What have you done today in the Garden?

@Logan good luck with tulip planting. As much as I adore tulips I treat them like I am burying food for the voles and mice. This way next spring I’ll enjoy tulips from your garden.

The freezer clean out job I have slowly been engaged in as permitted, depending on how cold it is to keep the food from thawing. It would be just my luck to throw some freezer burned food away and the next day a possum would be in the trash. Happened once when I lifted the trash lid and a possum was inside hissing at me with his threatening teeth glaring like a flash of light from the dark side of hell. Scary… Way to many critters around especially if food is involved.

 

Thank you @Pacnorwest , it must be very upsetting to see all your critters after your plantings and food. Here people do have trouble with rats and some foxes but we don't.
When i defrost my freezer i take the drawers out and cover them with blankets and duvets just to keep the food frozen because it will take me a few hours to do it and it works, i enjoy doing it though.

 

Decided on a well earned day at home today rather than going out for a wander and lunch......so a few garden jobs may get tackled after all.

Thankfully freezer maintenance is never a time consuming job for us. Both freezers are regularly wiped out throughout the year ( both frost free) ,as and when . I tend to just remove a couple of drawers each time we restock with batch cooking/ groceries and quickly empty out what is still in them and give them a clean before refilling. Little and often keeps them in good order without having to make it into a ( some do it only yearly) big boring chore. I sometimes do a drawer or two in the evening if I can't find anything better to do as we don't watch tv after 7pm ( our programmes over here are very uninspiring!!).

 

Nothing today, as I had other jobs to do.

Tomorrow I may get into pruning the overhanging branches of next door's trees,



I do this every year as the can overhang by several feet wth a year's growth.
The thin branches my Barnel telescopic pruner can manage and it holds the bit you've cut off until you relax your grip on the handle.



The thicker branches will need my Fiskars telescopic pruner. "No messing with this."



But I'll have to get my big adjustable ladder out and use it in a stepladder configuration over the acer in front of the tea-house to protect it, as these heavier branches might damage it when they fall. I'll just brace another ladder against the fence to get some height.

The branches on the tree nearest the shed are much thinner and anyway, I can reach most, if I stand on the roof of the shed, as always.

 

Well organized and as always a wealth of experience and inspiration. Those birch trees can get quite large Reminds me to get out and prune a couple of birch trees with low hanging branches over the driveway.

 

First job today was hand stripping most of the leaves of this acer. It's just a case of running an open hand down through the branches and the dead leaves all come away.
Still more from the top, which are less accessible, to be removed. That's from where the new growth is coming. There's a lot of dead would to be pruned off, this will give the rest of the branches more room. I don't think it will need much retraining as most of the branches are in the right place. You can see where the lawn has failed to grow because it's always in the shade. I'll probably take six inches off the "skirt" all round.
I have to be careful. I like them to keep the "dome shape." Take too much off and it'll look like a cocktail umbrella.


Then I got in to the right-hand tree of next door's

I got quite a bit pruned off that overhangs our garden. Less tree...fewer leaves to collect when they fall off every year. I've still the top to get at and the other tree.
The tops of both overhang our garden by about six feet.



It doesn't look much different.





But what I took off filled the green bin. I only got it all in as I chopped it all up into small bits. I'll do some more next week once the bin has been emptied.

 

DHR that birch is a tall snagged tangled web of a mess . A daunting job for sure. And then add work to chop in smaller pieces. Your like the ever-ready energy battery . That is so hard on the neck , shoulders etc.

 

DR you must be part superman, climbing around and trimming that giant tree! Kudos!

 

Too much rain to work outside today.

I do putter a little in the sunroom. Ten days ago, I planted some lavender seeds. I keep them in the light, and at house temperature.

Now they are germinating.





I bought these seeds so that I can have different lavender varieties in the xeric border, or containers. They are described as blooming the first year if started early. Now is probably unnecessarily early, but I enjoy this.

The Bandera Rose has much better germination so far. There are a few Vicenza Blue. I have more seeds if needed.

 

Daniel— it is good to see your seeds are germinating. Exciting, isn’t it.

 

@Daniel W seedlings look great .

Your stories and AI pics are always so creative and make my day.
I had pekin and ruian ducks. They are quite the watch dogs very noisy if anything enters their territory. And Happy your ducks and chicks are all accounted for. Stay safe little ducks and chickies… How’s Rufus deal with all the lil ones ?

Nice children's book material.

 

I used to have Indian Runner Ducks. They were so much fun. But all ducks are very dirty and messy.

I hope they stay safe. I'm fond of them. Plus the eggs are so much better than store bought. Like, very special.

Rufus ignores them, and vice versa. It's kind of strange, but he just isn't interested.

 

Oh that is funny how Rufus just ignores the chicks and ducks. That’s one of the blessings of not owning a herding dog. My dogs would be herding them.

I had to look up Indian runner ducks, they stand erect and don’t waddle. I thought waddle ducks were hard to catch i can’t imagine trying to catch one of those. Or chickens. I bet they have cute names.The ducks /male and female?Both chicks and ducks are messy and need their own pens. The ducks like a pool in summers and can be very loud when intruders arrive. They are great at keeping bugs out of the garden. Ducks live into their teens. Their eggs are also great. One duck egg makes super meringue. They can be nice pets too. I’m tired… good night .

 

@Pacnorwest Indian Runner Ducks are pretty entertaining. And they are prolific egg producers. Our last one was a victim of some predator this last summer. These are called "Magpie Ducks" Ducks don't perch above ground, so are more vulnerable than hens.

The current ducks are one male and one female. That 's must how the sexing worked out. They were all supposed to be female. I actually had three, two drakes and a female. But one of the drakes was so aggressive. We had them mixed with the hens, and the aggressive drake... um... did inappropriate things to the hens. I gave him away. They were traumatized when he was around. Now the duck have a separate yard.

Duck are better foragers than hens. They scoop mud, carry it to their water container, and wash it to catch worms and grubs. So the water always becomes incredibly muddy within hours of refreshing it.

Im not crazy about the taste of duck eggs but some people like them.

None really have names. Many years ago, when they quit laying, I gave them to a friend who would slaughter and eat them, but I felt bad about that. If they had names, that made it worse. So now they live their full life spans. Chickens are cannibals - they eat the parts that remain if one is caught by a raccoon or weasel. Also, once in a while I buy a rotisserie chicken, slice it and dehydrate to make dog treats. The hens get what's left over, and consume every last bit. Even the bones. I am vegetarian, but I understand they are not.

 

Spent a couple of hours in the gardens.

Weeded and mowed the front lawn, then did a leaf collection from the drive and the front garden with my "grizzly," garden vac.
Then collected leaves the same way from the back garden.
As the green bin was already full, I did what I often have to do. I put a piece of cardboard on top of the contents, then by using my step stool I could climb onto it and by jumping up and down on it a few times, gained an extra foot of space.
Now it is completely full. So no more tree pruning until after bin collection day, on Wednesday.