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?

I suspect the water rules are a well-meaning attempt to enforce watering early morning and late evening when it’s less like to evaporate and be wasted. (That’s what I thought when I read tge timings but haven’t doubled checked so may have read wrong and be talking rubbish)

Ooof! Border done and looks so much better. The poor roses now have light, fertiliser and everything has been well watered.
I have put training wires up for the climbing roses and I discovered a poor little clematis that the snails have demolished, hopefully it’ll recover now that I have cleared it of hiding places for the little sods 🤬
Blue pellets strategically placed under pieces of slate so 🤞🏻

I need to sort my sweet peas. Just putting it here so I hopefully do it in the next few days !

Have finished weeding the last weedy border! OK I actually haven't finished, there is a small bit round the back but I can't get to it as it's behind the pile of prunings waiting for green bin space.

Got very excited that this might be the last trip to the garden centre for manure, came back and realised I had underestimated and need at least other 6 bags.

However while in the garden centre had a look for slug collars for my sad hostas, Garden centre was trying to sell me wool pellets on the basis they would felt and form a mat round the hostas. I have an endless supply of wool felt which comes as insulation for chilled packaging. So I have fished the last lot out of the green bin and my hostas are now sporting very fat felt collars. We will see.

Pics of weeds and then no weeds (but a mulch shortage)

Looking great @AnnaMagnani , it’s so satisfying to compare before/after photos.
I caved and emptied my plot yesterday, feel quite relieved! The leeks are now living their best lives in my flower beds and the pumpkins are growing in the compost heap, I think they’ll like it there. All my herbs have just been dotted through the circular bed, there’s plenty of space to fill since I only created them recently.

@MereDintofPandiculation You’re right about it being about water conservation, it’s not unreasonable it just doesn’t work with my schedule unfortunately.

Weeded the front “garden” today, which is just two big beds covered in membrane with a mound of river cobbles on top. It looks dreadful and is hideous to weed but will have to be next years project. If I put photos up would anyone be up for giving some suggestions on how to improve it?

Dug the grass out of the last bit of the new flower bed around the circular lawn and planted some salvias (bumblesnow and bumblesky) and some Veronica “moody blue”. Need to start thinking about softer, mounding plants to fill in the gaps but stuck for ideas. Some low growing nepeta might work, I might try to find some hardy cranesbills too.

Softer plants to fill gaps, my go tos are heucheras and geums. Plus no garden is complete without: lambs ears, curry plant, thyme, oregano, agastache, garlic and normal chives, a parsley or two, prostrate rosemary. I like all these on the edges for easy access.

All of these I know as herbs apart from lambs ears - is that also useable as a herb or is it a random outlier?

It was used to absorb blood like a bandage and it is a lamiacae but I don't think it is edible.

I had loads iny UK garden, indeed I'd pull it up and compost it. But it took two years to find it for le here in France. So the first time I saw it I bought it. I love it. So do the bees.

I don't have any lambs ears at the moment, I should rectify that.

They're one of the nice plants you can use if you want to do a 'plant zoo' for little ones - when DD was little I got some posh copper labels and between existing and new plants had quite a menagerie including cat mint, dogwood, wolfsbane (!) , foxgloves, lambs ears, monkey flower ... I don't think I labelled the occasional horsetail. I didn't have room for bear's breeches.
They've got an 'animal' section at Dalemain which we visited recently ... I was very amused to see 'Solomons Seal' included

I also need some lambs ear.

I spent many summers as a kid just touching the leaves.

Pure sensory joy and nostalgia.

Yes it really is a lovely plant.

Tried traming a clematis and rose which seem content to continue tangling themselves.

Good call on the lambs ear, that would look lovely. I have chives, garlic and walking onion elsewhere in the garden but should get more, chives are the first plant up after our frigid winters and so useful. Rosemary, curry plant and agastache won’t be hardy here but thyme will work (oregano could be pushing it but no harm trying) perhaps some pinks too.
I suspect we garden along the same lines because the vast majority of my planned planting is perennial herbs. I’ve tried to source some hyssop and anise hyssop but had no luck, I started some from seed but they’re slow going.

In the early winter I sowed some onion seed in a bed, and the greens are looking lovely.

So I pulled up a few onions, and the bulbs weren't really sizeable but nevermind, I thought, I'll use them on some salad and went and chopped some lettuce and brought it all inside for washing and saladifying.

In walks my nan, and says "the house absolutely hums of garlic"

I said "it's not garlic, they're just really fresh onions"

It was garlic.

This was 2 days ago, I've showered. I still smell like garlic.

At least you don't have to worry about vampires for a bit...

Whereabouts are you?

Good thoughts about watering times early and late in the day @MereDintofPandiculation - by rights if the soil is enriched with good mulch, to increase moisture retention, it further obviates the need to water and makes the plants extend their roots downwards rather than on the surface.

I'm using this principle in the greenhouse by only watering my Tom's and chilli's in the reservoir of my growbag holders not from the top. Plus I added a layer of grass cuttings ontop to keep the soil moist and it does seem to be working well, although we haven't had sky high temps to contend with yet have we....

I’m looking after someone else’s greenhouse at the moment, and she is growing tomatoes, cucumbers and butternut squashes in pots standing on 3inches of gravel, watering only from the bottom. I have to say, she has the sturdiest tomato plants I’ve seen

100% - the drawing up of water strengthens those root fibres - I like the idea of sitting them on gravel, it keeps the roots from rotting esp if you use that technique of over 'overwatering' when you know you'll be away on holiday. Leca is good as well, I've lined my half barrels with a thin layer.

It hailed earlier today and I had to cover my one small tomato plant (the others are in the greenhouse) as I didn't think it deserved a battering. Only lasted for 3 mins or so.

Just pulled out the yellowing spring bulb stems out of my planters from my outside wall, so that makes for a better look to any passers-by. Waiting for them to wilt is a very long, patient waiting game.

Due to the low temps. and lack of sun, my small nicotiania hasn't put on much growth since I planted them out about 3 weeks ago. I saw some on offer at Morrison's for 3f2 at £2.25 for a 6-pack. Very tempted to buy them as nothing is currently flowering in these planters. (The damn snails have ruined my cosmos (again, 2nd year running!). Luckily, I've witheld the majority of them for reserves. They won't be planted out till the plants are much stronger, but suffering in the greenhouse in their too small modular cells.

Yesterday, I was at Columbia Rd Flower Market (London) for my favourite treat visiting the Leahurst Nursery stall (the only one selling perennials out of all the others selling cut flowers and houseplants to the Insta masses/tourists). Tempted by the delightful flower spathe of an arisaema which was a gorgeous deep purple-black with fine stripes - bought for a nice price of £6. Hopefully, it'll survive in my Midlands sheltered garden. Was told it liked full sun and dry winters. Does anyone else grow these? Was given a floppy Californian poppy for free but managed to snap off its flowering stem. Can it regrow more flowers, or has the plant had it now?

From another stall, I got taken back by a lovely sedum with flowering star-like big reddish flowers for 2 for £5. These plants don't have labels, so have no idea what it's called.

Also, I'd visited Chelsea Physic Gardens (of which I'm a member of) and saw the lovely perlagoniums flowering really well in the greenhouse. Learnt from a volunteer that they are quite tricky to grow as I've tried endlessly with P. sidoides where they like lots of light, lots of drainage and dry winters. That was my problem as I couldn't offer the right conditions when I've tried to overwinter them indoors. Sadly, I'll admit defeat and shall not waste another penny buying them and killing them all the time.

I’ve always grown my tomatoes standing in water, and adding feed to the water as necessary. They grow very well, never had any problems with the roots rotting either.

Back from holiday on Sunday, there was evidently plenty of rain and no wind desiccation here. Lots flowering and flopping forward... I really do need to sort out my supports, the 'cats cradle' mentioned by someone may be worth considering in future.

Yesterday I went out for a breath of fresh air at lunchtime ... an hour or so later had half filled the brown bin with forget-me-nots. Then did more after dinner plus huge handfuls of the pink thug geranium. I've just got a bit more forget-me-not to do, but now I can see quite a bit of grass that I'll need to dig out - that doesn't pull so nice and easily.

@ErrolTheDragon Don’t you have a compost bin? Forget-me-not and Geranium sounds ideal compost material. Such a shame to accumulate all those nutrients from your soil and then give them to the Council.

I agree ... but following the recent reappearance of rats I doubt I can persuade DH that we should get another bin. Perhaps some are truly vermin proof.