Not much for me either @Fran IOM. I bought ericaceous compost to repot my acer, but I forgot to get some JI3 to mix in with it. I potted up some pelargoniums in a trough and brought them in, and I took some mint cuttings if that counts. For me, it's a winding down process now, after a rainy but productive Summer. Still lots to do though.
Lovely sunny day today and think it's going to last. Will make a change from yesterday as it was so wet but in spite of that I did manage to get a few jobs done mostly pruning. Not practical to get down to weeding in the flower beds. Had to shelter a couple of times when the showers came. Picked up 85 apples from the grass area and those in the flower beds still to get rid of. Even getting pears joining in. They are lovely trees when in blossom but then followed by dropped fruit and followed by leaves. Just makes for extra work.
This tree is at the top of the allotment half inside and half on the outside verge. Haven't a clue what it is but just produces leaves in Summer and completely bare in winter. Quite majestic in the wind. Must be extremely old as the roots are massive so hopefully I don't have to worry too much that it will be uprooted in the gales as that would be a catastrophe. Hope you are all having good weather and able to get out into the garden.
There is no chance for that cat, which is just as well. The bouncers can see he is a lost cause too.
As it's been cutting time over the last few weeks, here are some of my free plants that have taken. The feathery ones at the back are Anthemis EC Buxton (i got several new plants from the ones I bought in the SGC, some Clematis Montana done with inter nodal cuttings, and various other things. Have you done any cuttings recently?
Yesterday was a good day for gardening but sadly today it started to drizzle so there was no hope of doing anything. You don't realise how wet you are getting. Got to feed the birds and pick up yet more apples and had a quick look round. One of my many heucheras has attracted slugs and I can't understand why. It was one that never really took off like the rest. Am gradually getting plants tidied up and getting rid of any that haven't done very well. Plenty of self seeders of Verbena and Rose Campion. Grass is getting rather long again but will have to wait for a dry spell, hopefully this week, before I attempt to mow it. Had to watch a video of how to use the Fiskar's weed puller as I couldn't get it to work. Once I got the hang of it I realised it's addictive. It certainly does what it claims to do. Where the bigger weeds have been pulled out I shall probably have to put down some seed. Haven't completed the task by a long way yet. Only half way up the privet hedge so far. As the rest of the week has been forecast as dry I hope to achieve many things. Will wait and see. Your cuttings look good @Purplerain. Not something I am very good at but so far the one hydrangea cutting looks promising. @AnniD Do the cats eat the food if hedgehog hasn't been there first? Not one bird in sight today in fact no bees either but plenty of spiders and parson's pigs. Had loads of green shield bugs on my dead echium all lined up in a row. Rather like them and had never encountered them before I got the allotment. Hope you have all had better weather than here.
Another lovely day for gardening. Not a lot of sun but warm and little wind. Yet more of the privet hedge trimmed so must be three quarters of the way up by now. Carried on with the weeding and tidying up. The heucheras are pretty big and all the flowers needed cutting off. No flower beds are against a wall but free both edges so have to go up one side and then start on the other side as the flower bed is too wide to weed from one edge. If you can follow that. Will think about measuring the width. Not really much else to report. Felt really sad as I was packing up as I found a dead goldfinch on the pathway at the top of the allotment. Cannot understand how he was there as they never seem to feed on the ground but only from the feeders. if a cat had caught it, it must have carried it away and dropped it but there wasn't a mark on it or a feather missing. He was perfect and I could spread the wings out with such beautiful colours. I buried him underneath my hydrangea. On that sad note I shall leave you and hope tomorrow's weather is as good.
That's very sad Fran, sometimes we just don't know how they come to die. I once found a wren in amongst my trays under the kitchen window, I assume it must have flown into the glass. I did once see a pigeon fall from my neighbour's roof for no apparent reason, I guessed it must have some kind of heart attack or the bird equivalent. On a more cheerful note, I have been going through my old photos from the wildlife camera & came across this one. This is in the days before the tunnel when the foxes were trying all sorts of contortions to get inside The Restaurant. If you look closely, you can see a very dark hedgehog, who was just on his way for supper when he found the entrance blocked by a bushy tail !
@Purplerain , you asked about cuttings, here's a photo of mine, mostly salvias and osteospermum.
I am trying an experiment using one of those zip up type freezer bags, I have zipped it up so that the pot is sealed, and it's easy to get rid of the condensation by turning it inside out and shaking it. Hopefully you can make out what I mean.
What a shame about the dead Goldfinch Fran,i hate to see that,but I guess they all depart this life sometime or another. At least he had a nice burial.
The cuttings look good Anni, I like the spaceship ones! I never gave the "zip" bags a thought, I still use the cellophane off greetings cards,with a wire tie! That seems old fashioned nowadays,but it works well for Fuchsia cuttings for some reason.
What a good pic of Fox and Hog together.😊That fox has a magnificent tail.
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Not practical to get down to weeding in the flower beds. Had to shelter a couple of times when the showers came. Picked up 85 apples from the grass area and those in the flower beds still to get rid of. Even getting pears joining in. They are lovely trees when in blossom but then followed by dropped fruit and followed by leaves. Just makes for extra work.
This tree is at the top of the allotment half inside and half on the outside verge.
Haven't a clue what it is but just produces leaves in Summer and completely bare in winter. Quite majestic in the wind. Must be extremely old as the roots are massive so hopefully I don't have to worry too much that it will be uprooted in the gales as that would be a catastrophe.
Hope you are all having good weather and able to get out into the garden.
As it's been cutting time over the last few weeks, here are some of my free plants that have taken. The feathery ones at the back are Anthemis EC Buxton (i got several new plants from the ones I bought in the SGC, some Clematis Montana done with inter nodal cuttings, and various other things. Have you done any cuttings recently?
Your cuttings look good @Purplerain. Not something I am very good at but so far the one hydrangea cutting looks promising.
@AnniD Do the cats eat the food if hedgehog hasn't been there first?
Not one bird in sight today in fact no bees either but plenty of spiders and parson's pigs.
Had loads of green shield bugs on my dead echium all lined up in a row. Rather like them and had never encountered them before I got the allotment.
Hope you have all had better weather than here.
Yet more of the privet hedge trimmed so must be three quarters of the way up by now.
Carried on with the weeding and tidying up. The heucheras are pretty big and all the flowers needed cutting off. No flower beds are against a wall but free both edges so have to go up one side and then start on the other side as the flower bed is too wide to weed from one edge. If you can follow that. Will think about measuring the width. Not really much else to report.
Felt really sad as I was packing up as I found a dead goldfinch on the pathway at the top of the allotment. Cannot understand how he was there as they never seem to feed on the ground but only from the feeders. if a cat had caught it, it must have carried it away and dropped it but there wasn't a mark on it or a feather missing. He was perfect and I could spread the wings out with such beautiful colours. I buried him underneath my hydrangea.
On that sad note I shall leave you and hope tomorrow's weather is as good.
On a more cheerful note, I have been going through my old photos from the wildlife camera & came across this one. This is in the days before the tunnel when the foxes were trying all sorts of contortions to get inside The Restaurant. If you look closely, you can see a very dark hedgehog, who was just on his way for supper when he found the entrance blocked by a bushy tail !
I am trying an experiment using one of those zip up type freezer bags, I have zipped it up so that the pot is sealed, and it's easy to get rid of the condensation by turning it inside out and shaking it. Hopefully you can make out what I mean.
The cuttings look good Anni, I like the spaceship ones! I never gave the "zip" bags a thought, I still use the cellophane off greetings cards,with a wire tie! That seems old fashioned nowadays,but it works well for Fuchsia cuttings for some reason.
What a good pic of Fox and Hog together.😊That fox has a magnificent tail.