Your current project(s)
BobFlannigon
Posts: 619
Doesn't have to be gardening-based but what project(s) are you currently working on?
I'm planning on re-doing our bathroom, which will mean removing an internal wall between the toilet and main bathroom bit. Just in the process of buying stuff at the moment.
As for gardening...
I spent Sunday digging up my front garden and shredding plants. Earlier this year we remove four very large conifers from it so by-and-large this year has been a case of making it look presentable rather than sorting it out fully (due to limited free-time and not wanting to rush into it); using mostly annuals (a sunflower 'meadow', tonnes of nicotiana and lots of Dahlias in pots) it turned out to be lots of colour but very little coordination of any kind.
Over the summer months I've been collecting rocks from people that no longer need them (filled my car with over half a tonne of rocks on more than one occasion!) with the plan of having a 'country' route around the front garden as a nice alternative to the very direct paved path down to the front door. The rocks will mark out a path and in the middle a small rockery with a mini pool at the top, an overflow into a lower pool, hopefully with a tiny bridge over it. We get lots of toads in our garden and I don't currently offer them a reliable source of water.
Over the coming months I'm going to finish it off and try to plant up what I can. I do want to get some bulbs in but I think I'll wait until next year as I wish to plant them around what's already growing rather than plant them and damage them all as I fill in the gaps. Hopefully, said country route will offer a different view of the front garden; I've been trying to hide plants so that you can only view them by going that way (I planted some Ajuga last night).
Posts
You could plant bulbs in pots now to drop into gaps in Spring.
Not bad idea by any means, I do first need to fill up the main areas with plants I don't have yet and probably can't afford (see earlier bathroom comment).
Bob, it sounds like two great projects on the go. I had my bathroom converted to a shower room earlier on this year and that was the best thing I ever did. Handy brother - stronger than me has been removing old and rather uninteresting shrubs from my front garden and that is my next big project. I just want it filled with loads of flowers. Some I have in pots at the moment which will overwinter in them until I have decided where to put them all and I have loads of bulbs of different Alliums and our native Daffodil (rather tired of Tete a Tete
) all in pots too.
Sounds like a significant change, Ladybird. When you say flowers are they mostly going to be bulbs/perennials or a mixture of annuals?
I must admit due to time and financial constraints I'm trying to plant more permanent solutions and limit my annuals to the pots [mostly] by the front garden. All the while bearing in mind what slugs don't eat- I really don't like to 'deal' with slugs and this is the first year I've been weak in that regard. I want next year to return to my old way! Why on earth they can't just exclusively eat weeds is beyond me!
You've got your work cut out there, Bob.
I'm changing two of my 4 raised veg beds to perennial veg beds. I've been gardening for years but veg was all new to me when we moved to this 'house' (using the term loosely) so I read up all the advice followed that and have found it doesn't work for me.
Last year I divided the two centre beds each in half to give me 4 smaller beds for annuals in a standard rotation and made one of the others into a perennial bed by taking out a lot of the boards, adding 4inches of compost and manure to the surface and planting through it. That was fine, but in the meantime the other unused bed has grown a lovely crop of weeds. So this winter I have to clear it, mulch it, probably polythene it for a few months and then look for some more perennial veg to plant in the spring.
I've also got to try to get a fruit cage structure built. That's been ongoing for at least 3 years. I have a lovely big net, Just nothing to hold it up. The wind has demolished everything I've tried so far
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Earlier this year I had an idea -
But this was the area concerned -
After a lot of hard work and expense this is where I'm at now-
I've just had 15 raspberry canes (5 early, 5 mid and 5 autumn), 4 blackcurrant bushes and a Hereford Russet (on M9 rootstock) delivered this morning, so that'll take care of today. So time to make a cuppa and get on with it.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Pete, all credit to you. That looks marvellous.
Ladybird4, I too got rid of a few shrubs this year to a very keen new gardener along the street from me. I gave over a big bit of my garden to Bee attracting flowers this year hence getting the shrubs out. So I tend to improve the Bee garden for next year, cant tell how lovely it was to sit in the sun and watch the bees on the flowers. Now I have plenty more room to add more flowers ,cant wait to get started but I know I will need some patience. That's my big project for next year.
Pete, I remember your plans! It's nice to it coming along so well, well done. Should be ready for you to enjoy fully next summer then? What's up with that dog? It's size looks odd, did you photoshop it in? ;-)
Linda, I love that you're dedicating some of your space to help with bees. I'm trying to do the same for bees and butterflies. Lot's of work to do to work out what the caterpillars of certain species want to eat to try to encourage more in (starting from almost zero knowledge). Anything you learn I'd love for you to share!
Bob I started off not knowing much but asked around and looked on the net for bee friendly plants. I planted Echinacea, blue salvia, echinops helenium, rudbeckia , knautia centaurea, and that wonderful verbena bonariensis which was a must for butterflies.. My OH made me a bee hotel too . hope to make the garden better for the bees next year. I just love to know that I am helping these beautiful and necessary little creatures