My biggest stress is too much garden and not enough time, although happily I was made redundant at the end of September so have more time now, but there's always a side-track when en route to another job. We took a big branch off a sycamore yesterday and cleared most of it up, so my job this morning was to clear up the remaining bits and put them on the shredding/bonfire pile. I ended up shredding some to see how well it breaks down, but then I went down the tangent of sweeping the path, pulling up nuisance seedlings on our parking area and filling in holes in the grass where the badgers have foraged. I came in for a cuppa and will clear the rest of the tree debris shortly, trying not to start clearing leaves, pulling weeds or cutting back peonies, or at least not until the branches are all piled up. I keep meaning to write a list and stick to it.... And I've just remembered I left 6 tomato plants by the compost heap two days ago, which didn't get put on the heap as I was side-tracked by some other job! But I do enjoy being outside so that's not too bad 😊
No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.
Ha, l know exactly what you mean Stephanie, and l suspect many others on here do too ! As long as it doesn't become a chore rather than a pleasure, that's the main thing.
I know what you mean too Stephanie, we all get sidetracked from one job to another, although my OH doesn't appear to notice all the little jobs - he only works from the never ending list I have made "jobs to do today in the garden."
Luckily we can afford to hire a tree firm to cut large branches and trees, and they also shred the cuttings for us, we just have to bag it up for future use on our flower beds. However this saves hours of effort and time in the long run, that we can spend on the smaller garden jobs. Putting a thick mulch on bare soil cuts down the weeding time by hours over the year too.
Isn't getting sidetracked the best kind of gardening? I love just popping out to do one quick job and three hours later realize it's now time for lunch.
Happens all the time, I go out to do one job and end up doing another, or get distracted from a job by dreaming, contemplating and just enjoying being out there, which is time well spent in my book
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I know what you mean too Stephanie, we all get sidetracked from one job to another, although my OH doesn't appear to notice all the little jobs - he only works from the never ending list I have made "jobs to do today in the garden."
Luckily we can afford to hire a tree firm to cut large branches and trees, and they also shred the cuttings for us, we just have to bag it up for future use on our flower beds. However this saves hours of effort and time in the long run, that we can spend on the smaller garden jobs. Putting a thick mulch on bare soil cuts down the weeding time by hours over the year too.
@Guernsey Donkey2 we have two woodburners and lots of trees around so tend to do our own felling and cutting. Fortunately my husband is hugely practical and happy to climb high ladders and swing his chainsaw in a gallant fashion!
As for mulch though, I was wondering whether the shredded stuff would make an ok mulch. It's the first time I've used this shredder and the bits are a bit bigger than I might like, but I suspect will still be ok to use around some shrubs. I need to clear an overgrown area before the spring (before getting side-tracked!) but won't put anything into it until i can move a couple of hydrangeas there. I'm thinking a bit of weed membrane and a layer of chippings might be just the thing...
No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.
... sorry, I meant you have great ingredients for a beast hotel. Somewhere tucked away, out of sight is often the best site.
That's ok, it was just the way I read it. Part of my rationale for building a bug hotel (and finding myself another job in the process) was that a neatly built pile of tiles will look better in a corner than whatever is there just now - weeds, heaps of leaves, bits of prunings etc. And will hopefully house a wider selection of beasties too
No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.
Isn't getting sidetracked the best kind of gardening? I love just popping out to do one quick job and three hours later realize it's now time for lunch.
It seems to be my permanent state of gardening, and possibly more so now that I don't have to cram it all into a weekend. The other day I went out to carry on tidying around the greenhouse and made a mental note of the time the washing machine should finish. Three hours later I remembered to hang out the washing, did that and then promptly went onto something else. At about 4pm I wondered why my tummy was rumbling.....
But to be fair, I really enjoy the time in the garden and am frustrated by these rotten short days already. This far north it won't be long before it hardly gets light...
No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.
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I ended up shredding some to see how well it breaks down, but then I went down the tangent of sweeping the path, pulling up nuisance seedlings on our parking area and filling in holes in the grass where the badgers have foraged. I came in for a cuppa and will clear the rest of the tree debris shortly, trying not to start clearing leaves, pulling weeds or cutting back peonies, or at least not until the branches are all piled up.
I keep meaning to write a list and stick to it.... And I've just remembered I left 6 tomato plants by the compost heap two days ago, which didn't get put on the heap as I was side-tracked by some other job!
But I do enjoy being outside so that's not too bad 😊
As for mulch though, I was wondering whether the shredded stuff would make an ok mulch. It's the first time I've used this shredder and the bits are a bit bigger than I might like, but I suspect will still be ok to use around some shrubs. I need to clear an overgrown area before the spring (before getting side-tracked!) but won't put anything into it until i can move a couple of hydrangeas there. I'm thinking a bit of weed membrane and a layer of chippings might be just the thing...
But to be fair, I really enjoy the time in the garden and am frustrated by these rotten short days already. This far north it won't be long before it hardly gets light...