if you make pesto with it, you can freeze the pesto (we use an ice cube tray), and then defrost for use...

 

Move some more soil into the new bed, along with a load of leafmould. Later cut the grass.

 

Aw fantastic. Thanks so much for the helpful tips. I love both pesto and raita so I better get in the kitchen

 

We've got a new gate at the side of our house so I cleared the borders either side of the path and planted bulbs. The old gates (wrought iron) have been repurposed as a support for one of my climbing roses. I have two more tall wrought iron gates which I will use in my cutting garden for support for my climbers next year. They have been languishing in the undergrowth for years and were heading for the tip but I've salvaged them to start their new life among the flowers.

 

After feeding the chillies (takes around an hour), the patio yellow pear toms, the tumbling toms, the veg bed plants - courgettes, squash, and more tomatoes, the new extension of the drive bed plantings (Sashta daisies, veronicas, sedum spectababilis, thymes, etc)....

... I had to clear some space so we could eat outside!

 

Moved some unhappy plants from pots to borders. 2 Salvia nemorosa and the Geranium kindly identified on here today. moved a Heuchera and planted some pansies in pots for a little winter colour by the front door. Trimmed the tomato plants and moved them to a sunnier spot hoping they will ripen soon.

 

made a compost bin today. Now to start it off, wish me luck lol

 

Sorry tinkerbelle but I am not much help on the matter. The metal I've been spraying is for internal GH use so isn't subjected to weather etc. all I've done is cleaned the metal and used a spray can ( I think its for lawnmowers ) I am not over fussed if it comes off cause I can easily remove it and spray it again .
I would of thought you would need to prime it first and do a bit of sanding to help the final finish stick .

 

Soil and leaf mould settling in new bed, grass cut, should have done it a couple of weeks back really as the back was long enough not to have dried properly so didn't get thrown to the back of the collector; lots of stopping and starting. However a dumpy bag full of damp grass will be a useful addition to the compost heap.
Today resume work on the overgrown bank at the back of the greenhouse.

 

Ready for concrete, then new slabs, that was hard work breaking that out lol, 15 half ton bags in total