What have you done today in the Garden?

Yesterday weeded some of the blueberry pots and fed them with a slow release fertiliser, then watered them. Hopefully do the others this afternoon.

 

I transplanted all the rest of my cauliflowers. It is wintry outside. It may snow today. I have probably lost half of my strawberry fruits due to the frosts that we had the last few days. The beetroots that I transplanted last night look very bad. We will see if they take or not. The cauli Looks good though. It is 5 degrees and windy and cloudy outside. Only 2 hours in the garden then I had had enough. I went and cut some firewood too. Tomorrow maybe a light frost, but then warming up a bit with rain predicted for the next couple of weeks.

 

Finished weeding the blueberry pots, then the slow release fertiliser. Had a small plant growing in one of the pots so transplanted that into a pot where a blueberry had died last year. Did a bit of weeding in the Garden, dug up some stinging nettles, if left they would spread too much.

 

Nada! Snow!

So I started seeds indoors: zinnias, marigolds, coriander, parsley.

 

I've given the new wood in the pergola a couple of coats of Dulux, (it may get one more) and the rest a single coat. At the moment I can't be bothered with replacing the panels, I don't think it looks too bad as it is.




The rest of the morning was taken up with mowing and generally tidying up. I've just ordered a new Flymo Strimmer, fifty quid on eBay, free postage, here for Tuesday. My old one must be fifteen years old and the bearings are very worn.

Some weeding still to be done and tying up of clematis. I'll do that this afternoon.

This quince on the side fence is doing very well.




Wisteria blossom nearly there.




I'm pleased that the nearest of our two acers in pots in the foreground has responded to my wiring it at the end of last summer, it had a couple of droopy branches, I've been able to take the wire away now as it has returned to a more symetrical shape.





Likewise at the same time, our big acer palmatum, this too had two droopy branches, I put two large canes three feet apart and a strong wire between them to gently force the branches up. They've responded in the same way.




We've some frog spawn in the little pond, just one clump. When we had the koi pool, frogs would hide over winter in the folds in the corners of the liner. So some years this little pond would be completely covered in spawn. So I guess there'ds far fewer frogs in our garden these days, mind you we still got them dexcades ago when there was no water in the garden at all.

 

Just potted up 6 Grappe Tomatoes into 10 cm size pots as they have now outgrown their starter ones. I have them stored in the Sun inside on the dashboard in Husbands Truck which is not allowed on the Roads here as classed as non compliance..it has it's uses afterall.
Just done more weeding as that is the only way to keep them from taking over....
Cold Wind here again today, Sunny but still need a coat on most of the time...
My baby type Tomatoes I have still indoors, they are growing better with the extra heating on, but far from ready to pot on...Garden is more colourful now with all the blossom on the trees...

 

Wow...snow ‘n daffs !!
Sorry about the snow.

 

oh CM! noooo! no more! well, it doesn't look like the 12" I heard being forecasted for the entire NE. thats good. melts faster. its been cool here this last few days but no snow.

 

Lucky duck carolyn!

Tomorrow is the fence repair day at the Community Garden. We are going to try to cut away the old chicken wire & then re-attach the new hardware cloth. It will entail kneeling in the cold, very wet mud. I can't wait.

 

Moved around the plants in my very small greenhouse to put the small plants in from the conservatory to harden off and watered the pots in the back.

 

I gave the pergola balustrade its final coat of paint today. So for now that's done and dusted. I might give the shed another coat later in the week. The rest of the few hours I spent out there was on just a general tidy up and the tying up of few clematis.

We've not had raon for a while, so I turned on my lawn sprinklers. It sounds grand but there's only two. I put them in nine years ago. They were quite cheap, the heads were £7 each on eBay, plus some speed-fit pipe and fittings, a valve recycled from an old central heating system and a bit of sand and cement I had in the garage to re-make the path. Did the lot in half a day for about fifty quid.



But that was then. The water pressure has steadily dropped over the years. I put it down to all the new builds in the area served by United Uitilities, without them uprating the pumps. A few years ago I had to remove the return springs in the sprinkler heads as the pressure was becoming so low. Not a big problem, as I can push them down with my foot once I've turned them off, as they are rarely used. But today the pressure was even lower. I could start a "project," buy a small tank connect it to the mains and put a ball valve in it and use an old submersible pump I have to drive the sprinklers. But I'll start by having a go at United Utilities on Monday.

My wife said she'd heard on the news that there's going to be little rain for the next two weeks, so there will be quite a bit of watering required.

I'm going to buy a couple of clematis on Monday. The little bed next to the garage wall looks as bit bare at the moment, there are three clematis in it which will cover much of the wall as they did last year but I can squeeze in another. I'll also get a Mayleen and plant it just to the right of the trunk of that wisteria in the corner, which runs along the top of the fence between the corner of the garage and the corner of the house and along the top of the pergola over the French windows. That bit of bare fence between the garage and the door in it will be ideal for it as it will be in full sun.

 

Cornflower seeds, already sprouted after two days..no idea if that is normal as I have never sown them before...
some seeds are failing it seems. The weather has been unusually cold, plenty of sun but the cold wind has I think hurt them. Petunias are not looking good and few others but overall more winners than losers so far, just have to except gardening came be a challenge at times but we know that.
Lots of colour already and thoroughly enjoying the outcome.
Two loads of Oak Wood collected from our favourite supplier whose name is Dominque. Loaded in our large trailer 1 Stere and unloaded into our adjoining Barn..Lunch and after went back for another Stere as we are using more than usual at the moment and although we do have plenty we feel like the locals, you cannot ever have too many logs...it still is the main source of heating and cooking here in France.

 

Sorry about your seeds Dianne and yes some seeds do germinate quickly. That's the joy of gardening, success and failures.

 

Put a lot of marigolds into bigger trays and put them on top of the greenhouse until later then I'll put them in for tonight. Also I potted on 12 tomato plants they're still in the conservatory.

 

Been out all day and it has really been really enjoyable working in the Garden. Done jobs all over the place..Husband had his day organised right up to his final task ..got out the grass tractor and headed off the cut the main grass area...I dug out a border to neaten it really and help keep the weeds in the grass from speading so much into the flower bed..few photos

Still got to work on it a tad more but getting there..note how the Ajuga is spreading
really well now.

Purchased this Camellia today and potted it up in this Pot, just wondering though, is it going to
be big enough.the first one and only I have had here, I did not use ericaceous soil
any maybe that is why it died on me...over time that was...

Most seeds outside but most doing better now the sun is warmer and the wind has dropped, but these above have to have more warmth as they cost me more!
various small baby tomatoes my fast growing cornflowers in toilet roll tubes @Logan and a sage plant I purchased to make sage & onion stuffing...

Made a Pizza just now so back to the Kitchen again as starving Hungary...