What Jobs Are We Doing In The Garden Today 2020

I was on dad duty today so not much done. Watered and had a bit of a potter in greenhouse. Seedlings are starting to emerge. The cosmos that were sown on Friday afternoon are starting to show already . Back to it tomorrow, in between decorating the downstairs loo. Should then have a few ‘free’ days leading up to the weekend whilst I await delivery of materials to insulate and board out utility room. Got a couple of things I want to build in the garden out of timber so hoping to get on these done (tiered strawberry planter, foldable GH staging and netting structure for veg beds).
Rusty

 

Another busy day, after housework this morning I spent the afternoon doing another round of sowings.
More Rudbeckia ' Marmalade '
Mina Lobata
Silent ' Pink Pirouette'
Amranthus.
More Zinna ' Whirly Gig '
Gypsophlia' Elegans'

Also found some more Cleome seeds....so thought I would have a 3rd and final attempt at getting the devil's to germinate!!
I've had such a great result from using the Ziploc bag method on nearly all of my seeds I thought I would try it on them this time .

Also sowed Sunflowers
Velvet Queen
Sunburst Mixed
Italian White
Already sowed the small ' Teddy Bear' ones.

 

The sticks of Willow I was given have sprouted , so yesterday I cut the grass around where they are growing to keep the area clear. Also cut the grass on the bank between us and next door. Sifted through the soil in the cherry tree flower bed again to remove a few more couch grass and buttercup roots - still quite a lot left.

Put buns in runs, made some lunch and got out a zero. Sparrows very busy in the hedge but no sign of Mr Chaffinch. I had put out bird food before sitting down and put the bowl on the patio table. Sat watching the Sparrows and then noticed the top of a blue and orange head and a pair of bright eyes slowly appearing over the top of the bowl. And there he was . So funny, almost like he was playing peek a boo, wish I could have made a video of it. He had some food, a drink and then sat in the hedge. Quiet though, no piercing decibels.

 

Thanks for the reminder. My cleome seeds are showing really poor germination. Will set some more off once our annual ISO audit is finished. Being audited over the phone is a strange experience to say the least !

 

They do better with variable temperatures. I put my little seed tray (with a plastic lid thingie) on a South facing windowsill so that they warm up well in the Sunshine and cool down at night.

 

Swept up the dropped Magnolia petals,beautiful as they are they don't half make a mess,gave everything a good watering and gave my chook run a good 'do'..all spick and span ,very satisfying.

 

Thanks @Kristen - will give that a try. The seed packet did say that germination was below normal so they sent a lot more seed. The current batch are on the heated bed so not having huge temperature variation. Thinking about it, last year I didn't get great germination. I think I'm cosseting them too much.

 

Potted on the tithonia, potted on 5 more chilli plants that a friend can have and 6 tomato plants.

I've been growing some trees to plant in the woods nearby, last summer they cut down some of the trees because they were getting old. But had to plant new ones and excepting donations of trees. Today i potted up 6 horse chestnut seedlings, didn't realise how big the roots would be and had to break the bottom of the pot to get them out, then couldn't find very deep pots to put them in, so probably have to do it again a bit later. Got some silver birch plants from last year so potted them on.

 

Be there and done that many times over the last 2years...no luck whatsoever. Funny thing is in the past I've had no problems.

 

I've done nothing today but over the weekend I finished clearing the front lawns of tree debris then had a bonfire which burnt really well - done in just over an hour. I've also sown my runner beans and a few tomatoes. If last year is anything to go on the toms won't survive, they don't like being outside here. Yesterday I gave the front lawns their first mowing of the season, some of which was six inches high. A noisy mowing with hundreds of beechnut husks being picked up.

 

My Cleome boliviensis came with a label saying that germination was not as good as expected so they supplied extra seeds. I wonder if this is a wider cleome issue ? (clutching at straws here !)

 

I have been decorating today, so not a lot done. Watered and checked plants. And sown Toms a cucumber. might pop out on a bit and sow some carrots.

Rusty

 

Just shows the difference a few hundred miles makes. Ive mowed the lawn (on and off) since January. Its just starting to look half reasonable. I have the pine cones from next door to contend with - they make a racket too

 

It was overdue andrews. But the weather hasn't been good enough here until this last couple of weeks, either wet or frosty. My first mowing is usually around mid March.

I sympathise, I have six 60ft pines in my front garden and the cones aren't good for the mower blade. It's bad enough raking them up on my gravel drive, I'm not doing it on the lawns as well.

 

Sowed some more....

Serrano Chillies
Cayenne Chillies
Coriander
Mizuna
Cinnamon Basil

Did a lot of pinching out of the seedlings this afternoon.

I have been walking around trying to find a home for a couple of well grown Hydrangeas that I grew from cuttings...still haven't decided.

We've been mowing our lawns for a good while now too