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?

My 30 lavender phenomenal plants are arriving today which I've been excited for but I haven't got a clue where I'm going to put them.

We used to have them all round our conservatory and I can't do that now because I've put my veg beds there. I need more compost, even though the outside of our house looks like a compost museum. Once I've topped off the raised beds it's not going to be enough for the rest of the stuff I need it for.

I'm hoping the weather stays mild. I've yet to check on the plug plants I planted yesterday.

I've also got about 50 hollyhocks that need planting.

I've just been for a round of the garden, stealing plant supports from the lilies which don't absolutely need them yet, to prop up various rain-heavy plants which were standing tall a couple of days ago.

I need to get or rig up more supports! And maybe in future I'll remember to do this before the plants flop. Every winter I wonder why I've so many half-hoops, they're a bit awkward to store. And every summer I wonder why I didn't buy more and get them in place earlier!

Out in my hazmat suit, well a rain coat with the hood up, wellies and bug spray, clearing the last few forget-me-nots from the undergrowth. It's not raining, but I am trying not to get ticks, which I seem to pick up every year at this time, co-inciding with this task. I looked pretty stupid 🤣 but I am finally done.

Pleased to report the repotted hostas are throwing out new leaves to replace the chomped ones. They have very much liked the recent rain. I water with collected rain, but there's something about a day of gentle rain that really gets the plants going.

I've just ditched some of the perennial seeds which were sown about 6 weeks ago in trays in the greenhouse. I don't think they are going to do anything now. Maybe the seed was old or the compost too cold? Anyway, I've planted a few more things in fresh compost, some ammi and some agastache. Nothing lost if they don't germinate but some possible late summer colour and form if they do. 🤞

Every time I go out in the garden it seems to pour down so escaping to the greenhouse is the closest I'll get to gardening today.

Found my first lily beetle - the exception to my no kill policy - but fumbled, so it escapes for another day.

I'm holding the annual slug and snail conference in my mini greenhouses... with a breakout workshop in my raised beds... all you can eat buffet provided (apparently)

I hold a dish underneath so they fall into that, rather than upside down and invisible on to the soil

I do similarly but, as I said, that time I fumbled and didn’t catch it. I did later …

I knock lily beetles/rosemary beetles off into a jug of soapy water so they can't fly off.

I've just had to remove most of the leaves from my Holly Hock as it has hollyhock rust 😭 Hoping it survives - it's just about to flower; & doesn't infect all the other similar plants in the garden. It wasn't there a few days ago.

Nothing today because of rain. Its becoming a bit of a jungle,wild and raggedy and everything climbing over everything else. This is when it looks its best. I dont like formal gardens so happy with my urban jungle. The ornamental poppies are about to explode into life,the clematis is flowering and tangling,and the herbs are really doing well; rosemary,thyme,sage,fennel,lemon balms mints...lovely. If all rather soggy.

Sounds lovely @Hedjwitch

I have ordered some geums thanks to mumsnet. I hadn’t heard of them before. I have bought pink petticoats.

Went out today to check my French beans. For the first time ever slugs have decimated them, and they were quite well on when I planted them out. Will have to sew some more tomorrow.

Don’t think I updated yesterday so this is 2 days’ worth. My directly sowed lettuces aren’t getting past infancy, suspect I can blame the slugs - particularly as I seem to have a frog living in the grass next to the vegetable patch. I get a row coming up and then the following morning they’ve vanished. So I planted a few from the modules into containers in the greenhouse, will be a sad year for veg if I can’t even grow a lettuce!

Pricked out seedlings: chamomile, spearmint, lavender. Pretty much all my rosemary cuttings had rooted so they got pots too. Pruned more powdery mildew off apple trees. Planted out my last few begonias with the 5 heuchera I had delivered earlier in the week.

Today I mowed the other half of the lawn, then carried on clearing the bed covered by gravel that I’m trying to remove. Put some of the lemon balm I pulled up into a pot because I like a bit of it, just not a whole border full! Alkanet still covered in bees so got a stay of execution. Then started tackling the massively overgrown winter jasmine because it’s taken over the wall that would be best for my nectarine, took a fair amount off then noticed a nest at the back. Looked around and saw a v pissed off daddy blackbird holding worms, stepped back and sat on the grass for a minute and he popped into the bush, heard cheeping and then he emerged sans worms so project is put on hold for now. Pruned the infected parts off the fairy roses that were delivered earlier this week, annoying but still plenty of healthy plant so should be fine. Went to get a couple of bags of manure off the muck heap at the yard but it’s full of roots that look a lot like bindweed so I’m not sure I’m brave enough to use it!

Bit of digging today - trying to get rid of bindweed infestation - found 3 bones and a gun! Police confirmed gun is a replica not sure about the bones - they've been sent off for further analysis, it was quite an experience.

@yeoldbamboo You’ve trumped anything any of tge rest of us have to report!

I removed a branch from a flowering cherry and massively pruned two bushy honeysuckles, and discovered a whole new lilac tree. Wish i’d done it a week ago as the flowers are beginning to go over.

Apart from that I was emptying old pots and potting the plants DH bough me on Wednesday.

@Wotchaz I grow my lettuces in 8 inch pots in the greenhouse. Probably not as big as outside, but they’re not slugged

My clematis track-record is dreadful, @BestIsWest if that makes you feel any better.

Mind you, they are very much like honeysuckle in that they don't really do much for the first 2 years. And they don't enjoy being moved, they sulk big time and refuse to cooperate. By the third year, if you've kept them mulched over the winter, they suddenly burst forth with lots of lovely new growth and you can't stop 'em.

I was at a friends and they’d planted the exact same clematis that I planted 2 years ago, hers is romping away and full of flowers, mine looks worse than when I planted it.

I too have a chequered history with clematis. Many have sunk without trace over the years, some instantly. Three miniature clematis I planted this year are currently battling against the snails. But I never give up …

Well done @BigDahliaFan @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde nil desperandum

When those 'special snowflakes' that are clematis do their thing, they are such a sight to behold.

yesterday when I was out, I saw a stunning purple President in full bloom, and swooned, it was so beautiful.

@MereDintofPandiculation I’d love a lilac but bit worried it’ll be hard to manage, the one we had in our garden as a child was a thug. Good to know they can be crowded out.

I only discovered we had a laburnum this week when it flowered, it’s right at the top of a tangle of honeysuckle, laurel, buddleia and dog rose so flowering about 30 ft in the air!

I’ve planted out about half of the plants, I’ve run out of spaces! DH is grouting the patio, and grumbling because apparently rain is forecast for tonight.
I have sorted out the two small borders at the front and unashamedly put down slug pellets under pieces of tile because the slugs and snails are rampant in my garden and I’ve had enough of them decimating everything apart from the weeds!
It’s very warm here so an afternoon reading in the shade sounds good to me 😎

Spent two hours at the allotment this morning tackling weedageddon - clearly allotment ho!ders go on holiday at their peril.

Yesterday I potted up some more hollyhock seedlings and planted out some centranthus ruber which I'm hoping will seed itself around a bit in due course. I think I was a bit brutal with one of the plants though - was convinced it was two plants in one in the pot so cut it in half with the horihori knife...it wasn't. They were looking a bit shell-shocked yesterday evening so I'll go and see how they're doing later. I'm working on the basis that any plant that can grow out of concrete will probably survive an over-enthusiastic division, though...maybe!

When I bought my house there was the most amazing clematis Montana covering a fence. And then it died and I have not managed to get a clematis going again.