What have you done in the garden today? Part 5

[MereDintofPandiculation]

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

Agree the slugs and snails are really causing havoc this year. Lost so many plants to them from seedlings to shrubs.
I have a pond full of bloody frogs. Why arent they earning their keep? Useless bastards.

It's a total disaster in my garden, snail/slug wise.

The only seedlings left alone are the Cerinthe Major. Everything else get eaten as soon as it emerges.

I put some broken up egg shell around some Dianthus and a Dahlia I bought this weekend. See it it'll help.

I couldn’t find the hostas in my photos from last years border
them I spotted a few chewed up leaves 😂
the slugs and snails are in overdrive and lots of things have just failed. But gives an excuse to go to garden centre

Maybe we could annoint 2024 " The Year of the Slug"

I've now planted all the dahlia hogging the greenhouse.

Managed to finally get round to planting the hollyhock that was pot bound from last year. I found a nice home for it near the choisia

Planted all the ranunculus in big tubs. They didn't do well last year so fingers crossed this year!.

I have also discovered that the slimy bastards love dianthus as well.

No prizes for guessing how I found out.

Am very close to giving up gardening for this year.

Argh. I feel for all of you. I capitulated years ago and gave up on the plants most likely to be demolished by slugs. My biggest risk now is new clematis, both of which have been chewed. The frog, frankly, is not earning his keep.

🐸 <<< @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde 's Frog-lodger 😆

😁😁😁

Huh. He’s very handsome, but a big disappointment.

Don't bother kissing him then.

Exactly, Errol. Exactly.

I started reading this thread from the bottom and wondered what on earth Errol and Maud were in about !!

Slug issues here too. My tiny clematis cutting (the first I have managed ever) has pretty much gone and I have been delaying gardening things off as can't face more destruction.

I am enjoying my newly planted Joie de vivre rose which is now in flower and waiting for the Lady Emma Hamilton I put in recently to open its solitary bud. It nearly died in the pot last year so is small but hopefully now in the ground it will get going.

Also I was in the toilet earlier and noticed a wren in the Hardy fushia outside the window. It looked as if it might have flown to the nesting box that was put on an old nail for a moment until I got round to putting it somewhere permanent.

I have edged one of the borders and have planted some more hardy geraniums and some Erigeron. I've never tried erigeron before but it's so pretty, I'm hoping it survives.

I need to edge another border and want to plant something that can spill over the sides and soften the hard edges. Does anyone have any ideas that are evergreen for low, front of border plants? It is west facing and clay soil.

@GameOfJones I’ve got some London Pride doing well in a similar situation. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/77470/saxifraga-urbium-(11)/details it’s frothy and pretty this time of year and spreads in a well behaved way.

I also planted some https://www.sarahraven.com/products/lithodora-diffusa-heavenly-blue next to my Erigeron and it’s mingled beautifully. Look lovely together.

I’m a fan of London Pride, too. I use it a lot as under planting for trees in pots.

SeaItOverThere - Is Lady Emma Hamilton a new(ish) acquisition? If so, where did you find her? I saw her at an open garden and instantly fell in love, but David Austin has pensioned her off!

She’s apparently become more susceptible to rust, but RHS lists two possible suppliers

It's freezing cold and raining again here so there will be very little gardening. The snails have eaten my pumpkin and squash seedlings and have now started on my baby chillies so I might get in the greenhouse to plant a few more seeds. My succulent pan got smashed last Saturday, a new plastic one has arrived so I will plant that up while I'm there. I shall pick what strawberries are ripe before the slugs completely decimate them and order some more slug nematodes. Then I shall give up and bake a cake

I can't believe we're almost in June and for of this year's growing season so far it's been wet windy and miserable bar a few days.

Weather doesn't usually get me down, I do like the fact the weather is changeable, but I'd hardly call this changeable this year its all the same. It's just glum.

Last year I had some crops coming in early June from things I'd managed to plant in April and not even my peas are ready this year.

I'm not back from Filey while Sunday so I'm hoping the my seedlings and plug plants have survived the battering from the rain if not the slugs.

Another one here sick of the incessant wind and rain. Thankfully it's not cold here but everything in the garden is drenched and toppling over. Fed up.

I lay awake last night listening to the wind rattling the windowpanes, and fretting. The slugs aren't too awful but the snails are another matter altogether. The allotment looks like a weed jungle and the grass has grown so high in the front garden that you can no longer see the pond!

I just want some sunshine.

Another one fed up with the rain and gloom. It’s quite warm here today, but overcast.

I just went to the garden centre with a plan to spend.

I was after some hardy perennials to start filling a new border that is currently looking very sad.

Didn't buy a single thing. 50% of the place was bedding plants, and while some were very pretty I generally choose not to spend money on annuals. 50% of the perennials they did have aren't hardy enough to survive a (North) Scottish winter.

The cafe there is fabulous but I wish they'd up their plant game!

So now I'm sulking with a cuppa stalking the RHS plant finder for H5-7 plants.

I have lined up the shopping baskets online with plants for the 3 borders that are now empty.

Contacted tree surgeon as 2 trees he cut down last year have not accepted defeat and so the stumps need grinding out.

Have 2 borders left to clear and replant. And one to cover with membrane until next year hoping the snowberry will die.

@BigDahliaFan oh that London pride looks like it would do just the job, thank you!

I do have some lithodora elsewhere in the garden. Perhaps I could divide it and dot it about a bit more?

Removed the spent forget me nots 😢 cleared space and planted annuals and some perennials that I have grown from seed. It looks fabulous, I did a thorough search for snails and slugs so fingers crossed.
I did watch Mrs Magpie eating the slugs from the lawn this morning ❤️❤️ She was wiping them clean before she ate them. I thanked her with some fruit leftovers.
I also cut back some random plants that were getting a bit too big and blocking my views.

Two more borders to do tomorrow, at least the forecast is nice.