Oh dear I've just bought cheap cell trays from Wilco!
Cloudy,cold but dry so I've been outside sorting out the bird table,I've had to surround it with plastic coated chicken wire to stop the Jackdaws and Magpies from pinching everything,they have become a real nuisance,even forcing the wire apart. It's bad enough that I only see a feisty little Robin and his mate,he chases off the sparrows and tits that land fleetingly!! I have two feeding stations,would it help to have more? Surely the Robin can't patrol more?!!
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
Another busy day because it was sunny, planted up a load of peoney crowns in the garden, couple of big pots including a strawberry pot for the front of the house got sorted out. Planted a dwarf weeping cherry, potted on a few pot bound hedge shrubs that can’t go in till the rest turn up. Manured and raked my back garden veg patch and planted my garlic and shallot sets.
All I got to do till March now is plant up three shrub hedgerows that will be delivered in the next few days, put compost over the garden, and paint the shed and fence. Then that’s it, the bare bones and landscaping is done and I don’t need to spend any more money. I can sit back and actually enjoy pottering rather than move earth. Huzzah.
Best laid plans and all that Learnincurve - a gardeners job is never finished in my experience.
A dull morning so pruned the indoor bougainvillea (against my better judgement but OH insisted!), it looks neater but we had to chop of plenty of beautiful flowers in the process.
We positioned another giant plant pot into it's final resting place - now we are just waiting for some ericacious peat to arrive and then we can transplant our two acers into these enormous pots.
OH finished digging an enormous hole for the new larch tree that we will be planting in the field in a month or so time.
Met up with the tree surgeon to advise us on lopping or pruning huge trees that are overhanging the road side.
My favourite gardening boots are by Dublin and have a zip over the tongue instead of laces. I find I can wear them unzipped so they are easy to kick off at the door when all muddied. Totally ragged now and need to replace.
Today's job was to empty the pond and dig out more top soil for the allotment. Ran out of mud bags and car is slightly over heavy with the weight so will drive up carefully at first light. Haven't really got anywhere else to stack the mud I'm excavating so have sacked it for the day.
Disturbed two frogs, poked one under the liner which I've dragged out with all the gunge still on, should be alright there and the other one climbed out of the gunge and wandered off.
Had an order of early potatoes delivered, need to read up on them, wasn't planning on doing any potato stuff for a few months.?
Think a bottle of cider will warm me up nicely and heal some aching bones
Put in my bare root bush hedging, delivery of compost didn’t turn up so I’ve had to part dig part heel everything in. So tired I very nearly burst into tears when I couldn’t find my fountain pen to tick it all off the list.
Well, I did it. I have put in some winter aconites in the green, double snowdrops, planted some Cyclamen and Geraniums and generally tidied up. It is difficult because of the boggy conditions--I live on an old brick clay quarry and basically my subsoil is neat modelling clay. But the things I planted a few weeks ago are starting to 'take' and lots of snowdrops, hellebores etc were open today. My biggest problem is mice which eat all my bulbs, sooner or later--even the toxic ones...
What a pain you couldn't get your hedge planted learnincurve, hope you have had a better day today
Where is it going, along your front boundary?
Did more ponding today, since I need a new liner due to the beach extension and lagoon, I thought I might as well dig a bit deeper at the same time. Trouble is it's on a slope so I need to be creative with the high end so it doesn't look poo. It's still only 3' deep at the very deepest...
The lagoon (behind the clay dam, rear left) is a bit ambitious. I thought I'd like to have a bird bath area that I could top up in summer without having to waste water filling up the whole pond. Because it's up hill the dam is actually higher than the water can get but I think I'm up to something so just roll with me.
Bridge rocks up tomorrow so I'll get a better idea of what needs tinkering with and can put some middle ledges in.
Wow that’s a lot of digging, going to look smashing when it’s done
Hedge is all flowering bushes, high along the front but lower along the side, continues along the fence and behind the shed where thee is a weeping crabapple and a Hazel. When the compost comes I’ll make the border properly, the prioraty was to stop the bare roots drying out before it does.
Posts
Oh dear I've just bought cheap cell trays from Wilco!
Cloudy,cold but dry so I've been outside sorting out the bird table,I've had to surround it with plastic coated chicken wire to stop the Jackdaws and Magpies from pinching everything,they have become a real nuisance,even forcing the wire apart. It's bad enough that I only see a feisty little Robin and his mate,he chases off the sparrows and tits that land fleetingly!! I have two feeding stations,would it help to have more? Surely the Robin can't patrol more?!!
Garden is still mainly under frost but managed to clear a large area of weeds as the sun had thawed it out.
Another busy day because it was sunny, planted up a load of peoney crowns in the garden, couple of big pots including a strawberry pot for the front of the house got sorted out. Planted a dwarf weeping cherry, potted on a few pot bound hedge shrubs that can’t go in till the rest turn up. Manured and raked my back garden veg patch and planted my garlic and shallot sets.
All I got to do till March now is plant up three shrub hedgerows that will be delivered in the next few days, put compost over the garden, and paint the shed and fence. Then that’s it, the bare bones and landscaping is done and I don’t need to spend any more money. I can sit back and actually enjoy pottering rather than move earth. Huzzah.
Best laid plans and all that Learnincurve - a gardeners job is never finished in my experience.
A dull morning so pruned the indoor bougainvillea (against my better judgement but OH insisted!), it looks neater but we had to chop of plenty of beautiful flowers in the process.
We positioned another giant plant pot into it's final resting place - now we are just waiting for some ericacious peat to arrive and then we can transplant our two acers into these enormous pots.
OH finished digging an enormous hole for the new larch tree that we will be planting in the field in a month or so time.
Met up with the tree surgeon to advise us on lopping or pruning huge trees that are overhanging the road side.
Busy day and now the sun has come out.
Not today but yesterday, i cut the old leaves off some of the hellebores, still a lot to do but it's raining today so can't continue.
They look like a nice boot, DHR.
My favourite gardening boots are by Dublin and have a zip over the tongue instead of laces. I find I can wear them unzipped so they are easy to kick off at the door when all muddied. Totally ragged now and need to replace.
Today's job was to empty the pond and dig out more top soil for the allotment. Ran out of mud bags and car is slightly over heavy with the weight so will drive up carefully at first light. Haven't really got anywhere else to stack the mud I'm excavating so have sacked it for the day.
Disturbed two frogs, poked one under the liner which I've dragged out with all the gunge still on, should be alright there and the other one climbed out of the gunge and wandered off.
Had an order of early potatoes delivered, need to read up on them, wasn't planning on doing any potato stuff for a few months.?
Think a bottle of cider will warm me up nicely and heal some aching bones
Last edited: 27 January 2018 15:14:17
Put in my bare root bush hedging, delivery of compost didn’t turn up so I’ve had to part dig part heel everything in. So tired I very nearly burst into tears when I couldn’t find my fountain pen to tick it all off the list.
Well, I did it. I have put in some winter aconites in the green, double snowdrops, planted some Cyclamen and Geraniums and generally tidied up. It is difficult because of the boggy conditions--I live on an old brick clay quarry and basically my subsoil is neat modelling clay. But the things I planted a few weeks ago are starting to 'take' and lots of snowdrops, hellebores etc were open today. My biggest problem is mice which eat all my bulbs, sooner or later--even the toxic ones...
What a pain you couldn't get your hedge planted learnincurve, hope you have had a better day today
Where is it going, along your front boundary?
Did more ponding today, since I need a new liner due to the beach extension and lagoon, I thought I might as well dig a bit deeper at the same time. Trouble is it's on a slope so I need to be creative with the high end so it doesn't look poo. It's still only 3' deep at the very deepest...
The lagoon (behind the clay dam, rear left) is a bit ambitious. I thought I'd like to have a bird bath area that I could top up in summer without having to waste water filling up the whole pond. Because it's up hill the dam is actually higher than the water can get but I think I'm up to something so just roll with me.
Bridge rocks up tomorrow so I'll get a better idea of what needs tinkering with and can put some middle ledges in.
Made this nice berm with the surplus clay:
?
Wow that’s a lot of digging, going to look smashing when it’s done
Hedge is all flowering bushes, high along the front but lower along the side, continues along the fence and behind the shed where thee is a weeping crabapple and a Hazel. When the compost comes I’ll make the border properly, the prioraty was to stop the bare roots drying out before it does.