What Jobs Are We Doing in the Garden Today... MK3.. 2013

Managed to wash down both gh on Saturday morning, then unexpected 4" of snow put paid to any more outside. Sowed cabbages,Psb,chard, leeks, lots of flowers, and a pinch labelled'seeds spilt from bottom of seed parcel' . Will be interesting to see what comes up from that!

 

Planted out the 6 primulas in the front border and forked over as I went along. The wallflowers are showing bud in them and the forgetmenots too. I do love this wee border in April, when it all comes together, and by the front door Camellia "Bobs Tinsie" is breaking bud. It's an anenome form in the deepest of scarlets. I will be able to get a good piccie by lying on the hall floor and opening the front door. The first 2 flowers are facing the house wall not the world. But it will be good for a piccie,
Jenny
then I washed out the 6 pots ready for the next lot of seedlings to pot up . Feels like Spring today

 

This evening, before the sun/light finally folded in, I ruthlessly cut back a rose which grows between my kitchen wall and path. It had grown so much I couldn't walk along the path without being attacked. I have no idea what the rose is other than ... determined! When I moved here it was so overgrown (June time!) that I just hacked it back to beggar all; it grew back thicker and stronger

I've also noticed my mint has escaped from it's sunken pot and has begun spreading. I don't mind if it sticks to an easterly direction, but other than that I'll be in trouble

Bought another windowsil seed propogator today (Aldi, cheap as chips) and that is the last - I've run out of south facing windowsils Tomorrow I am determined to do some serious sowing!

 

"it grew back thicker and stronger". My father always told me that you should get your worst enemy to prune your roses, the more vicious the better!!!!
Have at least 6 inches of snow here atm so can do absolutely nothing but wait till Spring springs. I think Spring officially starts in 2 days time...hmm not here it isn't!

 

This morning, Mr Mum and I tackled a front border. It's going a lot slower than I wanted thought but what we don't achieve today, we'll tackle tomorrow.

Pictures so far: -

By the time I remembered to get my camera, a large old root of some sort had been dug up by the porch step



Next was to clear the top layer of mishmash nothingness



Next was to put up some trellis (bought in Wilko's 75% off sale last Autumn)



And that is where we are leaving it for today.

Tomorrow task: dig over the soil, break it down, dig in some duck bedding that has been left to rot a bit over winter. Add some edging. Then will come the fun part ... planting

 

What a great thread Mum, complete with piccies !! Looking forward to seeing what you are planning to plant there ,
Give the Gardner's Right Hand Man a and a from me,
Jenny

 

What am I doing.. nothing.. I cant get anything done.. can't even plant seeds. I was hoping to plant them beginning of March, but this winter Spring is turning into a bit of a disaster weatherwise. Very limited what we can do as I did all the prep work in early winter.

 

No help, I know, but I sow to transplant - including things, like Parsnips, which are not normally happy being transplanted. I'm on heavy clay so it is quite common for the ground to be wet this time of year, and that would seriously delay me getting started ... hence why I sow into trays, prick out into pots / modules and then plant out later. The joy of that is that the first couple of months of gardening activity in the early Spring takes place indoors. I don't have to care whether the weather is suitable for planting, and I can work evenings when it would be too dark outside.

Of course that needs space to bring the plants on. I have space in the conservatory, but its unheated and temperatures are much lower than usual. The seed trays are OK on the windowsill (plus I have some growing lamps on a table in the house) until pricking out, but I've just pricked out the first lot and have a couple of hundred pots now, and its too cold in the conservatory at night ... so they are coming into the utility room and corridor for the night, not popular!! and the dog is highlight likely to make a hairpin turn with disastrous consequences!!

Going to erect my small Tunnel in the conservatory and move the Metal Halide lamp to it which will hopefully provide enough warmth at night, and some additional lighting.

But ... the saga continues ... I have a 100 or more Holly trees in 1L pots which I had planned to pot on to 2L last Autumn, and they are taking up the space where I want to put the Tunnel. I didn't do the potting-on last Autumn after reading that potting on in the Autumn means that the plant has insufficient roots for the new pot size right through the winter, with a risk that it gets waterlogged. I'm going to ignore that advice in future, there just is not enough time to do the potting on in the Spring with everything else that needs doing ...

So 100 x 1L pots to pot on to 2L before I can clear enough space in the conservatory for the seedlings to have their own space and warmth. Going to have a serious word with the Project Manager [i.e. myself!] about the lack of Gantt Charts and Critical Path Analysis that could have avoided this mayhem

 

Spurned on by your cheer, Mr Mum returned outside to continue (the forecast rain has held off ) and I followed

Rotted compost added and dug in ....



Edging added .... (Home Bargains, £2.99 per 1.5mtr roll)



Plants planned ....


Plants planted, bark chips added: job done!


Well, except for those plants on the porch step; they will go in tomorrow

In the corner, where the trellis is, I've planted honeysuckle (grown from a cutting last year - yay me! - then both left and right side have a repeat planting of: rosemary at the back with 2 lavenders in front. In the centre, at the front I have Cistus "Alan Fradd" (bought yesterday) and behind that, another Cistus (a pink one); hopefully the two will blend into one another.

And that is *all* I am doing in the garden today!

 

Don't push it

 

That will look great mum when it's all in bloom

Rusty