What have you done today in the Garden?

I planted carrots and radishes. I cleaned and hilled around asparagus. I planted parsley and harvested salad greens. This afternoon I brought home some firewood with my daughter.

 

Painted the top half of the garage pergola. The posts and the balustrade may get done tomorrow.
I had to replace the end beam as it was beginning to rot, fortunately I'd anticipated having to replace more bits when I repaired the other pergola, so I bought an extra length of tanalised 4" X 2." It'll need another coat.

I painted the new rondels on the other pergola gold to match those in the balustrade.




I had to release all the ties of the wisterias, to get the painting done. Several were a bit tight, so it worth doing. This Woodsheen on previous coats, dries very quickly, so I was able to re-attach all the branches with fewer necessary ties.

I made up a mixture of soil and grass seed in a bucket and applied it to the perimeter of the front lawn where there had been a lot of moss. Doing it this way, means the the grass seed doesn't get blown away.

 

A beautiful day for weeding, divided a huge hosta and replanted hunks in three different places, will be laying cardboard and cedar bark over the cardboard on paths (as I get areas weeded)

 

I planted potatoes. Early but I planted them deepish and if they are growing and we risk frosts, I will completely bury them. I have a few already growing in polytunnels.I think this year will be the most important food that I have ever grown.

 

I normally would not really do much of anything on Sunday. I normally go and check the greenhouses and go to church. but as we have all been encouraged to stay home (and this afternoon we were commanded to do so now) I transplanted all my high tunnel tomatoes into larger plug trays. transplanted a few verbenas that were ready to move to a bigger pot. watered all my hanging baskets and pots and flats, reset the mouse traps, pulled one dead tomato out of the empty greenhouse, fertilized the peppers that managed to survive the winter in there... green sticks sticking out of the ground and a few buds swelling... that would be awesome to have had them winter over and have that much of a head start on peppers for the season.

 

It’s early yet, but between rain storms I cleared another small flower bed filled with fall anemones, day lilies, hollyhocks and what I was looking for, the purple jackamani clematis. I’d forgotten I’d planted one there until yesterday when a survivor from the corner of the shed popped up. (I thought I had gotten them all moved from those areas) Am looking forward to seeing the purple blooms covering the trellis this summer. Maybe I will divide the nelly Moser clematis and put it under the white rose or maybe a new variety. Spring decisions.

 

Continued raking out the flower beds. Awaiting the arrival of seeds, potatoes and onion starts.

 

potted up a bunch of seedlings, now my shelf is to small to hold all these bigger pots. i now have to make the hard choice throwing out some seedlings. its pretty sad, they are all doing just fine

 

Did a bit of food shopping today and bought some petrol. People won't be using their cars much so the Asda petrol station wasn't busy as usual. But it only needs the Daily Mail to generate a "possible petrol shortage" scare to get people rushing out to fill up.

Went into Aldi and bought two of their £7.99 rhodos I'd seen yesterday. I had to be selective because out of a dozen or so a few were beginning to wilt. Aldi never water their plants. I learned this last year when I pointed out some wilting plants on sale and an assistant told me they aren't allowed to water them, "'elf 'n' safety."



They are quite a reasonable size, in 9" pots. No idea of the varieties as there were no tags on the ones I chose, but with a different shade of the leaves they won't be the same. I'll have to "squeeze them in," somewhere.







Need to get on finishing the pergola balustrade today.



I'm quite pleased how how the rondels on the other pergola turned out.

Amazing what you can do with bits of scrap haedwood window sill, a jigsaw and some paint.

 

I did a bit of plant moving.

Achieved a bit of symmetry by placing a couple of plants from the other border at either end of the one between the tea house and shed.

Lots of bluebells to be followed by dahlias in the late summer.







Pleased to see that the wisteria has a few hundred flower blooms which are beginning to show.




So I was able to replace them with the rhodos. Fortunately I had some ericaceous compost with which to bed them in. They were pretty rootbound as I expected.









I've left a bit of space to the right to give the little azalea a chance.







Finished painting the garage pergola balustrade. I don't like to say "It'll do" about any job, but it will have to, until I replace the decorative panels (again) in the summer.

 

I weeded the lettuce/sugar pea bed and picked a gallon bag of lettuce. That bed, when completely cleaned out, will get a big dose of compost and then planted with squash. I think the local food bank is going to need all the fresh produce it can get, so I'm planting vegetables we don't necessarily eat (okra, Swiss chard, etc.) but that others really like.

 

Been making a greenhouse . Going to go that way this year if I can.. I have a tray of veggies from seed .Better big boy , bush beans, yellow squash, kale and leaf lettuce. My tomatoes have a scalded look and I don't know why.

 

Today should have been a golf day, but the course is closed. The greens staff will still be working and we could individually have a stroll around the course. It does make for a pleasant walk, plenty of fauna and flora to see when it's quiet, but I'm not that bothered. I've my new replacement leccy golf trolley sitting in the garage, I've no idea when I'll be able to use it, but I'm not that bothered, I've plenty of other hobbies with which I can spend some time.

I had a stroll around the garden this morning after I'd put out some food for the birds and the squirrel. Nothing urgent needs attention.



I put the lawn sprinklers on last night, first time in six months. I also fed and watered the pots and turned on the leaky hose that waters all the beds for a few hours.





This is the first of our five acers to start showing some leaves.









This sambucus is doing well, I have to keep checking for blackfly as they can cover a plant seemingly, overnight.









The sorbus next to the pagoda will have a lot of blossom then berries on it again this year.









The quince on the side fence is flowering. We've three, it surprises me how much bliossom the get, as I regularly prune off the top branches as they prevent the sun getting on the plants in this border.









We've had this peony for decades. It would droop all over the path if I didn't make it grow through this square of weldmesh. As the year progresses I tie it to canes at each corner and gradually raise it up to provide support for it. With all the foliage you don't notice the weldmesh.









The local collections of the "green bin" has been halted. Food waste will have to be put in the bags which are regularly supplied in the non recyclable bins. The tips have been closed. At the best of time the non-recyclable bins which are only half the size of the other three bins haven't always sufficient capacity to take two week's rubbish, so from time to time I've had to drive to the tip a mile away with a couple of bags. Fortunately, I've a dustbin sized incinerator I bought from Aldi a couple of years ago, so I'll get it out of the shed and have a burn-up now and again and not worry about "emissions. "



I suspect more problems will be caused by an increase of fly tipping.

As the virus thread has been closed due to some "locked antlers" antics, I'l post this here, just for information.

A friend whose son is a policeman in West London, traveled into work yesterday morning on the tube and saId he was the only person in his carriage.

 

Nada. We are in a holding pattern, waiting for snow to melt and seeds, potatoes, & onions to artivey

 

Cayuga, I see some kind soul filled the bird feeder! Our birds are hitting the feeders and suet cakes heavily--even with "natural" food available.