What have you done in the garden today?

[ThreeRingCircus]

I thought it would be a nice idea to share what we've been up to in our gardens.

Today I planted potatoes in buckets (with drainage holes drilled into them.) Six buckets in total, three second earlies and three main crops. I have fond memories of digging up potatoes with my dad when I was a child.... I still get excited rummaging around in the buckets when my potatoes are ready!

I also made up a herb planter from an old plant pot that had been hiding behind the shed. Mint, parsley and thyme planted in that so I'll see how that does.

I fed my pot plants with blood, fish and bone and gave them a water.

What have you been up to?

Discovered box caterpillars, so spent an hour spraying (biological control) all my many box plants.

Spent nearly 2 hours in the greenhouse potting on antirrhinums, lantana, cosmos, zinnias and courgettes. Evicted three bl…. snails over the fence into the woods, watered the tomatoes and pondered about when I can put four more tomato plants outside.
Counted the goldfish in the pond (17) and noticed we have tiddly tadpoles, probably toads as earlier frogspawn in February got bumped off again by a frost ☹️
Put a spider plant in a hanging basket and suspended it under the bay tree so it’s in the shade- they make a wonderful display in shade.

I LOVE the idea of doing that with spider plants! I’m copying that.

DD2's nursery were asking for donations of seeds or small plants they can grow with the children in their little garden area. I have loads in the mini greenhouse so dropped off some courgette plants, pumpkin seedlings, beetroot seedlings, parsley, radishes and spring onions. I've still got too much even after dropping off that lot.... I'm sure I don't need six courgette plants 🤣

@VenusClapTrap , me too! Luckily I only have one box hedge, it was nearly destroyed last year before I found out what was causing the problem. It’s recovered well and I’m doing a monthly spray to keep on top of it. I hope yours are ok.

I think I’ve caught them in time this time.

I’ve also boiled up some garlic today to make snail deterrent. It’s war.

That reminds me … has anyone made garlic spray by crushing the cloves but not boiling them? If so, did it work? A local gardening chum and I were musing on whether we could skip the boiling stage as it made the house uninhabitable for a week somewhat fragrant.

and noticed we have tiddly tadpoles, probably toads as earlier frogspawn in February got bumped off again by a frost . Toad tadpoles seem to know they taste bad so are more likely to be swimming in the open, whereas frog tadpoles tend to hide when they see you. When they’re bigger, frog tadpoles develop tiny brown spots, look like they’ve been sprinkled with gold dust, frog tadpoles remain black.

There’s also a difference in tail tip shape, round/pointed, but I’ve never been able to confidently determine that in the wild.

Did you see your toad spawn?

I spent half an hour yesterday morning carrying tomato plants from porch to greenhouse, and flowering cacti from greenhouse to porch so we can enjoy them while sitting out there for lunch.

Just spent 2 hours cutting down a very old, huge Fuchsia, fortunately new growth at the base. Off to the tip now.

A happy hour weeding in the sunshine trying to keep the couch grass at bay and digging up the muscari now they’ve finished flowering. There’s something about the tiny bulblets that gives me the heebie- jeebies.

I've never dug up my bulbs, should I have?
They seem to return and multiply just as well each year and other stuff grows there later in the year.

No, it’s just that I hate the muscari, they were spreading across a border and into the gravel around the shed and I wish I’d never planted them.

Thry’ll be back next year regardless.

Trimmed an ornamental tree that has finished flowering.
Watched the dandelion seeds from next door's garden falling like snow on mine.

Well... I had been spending a pleasing time in the potting shed, pottering about, sorting out a few things and then I noticed a bloody great wasp crawling up my arm.

Needless to say, the wasp is still in the potting shed, and I legged it!

Not much gardening time today as real life got in the way, but I’ve checked on the cold frame. I’m glad to see some of last year’s cannas coming back to life but no movement yet from some of the new tropical stuff from Farmer Gracy.

No sign from my cannas at all yet.

Today I potted up some hanging baskets. I’m taking the risk in Scotland that there will be no more frost. Used leftovers to fill a couple of pots for the patio to add some colour. Potted up more herbs, fed the plants that needed a feed, general watering and sat and enjoyed the sunshine for an hour.

Spent £42.00 on half price plant bargains from B&Q. Stuff I went in for would have been a tenner.
I planted some sweet peas and mange tout. Sawed a carex into 3. Then I havered between 3 different jobs.
My container herb garden is a dreadful mess. Half the pots just have random stuff,not herbs and it’s all gone manky. So far I’ve emptied 1 pot and replaced the contents with parsley. My lemon verbena is definitely dead😟. I cut the frost damage out of the bay.

I then put a hydrangea, a hosta and some bergenia into my problem bed, tried to divide some pulmonaria but didn’t get enough root.
I also started potting up some alpines for my front door step. I looked at it properly for the first time in ages and saw that the pots were so bad they were making it less welcoming than having nothing.
I’m not very good at containers. I have some lovely pots, but somehow they end up filled with junk. I’m trying really hard now to just put I species to a pot, and change them when they are finished. I might try using plastic pots inside the good ones to make swapping easier. What do other people do with spent compost?

Herb garden

Are you on Twitter? I follow Harriet Rycroft, who’s the doyenne of pot gardening - she’s just published a book.

I usually put spent compost on the flowerbeds (thinking it must have some value) but if it’s still fairly fresh I use it for potting my contributions to the local plant swap. I think my lemon verbena is a goner too. Earlier in the week, I thought I’d seen signs of life, but I couldn’t spot them today.

I put spent compost on my raised veg beds. The soil level is always sinking so always needs topping up.

Yesterday I potted on my tomatoes into their big pots. This year I’m growing St Pierre, Rosella, Sungold and Gardeners Delight. Also potted on the cucumbers and a cantaloupe melon that was an impulse buy at the garden centre. My grandfather grew melons, but I’ve never had a go before.

What do other people do with spent compost? Spread it on the garden (or dump it in a lump at the back of a flower bed and trust weather and worms to do the rest)

@Zebracat Like the herb garden. And it would have to go a long way for it not to be an improvement on having nothing