What have you done in the garden today Part 4 Spring 2024.

[MereDintofPandiculation]

What have you done in the garden today? What went well? What surprises have you had? What could have gone better?

I'm not a great gardener, I'm afraid. But today, I have planted a ceanothus and am hoping it survives! We used to have a gorgeous one, but I suspect DH was over enthusiatic with the pruning.

@SarahandQuack Interesting about the self seeding of hellebores in your mother’s almost wet garden - the only place mine have seeded is into the gravel at the front.

They’re supposedly not too long lived. But don’t tell DH that. It won’t do the garden any harm for him to think he killed it through overpruning

Isn't it strange? Just proof of how varied gardening is, I suppose. Mum's do seed into gravel (on her drive), but the place where they really run amok is on the edge of a very wet ditch.

I was really sad to find they're much less happy on my sandy soil. But I expect they'll get there in time. I have just (almost as we speak) planted a couple of new dark ones, and a lime-green one, which I'm 50/50 about, but they were 3 for 2 so I thought I would try. I've also planted some pale narcissus in bud, as mine didn't come up well this year, and I finally bought some aconitum napellus as I think DD is old enough to be trusted with it! It's naturalised in a churchyard near us, and always looks amazing.

I love ceanothus! So pretty.

I love them too! Hellebores are lovely. I've never had any because I don't think we have the right kind of soil, although reading about @SarahAndQuack Mum's ditch I might try it!

I won't tell DH @MereDintofPandiculation But the last one lasted a good 10-15 years, so hopefully this will do the same.

The only thing I can do is paddle! We've been underwater since end of October. Of course, when it eventually drains, within two weeks, there will be massive cracks as the clay shrinks. Time for a rethink.

Thanks for the new thread!

I finally bought some aconitum napellus as I think DD is old enough to be trusted with it How old is DD, as a matter of interest? I’ve always gone for the “train not to eat” approach over the “clear your garden of anything remotely poisonous” approach as then they’ll be safe anywhere, not just in your garden. But wolfsbane is something I think I’d steer clear of too.

Isn't it the case that most people are repulsed by eating anything blue? At least, I remember being taught that in A-level psychology.

Alighting onto this shiny new thread, thank you @MereDintofPandiculation

no gardening today unfortunately. It's grim, cold, damp and just not in the least bit enticing, even in the greenhouse.

Hunkered up in my lounge suit PJs flicking through a seed and plant catalogue, imagining I'm out there being diligent!

My last ever purchase from our local Wilco was a ceanothus bush for £1. I kept it in its pot as I wasn't sure where to plant it. I noticed today it has developed some small buds so I'll find a nice sunny spot for it to live. I love its electric blue flowers and silvery grey/green foliage.

I'm not a gardener at all, but I'm trying to learn. Maybe I can learn from you all.

This won't count as gardening, but I have finally got round to buying an outdoor coir/rubber mat for our kitchen door. The only reason I've splashed out is because we're getting a new fence put in next so I'm expecting muddy footprints from the workmen.

Taking the old fence down is going to wreck all the plants trailing over it 😔, so I'll need to work out how to restore / replant them. No point asking what's currently growing their because I don't have any idea 😄!

Oh, no, I'm being super over-cautious, she's rising 7. I've always done 'train not to eat' (she went through a terrible phase of eating stones when she was a baby!). She knows what's poisonous in our garden and there's plenty - it's more that it is so poisonous that I have been nervy about it.

Mind you, I potted up the whole batch without gloves (and without thinking about gloves), and I never noticed any skin irritation.

It won't wreck the plants! Most climbers are pretty resilient, and many will come back nicely from the root if you do this now, so you're at the right time.

It does stand to reason, doesn't it. Colours such as yellows, reds, pinks, even purple are frequently occurring in edible fruit and veg, but blue is for admiring not eating.

i can't ever remember being remotely interested in or tempted to put things in my mouth. Maybe coming from a gardening family, we developed an instinctive awareness of what was edible. My grandparents had a beautiful Laburnum which I was fascinated by, with all those beautiful yellow flowers dripping off the branches, but the thought of eating the pods, nope! But come the summer holidays, we'd be out there picking handfuls of Victoria and black plums straight off the trees, avoiding the wasps!

Hello, new to this thread. Today I’ve done a lot of huffing in the garden in frustration that it isn’t March yet.

waiting to sow seeds - herbs and leaves and tomatoes
waiting to dig over wildflower patch again and resow
waiting for DH to do a few jobs so I can sort an area at the bottom

I have in the meantime tidied the front - swept leaves, moved some pots around. Tidied and weeded pots out back and planted a few tulip bulbs that I found sprouting in the shed oops.
Ordered a hydrangea petiolaris fora front north wall and cleaned the wall so it’s not grubby any more

Need to fast forward a few weeks - I absolutely love mid March - end of June for gardening 🥰

Hello. I am determined to actually have a nice garden this year.

I have planted a rose in the large pot that has stood empty by my back door for years.

And weeded what appears to be a solid bed of forget-me-not. The big surprise was discovering a large frog while I was doing it.

Ah, well my mum says I put absolutely everything in my mouth, including yew berries! I'm still here. I do now know what you mean by that 'instinctive awareness' - it's basically that you can make a good educated guess as to the likely species of an unknown plant, isn't it?! I remember my non-gardener dad being quite confused that my mum, his dad, and I could all confidently explain to him that something none of us could name was clearly some variant on blackcurrant, and therefore obviously not poisonous.

I think some children are more 'mouthy' than others. Aside from the stones DD wasn't bad really. It also depends how mobile they are - a child who is able to get around from a few months old is going to be quite a different proposition in the garden from one who cheerfully sits still and doesn't walk until they're of an age where they can be expected to understand a bit of 'no!'.

@Rarewaxwing now is the best time to sort out your fence while your climbers are dormant.

Depending on what is climbing, you'd be better off leave them in the ground, prune them back, so they're tidied out of the way, ready to put up the new fence. If you have Clematis Montana, don't prune hard, trim and tidy, bunch the growth together, tie them lightly with gardening twine/string so they don't get trodden and flattened) and lay on the ground).

Most plants are pretty bombproof if you don't disturb the roots, and if you have any casualties, to be honest they were probably on their way out anyway 😀

As a small I remember putting sea glass into my mouth and my Geordie Grandma saying 'Eeee, noa pet'. Then there was the peach skin that I dragged through beach sand before trying to eat it. The worst one I recall was making mud pie, which looked dark and chocolatey but which, being bland and gritty, was a terrible disappointment. My dad also came across me with laburnum seeds in my mouth, which I was attracted to because they were so smooth, and he made me spit them out. If he hadn't said 'What have you got in your mouth?' that day, I might not be here.

Hi everyone, this has been the first week we are starting to sit out a bit for a coffee in the garden. So happy to hear the birdsong and have some sun on my face again.

yesterday me and DH cleared a lot of debris and cut back perennials. Swept up etc.
today I did the same on a shallow bed, weeded and put some gravel down to keep grass and weeds down. DH cleared a big pile of rubbish which was in view of the house and looks tidier.

I was thinking about sowing seeds in my heated propagator but can’t find the seed box anywhere! Argh. I’m going to be careful what I plant out this year because everything was totally decimated last year by slugs. Was very disappointing.

I have a nice table now in view of my (conservatory) office. Any ideas for table top flowers for pots that would look good for a couple of months? I haven’t sown any bulbs yet … was thinking maybe primroses…

I love this! I can just hear your Grandma's voice from the way you wrote that.

I remember really enjoying eating sedum leaves, when I was of an age to know not to eat what wasn't considered edible - it was just I'd always nibbled on them so presumed it was fine. My mum, who didn't know that the red sedums are edible, was horrified, and made me drink a glass of milk (that was what passed for concerned parenting in the 80s, I guess ...).

I must also admit now that when DD was rising two, we used to do a lot of hedgerow foraging (because I was at home with her on my own, and it was the cheapest way to entertain her). We made a massive amount of rowan jelly that year, and she cheerfully tasted the rowans to make sure we'd got the sweet kind, not the ones that are mealy or purely sour. I only found out later that you really should cook rowan berries. DD showed no ill effects whatsoever.

@SarahAndQuack - oh, good to know the climbers won't be wrecked by the new fence!

I have done nothing in my garden today, as it's been torrential rain all day. I did admire the apricot blossoms from afar though. First of the fruit trees/bushes to flower.

Thank you for your advice, @daisychain01. DH and I will have time to prune first thing, before the workmen turn up. I'm glad the plants might survive, as a previous owner has done a great job choosing shrubs and climbers that flower all year round.

We're getting a (supposedly) wind-proof fence as a section of our last one kept getting blown down in the gales.