What have you done in the garden today? Part 2

[ThreeRingCircus]

A continuation of the last thread.

I used nematodes successfully on the dreaded fungus gnat on houseplants but never tried them in the garden

I have just bunged a load in that I found in a cupboard. I think if any shoots come through they will be decimated by the slugs and snails that have eaten everything else I have planted !

CatWithFlowers - That’s a great dahlia deal! I’d be surprised if they got as far as flowering this year, although that probably depends on how long summer lasts. I’d be inclined to pot them and leave them to grow, so they’ll be good-sized tubers for next year.

That’s why I keep my dahlias in pots, Seaitoverthere - it’s slightly easier to fend off the slug attack!

@ComeIntoTheGardenMaud, thanks for the advice! I'll put them into pots then overwinter them in the greenhouse I'm going to keep some in pots on the patio permanently anyway. 😊

@Seaitoverthere We are lucky that we have very few slugs. Even our hostas survive relatively unscathed. I think the reason is our soil is so poor and dry and lots of the garden is very exposed and windy. Even the slugs have abandoned ship 🙄

@catwithflowers I have never in my life had a hosta survive to live a second year! This is a new house and the garden hasn’t had the attention it needs and has been a breeding ground for slugs and snails, they are absolutely everywhere!

The soil is good though so I guess I shouldn’t complain but I am 😀

When I first started this garden, I wanted a display of hostas in pots. This was before nematodes were a thing, but I tried just about everything else - eggshells, copper tape, the (I think) aluminium-based gloop that you used to water on, organic pellets, beer traps - and the hostas were still trashed. So now the pond is in that corner and the frogs eat at least some of the slugs, which is a sort of poetic justice.

@ComeIntoTheGardenMaud @Seaitoverthere We recently discovered we have hedgehogs, there must be more than one judging by the amount of hedgehog poo we find on the lawn!! So maybe they are eating our slugs? Who knows?

I've just Googled and apparently thrushes, blackbirds, robins, crows and starlings all eat slugs and snails too. We live quite rurally and have hundreds of birds in the garden including loads of the above and also owls, so maybe they are feasting on the Slimy Ones!!!

There was a hedgehog in our garden before we completed but it has gone next door, I’d love it back and have plans for a pond.

For those with ponds,please ensure you have a branch or something so that any hogs that fall in have a way to get out. Otherwise they drown.

@ComeIntoTheGardenMaud I'm definitely top when it comes to cake. Obsessed-with-their-garden blokes persist in thinking that people go to yellow book openings to see the gardens whereas women know the gardens are secondary to the quality of the cake.

@SarahAndQuack I'm open to the public every day from Easter to the end of October. It means we have to aspire to a reasonably high standard which is a bit of a strain. I have insta and Facebook but don't want to get banned for advertising. You could probably take an informed guess as you've probably gathered I'm in SW Scotland.

Foxes eat slugs too, I'm told. The garden's full of slugs but they don't seem to bother my hostas. Or maybe I grow so many that I don't notice. I have to watch out for them eating cardiocrinum and veratrum, both of which seem caviar to the general gastropod and are precisely the plants I don't want to lose.

Excellent news on the cake, Bideshi. My criteria when searching the yellow book are (a) excellent garden with planting to my (probable) liking, naturally (b) plant sale, as it feels wrong to go home without a plant (have recently had some disappointments here) and (c) home-made teas. We’ve had some wonderful tea and cake in NGS gardens but shop-bought biscuits will not do.

I’m intrigued to hear that foxes eat slugs. I’ve been finding dead slugs. Perhaps my neighbours are using pellets and they’ve crawled in here to expire, but now I’m wondering whether the foxes - of which we have many - have mangled them.

Well I wish the foxes that bring rubbish into garden would have the decency to eat the huge quantities of slugs, I’d forgive their litter offerings if they did.

I have lost a lot of mobility over the last couple of years and can’t stand for very long. I was really sad about not being able to garden much but have found that with the right tools I can still do quite a lot from sitting - think the builders have been surprised at what I have been able to do. Will list them in case it helps anyone.

Light weight director’s chair - weighs 2kg and easy to move around and folds out of way when not in use.

Speedy Weedy- need a replacement so ordered something similar from B and Q as can’t find a Speedy Weedy There’s a knack to it, like twirling spaghetti but it is coping with getting out some of the ivy along with other stuff and been very helpful.

Spear and Jackson razor sharp easy reach pruner that the lady on GW recommended. It cuts and then holds onto it plus also can be used as a grab stick to get bits off the floor.

Wolf Garten Push pull weeder and I’ve ordered the trowel as think I could dig planting holes from seating with it.

Spear and Jackson razor sharp easy reach pruner that the lady on GW recommended. It cuts and then holds onto it plus also can be used as a grab stick to get bits off the floor. Is that the thing that looks like a litter picker but has a blade like secateurs where the grabby bit should be? I love mine for high up pruning, much easier to weave between branches than long handled loppers

That’s a really useful list, Seaitoverthere.

I have limited mobility and now get a lot of use from a little wheelie trolley/seat thing. I bought it years ago for my dad (don’t remember where from) but it’s now come back to me. The seat is quite low, which means I’m near the soil and don’t have to reach far. I’m also very pleased with my long-handled trowel and hand fork, and was devastated last week when the fork broke. I’ve not yet found a replacement.

Thanks so much for the recs. I’m having a hip replacement tomorrow. Been really down at how neglected my garden will get,to the extent that Ive barely bothered this week as there seems no point. But I’m going to try to find a light weight seat and buy the pruners too. Just worried it might make me do too much.

Hope it goes well tomorrow, Zebracat.

Oh no @ComeIntoTheGardenMaud (we know each other from thread on here back in the day and FB, I had a different name).

@Zebracat best of luck for tomorrow and for a speedy recovery. I need the same doing at some point. Agree you have to be very careful not to over do it . This is the chair:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SVET41S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’m off to new house to see what I have got in the way of fruit tree lucky dip from Gardening Express and see if I can stick them somewhere. Not very optimistic about bare root at this time of year but if they all fail I have lost £17 which doesn’t go that far these days!

Ooh, Seaitoverthere, I often wonder who on here I might have known on gardening threads of yore. Please message me to disclose your former identity. I like to pretend that I’m a secret agent in Spooks.

Thank you @ComeIntoTheGardenMaud and @Seaitoverthere . I did doa bit because I felt encouraged. Weeded my rose bed vigorously and then realised that some of the nettles were baby nepeta, but it looks better. My Dh is very reluctant to condone the purchase of chair and easy prune. He knows I will just keep reaching for the next bit. I’m going to wait a month, or 2.

Great to hear about the ingenious ways you’re all gardening despite injury, gardeners always find a way.

Popped out to harvest a few blueberries and started to side eye the hardcore parking area. I had resigned myself to raised beds here (not ideal in zone 3, things really need to be in the ground for protection) - shoved a fork in it to find it isn’t very compacted at all and actually the soil below looks decent.
Complete rethink of the garden design may be in order!

Well done on the weeding, Zebracat.

This is a rather fancier version of my garden seat/trolley hybrid. I’m impressed by the swivel function!

@Zebracat good luck tiday. Well done on the weeding. I think your DH has a point and hopefully once yiu are recovered in time the not being able to garden properly will be a distant memory.

@ComeIntoTheGardenMaud the trolley looks great and I am te,opted but worried that if I sit on it I might nit be able to get up again and have to call for help 😀

Great news on the ground @CanaHouse and I am vjealous that you have blueberries.

Opened my mini orchard pack yesterday, there are 2 apples, a pear, plum and mirabelle- very pleased especially about the latter as used to have one. They have all had a soaking and are in pots and hoping that at least a couple of the, will come back to life - one does show signs of growth. If they do that will be a bargain for £17 I feel but I am philosophical about the fact they may not.

That orchard pack sounds great! I’m out of touch with the price of fruit trees but would guess that even if only one takes off it’ll still be a bargain. I’m crossing my fingers for the mirabelle!