Yes that is a remarkable amount of effort and now you can (almost) sit back and enjoy the rewards of all your work.
Today we moved some Michaelmas daisies - splitting the clump (10 years old) into two. The soil is still very heavy due to rain everyday this year so far. OH raked over the new strip of veg. patch preparing it for my blackcurrant rooted cuttings and I piled a bit more manure around the roses.
It’s sheer bloody mindedness to be honest lol. It could have dragged on for years and years if I’d let it, what’s made all of it worth it is reading books and magazines with “what to do this month” and knowing that this year I can actually take part in things along with everyone else.
I missed a lot of gardeners world this year because it was downright depressing seeing cheerful people talking about what they were up to with their pretty roses and delicious vegetables when I was in my fourth consecutive month of digging half bricks and concrete out of clay.
Learnincurve you are amazing! I keep looking at our dry stone wall that has collapsed in two places,and just that seems daunting, Maybe have to get someone in to rebuild it,as the rocks are huge!
The amount you have tackled is a true feat! Well done!????
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
Composted the beds, brought new dining set out from the shed where it has been sitting for a year and the back rose garden is officially done just need to paint shed and fence at the front and it looks like the weather will let me do that on Friday. All of this was patchy grass, now it’s patchy grass plus roses ‘n stuff.
Got a few bits done today and yesterday. Pond bridge arrived yesterday so dragged it into place, it fits and looks how I wanted it to look, so phew! Not sure whether to stain/ paint it to protect it, maybe a pale grey...will have to browse the paint shop.
Waiting for the liner due later, will put it down tonight as rain is forecast, still need to tinker with some bits I'm unsure of, there's a sort of troll lair underneath the bridge that I can't take out without undermining the brick path and also I piled up the plants/stones/gunge that needs to go back in too close to the planned edge so can't do that bit either.
Ordered a handful of plants as I don't need many.
Moved a little rowan and some other things yesterday, cut down a manuka I moved recently. Not looking at all happy , took a bit of a risk moving it but it couldn't stay where it was. Also distributed the clay from the pond around the garden.
Had a bird bath delivered, it's very deep, will need to fill with stones I think...
Spent the morning in the garden just pottering pulling out this and that cutting down the last of the old stems of last years plants.
Unfortunately although it was a beautiful sunny morning because of the way our building faces the only open side is south south west and being three floors high the sun only just manages to creep above the roof on the south west side at this time of the year so it was still quite cold.
But give it a few more weeks and the sun I hope will be higher and warmer.
The damp and drizzle put paid to any serious gardening today, so I sprinkled a black sack of wood chip along the new border, helped to move a giant terracotta pot into it's final position ready to transplant another acer into it and OH started making a new tortoise house to be ready in a couple of months when they wake from hibernation.
I am desperate to sow my new free sunflower seeds - they recommended planting in February - has anyone sown theirs indoors yet?
I had to empty one of our compost bins so that the replacement trellis fence can be put up but found the whole bin was absolutely full of roots, including some quite thick ones. We have to site our 3 bins in front of a hedge which I know is not ideal because of the roots but we had put them on root barrier fabric first - they must have sneaked over the top! Should I put concrete or paving underneath?
I suspect the answer is to empty and turn the bins more often, but as I'm now in my early seventies, it's becoming a harder job than it used to be.
I'm a complete novice who started watching Gardeners World and growing some herbs last year to manage final year uni stress, and I'm gearing up for trying to garden properly this year! I did it completely haphazardly in 2017 around exams and assignments and life changes, so I'm getting organised this time round.
I live in County Durham, so spring and light and warmth is a lot further off--we've had quite a bit of snow this winter--but I sat down today to make a to-do list and I'm really excited to tackle it tomorrow! It ranges from clearing out some of the mess we made last year--including some concrete slabs we excavated--to emptying out failed pots so I can clean them and take stock.
Resisting the urge to start planting now is so hard, but I made the mistake of sowing too early last year and everything turned out so leggy that I learned my lesson. The process of learning is really the most exciting thing of all, though, so I'm happy to learn either the hard way or the easy way...
Posts
Yes that is a remarkable amount of effort and now you can (almost) sit back and enjoy the rewards of all your work.
Today we moved some Michaelmas daisies - splitting the clump (10 years old) into two. The soil is still very heavy due to rain everyday this year so far. OH raked over the new strip of veg. patch preparing it for my blackcurrant rooted cuttings and I piled a bit more manure around the roses.
It’s sheer bloody mindedness to be honest lol. It could have dragged on for years and years if I’d let it, what’s made all of it worth it is reading books and magazines with “what to do this month” and knowing that this year I can actually take part in things along with everyone else.
I missed a lot of gardeners world this year because it was downright depressing seeing cheerful people talking about what they were up to with their pretty roses and delicious vegetables when I was in my fourth consecutive month of digging half bricks and concrete out of clay.
Learnincurve you are amazing! I keep looking at our dry stone wall that has collapsed in two places,and just that seems daunting, Maybe have to get someone in to rebuild it,as the rocks are huge!
The amount you have tackled is a true feat! Well done!????
Thanks everyone.
Composted the beds, brought new dining set out from the shed where it has been sitting for a year and the back rose garden is officially done
just need to paint shed and fence at the front and it looks like the weather will let me do that on Friday. All of this was patchy grass, now it’s patchy grass plus roses ‘n stuff.
Got a few bits done today and yesterday. Pond bridge arrived yesterday so dragged it into place, it fits and looks how I wanted it to look, so phew! Not sure whether to stain/ paint it to protect it, maybe a pale grey...will have to browse the paint shop.
Waiting for the liner due later, will put it down tonight as rain is forecast, still need to tinker with some bits I'm unsure of, there's a sort of troll lair underneath the bridge that I can't take out without undermining the brick path and also I piled up the plants/stones/gunge that needs to go back in too close to the planned edge so can't do that bit either.
Ordered a handful of plants as I don't need many.
Moved a little rowan and some other things yesterday, cut down a manuka I moved recently. Not looking at all happy
, took a bit of a risk moving it but it couldn't stay where it was. Also distributed the clay from the pond around the garden.
Had a bird bath delivered, it's very deep, will need to fill with stones I think...
Spent the morning in the garden just pottering pulling out this and that cutting down the last of the old stems of last years plants.
Unfortunately although it was a beautiful sunny morning because of the way our building faces the only open side is south south west and being three floors high the sun only just manages to creep above the roof on the south west side at this time of the year so it was still quite cold.
But give it a few more weeks and the sun I hope will be higher and warmer.
The damp and drizzle put paid to any serious gardening today, so I sprinkled a black sack of wood chip along the new border, helped to move a giant terracotta pot into it's final position ready to transplant another acer into it and OH started making a new tortoise house to be ready in a couple of months when they wake from hibernation.
I am desperate to sow my new free sunflower seeds - they recommended planting in February - has anyone sown theirs indoors yet?
I had to empty one of our compost bins so that the replacement trellis fence can be put up but found the whole bin was absolutely full of roots, including some quite thick ones. We have to site our 3 bins in front of a hedge which I know is not ideal because of the roots but we had put them on root barrier fabric first - they must have sneaked over the top! Should I put concrete or paving underneath?
I suspect the answer is to empty and turn the bins more often, but as I'm now in my early seventies, it's becoming a harder job than it used to be.
I'm a complete novice who started watching Gardeners World and growing some herbs last year to manage final year uni stress, and I'm gearing up for trying to garden properly this year! I did it completely haphazardly in 2017 around exams and assignments and life changes, so I'm getting organised this time round.
I live in County Durham, so spring and light and warmth is a lot further off--we've had quite a bit of snow this winter--but I sat down today to make a to-do list and I'm really excited to tackle it tomorrow! It ranges from clearing out some of the mess we made last year--including some concrete slabs we excavated--to emptying out failed pots so I can clean them and take stock.
Resisting the urge to start planting now is so hard, but I made the mistake of sowing too early last year and everything turned out so leggy that I learned my lesson. The process of learning is really the most exciting thing of all, though, so I'm happy to learn either the hard way or the easy way...
Did a bit of desultory weeding and pruning and planted some lidl bubls and some from Ikea - my reward for surviving the Ikea experience.