It will not always be summer; build barns. The potting shed goes on...

[echt]

Please ignore my first, illiterate thread. I'll try again.

I hope this quotation from Hesiod captures the moment of movement from high summer to the splendours of harvest and the planing for the new year.

:o

I managed to find 20 minutes to spend in the garden today. Weeded a patch of asters that were being swamped by some weed, picked courgettes (cake to be made tomorrow in readiness for Sunday), picked raspberries & beans. My neighbour has kindly offered to mow my lawn next week, although I think he just wants an opportunity to play on the ride-on mower. I do love a helpful neighbour though; it's nice.

Thank you all very much. Sounds like sadly it isn't the easiest of times for any of us.

Searabbit huge sympathy The only reason DD hasn't yet let the bath over run is because she is prone to being a little scatty and a definite candidate to do this so it has been drummed into me. I've never mentioned it to DS who is younger as felt it didn't need saying. Might review that stance! DD has decided to BTEC more her cup of tea so lots of scrabbling round but think she's sorted. Just had to watch Monty to calm my frazzled nerves.

Some good news for a change. Our house and our neighbour's house are built in what was the garden of another house. Planning permission was granted for the houses but no access directly onto the road due to road speed, so we have to drive literally past out neighbour's front door. Traffic calming measures have been put in and the road is more what it always was supposed to be so put in a planning application for our own entrance. Had a look online yesterday and it seems to have been permitted.

This has implications for the garden. Currently we are hidden from the road by a huge hedge and the greenhouse, pond and raised bed are also in the front plus bed in front of greenhouse with chery tree, William Shakespeare and other bits. They will all need moving. Our front door is at the side of the house. I'm hoping to build a porch and move front door to the front or fence it off a bit. This means what we call the front garden (actually the side) can be incorporated into the other bits of what we call the back gardem which is actually L shaped around two sides of the house . That will then give us garden all round the house on 3 sides and a more clearly defined front. Plus hopefully we can put French Doors in the dining room end of the kitchen amd build a patio right outside.

Hopefully the overall effect will be a larger feeling, more cohesive garden which makes more sense of the plot. So lots of garden things to think about over the coming months.

How exciting to have an opportunity for a major garden revamp, SPT. It sounds like quite a project - will you do the work yourself?

That sounds brilliant SPT.

So sorry to hear about your FIL. My BIL died v unexpectedly at the beginning of the summer, these times are truly hard I know.

We are in a gardening impasse at the moment, as the roof needs doing and we are hoping to build an extension. If we do it will make an awful mess of large parts of the garden. The cottage borders need replanting from scratch really, but there is no point if they are going to be covered in scaffolding for an entire summer!

Hi Humph. Just saw you on the Queen fandom thread. I'm very sorry too to hear of your BIL.

We're not good at that sort of thing so will need to get people to do it, our gardener is great and will help a lot. There's quite a height difference between the road and our drive so a ramp down will need building and I'm finding it quite hard to see in my head t he momen so it will have to evolve.

In a way it will be quite sad as will be destroying part of a lovely old stone raised wall but will look at it as a new phase. I think I might take my GW voucher for bag of free bulbs to Wyevale later to celebrate new beginnings,.

Oh Humph I am so sorry What a difficult time for you all.

I'm on my way to Wyevale now, freebie in hand!

for Humph. So much bad news everywhere; it's really depressing. Great to hear that Sugar has an exciting garden project ahead.

Speaking of building jobs, we are starting to research new kitchens. I find it hard to get excited about kitchens, and am just dreading the mess and upheaval - it will involve knocking out two walls and redoing the utility room and downstairs loo at the same time. Urgh. But first we need a new boiler as the current system gave up the ghost in March and we've done bugger all about it all summer.

Tell us which free bulbs you all get from Wyevale!

One pack of Ballerina tulips in the bag! For anyone else tempted by the GW freebie, Wyevale has a good sale on at the moment. A filipendula, a pelargonium and some Sarah Raven seeds for 50p a packet someone remind me I've given up on growing from seed also fell into my basket.

Good haul, Maud. That's reminded me I need to take a trip to the garden centre for more vine eyes, so I can plant the clematis freckles I bought yonks ago.

Yeah! I'll be buying some narcissus Pheasant's Eye later.

I've never got the hang of vine eyes or, more to the point, getting the wire taut.

It's about the only job in the garden that I get DH to do under sufference Maud. I don't have the strength the pull it taut enough.

I bought pheasant's eye last year but they didn't flower. Very disappointing. My fault for buying dog ends from the local garden centre at the end of the season, probably. Back to Bloms this year.

I have ended up with Pheasant's Eye and February Gold, as they had sold a lot of the Pheasant's Eye by the time I got back to them.

Rhubarb, have you checked out the kitchen threads on here? Fabulous ideas on some of them.

We worked out that the lawn has not been mowed for a month. It is a jungle out there. There is bindweed actually reaching across the path in the round veg patch. Still, I found lots of autumn raspberries today as consolation for the mess.

Good idea, Humph.

My grass is the same - I spent hours with the mower in the orchard this afternoon. I'm still cutting back the long grass; it is an epic task. The ant hills! Ye gads. Every one has to be carefully navigated or the mower throws a wobbler. And there are dozens of them.

Anyway I got about another third done, so a third remains. The clippings I am piling onto cardboard in a strip along the southern wall, to create a new border through the lasagne method as recommended on here a while ago. I need a whole load of pony poo for the next layer; I have access to an unlimited supply, but transporting it is a problem.

I can't do vine eyes and my Clematis freckles has finally got its roots down and growing.

Kitchens are a PITA to do but lovely when done Rhubarb. We can ply anyone with building projects with virtual How lovely to find raspberries Humph.

Inspired by Maud's Wyevale trip I now have 4 packs of tulips which came to £10 with the voucher - Prinses Irene X2, Flaming Flag and Curly Sue. Picture attached in case it helps at all. Hoping some Queen of the Night might have survived from last year.

Err ::blush:: I succumbed to temptation again and now have some National Velvet too. I am going to have to get rid of something - the failing agapanthus, probably - to free up some pots!

Good Maud, that means all is well in the world if you gave in to temptation

So before we know it we'll be on the 'who has planted their tulips' conversation, followed by debate about the weather and tulip virus. Then panic as Christmas has occurred and they are still in the packet, but we'll calm ourselves as we remember we did the same last year and still had flowers, just a little later. I find the idea very comforting!

Yes, that is a comfort!

Can anyone tell me about what I think is rust - certainly, little orange patches - on my pear tree? Is it safe to ignore or do I need to reach for the chemical weaponry?

I dont know about the orange patches but I also bought some tulip bulbs: spring green and ballerina!
Very very kind Mumsnet fairies and elves visited my garden today wielding excellent tools, armed with gloves, trugs, loppers and all sorts and planted plants out of 23 pots (I kid you not) as well as majorly chopping back Madame Alfred Carriere so as to give light and space to other plants.
A good time was had by all, as they say. Such a lovely, sunny, companiable gardening day (including tennis -like grunts: it is perfectly possible to hack and plant and not speak) and I am so grateful, so very grateful indeed for the thought and the action and so happy looking at the garden.
Dont groan (well, I suppose you can groan) but....I am feeling blessed

Oh how lovely, funnyperson. I'm glad the fairies and elves were able to do so much good and am even sorrier I couldn't be with you.

I think I owe you an answer about your rose cutting. It is producing flowers of the very palest pink, so I'm not sure it's Gertrude Jekyll or the Olympic rose (which I think were the two contenders) but it's clearly going to be very pretty once it's established.

I think the gardening fairies were very happy to be in your garden Funny and were very well treated by your excellent lunch. Shame about my undercooked cake offering!

Sorry, I don't know about rust either.

How absolutely lovely to hear about the gardening fairies and elves