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?

Finally, I got round to deadheading the wallflowers in my windbowboxes and found a load of squirming, squelching snails and slugs so I got rid of those too.

Took out two trays of annual seedlings from the greenhouse to harden and hopefully, shall capture the overnight rain that's due. I have corncockle; snaps; laurentia and hollyhocks - hopefully, they're safe from the snails - fingers crossed! (Not daring to put out the cosmos as they got decimated last year so I'll have to grow them till their stems are tough.)

This meant I get to reorganise the small greenhouse with the other plants in trays and pots.

I took cuttings of my overwintered bedding geraniums a week ago and hopefully rather belatedly, but I do hope I can grow them large enough to fill out my windowboxes later in the season.

Apparently, we're to expect a heatwave at the end of month in the UK, so hoping that might encourage my seedlings/cuttings to come along quicker. Although, it could mean more watering and more faffing about.

I'm so glad for the rainfall we've had today and hope there'll be more later on this week.

Yesterday, I scrubbed out the smelly waterbutt, so that I could treat it with the pricey but let’s hope effective remedy I bought at the garden centre. (Not a job I’d recommend).

I was thinking of planting out some cosmos today, but irridium has reminded me that they’d probably be trashed by slugs and snails and I should wait.

Sodding mice have eaten my sunflowers again 😫. Torn the heads off my seedlings and even dug up the ones that I’d direct planted. Thought they’d be safe now they’d sprouted…

I’ve covered the rest of the tray in mint leaves because apparently mice hate the smell.

I made a mistake with my seedlings

They were so happy in the conservatory and I put them out and half got destroyed 😫

I’m determined to grow from seeds, now I’ll have to wait until next year to try again

My lychnis coronaria seedlings I planted out are fine but I don't suppose their hairy leaves are popular with pests. The half dozen cosmos are (at last viewing) mostly ok - I think the damage to one or two was likely mr pheasant trampling them.

Sweet peas in the ground haven't fared too well.

My biggest mistake so far has been with the ipomoea - I clearly didn’t do enough to harden them off, and all but one perished. I’ve direct sown some more in the hope of filling the gaps. And something seems to have eaten the antirrhinums in the cold frame. Those in the more mollusc-secure plastic boxes are fine.

Not necessarily. You’ve got the rest of May to try.

It was my birthday yesterday and my nan got me a lovely planting for honeybees book and a grow your own bouquet seed set.

It's rainy here so I'll be conservatory sowing some ivory princess calendula, art shades calendula, lemonade cosmos and white admiral antirrhinum.

I've also got 30 lavender phenomenal on the way as a treat to myself and I'm determined this year is going to be the year I master soil blocking so a new soil blocker has been ordered.

I’ve been dealing with a family crisis and so not gardened. I had a whole day for it today. But I couldn’t find the power pack for my strimmer, all my seedlings have been decimated and my gardening gloves got left out in the rain. I feel so discouraged.just came in again. But I think I’ll go out and plant the pack of strawberries and maybe that will get me back on it.

It’ll take a couple of days to arrive but I’m tempted, on the site now

Oh dear, that all sounds rough... Hope things improved.

I'm hoping to put more of my indoor seedlings out soon...is there anything particularly worth sowing now?

and I'm determined this year is going to be the year I master soil blocking so a new soil blocker has been ordered.

Ooooh, I have a soil blocker that I have dabbled with but not been successful (consistency of soil to properly 'block') may have to try harder...

I am held back because of family duties- I SO want to plant forty corn plants (my second planting, the first is in) but minding DGC so DD can work means I lose most of the day. Planted 5 of the 40 today after minding DGC, had to stop because we were feeding friends and some flipping hoovering had to be done <eyeroll>... and have DGC again tomorrow. Dammit I love him but.

My plan is to put him in the stroller and plant like a mad thing whilst cooing to him as he watches.

Also planted 2 Burgess Buttercup Squash. Whoop whoop. My first squash in, many to go.

@DougAndTheSlugs - planted sweetcorn for the first time this year. DH says likely will only get one ear of corn per plant - only planted 4 to see if we can grow them so if they are successful we may be be fighting over the harvest 😂

Love Burgess Buttercup, hope they do well this year!

I gave up planting sweetcorn after the year ours were full of earwigs. They were all in the husks and when I peeled each cob they scattered all over the kitchen!
Had the same issue with Pak Choi.

My sweetcorn has been a disaster this year because hardly any seed germinated. I've started again, so fingers crossed. On the flip side, I normally fail to grow sweet peas and so far this year they are doing quite well!

@Zebracat sounds like you need to treat yourself to a trip to the garden centre for some new gloves and some tea and cake.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. Started raining again just as I was about to go out . Slugs are lowering though. Think I will buy new gloves and maybe some plants, all my little herbs, and zinnias gone.

Beans!

They're wonderful fillers for space.

I've got some next to my tomatoes up a trellis and im going to pop to the garden centre after the school run to see if they have any bush varieties for the gaps I've got left.

Also lettuce, radishes, cucumbers etc can all be sowed now.

I don't know if may is the right time to sow artichoke seeds but seen as my silver cardoon has been dug up I'm giving those a bash too.

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