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've discovered "my little 'Kojo-no-mai,'" doesn't stay little for ever, Currently at least 2.5 m. More like 3m. which casts doubt on its identity of course.But lovely thing, flowering really early,

It could easily be, though? RHS reckons 2.5m is the max, but that is only an average, isn't it? I love the autumn colour on mine.

Yes, and there's whether an "average height at 20 years" has somewhere become understood to be "max". Though ours is only about 25 yeas old. Yes, the autumn colour is great, a slightly gingery red, contrasting with the very pinky reds of the nearby Euonymus alata and deeper and red Fothergilla.

By its nature, absolute max is going to be hard to establish, isn't it?

I'm jealous of your euonymus. I was really tempted last autumn (but too many things are really tempting).

I planted 550 snowdrops in the green. More to do tomorrow!

My obelisk arrived so I planted no thorns raspberry canes in a big trug thingy and hopefullly they will grow up it.
Cosmos seeds arrived yesterday, I should probably do something with them but we have no greenhouse and now a cat so I'm apprehensive about seed starting in the house. Will it be pointless?

I have been planting snowdrops as well, or rather moving them, with the help of an enthusiastic child. I think I am up to the thousands, now.

I've been slug hunting. I put out orange peel and bits of slate then most mornings go out and see what has hidden underneath. Got about 20 today. Plus first shoot on horseradish in bucket in cold greenhouse.

Friend and I planning a no spend garden year with some plant swapping, splitting and propagating though I am going to cheat and buy some erysium Bowles mauve as what I dug up from old garden didn’t survive.

i need to do something about the slugs as there will be no point planting anything .

No need - it keeled over a year ago Honey fungus I presume. A sucker has come up a couple of feet away with the corky outgrowths, but I have yet to see its autumn colour.

What I would love to get is the berries, but they’re few and far between on our wet clay soil. I was delighted to find the evergreen Euonymus also have the multicoloured berries, orange seeds against creamy pink berry I remember correctly.

Put a lid over your seed pots/trays. Clear plastic punnets from food work well.

It’s raining. I'm not gardening

It's not raining here so I'm just going to plant my new plum tree (Victoria). It's fan trained and I've been looking for one for ages. A bit worried re all the plum issues (moth?) but fingers crossed.

Sensible

It has been the first dry weekend here this year! I've found some snowdrops in a box in the garage that completely slipped my mind to plant. Wondering if they'll survive...they still have some green leaves and a few yellowing ones 😥

It's been raining all day so I have done nothing outside, but I've been looking at the Chiltern Seeds site and selecting flower seeds. These have caught my eye.

It's been raining for five months so not a lot.

It's been raining for five months so not a lot.

Absolutely nothing, is been raining all day, the garden is sodden.

I've got loads of plants I want to get in, I'll have to do some potting up tomorrow I've got plug plants and two peony tubers than need getting in some soil.

I’ve been thinking about the garden redesign, thinking I can live with a slight slope and because I’m going to live with the slope I can live with the old fence if I replace a panel and I can save myself several thousand pounds and be just as happy with the result - some days it rains and you have time to think. 🤔 A good day’s work!

I start my cosmos in cheap plastic propagates with lids. The seedlings get too tall for the lid but then I usually put in little green canes for support (or bamboo skewers ... we've got quite a lot and we don't bbq any more) - I'd imagine they'd deter cats from investigating?

No gardening, we went away for the weekend, but in my absence the morning glories have started to germinate. No signs of life from the tray of verbena bonensiaris I sowed a few weeks ago... not sure how much longer to give it houseroom as I have limited space for starting seeds in the warm.

Re potting on sweet pea seedlings. I do this into the cardboard cylinders from loo rolls, or half the centre of a kitchen roll. This allows a nice long tap root, and you plant out cardboard and all. It breaks down in the soil.

I took geranium cuttings on Saturday and put them in a plastic propagator in the back entrance, which has underfloor heating and a grow bulb in the lighting - which I've persuaded DH to let me leave on in daylight hours.

I also put a few fritillary seeds into the propagator; I have a few under a birch tree and want more.

I have finally planted my sweet pea seeds (got some packets for mothers' day). Fingers crossed they'll be ok.

Potted on the tomato seedlings. Sowed some corncockle and rudbekia seeds in one of the raised beds.
Feel very accomplished! 😂

I've had a busy day in the garden with youngest DS (18) who has usefully dug over my border and weeded it. I've put a couple of shrubs in - a vibernum and something else that I think might be a hebe, but the tag has come off 😁

I'm embracing the 'trial and error' of gardening. I've also put compost in two long tubs and put some herbs in.

I started seeds in the greenhouse today: parsley, florist dill, two stocks one pink, one apricot, four cosmos: white cupcakes, mixed cupcakes, white (shorter), and Apricotta. I pricked out two types of lettuce. Everything under covers in a cold greenhouse.

Then I moved the chooks to a new spot. They were escaping their henitentiary something chronic (getting into my beds!) so I made it much smaller and wrapped the fencing around multiple times.

And was just sent a photo from my DS, before and after of my cleared out garage--bliss! He even erected shelving. A treasure.

'Henitentiary' love it.