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’m not sure whether, on the whole, gardeners are more or less prone to nuking creepy crawlies and other wildlife than other people. Certainly, the mood in (say) gardening magazines and on GW is now much more in favour of wildlife, but the DIY sheds still have shelf after shelf of sprays for killing things, so I wonder who’s buying them.

Years ago at the garden club, one of the committee asked a visiting speaker for tips on how to kill the worms that were spoiling his lawn …

My MIL has flatworms in her garden so was bemused at how blasé I was about earthworms in my garden.
My gardening principle is to grow so much that pests can't possibly eat it all. It works for me.

We’re having a bit of a change round in the garden so we’ve moved the compost bin into a different corner of the garden
it was full to the top so had to be emptied and then refilled

@SarahAndQuack Really enjoyed Gardening in Pyjamas! Very different style to my other gardening books - conversational, informative, encouraging and lots of lol moments. I think it's one I'll keep going back to. Would definitely recommend:)

I’m not reding it for the same reason. I may kill other things (lily beetle, aphids) but I would never deliberately kill a spider.

I went to visit Chelsea Physic Gardens over the weekend for the first time. It was wonderful. I was not expecting what I saw, but thought it was originally could be like a herb garden, and for many years, I'd just been visiting the Royal Gardens to get my plant kicks.

Last time I posted on here that I went to the Garden Museum, but these gardens certainly made up for the lack of excitement, and so worth the entry fee that I paid. Joined their one-year membership as well. There's a lot to see with differing world zones structures around the space. I can't wait to go back later in the year to see the greenhouses open up.

Whilst I was in London, visit Columbia Rd Flower Market and went to my favourite perennial stall that's usually at the top end of the road and bought an unknown plant that had chrysanthemum like leaves and dusky orange geum like flowers. Also, from another stall, a kalanchoe tinnatus as I love the campanula like soft green tinged with a pink edging (see stock photo). Both were a fiver each.

The other week, I'd ordered some big plugs off eBay - Salivia Midnight; S. ugolinosa; Limonium and Phlox Clouds of Perfume. They haven't settled in yet, but I'm hoping.

I save them too from harm's way such as clearing them out of the bath or anywhere inside the house. There are webs out now which unfortunately run across where I walk out of the back door to the garden so I'm always having to say sorry to the webmaster/mistress, and take one end of the web to take the spun silk to hook it onto the nearest plant.

They're our garden allies so I'm always grateful for them to eat whatever bugs they need to survive.

Ooh, I haven’t been to Chelsea Physic Garden for years. Was the glasshouse open? I read that it was re-opening soon.

DD used to do her dance exams not far from Colombia Road so it was a nice diversion. The orange plant sounds gorgeous but I have no idea what it could be.

I like the sound of the orange plant too - let us know when you find out its name! A friend took me to visit Chelsea Physic Garden in the spring and I loved it.

I finally managed to mow the lawn, it was still a bit damp but the weather’s been so ridiculous it was better than nothing.

Did a bit of trimming back the hedges but some I can’t really reach properly- has anyone bought anything like this, is this any good? Or any recommendations?

I don’t mind doing it myself but just need better equipment!

https://www.wowcher.co.uk/deal/shop/garden/garden-tools/e/telescopic-hedge-trimmer?slug=shop&slug=garden&slug=garden-tools&slug=28773744&slug=extendable-telescopic-hedge-trimmer

I keep a glass and a large envelope handy this time of year, to nab those chunky ones that scamper across the living room and put them out in the garden.

as you say, @Nachtvlinder they are nature's fly catchers (and we get a lot of them being rural where we live), so as far as I'm concerned they're part of our crew.

Love all the info about Chelsea Physic Garden - DH and I are looking at it on Google maps, wonderful! Definitely somewhere to visit - we're a long distance from London so it would be something to plan for, as part of a City break.

On a sad note, autumn is here. My cyclamen are coming into flower and they don’t usually surprise me until the middle of September. Lovely to see them, I always forget about them , but it is far too early, I am not ready.

One of my apple trees is shedding its leaves (as well as its apples), which is making the garden feel very autumnal, although it’s probably more about drought stress.

Yes, I was surprised to see some of mine out when I got back from holiday.

I keep a glass and a large envelope handy this time of year, to nab those chunky ones that scamper across the living room and put them out in the garden. I just scoop them into my hand

@viques Every year, this one included, I look at my first Cyclamen (/winter jasmine/Viburnum tinus), think “that’s early”, go to record it in me gardening diary, and find it’s exactly the same time as last year.

M cyclamen always appear in mid August.

The greenhouse opens on 7th Sept. so I'll sure to be back to see what lovely specimens they have in there.

Went to another plant fair today and got two cheap plants for £3 each (too cheap!)

Centaurea Jordy
Vebascum chaixii album

Planted out previously bought Geranium Gravetye and replanted the trifolium repens pupurescens as that was reverting in the shade. My originanum Emma Stanley is dying on me; I don't seem to do well with originanums, and I don't understand why? (Do they not like competition?)

I saw a couple of cyclamen in pots I have inherited from previous owner. Bought some reduced lettuce and strawberries and got them in plus sowed some bunching onions and pak choi.

Potted up the first footed cuttings from my Hydropod - rose, hydrangea, sage , honeysuckle, curry plant , fuchsia and penstemon.

Yesterday i spent the afternoon pruning back our 2 David Austin climbers The Generous Gardener (pale pink) and Bathsheba (apricot). They were dripping with flowers and smelt beautifully pungent after the rain. I'm hoping as I've given them a gentle prune leaving a fair bit of good quality foliage on them, we may be lucky and get another flowering. I found a sachet of DA rose feed in our logstore so I'll water that in today and 🤞

I keep being tempted to buy Bathsheba, because the fragrance sounds amazing. OTOH I could buy something a bit more species-ish that'd have lovely hips. Choices, choices.

I've got Generous Gardener, which is meant to be shade-tolerant, but I think it's not happy. I need to get up on a ladder and cut back the mass of overhang from my neighbour's trees.

I love cyclamen @Seaitoverthere I often see them naturalised along the roadsides sheltered close to the hedgerows and they look very pretty in drifts of powder pinks and cerise.

Theyve failed to develop healthy new leaves for me in year 2. I wonder if they need a mulch ... I might give that a try today, as they're looking a bit weedy.

@SarahAndQuack My Generous Gardener is outside our front door which faces due south West, so by the time the sun has travelled all the way over the top of us and moving down by mid afternoon the sun has lost its potency so it seems to enjoy it where there are no extremes.

Good luck with the pruning! I have the BH week off work so will spend quite a time pruning back so will probably have aching arms, but can't complain, all self-inflicted.

If they’re Cyclamen hederifolium, it’s early for leaves, they don’t appear till after the flowers.

By the time I’d picked 4 days worth of mulberries, I didn’t have much time, so I started weeding the gravel paths, taking out armfuls of alpine strawberries. Decided to leave the violets for spring flowers. So now the paths just look as if they need a good weed, as opposed to being overgrown to the point of invisibility

I have rose Zéphirine Drouhin growing in quite a shady spot, because she’s reputed to be happy in shade, but she’s not doing much. I’ve just bought her a lovely new obelisk in the hope that’ll perk her up, and am cutting back surrounding plants to let in more light.

So now the paths just look as if they need a good weed, as opposed to being overgrown to the point of invisibility

Tough going isnt it - I always feel like it's a losing battle - our drive is similar. I try to pull up something, anything everything I go out but more pop up. Resisting the temptation of chucking weedkiller down. I would have done that years ago but I have grown to live with the imperfect nowadays which is a difficult one but necessary I guess.