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?

Good grief sorry about all the typos!

It has stopped raining but I have no enthusiasm for my flooded garden. I just can’t. I’m halfway through sprucing up some pots and that bit is dry, but Id really need wellies to get across the lawn to my compost. But maybe May will be more typical and we will be wearing shorts and getting bitten by red ants.

What's happening with the weather ... Lancashire often seems to be better than elsewhere which definitely isn't normal! It's been a nice weekend here and forecast pretty good next week apart from rain tomorrow but getting warmer. No gardening yet today as just got back from walking - but will go out in a moment as although it's 10° its now cloudless sunshine so my indoors jobs will have to wait.

The forecast is rain every day this week, the stream at the bottom of the hill has flooded, there’s soil washing off the fields and across the lanes to the main road. In 27 years of living here I have never known weather like this.

It was four degrees here and pissing it down all day. There is SO MUCH to do out in the garden but I just can't get out there and it's making me cross.

Put bright blue slug pellets down in soggy soil.

Little sods are having too much fun.

Apologies for washing my patio furniture down yesterday. 😀 Today has chucked it down with rain all day, so that's clearly my fault! I've not been able to do anything today except gloomily look out of the window.

Moved cosmos seedlings out to the growhouse and sowed some more - I found a pack of white ones from last year so don't know if they'll germinate or not. Swapped the indoor basket of sweet pea seedlings which have begun to germinate for the outdoors one which hasn't. Planted out some of the pots of sweet peas and potted up a couple of sage plants which have grown quite a bit since I got them last autumn.

Lots of potting up and potting on at the moment, isn't there @ErrolTheDragon

I had to do some indoor jobs today so I just did a brief check that everyone in the greenhouse was happy, present and correct. All's well, temps were up to 28c in there today and it felt a lot more benign than yesterday which was hellish.

plan for tomorrow, trim back the straggly bits of honeysuckle on the rose arch, not a full prune just a tidy up. Maybe some sewing of the next batch of lambs lettuce, chard and radicchio

We had rain every day last week. It's been utterly depressing. Today was windy but dry for once so I've managed to get out and do a bit as the forecast is dry for a few days now.

@Smudge2201 I've risked it too and have planted two courgette plants in pots outside. To be honest, I thought it was worth risking as I have about ten more courgette plants coming up in the greenhouse and that is way, way too many. I had three last year and we're still eating courgettes out of the freezer from the glut! They won't go to waste though as there is always a school plant sale around May/June so I can donate any extra to that.

I've also earthed up my potatoes and did a bit of weeding.

It’s been bitterly cold and very windy here but my little shed is up! So tomorrow I will go through the heap of things from the greenhouse and decide what exactly I need and dd or my neighbour can have what is left.
Then I need to pot up some plants I have bought and sort out the big planter for a climbing rose.
I think I am getting there very slowly!

I spent another hour trying to make my pergola pots prettier. I got 3 pots done, 2 to go. But I might retire 1 pot. Odd numbers look better though. More little seedlings showing their faces in the green house. I have lots to do, but everything takes so long.

I've done 3 days on the trot weeding my fruit bed number 1. I put cuttings of gooseberries and redcurrants that I took in 2022 into the bed last summer and haven't touched it since. It was very, very weedy.

Will finish that bed tomorrow and do fruit bed number 2, which is much less weedy...mainly due to the volume of strawberries in it.

I am still in harrumph mode. My poor squash seedlings are on the cooker, FFS.

Although I sowed zombie pumpkin seeds with DGD and pretended I was all cheerful like, as grandmothers must. Gave her fig newtons and all.

I just keep wistfully looking in pots.

I now have an airing cupboard full of pots too.

I did magpie/pigeon proof one of the birdfeeders with an empty hanging basket to let the sparrows get a look in.

Still looking dolefully at seedlings, which have been in a state of suspended animation for weeks. Today I might move the storage box propagators to a sunnier spot in the garden.

Had the railway sleepers and an old path lifted and now I need to fill in the big gaps with topsoil on order for the bank holiday weekend.
Garden looks so much wider when it's not divided up vertically. Got my garden gate and a bit of fencing replaced so everything is now the same height, getting a big can of Zinsser All Coat to paint it - have (stupidly?) offered to do my neighbour's too, so I'm hoping it'll not be too onerous.
I have too many projects on the go atm at the broken egg stage!

Still autumn clearing here in Melbourne. I dug out a well-established plectranthus ecklonii in the front garden which, while lovely in bloom is overshadowing a grevillea "Peaches and Cream" which flowers all year round. Also dug out tons of Boston fern - as tough as old boots but a bit of a thug.

Sedum "Autumn Joy" has spread in the back garden, so I've dug some up and put it in a pot for DD's garden.

We have spring! 17deg is promised. I’ve been out without a coat or raincoat, the washing is on the line. I suppose I should mow the lawn.

Still cold and rainy here! We’ve been promised 20 degrees for the weekend.

Finally Spring has sprung, here anyway

19 today and sunny enough to be outside in a tshirt and jeans

We had a lovely weekend, so sorted out a few of the pots, did some weeding as could finally walk on the borders, and tied in some climbers.

Since then it's been miserable .... but the pots still needed watering they were very dry.

We have spring too. Just going to finish the pots.

Lucky you who have spring temperatures, I’m pathetically jealous.
It’s blowing a gale here, the sun periodically shines but it’s 11° but feels like 8 🤬
I’m sorting through all the crap stuff that came out of the greenhouse, there are so many snails of every size and shape tucked away in various pots and boxes!
I have built the shelves in my new shed so everything should be tidy and I will know exactly what I have. DH is putting up a tool rack for gardening tools.
I’ve completely overdone it this morning but I need to get it done before the rain forecast for late after and every day this week 🙄

Pruned my winter flowering honeysuckle, the Corylopsis and the Osmanthus and disposed of all the prunings,mowed the lawn, and took down the bubble wrap from the greenhouse. Then felt a bit hot, so sat in the shade under some trees where I have Heuchera, Tiarella and Pulmonaria and got got rid of all the creeping buttercup, wood avens and herb Robert. Met a frog.