I suppose I'd better write what I came here to write, but it is with feelings of sadness.
Been gardening at the Norfolk cottage. Have moved some plants in the front bed. The Bowles Mauve has grown huge and was smothering a Nepeta and a yellow alyssum so I moved them and another plant to places where something else had died in the winter. Planted 3 Osteospermum as the one I had last year was very successful. The soil was very dry, watered it all. There are Spanish bluebells flowering in the gravel in front of the cottage walls. I think there had been beds there before the renovation.
Then I weeded the bank behind the wall and planted 14 rockery plants for well drained sunny places. The violas I planted there last autumn are in full flower so I left them. But there weren't enough plants so we went to 2 GCs, one was the big one at Bressingham, pricier than the other one, and I bought 16 more plants, that should cover it. I'm hoping the bank will become a mound of low growing spreading plants with aubretia, sedums, phlox subulata, creeping thyme and others.
The wall is about 45 inches tall and behind it is a load of rubble and earth, covered with earth, going downhill to the ditch at the edge of the farmer's field. Looked awful, covered in nettles, brambles and bindweed but I sprayed it a lot last year and cleared all the dead stuff and planted the violas in the autumn. Not a sign of brambles or bindweed now, but there were some baby nettles that I weeded out.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Spent 6 hours in the garden yesterday, mostly in the veg plot....and boy does my back know about it this morning!
Planted mange tout and sweet peas that ingrew from seed,plus runner and french beans. I bought some handy raised bed 'bags' from marshalls and planted lettuce in there...need to sow more radish as my first sowings are ready to eat now,such super quick growers!
Brought my dahlia's out of the cold greenhouse,hope they will be ok. cleared greenhouse ready for toms and cucumber ( will buy today and plant )
Finally got my brassicas planted out but it took longer to put up the netting than it did to plant them. It's compulsory to net around here otherwise the woodpigeons decimate them while your back is turned!
Several types of cauli, cabbage & broccoli, chosen to mature at different times.
Last edited: 07 May 2017 21:09:52
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Its the same on my allotments Bob, I have a cage that I move - re-assemble every year! Takes at least 1/2 a day each time but worth it in the end. Still trying to dig where it was last year as ground has gone like concrete while I was away on my Hols.
Just caught up with this thread, I'm sorry to hear about Michael mpc, he seemed like a nice fair-minded man and I will miss his posts.
I haven't been doing much lately, not much to do in a garden of mostly perennials?
Today I watered all the roses, not just the cry-baby weakling ones, also all the clems. Found my last 'missing' plant today, clematis skyfall, it had a bad year last year as I planted it near a big sweaty plant which the snugs lived under and as a result it was kept chewed down to about 2" Reckon it'll be okay if I don't chop it too low in future years. Deadheaded the penultimate lot of daffs and rescued a helenium, the second one this year, from dryness.
Need to do a seedling audit, see if I've got enough bedding stuff, although I'm going to do away with some containers as I can't be bothered to water all the time
Might have a glass of fizzy wine outside now to reward all my hard work(!)
Dug out 4 or 5 creeping buttercups (thanks to those who identified it yesterday!). Took a lot of soil with them to try to ensure they won't come back.
Planted out a couple of salvia amistad, several geranium elke, stachys hummelo, agastache summer glow.
Cold frame now looking sparse, just have a few ajuga black scallop, several salvia caradonna, a bunch of briza media and a random fern to plant and I think I'm done for this year....(he says with no certainty whatsoever...).
Potted on some seedlings today, tagetes, lavatera and nemesia carnival (getting a third year out that free packet) some of them are a bit floppy now, very warm in the porch where they live. Sat them outside in the shade, reckon they'll be okay when it cools. Also sowed more cosmos, just in case I need space fillers.
Fed and watered some dying-back bulbs, weeded some dandelions out the lawn. I like the idea of having them there but they look deformed from mowing, I'd rather have a tall, proud 'lion in the border than a twisty, mean one in the grass.
Admired my bees, carried out an allium, eremurus and camassia head count (very excited for summer) and ordered some cheerful new daffs.
Oh, also saw the first starling youth of 2017...good stuff
Posts
I suppose I'd better write what I came here to write, but it is with feelings of sadness.
Been gardening at the Norfolk cottage. Have moved some plants in the front bed. The Bowles Mauve has grown huge and was smothering a Nepeta and a yellow alyssum so I moved them and another plant to places where something else had died in the winter. Planted 3 Osteospermum as the one I had last year was very successful. The soil was very dry, watered it all. There are Spanish bluebells flowering in the gravel in front of the cottage walls. I think there had been beds there before the renovation.
Then I weeded the bank behind the wall and planted 14 rockery plants for well drained sunny places. The violas I planted there last autumn are in full flower so I left them. But there weren't enough plants so we went to 2 GCs, one was the big one at Bressingham, pricier than the other one, and I bought 16 more plants, that should cover it. I'm hoping the bank will become a mound of low growing spreading plants with aubretia, sedums, phlox subulata, creeping thyme and others.
The wall is about 45 inches tall and behind it is a load of rubble and earth, covered with earth, going downhill to the ditch at the edge of the farmer's field. Looked awful, covered in nettles, brambles and bindweed but I sprayed it a lot last year and cleared all the dead stuff and planted the violas in the autumn. Not a sign of brambles or bindweed now, but there were some baby nettles that I weeded out.
Spent 6 hours in the garden yesterday, mostly in the veg plot....and boy does my back know about it this morning!
Planted mange tout and sweet peas that ingrew from seed,plus runner and french beans. I bought some handy raised bed 'bags' from marshalls and planted lettuce in there...need to sow more radish as my first sowings are ready to eat now,such super quick growers!
Brought my dahlia's out of the cold greenhouse,hope they will be ok. cleared greenhouse ready for toms and cucumber ( will buy today and plant )
planted some gladioli bulbs?
Finally got my brassicas planted out but it took longer to put up the netting than it did to plant them. It's compulsory to net around here otherwise the woodpigeons decimate them while your back is turned!
Several types of cauli, cabbage & broccoli, chosen to mature at different times.
Last edited: 07 May 2017 21:09:52
Its the same on my allotments Bob, I have a cage that I move - re-assemble every year! Takes at least 1/2 a day each time but worth it in the end. Still trying to dig where it was last year as ground has gone like concrete while I was away on my Hols.
Just caught up with this thread, I'm sorry to hear about Michael mpc, he seemed like a nice fair-minded man and I will miss his posts.
I haven't been doing much lately, not much to do in a garden of mostly perennials?
Today I watered all the roses, not just the cry-baby weakling ones, also all the clems. Found my last 'missing' plant today, clematis skyfall, it had a bad year last year as I planted it near a big sweaty plant which the snugs lived under and as a result it was kept chewed down to about 2"
Reckon it'll be okay if I don't chop it too low in future years. Deadheaded the penultimate lot of daffs and rescued a helenium, the second one this year, from dryness.
Need to do a seedling audit, see if I've got enough bedding stuff, although I'm going to do away with some containers as I can't be bothered to water all the time
Might have a glass of fizzy wine outside now to reward all my hard work(!)
Dug out 4 or 5 creeping buttercups (thanks to those who identified it yesterday!). Took a lot of soil with them to try to ensure they won't come back.
Planted out a couple of salvia amistad, several geranium elke, stachys hummelo, agastache summer glow.
Cold frame now looking sparse, just have a few ajuga black scallop, several salvia caradonna, a bunch of briza media and a random fern to plant and I think I'm done for this year....(he says with no certainty whatsoever...).
Last edited: 13 May 2017 18:43:10
More landscaping than gardening, but I bought some bricks this morning, and replaced the log-roll with a brick edge. Before and after:
I should have spent more time making sure the lines were 100% straight, but I'm telling myself it'll look fine when the plants start to spill over...
vast improvement Will.
I've got some stuff from the tunnel planted: banana, cannas, hedychium and dahlias.
Looks good to me WillDB, like your wall as well
Potted on some seedlings today, tagetes, lavatera and nemesia carnival (getting a third year out that free packet
) some of them are a bit floppy now, very warm in the porch where they live. Sat them outside in the shade, reckon they'll be okay when it cools. Also sowed more cosmos, just in case I need space fillers.
Fed and watered some dying-back bulbs, weeded some dandelions out the lawn. I like the idea of having them there but they look deformed from mowing, I'd rather have a tall, proud 'lion in the border than a twisty, mean one in the grass.
Admired my bees, carried out an allium, eremurus and camassia head count (very excited for summer
) and ordered some cheerful new daffs.
Oh, also saw the first starling youth of 2017...good stuff