What have you done in the garden today? Part 3

[ThreeRingCircus]

The old thread was filling up so I've created a new one!

Link to old thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/gardening/4823202-what-have-you-done-in-the-garden-today-part-2?reply=128367673

Gosh, they look lovely! Thanks for all the advice 😊

That's beautiful, @daisychain01

Recently discovered the judas tree and I'm in love. They are sooo expensive though 😪

On a different note - I have 4 or 5 memorial roses in pots. When I move in October they will go with me. I want to plant them in my new garden, but..

They have black spot. I'm going to hard prune them before I move, but will the black spot remain and spread to roses in my new garden? Can I cure the black spot before I move (organically)

TIA

Having left my lawn to the mercies of prairie summer sunshine since May I spent today raking all the thatch out and liberally scattering white clover seed. I’ll have to keep an eye on the weather and get the sprinkler out for a while but hopefully they’ll have time to germinate before any serous weather rolls in.

I’ve also dug out some more of the new curved border (the “garden” was just a ragged patch of grass and gravel hard standing when we moved in, no borders at all). It’s pretty hard going so I try to just do a little bit every day.

Had a poke around the garden centre (everything is heavily discounted now, Canadians seem to stop bothering to garden by early August) but there wasn’t much left beyond annuals and hefty shrubs. Probably a good thing because I bought a lot earlIer in the year that has only just made it into the ground. I’m usually the opposite of those gardeners who have a whole pile of pots waiting sadly in a corner to be planted out but this year I have sinned.

If you too have a corner of shame full of wilting perennials in nursery pots I would love to hear about them 😂

@CanaHouse that’s definitely me! I have given myself to the end of this month to get everything in the ground, although it’s not helped by the fact that DH and I can never agree on where things should go. I am digging out an enormous border over the weekend, so that should help.

My Japanese anemones seemed to have curled up in the heat and died overnight! They’ve gone brown and crispy. All the neighbours have a beautiful display.

Other than that, nothing to report since the garden has been taken over by huge orb spiders who have spun their webs across every border. They all seem so happy I don’t like to disturb them.

We've suddenly got orb webs all over the place, too. All right at face height. I'm doing a lot of ducking.

This garden is full of spiders too. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had an unexpected faceful of spider’s web. Must be brave.

My Japanese anemones haven’t shrivelled in the heat but they are a shadow of their former selves - shorter and with smaller flowers. The fuchsias in pots are also sulking and wilting if they don’t receive daily TLC. Rain promised for tomorrow. Hey ho.

This is the result of a few sprouting potatoes that I threw in a barrel and kept adding soil. I'm quite pleased with my little harvest, for very little effort!
Next year I'm planting 3 barrels!

Nice. I always find potatoes a very satisfying return for the amount of effort.

Did some much needed weeding today - in the course of that found two new ferns growing which I'm very happy about.
DH turned over the compacted soil in another bed so I can plant it up tomorrow.

It’s been very quiet here. Are we all collapsed exhausted in the potting shed after the late summer clear-up?

Ive been emptying pots and digging up unsuccessful perennials like the peony Not-Bowl of Beauty. The tulip-planting binge will begin soon.

I need to plant bulbs too. I did pot up some pansies into a basket yesterday and had an unpleasant experience with the compost as it was full of earthworms. All good, I guess 😂 it must be healthy.

I did a small amount of weeding too but it’s still spiderville out there, glorious orb webs which I don’t want to disturb. DH says they will soon make new ones but having watched one spin the other day it looked like hard work.

the peony Not-Bowl of Beauty

I think I’m alone in finding peonies a waste of effort. Mine had ONE flower last year and takes up a LOT of space.

It's tipping it down here, all I've done the last few weeks is sweep up leaves whenever it's not actively raining.
Waiting for my Hazel tree to drop its leaves so I can coppice it for hurdles.

Ooh, lovely to see this thread popping up again. Thanks for the bump, @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde.

I am deeply proud of myself for mowing the bastard lawn properly on Sunday (it is not really a lawn but rough grass grown over stones/builders' waste, so you can't do it with a regular mower and you constantly risk stones flying up in your face; I put it off far too long!).

I have also gone all-out twee and planted up window boxes and pots of bulbs with violas and pansies on top. I know they're not classy, but there is a lovely pansy in a dark, burnt orange with a black blotch centre that is really doing it for me at the moment.

I've also repotted my eucalyptus and bought so pale pink schizostylis. And I have a decent harvest of quinces on the tree, and have picked my prized, beloved one-and-only pear. TBF I bought and planted the tree in full blossom, so I'm quite impressed it set fruit at all.

I am also looking forward to the tulip-planting binge. I am usually fairly laid back about planting times, but my mum's tulips got what looks like tulip fire last year, so I'm going to be more cautious about making sure the ground is properly cold.

I've had very little time for gardening as DH has an ongoing situation to deal with down south that's been impacting our weekends. I managed to get rid of past-it marigolds from a small border and replace with 'sugar rush' wallflowers which I've not had before. Also done some bulb lasagne pots (no tulips) and suchlike.

On the positive side our trips usually have a bit of leisure time, we went to Sudely Castle on Monday afternoon - a perfect golden October day, really lovely.

I'm in the middle of having a new patio and garden path built. My lawn has gone to pot , it's full of weeds, notably a creeping one with a red stalk that grows so quickly and it also has cement on it along the edges of the new path that will need to be hidden. I was thinking of returfing but I don't have an outside tap so won't be able to water it enough for it to take. Someone suggested fake grass but I'm not a fan, plus it's ridiculously expensive.
I need to get out there and pull up all the bits that have gone over and do a thorough weed of the flower beds . The builder has been here for 3 weeks and I feel all behind.

I’m sort of stuck. We decided to get some landscaping done - sort out some levels, a pergola, patio for a potting shed, paths. The idea was to have it all done in the autumn … but the money to finance it was dependent of a property sale that didn’t happen.

So now I can’t plant my bulbs, or any of the things I’ve been saving in pots.

On the plus side I do have beautiful pansies in pots on the patio 🙂

Good to see you again, SarahAndQuack (and everyone else, of course). That all sounds very productive.

I know they’re not chic, but violas are my favourite thing for topping pots. I bought some this week during a very enjoyable garden centre spree funded by a voucher I received for my birthday. I find, though, that they often fail to take off, so I’m going to aim to plant them earlier, in the hope they are better established by the time it gets cold. All my tulips go in pots in new compost, so I’m less concerned about tulip fire.

Thanks to this thread, I decided today to pull out two other peonies which are doing very little. I’ll be glad to have the space back. Buckeye Belle gets a reprieve, though.

Thanks! It's lovely to be back.

FWIW, I think it's the damp as much as the cold that is a problem for violas. IME, they do best if they mature in not-cold, dryish conditions until the flower buds form. After that, they're generally bomb-proof. But before that, if they get too wet, they really struggle.

That’s interesting. Now I wonder whether my previous viola struggles are caused not so much by late planting (I’ve sometimes not planted my pots until Christmas) as by overwatering. I might have overdone it in a misguided attempt to escape mildew!

I'm very fond of violas. Couldn't care less if they're chic - they make for very cheerful winter pots (and often keep going right through the year).

I couldn't agree more, such cheerful little faces.

But this begs the question, what plants are 'chic' for winter pots/baskets/bedding?

I'm definitely the wrong person to answer that.