What have you done today in the Garden?

Hiya Daniel— thanks mate.
That “thing” is a vedermot…and there are several sorts. Their classification family is: Pterophoridae.
I do not know which one this guy is. I see them in various tints of brown and greyish. Every year I see a couple, so while they are present they are not exactly in your face.

 

Lots of indoor gardening for me the last two days.

I cut down and removed one of the giant fig trees. They used to be in each front window, but since moving Hubby's power recliner to a window seat for his last couple of surgeries, the trees were fighting for light in one window. The one I removed was 13 feet tall. This will let the smaller 10 foot tall one fill out. It was a little sad but necessary. I'd had that fig tree for almost 30 years. The smaller one for 20 years.

I potted up the Jade tree to a much larger and more sturdy pot. It was becoming top heavy.

I also potted three varieties of Pathos that I had rooted in water. They will remain in those small pots for a couple of months, and then they will be transplanted to the top of the living wall in the loft. I pruned and rooted the Hoya plant, and potted some cuttings from the Christmas Cactus. And ended with potting a rooted Grape Ivy.

Gotta play in dirt any way we can And scratch the gardening itch.

 

Just come in from a good productive day in the garden. Potted up in compost and perlite some of the Dahlia tubers that I want to rehome somewhere next year. Dug up, trimmed and potted up some more tender Fuchsias. Potted up lots of rooted Ajuga off shoots to plant up as ground cover in certain areas next Spring. Gave all the plants in the big lean-to coldframe a drop of water.

I had hoped a day outside would chase an awful migraine away but unfortunately it didn't.

 

Gardening is gardening— inside or out. Right?

Heh heh— you are innovative. I know what you mean about needing to play in the dirt.
That was smart pruning the figs. You will have much more light coming in now. Who’s the smart cookie then.

Don’t you just love a jade tree. I gave Eileen one ages ago. I wonder if ut is still alive.

 

That sounds good, Oreti.
Sorry about that migraine.

 

It's rained on and off for a couple of days. There are leaves that need collecting, but few have fallen yet from the several wisterias. I'll give it a week and then start stripping some more. But on the first dry day next week, I'll collect a lot of next door's silver birch leaves that have fallen into our garden.


I'm only certain that one of the three hedgehog houses is occupied.

This one under the azaleas next to the patios, but the resident has not triggered the camera for two weeks since it last went in.





So next week, I'll check the other two and if they are vacant, I'll put them in the shed having removed the bedding and cleaned them out and I'll let them dry out over the winter.

I've brought this acer palmatum Taylor now it has shed its leaves, into the freezer/storeroom in the back of the garage, as I did last year.





Two others we'd had before it over the past six years did not survive the low temperatures experienced in the winter.

 

Riley—Cheers for the update on your mol-blog. Good that you take such good care of their houses over the winter.

That little Acer is a real beauty.

Mate it is raining Wisteria leaves. I have swept already, but will just hold off until they have all fallen off. That way I can see what and where to prune.

 

It was sunny most of the day, but clouds moved in this afternoon.

I worked outside in my garden today. I got one load of chips hauled around to my containers. I took down one of those mini greenhouses that I had for years. It was just wore out. I saved a few things to repurpose, and tossed the rest. I don't recommend them, they are not worth what is charged for them. I got a trash pile burned. I was going to burn that pile of bushes and vines by the driveway, but they are calling for high winds and storms overnight, so I decided to wait. I saved some more of my dried flower heads for their seeds. I am slowly getting those done. I cut some of them down also.

I do not get any "winter vacation" like some. I am way behind on chores, hopefully, I can catch up by spring. Some of my to-do list:

finish hauling the wood chips around my garden

rake leaves and haul to the compost or mulch flower beds

haul that large pile of ashes to the nearby woods

finish repairing that section of fence, waiting on DS to get home for Thanksgiving

WEED flower beds (50 or 60+?)

Trim overgrown grass around edges

burn two more brush piles

clean out the poison ivy wall; and clean out the opposite end of my garden

that is some of it.

I have plenty indoors to work on also.

 

Not a lot got done today as it was too wet. But there's lots of leaves that need clearing.










Most are from next door's silver birches, though there are a few from the wisterias.


If it's dry tomorrow, I'll get my Grizzley garden vac out to clear them.

I'll also strip these, down the side of the house, as they are mostly yellow now,






There's a lot of wisteria leaves still to come down.





This is the azalea I put here in mid summer in its plastic pot, which was originally on the patio. I took it out of the pot and planted in the earth.




I checked the second and third hedgehog houses, there were no occupants, the one that was near the back fence was a bit damp inside, although it doesn't leak. As it's permanently in the shade, I wasn't surprised. I cleaned them both out and they are now in a corner of the 8ft x 8ft "freezer room," in the back of the garage, where they will both dry out. It's a bit crowed in there with two freezers, four garden chairs two loungers, two spare golf bags, a spare golf trolley a spare set of clubs and a kitchen high chair. Plus the acer palmatum Taylor and from today, the lilac in its tub. It has a lot of nice fat buds on it. It survived last winter on the patio, but I'm not taking a chance this year.

I've turned off the water supply to the garage and garden. Last time I didn't I had two burst pipes under the basin and the fifty-year old water heater burst an internal pipe. The heater I have now has a "frost stat." I can turn the water on as and when I require it during the cold months.

>

For the jukeboxes in the tea-house, I've taken their heaters off the timers and they are now on 24/7. They are only 60w greenhouse heaters, so don't use much electricity. But they, with the insulated covers will stop them getting damp. I "turned them both over" this afternoon, gave their mechanisms some use by playing a few records. They both worked fine.

I took the new to me Leak 3400 tuner/amp up to Bolton this morning for the guy to check out the few faults it has. He is retired now, but still does these sort of repairs.
He has a wealth of experience of vintage audio and "can use a soldering iron." He works from his small end terraced house, so there's no big overheads, so it won't cost as much as it would taking to a high street retailer that "does repairs."

 

Riley— I see you are having some leaf fallout as well.

 

Nothing today it's snowing.

 

OMG Loggie. Snow!?!
Gadzooks…and you are so close. I’m not ready for snow yet. WAH !

 

Busy day (again) I seem to have less time than when I was working.
Snow on the ground first thing, but it soon cleared.

This morning I had to go for "bloods" at the local clinic. This is done a couple of times a year when you're diabetic. Then I had to go up to Bolton to collect my tuner/amp which had been repaired. Then it was shopping.
After lunch, I got into the garden, well.. our drive. I stripped the wisteria.





It got a bit of a prune.

My Grizzly garden vac. helped my clear the leaves.





The ground was too wet to tackle the back garden. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so I might clear those leaves in the afternoon when I come home after golf.

I've got the new to me, tuner/amp up and running. My total outlay on this including the service, was less than £100.






The old one I've put in my office.

 

Greenhouse day today sorting out the dried tubers and seeds collected a month ago.

 

I've got the gladioli corms to clean up and put away when they're ready.
Nothing much else at the moment.