What did you do in your garden today?

[Oliver Buckle]

Pruned the Autumn raspberries. Stopped in a lay -by on the way home and saw several bits of wood at the bottom of the embankment, tripped on a bramble and went face first down the embankment, oops. Got the wood and a few scratches from the brambles. finished filling in my latest trench with it and the raspberry prunings.

 

[Sean Regan]

Decided to buy some hebes from Waitrose on-line last night.
They were pricey, but they had a good selection. I have a Waitrose account, (that just means they occasionally send you money-off vouchers).

Buy Hebes: Delivery by Waitrose Garden

www.waitrosegarden.com

But the site wasn't having it.
It refused my credit card and then when I tried to use my Barclays debit card, despite using a "pin sentry" code as instructed, it still didn't want to know.
So, "The moment passed."
Won't now buy them from Waitrose on principle.

I'm wondering if this was just a left-over page on the website and although it says they are available, they aren't.

"Crocus" have the same photos and the same prices on their website.

Might pop down to the local garden centre for a look-see, later.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Got out my lawn mower when about sucking up the wayward leaves on the lawn area in the front. Kept the blade on high for just sucking up etc. My early early cream colored crocus are up, and my good neighbors purple natural ones that spit to my lawn from his are showing. Of course there are large patches of snow drops in a few places. But it is only mid February, I expect snow . Still have to prune down my Annabells.

 

[PaulZone8b]

Direct sowed Red Orach and Komatsuna (first attempt at both) since we are trying to find a Spinach substitute....because I cant seem to get the spinach to grow as much as we want salads. Clearing out winter weeds in the garden too, getting the soil ready for the transplants in a few weeks. Got a good start on the seeds in trays which are getting moved inside at night (onto warming pads) and back outside in the sun during the day since its 60-70 degrees during day.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Didn't even get in the garden yesterday, but I did put some broad bean seeds in to soak. Today I planted them in pots, I also planted three of six cucumber seeds from a packet, I'll plant the others later in an attempt to spread the crop. I also picked up a fair few leaves off paths and from corners where they had blow. I finished putting wood in a trench a couple of days ago so I dug the final trench, it's a bit wider than the others, but not enough to be worth doing two. As I said to the Missus "It would just about take two thin people"
Played with assembling the greenhouse I was given. I had assembled the triangular roof with the idea of putt ing it on the upright corners, But I think the way to go is to build the two ends flat, then connect them with the horizontal gutters. Anyway, having worked out what is what and how things connect it should be a lot easier second try.

 

[Sean Regan]

I've not done anything, but some elements are doing their best.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Too warm, 51 F. some of my early daffs are blooming. snowdrop groupings all over blooming in mass. other daffs are a good 3 inches high. fat buds on the magnolias. I am anticipating it has to snow in March. But today, can still take out the mower and work on cleaning up the wayward leaves in other lawn areas as its nice and dry.

 

[Sean Regan]

Tried out the new troughs in-situ, to make sure I was happy with the location. They can either be there or I could alternatively, put them either side of the French windows. Just need some hebes, now.

They are of course lighter at the moment and glossier than the summer house, despite it being the same paint. The latter will get "tarted up" in a few months time.
I'll check all the woodwork in the garden, for any sign of deterioration, particularly the pergola posts outside the French windows, as they have to be strong as there's a lot of weight above them, including of course occasionally.... me.

But all this will have to wait until I jet-wash and re-point the patio and paths Some areas of the path and the small patio will only need a go over with "Wet n' Forget." That got delivered today.

 

[Sean Regan]

Busy day today.

My "drain man" came this morning to sort out the drain under the kitchen window, which was slow to clear.

He came a couple of years ago to sort out a blocked sewer pipe from the toilet. Turned out there was a big lump of concrete stuck in the pipe under the drive. It must have been there since the house was built and the pipe had also settled a bit. The pipe needed replacing and to get at it, he needed a concrete disc cutter to get through the drive. Then dig down three feet.

He's got all the gear, a big van with a compressor and pump, including a camera on a cable winder, which he could push up the pipe from the inspection hatch half-way down the drive. Turned out there was something blocking a lot of wisteria leaves. Err... a bit of strong garden wire!
Anyway, all done in less than an hour and he only charged me £80.

Mowed the lawn and collected a lot of leaves and debris. Gave the moss on the lawn a dose of iron sulphate and the roses some sulphur rose, particularly the surface of the soil in the pots. I want to get ahead of any black spot infection.

Our oldest bird bath has given up the ghost. It got attacked by the frost a few years ago and I mended it. Same thing has happened again and the bowl fell to pieces when I took it off the stand to clean it.

Went to Dobbies to see if I could get some sort of concrete bowl I could adapt, but they had nothing. Didn't fancy paying £60 for another fountain which, effectively, would only be, "second lobster." ("Love Actually," analogy).

I could probably adapt a green plastic saucer. I don't like seeing plastic in the garden, but it'll be right down the bottom of the garden and it's just for the birds.

Whilst I was at the garden centre, I found some hebes!
They must have just come in. At £12.99, a lot cheaper than those I tried to buy at Waitrose, so I bought six. When I got to the check-out, I only got charged £9.99 each.

For now as they're small, I'll put three in each trough, reducing them to two once they grow.

As it looks as if 'arry hasn't been in his house for some time, (I had a sneaky peek), I'm assuming he's under the tea-house. The foxes would have left bedding under there a few years ago. He may have decided it would be warmer under there, with the heaters in the jukeboxes above his head.
At least I'm hoping he's survived. He was under there before I bought him a house, which he soon found, two years ago and moved in.

I've put some dry food and water under there. Cats can't get under the building's side skirts, but he can.
I've re--positioned one of the trail cameras on the side of the building, so we'll know if he comes in or out.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

At least I'm hoping he's survived. He was under there before I bought him a house, which he soon found, two years ago and moved in.

Two is middle aged for a hedgeog, Though I suppose you don't know how old he was before he moved in. I am a bit pazzled that a fox can get under the tea house, but the cats can't. I do hope he's okay. Let us know if the food goes before it gets cold again, bet he's still sleeping somewhere on and off.

 

[Sean Regan]

Two is middle aged for a hedgeog, Though I suppose you don't know how old he was before he moved in. I am a bit pazzled that a fox can get under the tea house, but the cats can't. I do hope he's okay. Let us know if the food goes before it gets cold again, bet he's still sleeping somewhere on and off.

The tea-house has three "skirts" that finish a couple of inches above the paths on three sides. It actually sits on low brick piers on paving stones. The back had no skirt, so there was a gap of about 9" between the floor and the ground, I'd left it open, so air could circulate under the floor and help prevent rot
That's how the foxes got under there. Once they'd left home, I concreted the area between the building and the back fence and fixed a timber and double chicken wire screen to block up the gap at the bottom of the back wall. It was bare earth I replaced, with the concrete so a fox couldn't dig under the screen. I left a small gap at the corner, just enough to allow a hedgehog to get in and nothing bigger, as we often had them in our garden over the years.

The conduit houses the low voltage supply from the tea-house to the cables that travel round the concrete base panels of the fences to the lanterns.

It stays dry behind there, as I put guttering on the back edge of the roof, to stop the rain run off going down the fence I erected.

As I said, we're ever hopeful, I just wanted to put a "plan B" in my wife's head, as she'd be very upset if we didn't see him again.

 

[Sean Regan]

The hebe saga is drawing to a close.

I've put them in the troughs in their original pots. I'll leave them for now and decide which pair will get re-potted in larger ones, in a couple of weeks.

 

[Sean Regan]

I had no luck yesterday finding a replacement bowl in the garden centre for our second bird bath, but I did spot this pale green plant saucer which I thought would do the job.

(The lawn's looking a bit naff at this end of the garden, but it got a dose of iron sulphate, so it's mostly the moss which has gone black and the grass dark green).

There was a socket for the bowl in the top of the pedestal.

So just a case of making this stub of polypipe and dowel, then sticking it to the base of the saucer.

Job done in fifteen minutes!

 

[Black_Thumb]

Hello, friends. I haven't posted in a long time because, well, it's winter, and I haven't done a lot to my yard/garden yet. We are currently building a chicken coop. We should be done with that within a week or so. I'm also going to be relocating at least two of my raised beds, and placing them at the back of my property because the soil there is rich and fertile soil that was trucked in from a riverbed some years ago. The rest of the yard is pretty much clay. Hate it.

We are going to be changing up our desired crops this year, so that we can use what we plant for our chickens as well. I think we are just going to start out with five chickens (for eggs), and then play it by ear as to whether or not we'll get more later.

Last year, we had great success with tomatoes, Romaine lettuce, and cucumbers, but everything else was a dismal failure. We are new to gardening, and so it's been challenging for us. That's my nice way of saying that we suck at gardening. We'll get it figured out one day.

Looking forward to doing some indoor planting soon!! Spring is just around the corner (or so they say).

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The rest of the yard is pretty much clay. Hate it.

I used to feel that way, but it also has some good qualities. The tiny particles hold water around them which can move readily by capillary action and hang on to fertiliser. I was reading 'The natural history of Selbourne' which is an old classic and he refers to the labourers digging clay from the clay pits to spread on the fields. I got interested, and it seems this was quite a common practice two or three hundred years ago. If only it wern't so damned heavy and sticky

 

[YumYum]

Hello, friends. I haven't posted in a long time because, well, it's winter, and I haven't done a lot to my yard/garden yet. We are currently building a chicken coop. We should be done with that within a week or so. I'm also going to be relocating at least two of my raised beds, and placing them at the back of my property because the soil there is rich and fertile soil that was trucked in from a riverbed some years ago. The rest of the yard is pretty much clay. Hate it.

We are going to be changing up our desired crops this year, so that we can use what we plant for our chickens as well. I think we are just going to start out with five chickens (for eggs), and then play it by ear as to whether or not we'll get more later.

Last year, we had great success with tomatoes, Romaine lettuce, and cucumbers, but everything else was a dismal failure. We are new to gardening, and so it's been challenging for us. That's my nice way of saying that we suck at gardening. We'll get it figured out one day.

Looking forward to doing some indoor planting soon!! Spring is just around the corner (or so they say).

Don't hate clay. It holds minerals but also too much water and it is something to build off of. Compost is your friend. I would rather hate sand or silt.

Gardening is something you learn from all the time. You only suck at gardening if you quit learning from it or think you know it all.

 

[Meadowlark]

Speaking of compost and fertilizer, I started my annual pile of residue today from feeding the cattle all winter. It made quite a heap. I'll let Nature heat it up and I'll stir/mix it up a few times over the next months and then it will be ready to go on the garden.

This stuff is better than BlackCow and all other commercial amendments because I know exactly what is in it. After Nature does its thing and I mix it up a few times, this will be the stuff garden dreams are made of...nothing better.

Together with the green manures/cover crops that I grow 365 days a year, garden soil just doesn't get any better.

 

[mikejohnson]

Today I planted and fertilized a new tree in my garden.

 

[Sean Regan]

Had a go at the bamboo forest at the bottom of the garden this afternoon. I do this every year, I end up with quite a few dead branches that could be used as canes, but I don't bother, it all goes in the green bin.
Some dead wood, a lot of dead leaves and moss in the bed.
It's mostly in shadow down here.

The grasses got a prune whether they liked it or not, they had a lot of dead leaves.

The bamboo looks a bit thin here, but the sun when it is setting always shines through it. It'll thicken up as we move into the warmer weather.
The pagoda needs a bit of a re-paint, I might do that later in the week.

There's no sign of 'arry. but there's a couple of cats that get picked up by the cameras a few nights each week.
I've swapped 'arry's house over. Better to put his "summer house" out when he's not there. He's now got a lot of fresh hay and some of his old stuff, so it won't smell strange. Assuming of course he'll put in an appearance within the next few weeks,

 

[Sean Regan]

Did a bit today, gave a lot of plants and pots a drop of liquid plant food. Fed the lawn.

Finished messing with the new troughs. The hebes have put on a bit of a spurt, so I repotted them into bigger pots. They were a bit root bound. Reduced them down to just two per trough. Put a block of wood under each saucer as they are still quite small.

The snowdrops are fully out now.

Assorted spring bulbs in this narrow bed are coming through. I think several of the hebes are dead. Probably left them for too long in pots before planting them out and the freeze got them. Both borders will be "knee deep" in bluebells, as they are each year.

Pleased with these primroses. There were twelve in a basket, given to my wife as a present two Christmases ago. I planted them out in January of last year in the long border and all have come out. Here's a few.

#

I need to get some grass seed tomorrow for patching at the bottom end of the garden. I'll give it a go, but if it doesn't take in a couple of months, I'll get two or three rolls of turf.
I'll spend some time in the garden tomorrow, there's the clematis to tidy up and I might weed the rockery before the grass gets a hold again.

The dry hedgehog food I put under the teahouse last night has gone. But the two cats were around that corner of the building, they were picked up by one of the cameras. I don't know if they managed to get their heads under there, or whether 'arry had eaten it.
Anyway, I've put some more under there tonight, but further under where the cats can't possibly reach it. I've re-positioned the camera. If the food disappears, I'll know it wasn't the cats.