What have you done today in the Garden?

Cleared the last of the leaves from the front garden.
As you can see, the area under the azaleas is always a pain to clear of leaves when they fall, from the tree, the rhodos, viburnums and the azaleas.



To make it easier I keep this "gangway" clear between them and the party fence between our garden and that of the adjoining semi. (I took the photos earier in the year). So I can blow them towards the fence and then drag them down towards the house. Avoids a "hands and knees," job.

I'm still pleased with this fence I errected over 20 years ago. Just painted 4" square posts set in postmix, with three strands of thick garden wire, supporting a roll of mesh fencing. It's still as good as new. It's less "in your face" than the usual concrete post and waneylap panels of all the other fences in our our road.

 

I got into the back garden today and cleared all the dead azalea, rhodo and camelias leaves, these won't completely rot down. but I do blow the last few to the back of the border. I filled the green bin.
The lawn, to use a technical term, is looking "dog rough," but will respond to a bit of attention when it gets warmer.

 

I think it all looks quite good for mid-winter.
Chapeau.

 

I putter with seedlings. Some peppers haven't germinated yet so I sowed another batch of Tabascos, Thai Dragon, and Cayenne pepper seeds. Also various others. Sowed fresh Echinacea seeds because the old ones didn't grow. I didn't expect them to but you never know. I read about 2,000 year old date seeds that grew so there is always a bit of hope. I will try growing some micro-size tomato plants as an experiment.



Onion and shallot seedlings are on schedule.

 

I'm up to date now.
The front garden is clear of dead leaves, leaving the way for the few dozen clumps of bluebells which will soon be apperaring.

The lawn just needs a bit of warm weather, though I might add a bit more seed later.

The viburnum, rhodo and azaleas are very tall now and screen the house from the road, but I have to be very careful when taking my car out of the drive as it's impossible to see traffic coming up the road from the right.



I've cleared the area under the azaleas to the side of the patio. A bit of a pain to get at through the wire fence that stops cats pouncing on the birds on the patio. The wire's an unattractive but necessary addition, but gets screened by the azaleas as they grow through the year.

The York stone flags need a dose of, "wet 'n forget," but it's too cold at the moment, it needs to be above 5c.



I've pruned back the jasmine on the back of this fence and cleared all its dead foliage in the bed, that's given the cyclamen a bit more light.



We've still got a bit of colour with these primroses on the patio steps.

I've had re-use my homemade bird feeder that the woodpigeons can't get at. They re-appeared when I removed it a month or so ago and used an open plant saucer on the steps. They make far too much mess.



Hard to see, but the snowdrops I removed from under the azaleas in the front garden and replanted here on the top of the rockery in the back garden, are just making an appearance.

 

Mate, I really enjoying see ing and reading about your work. It looks like you are poised for spring to begin.

 

I spread two weeks accumulation of coffee grounds on one of the new raised beds. So anxious to get started with some bush snow peas.

 

I don't buy chillie seeds anymore they don't come up. When they're in the supermarkets I buy a pack of the very hot chillies and save the seeds. If I can't sow them straight away I dry them on kitchen paper for a week. Them wrap them up in the paper then wrap that up in cling film and then foil put in a tin container and keep cool but not in fridge.

 

@Logan, at least that you know what they are like. I imagine the cost is less too. When seeds don't grow, I always assume it was my fault. On the other hand, I got faster and more complete germination growing home saved squash and shallot seeds than from bought ones.

I keep mine in paper envelopes in the pantry, which is quite cool and dry.

There is still hope. Two Tabasco pepper seeds germinated. Maybe the others, and Thai peppers, will follow. This year I want to save all of my own pea, pepper and more types of tomato seeds. And continue saving with other types that I already do (annual flowers, squash, pumpkin, zucchini, cucumbers, beans. Half of the tomato plants this year will be from home saved seeds.

 

I resumed pruning apple trees. They are semidwarf size but still need quite a bit of pruning. One tree a session. There are seven trees remaining to prune. Minidwarfs and espaliers are already done, as are the pears and sweet cherries.

 

@Daniel W that's good to hear that your chillies are coming up.
It's cheaper buying the Chillies and saving the seeds, I keep my plants in the conservatory, it's too cold here to have them outside. It's good that you're going to save your own seeds, that's what they did a long time ago.

 

DHR. I smiled when I read about your fence of some 20 yrs. Due to health problems, I was medically pensioned off back in 1984. OK I live in a council property. On retiring, I put a fence up, wavey panels, using metal ground sockets. The fence is still good to this day. Yet the fence errected by the council about 20 yrs ago, is zig-zagging and ready to fall anytime. I've always admired your garden and continue to wish you and your good lady all the best.

 

@Doghouse Riley very nice work. It's like a showcase.

Today I pruned two more apple trees. Total of the semidwarf and dwarf trees completed, four, with four remaining to prune.

I think I'll do the peaches later, they don't need much. Still need to clean up blackberries and raspberries. Pie cherries shouldn't need much. I will wait until Spring to prune the fig trees.

 

The quality of waneylap fencing has deteriorated over the decades. Most timber products now come from "sustainable sources." Timber that grows fast and has in my opinion, "often the density similar to forced rhubarb."
This is the fence between ours and the adjoining semi. The tall part with 6ft panels with the trellis above it, I changed about ten years ago. The 4ft original part nearest the camera is over fifty years old. I did replace the caps a while back. It doesn't get a lot of sun.

You can see my £300 patch in our concrete drive. We were having problems with the toilet soil pipe getting blocked. A camera inspection two years ago from the big drain under the first plant pot, revealed a large lump of concrete that had been in the pipe since the house was built, which had suddenly moved causing a bigger blockage but couldn't be forced out. They had to cut through the drive to replace a length of the pipe.
It's been fine since.

The little cupboard in the wall would originally been "the coal hole" but was never used for that as the house has always had some form of central heating.
But it's handy to store my electric golf trolley, its charger, a rack of golf shoes, a vacuum cleaner and car cleaning stuff. Inside the house the tumble dryer sits on tthe top of it in the cupboard under the stairs. The heat transfer from it through its concrete roof keeps it dry.

 

I've done nothing much today other than tidy the garage and shed.
I'm usually a tidy person. But not when I'm working. Gardening tools get put away after use as their shed is small. But with any DIY project, I'll leave the tools all over my bench and come back a day or so later and put them away and then get the vac out.