What have you done today in the Garden?

@DianneWoollie that's great what you did with the fork.

 

No i just have to do a few at a time.

 

Finished planting the pot marigolds and Snapdragons along the path.

 

Weeded and transplanted butternuts. Prepared a bed. I harvested strawberries and the first raspberries. I attached my tomatoes and turned the suckers into cuttings. I strimmed for an hour. I am going back to water a bit. I will make some comfrey juice.

 

This morning, I tackled my least favourite job in the garden. It's necessary every two or three years.

This is our "bamboo forest" at the bottom of the garden.





Not a pretty sight close up this morning.




It started out as a clump half way down the side border. We don't remember buying it but we must have done about forty years ago.
Thirty years ago we decided that it had to go as we wanted other plants in that bed and the second of the Japanese lanterns I made.

So I dug it out which wasn't dificult, it was a clump about two feet in diameter. Instead of chucking it out I chopped it up into small clumps and planted them at intervals hard up against the back fence. Over the years the clumps have spread out sideways filling the gaps and forwards to about 9 inches.
It's very "limp" as a bamboo. It needs three wires at different hights stretched across it to contain it and keep it hard up against the back fence.

First job was to re-wire it as several new canes had grown ouside the wires.

It then needed the dead canes removing. You have to fight your way in between the live ones to cut them out with secateurs.

How many?

This many.




The next job was removing the rhizomes that allow the bamboo to creep forward. They only travel on the surface, no chance of them "popping up" three feet away. I find the only way to do it is with an electric jigsaw. It'd take forever with secateurs and I didn't want to disturb the roots of growing canes.




Final job was removing as many dead leaves as I could be bothered about. These leaves don't decompose, so you're stuck with them unless you can get them out from between the canes.

Anyway. Job done!

 

@Doghouse Riley Your garden is very beautiful, well done.

 

We have black bamboo..very slow growing just near the house so have not had to trim that in 6 + years since transferring it from the UK to here..Now the Bamboo that is right down the end of the garden {belongs to our Hunting Dogs fiasco neighbours so every time they come out the garden it is all hell let loose}.....it is there's, but they share all of there weeds brambles and anything else that grows...They come from the UK for the French way of life but actually live in side almost entirely....except to shop etc. large garden and cut the grass..that is the extent of there Gardening
But as you know we love our Garden,.enjoy almost all jobs.. last evening we had a severe storm but not too much got damaged.. Roses that are tall need cutting back but lost no trees this time and just lots and lots of leaves .....

 

Just got a email from j Parker bulbs and plants, can pre order tulip bulbs for the autumn and they've got the ones that I had last year.

 

Planted up the 3 large tubs in the front under the kitchen window with in each 1 lavender, Snapdragons, trailing geraniums and eurigeron. Used the old compost but it was very dry so it took a lot of watering.

 

The bamboo behind the pagoda is a black bamboo, as you say it is very slow growing, I put a wire around it to stop it spreading. I also prune off the new growth around the base, so the energy keeps the main branches going upwards.

 

Best intentions of pulling up the spent broccoli plants to put on the compost pile, but they were not spent. We are getting side shoots! I'll enjoy fresh broccoli for a couple of more weeks and my husband will eat it. We've never had broccoli this late in the season.
I picked some more squash (hello, food pantry!) and a few green beans. The beans are almost finished, so they will be coming out along with the sugar peas.

 

starting to tie the peppers to bamboo stakes

 

Nothing today it's been raining all day.

 

I took my Fiskars lopper to next door's tree where it was hanging over the fence.

The house is unoccupied at the moment as the owner is in a care home and the property up for sale.
Nothing's been done to the garden for nearly six months, it's like a (grass) jungle, as there was never much in it.

The removal of several branches will allow more light into our garden. I cut them well back so I won't need to do it again for a few years.
Our quince on the fence I prune to make sure it doesn't overhang into next door's.




These loppers can cut quite thick branches, it depends on how hard you can pull the cord.
A while back, I extended the reach of these loppers by adding a length of polypipe to the end of the handle with a length of wood inside it to stop it bending, just needed to attach a longer cord.