What did you do in your garden today?

[Sean Regan]

Not a lot today. Far too cold.
The six hebes we have in plastic pots in two troughs I mentioned, I've re-potted with some fresh compost. I had a hell of a job getting them out of the pots, they were so root-bound. I managed to break two pots, they were so wedged in. Fortunately, I had some more.
I knew they were root-bound in the summer, so now and again, as I often do with plants in pots, I push a cane through the compost an inch or so from the rim in a few places to make sure water gets to the roots and doesn't all run down between the root-ball and the inside wall of the pot.

 

[Sean Regan]

Dry and not too cold, so spent three hours in the garden today.

I stripped and part pruned, this cascading wisteria.

Clearing the leaves took as long. I also emptied and cleaned out the fountain. Then remembered to turn off its power supply in the garage, in case I accidentally turn it on from its switch, behind the lounge curtains.
Took the sixteen pots on p[both patios off their pot movers and removed all the dead leaves in them. I scraped the moss out of the gaps between the flags while I had the chance.

Then tackled the wisteria between the summerhouse and the shed. It tries every year to grow out over the path, so I have to keep tying it back close to the fence. Otherwise, none of the plants in this bed get much sun. The hebes on the path will go back in the two troughs on the other patio, in March.

This involves increasing the tension on the individual wires that hold the lateral wires between the concrete posts.
Although they are very strong wires, they can stretch a bit over time and it'd be impossible to tighten them by hand.
But, as they are attached to strong screw eyes in the concrete posts. It's easy enough to get a screwdriver in an eye and give it a turn or two to tighten the wire. Doesn't look as if I've done much here, but I have.

I also removed three branch heads that were impossible to move, but it doesn't notice as I spaced others out.

I'll probably strip the wisteria on the pergola over the French windows next week, if it's not too cold. The leaves are rapidly changing to yellow.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

crazy raining. and still is.

 

[Sean Regan]

Far too cold to do any gardening this morning. The ground was white with frost, so I went and played golf instead.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

raining again. if anything, maybe more pruning.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

"Pruning in the rain", who was it sang that?

 

[Sean Regan]

Too cold this morning for gardening. -3c.
It's now +1c
The drop in temperature overnight was enough to make these leaves fall from the wisteria over the French windows.










I de-iced both bird baths and refilled with fresh water.
I've turned off the water supply to the basin in the room in the garage and to both outside taps. Don't need to take chances with the freeze.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Chilly here, and very soggy . I might go out and do some pruning. but always have indoors stuff to do.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

There was a frost this morning that hung about all day in the shady places, and they say it is going to be even colder tonight, so most of what I did was putting things in pots under cover. Even the hardy ones don't like it if their pot freezes solid.

 

[Sean Regan]

It's been snowing!
So no gardening today!
























Well, actually, those photos are from 2010. The last time we had real snow.
What we had overnight, was this. It would be best described as, "a smattering."
We rarely get snow, that's why I call where we live, "The Tropic of Trafford."










In other years, this much would normally clear by mid-afternoon. But with the such low temperatures we are presently experiencing, which are forecasted to last over a week, it won't and we might get some more snow yet.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

@Sean Regan , wow you got some nice fluffy snow. Pretty. Just a good frost over here. see what the sun does. hoping some drying ----take the ridding mower out to mulch and remove some more leaves. But looking good. Should get camera shots of the huge hills of leaves in the woods, but just trust me---they are huge.

 

[Sean Regan]

It was a good job a couple of days ago, I'd turned off the water supply to the garage from the tap below the kitchen window.

After I'd cleared all the leaves from the patio this afternoon, as it was a bit warmer, I decided to clear the ice and put fresh water in the two bird baths. So I turned on the tap below the kitchen window. I walked down to the side door of the garage and when I opened it to fill a jug from the tap over the basin, I found a jet of water coming from the joint that connects the water to the water heater's tap. So I quickly turned it all off again.
Had I not turned off the main supply tap when I did, that burst could have happened 24 hours ago and I wouldn't have been aware of it until today. In the event, there was no damage as not a lot of water escaped and the "freezer room" which has a decking floor will soon dry out.
Tomorrow I'll visit my local plumber's wholesaler and get a new control valve. The Santon water heater was second-hand when I acquired it in the late seventies, but they are pretty much "bulletproof." The valves are of a pretty common type, so they should have a suitable replacement.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

again raining. we have two shut off water valves on the pipes that directly go to the outside faucets. one in the back and one is the front of the house. Guess you @Sean Regan probably do also. Also, as we have a well pump. prior to going on any vacation we turn the whole house off at the pump area so no water issues. Over time had to replace all the copper pipping as well water can eat up the copper and cause little pin holes of spray (in the basement). So today, sitting at desk still working on a large file in anticipation for taxes next year. Fun.

 

[Sean Regan]

again raining. we have two shut off water valves on the pipes that directly go to the outside faucets. one in the back and one is the front of the house. Guess you @Sean Regan probably do also. Also, as we have a well pump. prior to going on any vacation we turn the whole house off at the pump area so no water issues. Over time had to replace all the copper pipping as well water can eat up the copper and cause little pin holes of spray (in the basement). So today, sitting at desk still working on a large file in anticipation for taxes next year. Fun.

I may have mentioned before, but for months we'd had a tiny leak in our central heating system which was impossible to find. It meant I was having to put in nearly half a pint of water into the system every couple of weeks, as to not do so, the pressure would eventually drop enough to trip out the boiler and it wouldn't come on again until it had been topped up with water.

It wasn't coming from the radiators, the usual suspects and I didn't fancy pulling up carpets and floorboards to check the pipework as there was no guarantee that I'd ever find it.
Anyway, I found this stuff called "Sentinel" on the internet, it looked very popular given the amount being sold by several vendors.
It's like "Radweld for central heating systems."
Adding a litre of this stuff to the system has cured the week and it's been three months since I did it.
Sixteen quid well spent!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Wish I had been as prudent, I had all the outside pipes well lagged, but came home from brother in law's today to find a jet of water shooting through the lagging. Soon got it turned off, and it is only a ten or twelve inch section of pipe that I can soon replace, but I am wondering how long it had been going, and what the water bill will be like. I resent paying the water company anyway, they pump huge amounts of sewage into the sea because it is cheaper to pay the fines than process it, do nothing about building much needed reservoirs and pay their directors massive bonuses from their huge profits.

 

[Sean Regan]

This is the replacement available for the faulty valve for my water heater.

But it's £55 plus postage. I could get a new water heater for that.

I found this on eBay for £10.39 It'll fit with "a bit of fettling."

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Well worth the fettling, Sean.
The valve for my outside tap is an in line tap turned with a screwdriver. It is under the sink which was fitted later and there is a hole in the back of the cabinet to access it, unfortunately that is level with the shelf in the under-sink cupboard. That was full of bottles of dish washer, water softener, etc. , very full, and I had to take them all out to get the shelf out to access the hole. That was up against the cupboard wall so I had to balance a torch to shine through it while I turned the tap using a screw driver in my left hand. Why are these things never simple? Oh, and only having one eye made judging the distance to get the driver in the slot difficult, I have mostly got used to it now, but there are odd things like that that still make life difficult.

 

[Sean Regan]

Tell me about it, to get at anything in our house, I have to move a load of my wife's stuff first.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

@Sean Regan , copper pipping and well water is always a bad mix. overtime many pipes will develop pin holes to just spray water about the basement. Lucky for us, my husband and his brother are good at that, so just the cost of the materials. And folks want to buy copper piping.

 

[Sean Regan]

Traditionally, we in the UK have always used copper piping. It took over from Victorian lead pipe. Our water comes from reservoirs in the Lake District. There's little well water used anywhere. For the last twenty years, copper has been replaced by "speed-fit" systems, which are suitable for hot or cold water. It's plastic pipe, so it doesn't burst if it freezes. The connections are just "push on and turn."
But it isn't worth changing the copper to it in the garage.
It's all, "speed-fit" in our bathroom which was re-done ten years ago and I used it 12 years ago when I installed a couple of sprinklers in our lawn.

This was a "dry run".. well "....wet run," when I connected it all to make sure it worked before I buried it.
In warm weather, I can turn it on at any time and it always works.