What did you do in your garden today?


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Strange, in contrast to Sean my snowdrops around the base of the old apple tree have been out for ages, but the primroses which are scattered all over this garden are only just showing the first one or two. Maybe Sean's are a cultivar, mine look self seeded on the whole, along the dge of hedges and creeping out into the lawn.
Finished off filling in that last trench, because I dug quite deep I have managed to rake out a lot of lumps of clay, something to deal with but I have simply raked them to one end for the moment and have a nice 8'x10' or so bed for my veg seeds that are sprouting on windowsills.
 
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My snowdrops also have been out for ages, have two large clumps, and a few wayward ones. I am still raking up leaves. Have not cut down the spent Annabells yet, thinking---we have to get snow then they will look neat with snow on them. But, lots of my early daffs are up and blooming, others showing green. Was warm yesterday, 72 degrees.
 
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Did a bit of shopping this morning.
Two bags of topsoil.
Grass seed.
Bag of cement
Two of yellow sand
1 gallon of plasticiser.

Scraped the dead moss away from two large patches on the lawn at the bottom of the garden and covered them with a top soil and grass seed mix.

I'm now ready to jet-wash the main patio tomorrow if the weather is OK.
I've now got what I need to repoint the flags where necessary on Sunday.

I checked the cameras this morning. The only activity was one of the cats had returned and was looking to see if it could get at the dry hedgehog food. It was unsuccessful as I'd moved it further underneath. It could only get its head in the small gap I'd left by arranging some house bricks behind the skirt.
What food I put there last night was still there this morning, so no hedgehog activity yet.

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Took a lot of lumps of clay off the bed I have recently prepared. The larger ones were laid out on an 8'x2' half sheet of ply, and I filled four buckets with the smaller ones, which I stood in the greenhouse. When they have dried a bit I will chuck them in the next fire I have, or some of them. Then I added four or five bags of compost and worked them into the surface, I'll get some manure on it next. As I go about it I am planning in my head; peas down the bottom, carrot and beetroot up the top, maybe plant out the broad beans I have sprouting next to the peas to keep that bit legumes and parsnip and swede with the other roots.

Brought my amaryllis lilies in from the cold greenhouse.
 
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Got the Karcher out this morning and did some jet-washing.
Having to move all the pots to do it was the biggest pain, as they are heavy.
I'll do the pointing necessary tomorrow, when it has dried and if it doesn't rain.
There's a fair bit to do. Water gets between some of the stones and when it freezes, it blasts out the mortar.


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This was easier. The concrete slabs aren't porous. The jet-wash also cleans out the moss between the slabs, I'll brush in some of the sand I bought yesterday when they've dried.
The path is still wet.

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These pots and the troughs will have to stay here until the pointing has dried on the main patio. This patio and path will have to wait for attention, until stuff can go back on the main patio.

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It's been quite mild today.
 
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Got the big patio pointed today. A fiddly job as I had to chisel out suspect bits of old mortar. Three hours on my hands and knees.
I had to get the amount of yellow dye added to the mortar mix right, in a couple of batches made in a bucket.
It's drying the right colour, the dark patches are where it's still wet.

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I'll leave it until Tuesday before putting the pots back to give it time to go off. It's a golf day tomorrow, so i'd only have the afternoon.
All the glazed pots need a clean and I'll check the castors on the "pot movers," as sometimes they don't.
I'll brush in the sand on the second patio too. That'll be it for this week as I've golf again on Wednesday and possibly Friday and Thursday's shopping day.
 
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I washed a stump.

Not kidding. Durn persimmon tree fell over and the stump would not come up with my Wimp-O-Winch, so I am attempting to cut it. The rocks are all embedded in the roots. Usually we leave stumps to the squirrels unless they are in the lawn and I actually attempted to get it BACK into the hole.

This whole thing is backwards. I did get a wood turner to geek out and come get the wood. He said he would make me a bowl from the tree.
 
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Got quite a bit done in a few hours today. Lots of heavy lifting.

Removed all seventeen glazed pots and their pot movers from the new patio. Brushed in half a bag of fine sand, before the rain had a chance to come. Some of the sand is a bit wet. It's the damp coming up from the fine hardcore below the flags, by capillary action. Needs another brush over in places.

The fountain sits on a round paving stone on the top of what was the koi pool pump sump. Which is connected to what was the bottom drain of the pool. There's a hole in the concrete plinth I made for the fountain, so I can put a "dip stick" down to check if there's any water in the sump, which would indicate the hardcore under the flags would be waterlogged. But I've never found any. The stick always comes up dry. I must have drilled sufficient 1" holes in the pool's concrete floor, so the water is draining away. Our soil is a bit sandy, so free draining.


Topped up with compost and cleaned all the pots and their pot movers, put ten back on the new patio and the rest on the other one. Put the troughs back with their heathers. Replaced the bird bath and 'arry's feeder with some dry hedgehog food, in case he shows up.



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The pointing's not yet completely dry. I'm getting couple more glazed pots on Friday, when they arrive at the local garden centre for those hebes on the French window steps. I'll just put them in, in their plastic pots. I can then ring the changes with other plants if I choose.

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Nothing planned until Friday. (Golf tomorrow, shopping Thursday).I need to get into the rockery and remove a lot of dead leaves, a few weeds and a lot of grass, to give the phlox a better chance.
The re-pointing of some places on the path next to the garage, isn't urgent, so can wait for a week or so. I won't spend more than three or four hours "doing stuff" in the garden.
 
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Checked all the clematis, we've more than a dozen, all showing signs of life. The two Mayleen in smaller tubs in the drive that climb up the party fence are fine.
But this in a big tub by the front door is not. No sign of life, which is a pain. It's been there for at least ten years.
May have to replace it, I'll change the compost at the same time.


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Its smaller companion, which grows along a wire under the front room bay window, has survived.

This year's David Austin catalogue has arrived. As we've sixteen roses in pots and two in beds, I'll try to resist buying any more.
 
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There has been a nasty disease of clematis going around, probably not the cause if the one next to it survived though.

Shifted a lot of compost heap onto the garden and raked it through to spread it, remove the un-rotted bits, and mix it into the top layer of soil. Also incorporated a lot of manure, some wood ash and burnt clay into a bed I am planning on using for tomatoes. Put some carrot seed to soak in an old margarine tub, it may be early yet, but nothing ventured ... , and I can do more later easily enough, and will.
 
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Not getting any joy from Garden Plants on Line with the mimosa.

They believe it will recover if I planted it out.

So I've done this and sent them a copy of this photo. It's looking worse. We'll have to wait and see how it goes. If it doesn't recover, I'll be back at them,

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My de Jager scented pink and white bare root lily of the valley have arrived. They are really tiny but had a lot of root on them.

The "deal" was for nine over two varieties, but I received ten. At £25 they weren't cheap, they were my wife's selection from one of her TV shopping channels, "I'll have to take her TV remote away."
I potted them up in 4" pots as recommended and put them on the window sill of the shed. I'll eventually plant them out in the narrow border next to the garage.

Tidied up some more clematis. At least two will need replacing as they are definitely dead, which isn't as bad as I thought it might be.

My trail cameras are picking up three cats that visit our garden during the night. As well as a black and white cat, these other two are showing an interest in the back of our summerhouse. although I haven't put any food under it for the hedgehog (if he's there), for a few days. There is some dry food in the feeder on the main patio, but it's "cat proof."

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Not doing anything in the garden today, my wife has talked me out of getting into the rockery as she says it's too cold.
I've still my golf trolley and golf shoes to clean ready for Monday. (I don't want it to show up the new golf bag I bought from the pro shop on Friday, do I?). A zip on the old one had gone. They can't be repaired, as they are fitted during manufacture. He will always match prices on eBay.

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But I can watch the athletics on TV.

I've checked on the lily of the valley and they seem to have grown a bit overnight!

You can see three of the dozen re-cycled primroses in the border.

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Nothing escapes my trail cams.

No cats but, "Intruder alert!" heading under the summerhouse.

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The local garden centre has had a delivery of the green glazed Apta Cambridge pots, of which I want two, but "they haven't been unpacked yet, try next week."
So much for the "They'll be in on Friday," I was told on Tuesday.

The water heater I bought to replace the ancient one in the garage has packed up. On inspection, I found there was a pinhole leak in the tank. I could contact the supplier and I would be expected to pack it up and return it and then wait for them to decide whether they would repair it, replace it, or give me a refund.

But at my age, I can't be bothered. For what it cost, I've ordered another make from a different supplier and it'll be here on Monday. It'll be a half hour job installing it in the afternoon when I come home from golf. Being without hot water outside, I find very inconvenient.
 
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