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?

Mowed, weeded, emptied some old pots, admired DHs acers - they are looking amazing now they are almost all in full leaf.
We both stood looking at the old shed and pergola and empty bed (empty apart from a massive rhubarb) at the top of the garden and had another long think about what we want to do with that area. No conclusions yet.

I’ve tidied up all the pots on the patio, scraped the moss etc from the surface and topped them up with fresh compost, bug-killered my lilies (sorry but I am damned if the lily beetles are getting them this year like the previous 6 years 🤬), found out that all three compost bins have families of slow worms 🤷🏼‍♀️ so that’s that for the next few months and i am cautiously hopeful that the summerhouse debacle might be resolved.
It’s very muggy here and not a breath of air so have walked the dog and retreated indoors.

GameOfJones that's probably the same as uchiki kuri, which I love to grow. Sadly from my new seeds this year only two have germinated so far!! They are very tasty and store well. Funnily they are very good in curries and so I have put You Cheeky Curry on the plant labels.

Yesterday I pulled up some forget-me-nots (got drenched doing it of course because everything is wet) to plant some outdoor tomatoes. Today I did the same to plant the last of the kale-- this had better be good kale. Palm kale from Real Seeds. Then constructed a pigeon barrier because they are greedy buggers and will have the lot.

Put the brugmansias outside in pots.

Have left trays of plants outside for overnight for the first time, hope they will be ok. One of my sunflower babies was eaten just sitting outside the greenhouse door today so it is not a given.

Some of my Uchiki Kuri (and some sweet dumplings, also yummy) from last year

I am very jealous of those squashes Doug!

This year I am trying to grow squashes for the first time. My most precious babies are 4 Zuccherissima, I have about 6 crown prince and about 50 butternut squash (went a bit overboard there, I'm giving them away to all and sundry).

Any tips for getting lovely ones like that?

Oh, the Crown Prince is the absolute best squash to grow. If you only grow one, grow that. But also grow sweet dumplings :)

I don't know the Zuccherissima and don't grow the butternut anymore because it seems to take much longer to mature.

My uchikis had no real special treatment apart from mushroom compost and lots of water. One of the plants was even on a 'fake' bed-- we had just taken over a new allotment so I put down some cardboard on a square of grass, put wood chips on top and planted into that (with a fair amount of mushroom compost in the planting hole). It fair romped away.

I only started growing a larger variety of squash last year but I have the bug now.

From everyone’s reports it sounds the gardening season is well underway.

I turned two compartments of compost over into the one I:ve just emptied, and revealed in each about two feet deep of rich black crumbly compost. Compost day is always a red letter day. Then I did some weeding to give the new heap some greenery.

I divided some water lilies and heaved revolting black sludge out of the pool. Weeded the boggy area at the top, taking care to preserve the marsh fern, lady smock, marsh marigold and 5 species of moss. Then I weeded the strawberries and added new compost. Finally mowed the lawn again (third time this year).

There’s been a change of season, with the grassy area between orchard and lawn changing from primroses and violets to bugle and forget-me-nots

Is it too soon to plant a hanging basket? I’m tempted, simply to get the plants out of the cold frame.

Do you know the frost dates for your area? You can look them up. I'm in North Yorks and, while it is technically possible we'd have a frost or a cold night within the next week or so, we're so close to being past the risk that I'd be inclined to risk it and just throw a bit of fleece over if the weather report suggested anything untoward. The only thing I think likely to sulk atm is the more fussy begonias.

I've done about 100 hanging baskets/hayracks for work and we're nowhere near done; it is so nice to get them out of the way early and I do think they grow better for it. I am going to plant geraniums into my pots in the next couple of days.

Thanks @DougAndTheSlugs

Just one crown prince can make soup for 8 so it's a good feeder! I hope they grow well. I've just got to pick the right time to put them outdoors I guess

Thanks, SarahAndQuack! You’ve encouraged me to take the plunge. I’m too lazy to look up our frost dates but I’m in an urban heat picket, so reckon the risk is small enough to be ignored.

Do it!

Now tell me what you are putting in them.

I am planning on going very classic with geraniums this year, but I need inspiration.

Hmm. That of course is the very big question. I’ve got three colours of lophospermum, last year’s fuchsias, fuchsia Voodoo and some surfinias to play with (and some other things, if the seedlings make some progress). I was also planning to use the little euphorbia often sold as a basket plant, but it’s been eaten overnight. Sigh.

I'm away for a few days but then have another couple of days off work so I'm hoping to get summer pots and a basket done then. (Northumberland ... wallington gardens on the way here, Alnwick castle today - very different. The guided tour of the poison garden was fun - good explanations of the mechanisms.

I know I am stretching the stated purpose of the thread when I post about work, but please learn from my failures today! I was working in the sun, and I was hot, and I have tanned/burned to red face/dramatic brown-and-white line points everywhere my skin wasn't covered. It is hot out there! Suncream tomorrow.

I have done nothing at all in my own garden (though I was delighted by iris buds I'd not noticed and I have been mentally planning what veg seedlings to buy at the weekend. But I made a ton of hanging baskets at work, and we sold a load of them and a load of planted-up pots, and I feel happy.

That latter part sounds good, SarahAndQuack! And thank you for the timely reminder about suncream. I’ve been remembering, but not consistently.

I’ve filled two baskets, but discovered at the last moment that my tumbling tomato isn’t in fact a tumbler, so it’s waiting to go in a pot. No buds on any of my irises, alas, but I’ve found two random gladiolus byzantinus which must be the last survivors of a load I planted years ago.

I was potting up baskets, window boxes yesterday, i was sat down. I now have one super tanned leg (one side only) a tanned back with vest marks and one tanned arm! I'm going to look like Ross in Friends.
Thankfully I always wear a big floppy hat.
It was very hot!

This weather is a wonderful excuse to get the biggest floppiest hats out.

Jealous of all the squashes, decided not to do any this year but they're my favourite thing to grow.

Nothing today, but I've been on leave this week so done lots of weeding and planting, maybe a bit of plant shopping.

Trimmed my bush!

Then drank beer and dozed in the glorious sunshine.

Watered, weeded, planted bedding pots, emptied old pots and dug over a new flower bed. tidied. 7 hours!
I just feel like I'm almost on track thanks to the crappy spring. I still have some plants to trim but I'm leaving until after nesting season.

The greenhouse is roasting ❤️❤️ all the plants are loving the temperatures and romping ahead.

Saved my sagging squashes from a dry hot death. Forgot to leave the shed door open and it was 39C in there when I got in from work 😱
Luckily they perked up again after a water and a cool off

There has been a shed load of weeding here, and a burn on my back where the jeans don't meet the t-shirt when I bend over to pull weeds. Had to squat in the bath, hot water being too painful on the burn.

And mowing. DH came out and said "you missed a bit."

I’m definitely reducing the lawn over time. It just keeps growing!