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?

I planted out my cucumbers (gherkin & cornichon varieties) and a melon in my greenhouse. No doubt there will be just stalks in the morning despite putting coffee grounds and organic wildlife safe slug & snail deterrent around them🙄

Speaking of, has anyone used crushed seashells around their plants as a slug & snail deterrent? Did it work?

I found this awesome YT channel, the best I have come across on gardening (food) tips. He’s in Australia.

Self Sufficient Me.

Yesterday was planning to spend entire day catching up….but got kidnapped for other things…

need my husband to go away for a long weekend so I can get on with stuff.

did get kale and Romanesque cauliflower in and covered from butterflies. Greenhouse is a danger area of abandoned pots and spent compost….

Pruned a bit of the dead wood off a sickly looking Camellia, not enough space in garden bin to do it all. Started untangling ivy that is on the ground all around its trunk and hoping in part that’s a reason for the dead wood but it is all ok one side so I think possibly weather might be part of it too.

Untangled bindweed from the plants in pots, watered and pulled up some spent arum lily stems.

Weeded my Spring Border of Doom. It had been neglected a bit since the autumn and needed quite an overhaul. A friend who is staying here insisted on helping but I just found it massively stressful because I’m a control freak she was walking through the border in search of weeds she recognised, trampling plants both good and unwanted and make it all much harder work. I asked her to start at one edge and work through it methodically and carefully, but she told me I had ‘trust issues’ and we both ended up a bit stroppy.

Anyway the border got done, not in an ideal way but certainly in a faster way, which is no bad thing when I have so much to get through before next weekend.

On to the next border.

That sounds trying, VenusClapTrap. I occasionally buy in some help with heavy jobs in the garden but as a fellow control freak get very distressed if they trample plants.

I went to the allotment for the first time in ages (it’s become DH’s project) and admired the plants I grew from seed which have been relocated there. Came home and gave the garden a drenching with the hose, hoping that will last until the rain comes (allegedly) next week.

I planted out cosmos, sunflowers and morning glory grown from grown from seed. Really difficult to find room for them as the garden is FULL.

I have the same problem every year as I plant seeds when there’s loads of bare soil in spring, by the end of May I am wandering around, trowel in hand wondering where on earth I am going to cram them in. The guilt is awful if I don’t find them a home.

I’m in exactly the same boat! I have some lovely cobaea plants grown from seed and no idea where I’m going to put them.

Ahh @VenusClapTrap . I sometimes have family members offering to help, I give them the edges to do , and I am explicit “These are spent forget me nots, you may pull them out, check there’s nothing entwined. This is dock , you may pull, this is sticky weed, this dandelion etc. Anything else, ASK.” I give them little shears to cut back long grass, and a nuncy and then I can do the real work. But edges make a big difference to the look of the thing, so they are happy too.
I’ve sorted out my seed boxes, got loads of opened packets of flowers and herbs, so I’m going to spend the afternoon sowing them, either in trays or broadcast. I’ve got some containers, old port boxes. might try basil in them as gifts. More tomatoes to plant out too.

I've had a lovely trip to the garden centre and spent far too much money. I bought 3 salvias and 3 dianthus, plus some plant supports and have just planted them all in the border. I try and have a lot of evergreens in my border for year round interest but it was looking very flat and needed an injection of colour.

Still waiting for my rose to come into flower, it seems so behind this year that I'm starting to get a bit worried it isn't going to flower! I did give it an almighty prune in January so maybe with that and the weather it's a bit slow to get going. Loads of healthy looking leaves but little else at the moment.

I've had a stonking trip to a local plant nursery.

15 Euros, which is about £12, for 2 two foot tall potted peppers, 6 spinach plants [they will not germinate here], 3 brussels sprouts, 18 cabbages [all in soil blocks] and one Stachys Byzantina/Lambs Ears [which we had loads of in the UK and I used to chuck it in the compost but none here].

Now starts the mission of keeping all the brassicas alive and free of flea beetle.

Planted out some tomato plants someone was giving away on our dog walk route.
Planted out my one and only celeriac plant.
Resowed some seeds as my previous lot completely failed. Far too dry.
Earthed up my potatoes.
Tied up twice for the cucumbers to grow up, put in some frames for the melon to clamber up.
Sowed some lettuce, rocket and American land cress seeds.

Planted out swede, kohl rabi, chard and beetroot. They are still tiny as they took ages to germinate. Took the staging out of the greenhouse so I can transplant peppers, aubergines and padrons tomorrow. Wondering if I have space to plant 2 additional cucumber plants in the greenhouse.

@Zebracat i don’t mind helpers who take instruction like that. When I asked my friend to do the edges she said “No”. I can’t really complain though - I’m knackered now after another full day of weeding and she’s just got off the train and gone straight out to water my pots!

I tackled the border around the drive today. It’s mostly roses and lavender, but has become infested with field bindweed, and it’s a war I’m losing. I’ve just ripped it out for now so it looks presentable, but it’ll be back as soon as it rains. I think I might try a thick layer of cardboard and mulch.

Bindweed! Evil stuff... noticed a wee bit behind the enormous pampas at the front. Old garden was infested with it.

Got some late planting out done, the joy of light nights.... some little spreading phlox at the edge of the pink border, and a white agapanthus in the other. Planted a few white agapanthus bulb a while ago that are just peeking through, so this went in the middle.

Potted up a weigela, as that won't go out till autumn, and kept a white lavender in its pot. It's still looking suspiciously blue, despite the label, so will keep an eye on it before I put it in the white border and it isn't!

Sowed another batch of peas (3 vars), french beans, runner beans, coriander, basil. Potted on all sorts of seedlings. Watered everything. Two more waterings, I think, before I run out and have to use paid-for water out of the tap

I cut back the (very straggly) honeysuckle on our arbour and brushed it (the arbour) down ready to give it a coat of paint - only when DH opened the tin it was a completely different colour to the label. So by the time we’d changed out of painting clothes, driven 7 miles back to the shop and exchanged it for the correct colour and driven back it was lunchtime and much too hot here to do any painting.

So I went to visit DM, discovered she had no milk and went and did a big shop for her and came away with some very nice white cosmos plants.

Ventured deep into my garden shed and rooted out the parasol for my garden table. I also bought masonry paint and a roller to paint my garden wall. When it's cooled down a bit this evening, I'm going to clip the vigorous shrub that's growing over the wall from the garden behind mine, to clear that wall for painting.

Found some ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) has taken root! Lovely! Covered with pretty purple flowers.

Potted on the peppers, did a tonne more weeding in the borders, hoed the veg beds, put the sprinkler on the stumpery, tied in some wisteria tendrils on the pergola, made lists.

Noticed the mint has got out of control again and despaired at my decision to plant it. Parked that one for another day.

Watered. It's nearly 5 weeks since we had rain and usually we're one of the wettest parts of the UK. I don't water in general asI don't believe in it, but I have so many big pots and I do water newly planted trees and shrubs and DH does his precious tree ferns.
Sorted out the bedding put in the Perverse Parterre in front of the house: verbena 'Purple Santos', pink geraniums and (because I had forgotten to order a third set of plug plants back in March)some hastily acquired white begonia semoervivens. There are twelve squares to plant out so it's a lot of plants. We'll tackle it together tomorrow. Going to plant my Itoh peony too🙂Deep joy.
Watered again....

Potted up some lavender which I don’t really want but were offloaded on me, tied in some clematis which are really taking off now and had a pleasant surprise when I turfed some eucomis out of a pot because I thought they were dead, only to find they had sprouted.

Over the weekend, I mostly watered. I pulled a few "weeds" from the hanging basket of tomatoes, and realised they were broccoli plants so I chucked those into pots to see if they survive, nice bonus if they do.

Otherwise, I ignored the garden in favour of work. Not by choice. Hoping to sit there under the shade this weekend.

Ok @Bideshi . Wtf is a perverse parterre? I need to know everything

My lovely neighbour has kept all plants alive in our absence. I think the tomatoes plants may have learned to swim 🤣! Iv sent a video to diivoo of how the sprinklers work but only on their terms ! Can’t use the other leg of the hose at all … at any time . The new turf is looking very sad as said sprinkler wouldn’t work while we were away . Iv pulled a few nettles and looked longingly at the jobs I want to do … but back to work tomorrow then family for the weekend ( bbq for 20 + Saturday and Sunday lunch for those who stay over , or get wind of lunch 🙌😎) so I’m guarding my Monday off and not putting my hand up for anything!