What have you done in the garden today? Part 2

[ThreeRingCircus]

A continuation of the last thread.

I've been really quite productive today. I've deadheaded two roses and made a start in the frost bitten bay I mentioned in the first thread. I've been carefully cutting out all the dead twigs and branches back to the nearest green section or to the trunk in some particularly bad parts. It's actually not looking too bad at all. There's more to go but it's opened up the interior, and the new life there is, will benefit enormously from the light.

I still have the never ending acres of weeding to do 🤬, but in my longer term renovation work there are three large normal laurels to cut back, two very leggy spotted laurels to deal with, a mahonia, some cotoneaster, a neglected spirea, and an osmanthus (I think, not entirely sure of that one). It's the spotted laurels and spirea that I want to deal with properly this year.

I love pruning overgrown laurels. They have a very handsome dark bark and good form. You can be as bold as you like and do pretend cloud pruning. Such fun.
I’ve been in the roses too. I was obviously a bit distracted at the winter prune, because they were full of dead diseased and crossing branches. Huge blooms on spindly whips. Not sure at what point deadheading becomes pruning but I filled a green bin from 4 rose bushes so…
A couple of months ago it all looked under control and now it’s a mess again. Beginning to see the appeal of plastic gardens, wipe them down with some fairy and they’re as good as new.

@Zebracat the three ordinary laurels I sort of know what I'm dealing with, they're 25 years old, have thick proper trunks and a decent form - couple of good prunes a year and they bumble along. But the spotted laurels make me nervy - also 25yo but they seem leggy from the ground up, sort of three or four 2 inch thick stems about 4/5ft high, with leaves really only on the ends. They're also in what seems a not ideal place, almost constantly shaded area under my kitchen window. If I cut them back to the height I'd ideally like, 3ft, they'll literally be just stems? Still worth a punt?

I have done drastic pruning on both types and it’s been fine, they regenerate all down the trunk. Anyway, if they are that badly placed, you have nothing to lose, they might die and you can clear the area and start again with something less dreary. I do kind of like them though. But I like Cotoneaster too, and I would fill my garden with every type of Campanula if I could. And I’ve just given my David Austin’s a brutal summer haircut!

I'm tempted to hack I must admit. Photos attached.

We have a spotted laurel too and it seems to be indestructible. It came from nowhere after I took up a massive ceanothus. I hack back chunks of it regularly and encourage my neighbour to do the same as it borders his house. I’ve noticed that it’s shooting from the ground.

All the greenfly seem to have disappeared all of a sudden, we had masses two weeks ago.

it’s very shapeable, won’t mind the shade, but it’s natural height is 3 metres, so you will always be cutting it back. Ideally it should have been done between March and May/June, but will be ok before the middle of July. I would just get in there with a pair of loppers or even a chainsaw. Sunlight in the kitchen is good!

My Dd had one in the tiny front garden of her terraced house, so the sitting room had that filtered green light, like a dirty aquarium. But it also smelt so rank they thought they had rot. You will thank me for this advice!

Ha, but I don’t think the advice is very clear. I suggest you give it a drastic prune now, to about 2 ft, aiming for a 3 ft dome when the leaves come back, knowing that if it’s demanding or fails, you can get rid of it.

I filled in the hole the fox had sneakily dug behind the apple tree where I couldn’t see it, and had piled up all the diggings against next doors fence. iit was a bigger hole than I realised, at one point the earth I was standing on collapsed beneath my feet. I know it will be back, I have stamped it all down and covered it with about three wire ex green house shelves weighed down by large pots of water to let it know I mean business. I have chicken wire as a back up if needed. While I was there I cut back the elderflower that was supposed to have been killed by the man I paid to kill it a few years ago ( sigh), dealt with some overgrown Italian arums, repotted a few neglected shrubs , and was rewarded by discovering that something I thought was dead wasn’t. I also made the executive decision that my next pair of gardening clogs will be bought for practical reasons ( a fully closed toe) not because they were pretty.

I wish my spotted laurel was indestructible, it seems to be barely hanging on. I got a small plant, from the supermarket I think, last year and it’s barely grown. Most of the leaves went black and crispy last year in the drought, and some of the new leaf edges look like they’re going to same way again. Do I need to be more diligent with watering?

Oh and these are my double flowers red poppies.

@viques I'm feeling the fox rage too. Back in April, our lovely old retriever died and we buried her at home, at the end of the paddock. It's not an area I go to every day, it's a bit of a lovely overgrown wilderness there, which is why we chose that spot.

But today I went to have a look at the place where we buried our girl and there are two very large burrows, presumably made by a fox. We did put in lots of rocks and stones before we put grass on top of the grave but obviously it hasn't worked. It's the circle of life I guess. At least the fox hasn't got to our chickens 🙈. Or our apple trees 😬

On a happier note, I have two David Austin roses arriving tomorrow and I've cleared and weeded the part of the bed where they will go.

And I might have made a little trip to the garden centre while the puppy was sleeping and bought more tiarella and some gorgeous echinaceas in a beautiful pale lemon colour 🙈😂

Gorgeous poppies.

Thankyou, I think they have placed themselves in a really good place with the green backdrop.

(I notice you had nothing nice to say about my disgusting feet!)

Lots of rain here in Scotland the last couple of days so have done nothing except clear the pond a bit as it was choked with water forget me not.
My one and only peony was getting bruised by the rain so cut it and brought it indoors. It is utterly beautiful

@Hedjwitch It's been seriously wet, hasn't it. The drip bucket in the bedroom had to be emptied which is unusual. My peonies are over - you must be further north.

Gorgeous poppies indeed!

I did manage to scrounge some oxygenating plants from a kind neighbour, so I’ve installed those. On garden clogs … mine have closed toes but they still tend to fill with soil, leaving me to go heavy with the foot scrub.

@bideshi. I'm in Fife

Oh dear yes. Filthy feet. My other passion is swimming. I always shower before getting in! But I wonder sometimes if the soles of my feet are quite clean. I cut off some viable blooms when deadheading and final job was to put them in water.

The big gardening bin gets collected weekly in my bit of Melbourne and I manically try to fill it each week, as if it was waste not to.

Anyway, cut up a massive palm leaf that had fallen off. They are BUGGERS to cut up and need tree loppers. While any tree is better than no tree, I find them useless. I've also cut back the aptenia cordifolia AKA baby sun rose. It's a thug, but does flower all winter and the bees love it. Being a succulent it is very heavy indeed, like lifting armsful of water. It's edible, though I've never tried it.

I tend to garden barefoot so I know what I'm standing on. Only in the summer, mind, I wear shoes in winter.

(I notice you had nothing nice to say about my disgusting feet!) I showed them to DH to let him know what “filthy” really means!

I love pruning overgrown laurels. They have a very handsome dark bark and good form. They also have the almondy cyanide smell and make you feel a bit woozy if you do too much.