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

I live in fear of the police having to dig up my beds to confirm any bones are ancient

I've pruned gently this year, but that's only because all my roses are cuttings, new, or transplanted from the old house. Few years in and I'll be hacking them back brutally!

@Zebracat I'm doing the weeding bit by bit by bit too, still lots of bare earth as it's new and all the plants are small. We'll get there by Spring...

They’re ok. So much top growth it was a soft landing. And so pot-bound they didn’t come out of their pots. So I found a couple of heavy pottery pots kicking around the garden, slipped their pots inside, rearranged the shelves, and put them back on the shelves.
I lost about 20 flowers and buds
I kept about 200

sweeping that floor was an invitation to disaster. Yes. I’ve already told DH I’m not going to do any more housework ever.

.

Could have been worse - I once knocked down a spiny bastard cactus and instinctively caught it.

@ErrolTheDragon ayeee! Makes me wince just thinking about it.

I did that with a razor blade once. Still have the scar, nearly 60years later

Ouch !
I lunged across the table to stop our female cat landing on broken glass after she threw my fruitbowl on the floor and slipped off the table.

I still have the scar on my wrist from her ungrateful claws .
And a metal fruitbowl

My first crocus is out! It has cheered me up a lot today. Hoping for a decent display as a hands and knees inspection shows there are quite a few popping up through the lawn.

Lovely! I planted out some like that an the damned squirrels had every one 😭

Hurrah for the first crocus.

I've now cut back all last year's dead foliage so that the bulbs get a clear run as they come through. Plus, sharpened up the border/lawn edges which had gotten slowly infilled etc. over last year.

Raked the downtrodden grass.

Looks much smarter and feels 'ready' for spring when it comes.

I have a good display of crocuses already, it's looking very springy out.

No crocus here yet, but the rose bed is finished except for a big clump that I still cant decide if buttercup or geranium. It started to rain , I finished the weeding but couldn't bring myself to stay out to sweep up, so it looks rubbish.

There is a very old churchyard on the corner of my road and they have the most amazing display of crocus, they must be an old variety as they have spread for a good distance among the gravestones. Every year I think I must go and ask if I can dig up a few bulbs for my garden, maybe this is the year I pluck up the courage.

Ask them, @viques I'd be surprised if they weren't delighted to give you some bulbs!

My iris reticulata in patio pots are nearly all out and looking lovely. Sweet box smelling amazing. I've not noticed any of my crocuses yet but a couple of days ago I was down in Bristol, there were some daffs fully out there. And today at lunchtime - walking not gardening - spotted my first bumble bee of the year, with a backdrop of a splendid view of the Lune over towards Ingleborough.

No crocus yet but the snowdrops in DMs are out in force. I noticed next doors camellia has a few blooms too.

Cut back some more shrubby stuff and branches. In the greenhouse sowed chamomile,calendula,lemon balm and chilli.
Hauled weed out of the pondlet and ran the pump just to freshen the water. Hope I havent woken the frogs up. Still too early for them.

Ah, some of my crocuses are showing yellow now, not quite fully out yet.
Brown bin nearly full of more euonymus and Ivy, plus a chunk of mahonia which was shading a small azalea, and some of the branches of a Sorbus which due to being very shaded from the back in the past leans so low over the lawn that I'm forever walking into it.
And I didn't need to come indoors till nearly 5pm!

I can detect familiar urges and believe that this season's Seed Frenzy is about to get started. I have a strong urge to get all the seeds out and sort through the packets and consider what to start first, how much and where they'll grow.

And so it begins...

Planted seeds (nasturtiums and sweet peas) in the mini greenhouse
Forsythia potted into a bigger pot (they grow well round here , very clay soil ) it can live in a big pot this year then might get planted out when much bigger .

Chocolate vine planted with a protective cover and a mesh to stop the cats - I have HAD IT with Passionflower . The blighters die on me .
No more .

Clematis from last year (no idea what type) has some new leaves on its weedy little stalk .

Clematis are definitely very weedy this time of year aren't they @70isaLimitNotaTarget I found a fab article on the internet about how to train them properly which is music to my ears because I can't seem to get the stems to do as they're told, they keep flopping all over the place grrr.

I spent a few hours on the outside of the greenhouse, using some Domestos and pine floor cleaner to attack all the green algi. I also used a stiff wire brush to clean the hard standing. It all looks nice 👌 and ready for action. Tomorrow if I have time, I must make a start on 10 large pots that I've been ignoring as they are too gruesome for words. I think I'll empty to whole lot into the corner of the border and dig it all in, there is nothing worth saving.

I’m hoping for some gardening time tomorrow.

This is the time of when I fret that favourite plants haven’t reappeared and the clematis (apart from the indestructible Nelly Moser) all look dead. Then I give my head a wobble and remind myself that it’s only the beginning of February.

For now, I’m revelling in the sweet box and the hellebores.

I need to repaint my fences over the next few weeks. Some have gree patches on, any tips?

/waves to an almost local

I have a friend with a stunning garden overlooking the Lune, but her view is NW so doesn’t include Ingleborough.

Scrub first with soapy water. It’s algae, it will grow on almost anything.