What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2020

Sorry, don't understand this

We have always been happy to have the rabbits running around the garden, frolicking on the lawn and nibbling at plants but starting to devastate almost fifty years of nurturing plants when they have rarely done any real damage in the past is just not on. They have also starting undermining our shed and we're having to get someone in, at expense, to fix the damage and put up defences. The only sure way to deal with the garden problem is to remove over 500ft of hedges and trees and put in fencing, which will allow us to live in a prison environment compared to what we want - apart from removing the habitat for thousands of birds and millions of insects.

We are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farm and woodland that they are quite welcome to.

I think we need to agree to disagree on this matter.

 

Another glorious day weatherwise with no breeze, a temperature of 64f, blue skies and not a cloud in sight. So, I've spent more than 6 hours in the garden slowly getting the jobs that need doing done. The first job was to disentangle the cut back growth of the monster Buddleja that I cut down to size. A lot of branches had grown through the 3' high by 6' frames of Chicken Wire on top the West fence so when I had cut through the lower trunks they stayed determinedly upright as though they hadn't been sawn through!! So, I made it an easier task by snipping through the Chicken Wire which allowed the branches to fall free. That left a large hole in the frame but that can be easily repaired as I have several rolls of Chicken Wire waiting in the garden.
After that, it was a case of getting on my knees, again, to scrape and clean away the soil and debris on the narrow centre path using a brush and pan to throw the soil back onto the borders and the leaves and debris into a large garden sack. I managed to get 2 thirds of the path done, while filling the sack to the brim, before my knees told me that they had had enough
So I dragged the full sack onto the Patio and decided to get out the Hedge Trimmer again to do a job that has been waiting in the back of my mind for a good while. I only have two Conifers in the garden, Thuja Occidentalis and Chamcyparis "Boulevard", which I had cut back from around 15' in height to 8'. But the Thuja is a fast grower and now spills sideways over my narrow centre path blocking the way. So I headed for the Conifer with the Hedge Trimmer and in just a few minutes had given it a good "haircut" which now allows me to walk to the bottom of the garden without having to walk on the borders to get around it. That resulted in me getting on my knees again, after getting another empty large sack, to pick up and brush up the long pile of Conifer prunings and other garden debris which, again, filled the sack. I dragged the full sack to the front of the House and dumped the contents into the Council Green Bin and then took the sack back down to the centre path where there was still a large, long pile of Conifer prunings and garden debris.........which is a Tomorrow job!!
I then took some time off to sit on the Patio and listened to the Birds, watching them gain confidence that I was going to sit still for a while so that they could fly to the Bird Feeders. The sound of the bird song and the warmth of the Sun was really soothing. I'd been hearing the croaking of the Frogs in the Wildlife pond all day and I could still hear them croaking away while I sat on the Patio. Also, all day, there were the two resident Blackbirds who took it on themselves to scold me without let up, reminding me that it was their garden not mine!!
After that I filled the main Bird Bath with clean water, fed some hardy perennials in pots with a weak solution of plant feed, and started to think about planting some of the Hardy Perennials that are waiting in the pots and are ready for the borders which are just filling up with more and more green shoots that are getting taller and taller.
Then, after closing up the Green House, I headed for the House.