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’ve done some planting out - so exciting feels like the year is starting properly
just a few foxgloves.

also found some of my snowdrops that I thought had not come up - I had accidentally put a paving slab on them. Bit yellow but they might perk up

Pruned my apple tree. Admired my rows of emerging garlic.

I've sieved soil. Proper soil, that's been outside all winter.

I’ve cut old foliage from hellebores, emptied some more pots of old, straggly tulips and removed dead leaves from the borders. I’ve sniffed the daphne and winter box, but am still despairing of the witch hazel.

I’m sure lots of others come up that quickly. It’s usually the big seeds that are slower. Though mung beans are only a day or two.

isn’t the three week thing “allow up to three weeks” rather than “they’ll do nothing for 3 weeks then all come up in a rush”?

Not many that you sow this time of year. Which is why I asked.

Sweet peas can be very quick; so can ordinary peas and beans. We're sowing those at work atm.

Word of warning for the tetrapanax lovers: it is an extremely potent allergen for some people! We work with it a lot in the nursery, and it can make you cough/sneeze violently; some people find it makes them nauseous. Admittedly we're usually dealing with it en masse, but even so, it's worth knowing it may be a problem.

Oh - and curcurbitae can take days in the right conditions, though it is a bit early for them. Sorry, I'll shut up now!

Yes, hence asking!

Sorry, am I being thick? You said 'hence asking' before and someone else replied, then I replied - are we not answering the question you wanted?

I'm really aware I'm shattered and not reading every post, so please excuse me if I've misunderstood.

Thank you, SarahAndQuack, for the tetrapanax alert. I should be safe, as - with ricinus and suchlike - it features in the urban jungle-style makeover which exists only in my head!

Oh, I am familiar with those makeovers! I'd have you know that - in my head - I have a three-acre fruit tree orchard, a bog garden, and a delightful wild meadow with bee orchids.

In real life, unfortunately ... goodness, is the garden ever going to stop being sodden?!

It sounds as if you may be halfway towards a bog garden, then, SarahAndQuack?! My lawn is still squelchy - we had more rain overnight - so I’m trying not to walk on it, but there are jobs to be done.

Meanwhile, in my head, I have an urban jungle garden (bananas a gogo), a Tuscan terrace with yew columns and/or Sissinghurst.

That's absolutely true - I should count my blessings. Ugh, but it is grim, isn't it?!

I love the idea of a Tuscan terrace.

Yes, it’s grim. Because it’s been so wet, the lawn is now extremely scruffy where it’s been walked on. I’ve given up worrying and am trusting it’ll recover if/when it ever dries out. I’ll also put some serious effort into decompacting and aerating it. None of this would be an issue if MrJekyll had agreed to my lawn less design for the garden, back in the day.

The Tuscan terrace is the antidote to all that because, in my head, it is always sunny and wafted by a gentle breeze.

Our lawn is horrendous at the moment, not helped by the dogs who like to scratch on it then walk the mud through the house.
Undecided on whether to go and prune roses today and still debating whether to go and dig up the peony before it gets going. I’m a tad sentimental because it came from DMs garden but it’s really a waste of space.

My lawn is very scruffy around the feeder just from birds walking on it...ok, that does include pheasants, there were 3 hens gathered around hopefully when I went down this morning (they ran off into the undergrowth when they saw me through the patio windows) and a few days ago 3 cocks eyeing each other up before apparently deciding to pretend the others weren't there.

I’m taking some comfort from the fact that others have scruffy lawns too!

My attempts to entice birds into the garden have generally failed - I suspect because of too many prowling cats - except for pigeons now roosting and causing a commotion on the windowsills. Huh.

I have a bird feeder, which means that the birds perch in the bushes surrounding it, and therefore all the ground underneath is a slippery mass of bird poo. So, while it's lovely to watch the variety of birds that come to the feeder, I do wish they'd shit somewhere else.

Today I dedicated myself to the front garden, which is a gravel garden that I put in this year because watering the pots I used to have out there had become an issue. Ha! I planted it up with some rocks and tree trunks which I've planted with sedums and sempervivums and it's rained every day since the damned thing went in. But it needed a good weed today and I had to cut back the hydrangeas and rose which form the hedge. So it will look nice for the next three days or so before the weeds come back.

Our lawn is dreadful....just a bog from all the rain. The only thing I've done is turned the compost as it's been so wet recently!

We've booked a tradesman to clean the driveway and get rid of all of the weeds coming through the block paving then to top up the sand. I'd normally do it myself but work has been so busy I've outsourced it this time. DH is fabulous and does loads at home and with the children but hates anything gardening related so it tends to fall to me. That's a bonus sometimes as I don't have to take his views into account but not when I have no motivation for some of the bigger jobs!

Lots of daffodils and crocus popping up now but zero snowdrops. I planted them in the green last year too!

Lovely day here for a change. Sunny and calm, birds singing, what a difference.

I spent the afternoon carefully edging someone's lawn and then went around it again to scuffle the soil and take the unwanted plants out, leaving nice crisp edges. I like to have a sort of gutter around the edge of the bed, which acts like a frame and emphasises both border and lawn edge. As I worked, I could hear the wing beats of a robin as it followed me, picking up worms and whatnot. Altogether a rather lovely day and the lawn looks better too.

Also, isn't there a lot of moss from this winter! There's masses of it, thick layers in shade, and every lawn I see is bright with moss.

Thanks for info on Tetrapanax. I had no idea they could cause allergies. I've not noticed anything so far so hopefully with just having one, it'll be ok.

Both gunnera have sadly died so I am going to look at buying some pups next month. It looks like the crowns rotted.

I've lined my pallet collars in the polytunnel with cardboard and fleece in preparation for planting. Topped up the compost bay but it needs turning and I'm not doing it in the rain!

The grass in the garden is absolutely sodden and the chickens have got on there and eaten a load of it. I'm thinking to either woodchip it or buy grass seed. I will need to keep the little buggers off it though or it'll become an all you can eat buffet with a playground.

Sorted the seeds into boxes by month. Can someone please tell me to stop buying seeds?

Stop buying seeds, johnworf!

I limit myself to those free with magazines. That way, I don’t much care if they fail.

Drizzly today, but I helped DH move all the pots off the paved area so he could jet wash it, for which I was grateful - we neglected it last year and it was extremely slippery in places. He said he didn't mind the drizzle as he was going to get wet anyway! The pots are still on the lawn while he decides whether to try to treat it with something to inhibit regrowth though it may not be worth trying till drier weather.

The Tete a tetes are coming out, the epitome of cheap and cheerful!