What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2020

That is spot on. Our idiots don't even live here permanently - their barn conversion isn't complete so they cause trouble here and go home at night happy with the destruction they cause.

Thanks @Nikolaos Sounds like absolute hell. I'd be pulling my hair out. Thank goodness you're now free from it - what a huge relief!! Have you got better neighbours now?

Ours have been absolute ********* (fill in with whatever insult you fancy) for the last 3 plus year - blackmail because we wont sell them a bit of land, had abusive violent threats when I put my bins out, had them filming me and shoving a camera in my face when they're threatening me, snapped my trees up on our allotment plot, standing on my boundary looking into my garden and pulling weird faces and threatening me, screaming and threatening my neighbours 6 year old daughter and making her cry by screaming at her that she isn't allowed to live here!!!, dumping rubbish around our house and putting extremely weird signs up, screaming at and threatening other neighbours- police totally unhelpful unfortunately. We've managed to get them to take the weird signs down with threats of court action. And they're going to have to tidy up their dump too. Unfortunately for them the rest of us have come together as a community to work against them. Unluckily for us, we live nearest to them (luckily on opposite side of the driveway) so hoping we get the fence through. If not, I've seen some beauty instant hedges - a lot of money but cheaper than selling and paying stamp duty (and the fact we can't find anywhere we really like, like our current home that we've managed to make just how we want).

I got really depressed about it all but coping with it much better now. Focussing on doing positive things and I will get back out in the front garden this year and not let the nutters stop me enjoying myself. Actually looking forward to doing some good hedging and redesigning the front garden in the process.

 

Forgot to mention thank you @NigelJ for the new thread.

 

Wow, your neighbours sound as bad as mine were! Hope you manage to resolve the situation soon.

Well, not exactly. They're certainly better in terms of the noise, but now I have the opposite problem, the new neighbours are claiming I'm really noisy! Frankly, they haven't got a leg to stand on. After the chap came down and knocked on my door for the third time in a fortnight, the second time loudly at 10pm, I calmly told him his behaviour was bordering on harassment and suggested that he contact the council if he genuinely felt he had a legitimate complaint. He hasn't been round since. What he doesn't know is that I've been up there when my TV was on (on two separate occasions with two different tenants), it was barely audible and I have it even lower nowadays. I've also never had a complaint or even a comment in passing about noise in 12 years of living here and don't make noise at anti-social times (11pm to 7am), even when I have visitors. Best of luck to him, he's going to need it!

Really pleased to hear that, the turning point with my previous neighbours was the car crash, after that the rest of the neighbourhood were really annoyed with them and they started showing their true colours to everyone. That's how he/they got away with acting antisocially towards me for so long, nasty with me and charming with everyone else. After being repeatedly derided by him for being fat the disabled chap a few doors down even grabbed the tenant by the neck while he was just about to drive off once! Served him right, you shouldn't mock people about something they can't change. The guy has limited mobility and can barely manage strolling 400 metres when taking his dogs out for a walk.

That's the spirit Snorky, don't let the crackpots get you down! I've found that the most important thing with objectionable neighbours is to stay calm and composed, it just highlights their irrationality, lack of self-restraint and manners. When I had that last confrontation with my current neighbour I just kept my cool, didn't raise my voice back and feigned helpfulness (suggesting he soundproof his floor, get some headphones or contact the council) which resulted in him stomping off ranting and raving to himself! He's about half my age, very early twenties I'd say, and will just come across as an entitled, hyperemotional brat to any observers from now on if he continues to behave like that.

Nick

 

Not a lot today. Nipping next door from time to time to update their PC to Win 10 and nipping back to work. I have dug out a load of penstemon that was in the wrong place and obscuring a dasylirion which has made a huge difference in the border and given me space to plant something lower.

 

wow, snap, that's exactly how they were with my husband and I, and another set of neighbours - everyone seemed to think we must have been antagonising them. Luckily we have CCTV up and it proved everything. Now the junk and the latest weird signs have really turned everyone else against them (except their very immediate neighbour who is attached to them - they are just as mental unfortunately). How strange your neighbours say you are being nosey - I have had the exact same thing. The nutcases immediate neighbours rang the police on me saying I was filming inside their house at their 5 year old nephew! Luckily my cctv, shown to the police, shows I did no such thing. The police have told me to carry on doing what I'm doing and support the fencing application but unfortunately they cannot comment on our planning application. Apart from getting CCTV, I'd recommend you record any interactions with them on a voice recorder (there's an app on all iphones for this). I was advised by the police (my friend who is a PC and my cousin who was a detective in the Met) to voice record any interactions with them to cover our own back - it has proved absolutely invaluable!

In terms of gardening today - just checking on the greenhouse, filling up bird feeders. It's far too wet to do anything at all, unfortunately.

 

I installed CCTV too because of a nasty neighbour. It certainly stops them from doing much within camera range (my property plus about 2 feet) and the rest of the street are now seeing through their facade. I didn't need to say anything. The husband thought he'd shock me a few years ago with his filthy language. He called me a C. So I calmly replied that, just for him, I was going to work at being The Queen of C's! He was shocked and showed me his dental work to prove it and hasn't spoken to me since

I will be making more soil blocks later. I have more seeds to start. Rosemary (never had any luck with these but keep trying), chives, manzano peppers and asparagus.

It is snowing so I'll not be going out other than to do a little shopping.

 

Sorry to read about the problems with awkward neighbours above. Hope it all works out well with them.

Had not planned to do much in the garden today but called to the local garden centre when visiting the bottle bank nearby and was told by the manager they were making even bigger price cuts on the clearance section. They looked like they were making space for some new stock. Got another coprosma (mirror plant) with the intention of planting it near another one I had got at half price in the same section last year and planted it near the two I already have. I think they have nice leaf colour and when they get a bit bigger I hope they will make the display near the entrance to the garden a bit better in the winter where a lot of other things are not at their best. Got this one for just 2euros since it had been in the clearance section so long. Also got a small santolina chamaecyparissus and a pot of aster just starting to regrow for a euro each. Planted these along with some iberis sempervirens that I had got going from cuttings taken last year. Did a little bit of weeding as I went about planting but the ground is so wet I reckoned it was best not to go compressing it with my boots too much and hope it drys out a bit soon so I can get some proper weeding done. Figured out that the 2metre (6ft.) piece of olearia traversii that I found broken near the back fence after storm Brendon was not a full shrub broken at the base like I had thought but a big portion of one which is good news as at least now I can see the plant should recover even if it does look a bit off balance at the moment.

 

and strong winds again today. Yesterday was sunny but cold enough for two fleeces and a hat. Went to buy more mulch and also two pots of Snowdrops and two of Snakeshead Fritillaria. Had a very pleasant two hours in the garden. Planted my newly acquired bulbs and netted the pond. There is so much blanket weed in there the net broke!! Decided to sort out two sinks close the baths. Removed another Toadflax from one sink and moved it. Took out most of the compost and back filled with soil taken from a tonne bag I bought last year. I had to use a wheelbarrow as bag is across the other side of the garden to the sinks. Did the same with the second sink and replanted the Geranium that was in it. I also cleared the area around one of the sinks that has become overgrown with weeds and brambles - first time I've actually seen that part of the driveway for about a year. Dug up a white Marsh Mallow and moved it to join a pink one down by the boat seat.

I've been considering planting Alpine plants in the sinks. I want something wildlife friendly and very low maintenance and ideally no need to be watered. I've tried Alpines before and wasn't very successful. I did have lots of gravel in the sinks but used compost instead of soil. Perhaps the compost was too rich.

Sat on the bench enjoying the setting sun and Bluetits on the suet pellet feeder. Still thinking about my second pond but no further forward with it.

 

Fascinating to read that people can work the ground without a flamethrower at this time of year! I know, different zones but it still catches me off guard when I read these entries about gardening outside in January, because our ground is solid. You couldn't stick a spike in it.

 

Yes, @ARMANDII I'll take heat any time. I really do not like being cold. I'm getting out the new winter wool coat I made because it is going down to 16f tonight and I intend to be under multi layers of blankets when I go to bed too. I'll have to boost my Mustang tomorrow because I forgot to start her earlier this week to recharge the battery.

I didn't get the soil blocks done as I had intended so tomorrow I will get to it!

 

Yesterday I did the winter pruning of the apples and pears. Sad that this is getting to be a quicker task, as we’ve now lost a second existing apple tree, and two of the apple trees that we have planted since moving here. The Gloster 69 was challenging, as it is a vigorous grower, and some of the stems were well out of my reach. Remembering what @shiney said last year, I have been slowly lowering its overall height. Another two trug fulls of weeds and leaves were also removed, revealing more bulbs coming to the surface, and a new 2019 hydrangea showing promising new growth buds.

Today I need to do some work on the church gardens, so the trugs’ contents will come from elsewhere!!

 

Get the branch that blew off a conifer cut up, gather up all the other bits of conifer; then shred those bits that can be shredded, along with a variety of prunings, chippings to compost heap.
Conifer shreddings tipped separately to give an acid mulch for camellias and rhododendrons.