What have you done in the garden today? Part 6

[MereDintofPandiculation]

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

Nothing today because I have a septic finger (caused by gardening). It's frustrating as I have a lot to do. There are 800 tulip bulbs sitting in the hall and 100 snakeheads. The tulips can wait - late planting stops them getting tulip fire anyway- but the Frits should go in. Had a lecture from my daughter about sepsis though. She managed to put the wind up.
Decided where to plant 2 nice big yew spheres though. I've got pairs of box balls all over the garden as path entry markers. They've all got blight. Ashfield Nurseries had a topiary sale on and I bought 2 (reduced but still expensive). Then nothing happened for months, and I thought I'd been scammed.Then I thought surely scammers wouldn't use a topiary nursery as a lure🤔Anyway, still nothing happened - months passed then Lo! a delivery of 2 beautiful yew balls. Thrilled.

My bulbs arrived today, but I need to finish cutting the meadow before planting. And it was raining, so that will have to wait for another day.

Nice to know you had a bit of good news there Bideshi. I developed an infected finger nail in the summer (I normally wear gardening gloves so not sure how it happened, but it could only have been in the garden), and it took ages to heal. It was throbbing and red as anything. I was just on the cusp of going to the GP for some antibiotics (which I never normally take) but it eventually decided to calm down.

Then I thought surely scammers wouldn't use a topiary nursery as a lure🤔

You wouldn't think so, but then again Neals Yard dairy was scammed out of £000's of artisan cheese in the past 2 days, so nothing surprises me anymore!

I pruned all the fruit trees and shrubs, and tied the remaining apple and pear tree branches along wires in an attempt at some sort of espalier. It's probably cost me next year's fruit but should make it easier to see the fruit after that.
Also attempted to keep the bay shrub down to 6ft so it doesn't invade next door's garden or smash the fence down trying.

Also attempted to keep the bay shrub down to 6ft If it gets away from you, they re-shoot freely. We had a 20ft one which we cut down to 4ft, and it’s back up to about 15. Cutting it back is a very smelly process though!

I cut it back about twice a year, and gave it a major prune when it had a scale bug infestation a few years ago. It's between a path and a fence so it hasn't much scope for expansion.

Huh. Bay trees. DP is obsessed with cutting ours back (and leaving the mess for me to clear up).

I went to the garden centre on Saturday to buy some fly paper to try & get the fungus gnats under control; also picked up a reduced pink star jasmine, a reduced purple salvia & a reduced lace-cap hydrangea.
Yesterday I planted out the star jasmine at the front of the house. Also pruned off all the spent flower heads on the two buddleia

I’ve moved plants around for winter.
but first I had to move some plants from the living room
then I had to tidy the conservatory
then I had to make room in the greenhouse
so before I did that I had to clear some of the vegetable pots from the terrace to make room for the cabbages from the greenhouse.
and I cleared some of the tomato plants and picked some tomatoes and a cucumber.
and then I could bring in plants for the winter.

Then I planted some crocuses and tulips, which meant I had todig out some more compost from the compost heap.

And then the sun set.

Sounds like you've earned putting your feet up and if you partake, a glass of something comforting.

I haven't done anything in the garden since last weekend - but was devastated to hear my favourite garden centre had a massive fire a few days ago - no one was hurt thankfully, but awful all the same for the family. 😢

Oh gosh, that's a shame.

I got my pots with red cyclamen and ...forgotten the name of the silvery grey foliage plant ...done this morning, and my bulb pots this afternoon (of course quite a bit of that time was moving things out of the pots I wanted to use first etc). I also moved a tub overflowing with alyssum (whatever I had in with it has vanished) to by the front door as it's still yielding its gorgeous honey scent. On holiday in Nice at the start of last month there was wild alyssum in places, lovely stuff.

I've still got some alliums, anemones and snakes head fritillaries to plant out.

What I did in the garden yesterday was lie on my tummy and shove my arm down into the drain behind the kitchen to unblock it of rotted autumn leaves and coffee grounds. Right up to the shoulder. Like a vet birthing a calf.😫😷
Also gave the lawn its final cut (for about the third time).

Urgh. Vets have the gloves for it though!

That's awful @APurpleSquirrel My local garden centre is also family run, it must be doubly devastating.

I will go into the shed today and check on the hyacinths, just posting to remind myself!

Didn't do much at all outside last week, simply because a lot of stuff I want to tidy up is still flowering like mad; the white cosmos has put on another flush of blooms, the purple ones are still going strong, and I still have dahlias flowering. The nasturtiums look like they will carry on until Christmas at this rate. I'll just have to continue admiring them

Didn't do much at all outside last week, simply because a lot of stuff I want to tidy up is still flowering like mad

Yes, I've still got cosmos, dahlias, nasturtiums, sweet peas (some successional sowing this year), thunbergia, pelargoniums, salvias and more.
I need to get on and check whether/how to overwinter some plants I've not had before this year.

I have been on my knees hacking back the grass from around the stepping stone path in the lawn. Tiresome but satisfying work.

I gave up on one of my large flower beds that was neglected for two years (no excuses except...there's a lot to do) and dug up the important plants before covering it over. I think I may leave it covered next summer and just plant through the landscape fabric, then revisit it 2026 when the weeds are well and truly dead? We'll see.

I am also doing the 'rod for own back' thing and moving an internal fence line. I WILL regret this.

I have been on my knees hacking back the grass from around the stepping stone path in the lawn. Tiresome but satisfying work. Almost like archaeology, isn’t it? Revealing long-lost pavements. (Or perhaps you don’t leave it as long as I do)

I successfully overwintered some pelargoniums in my unheated greenhouse last winter; just put them off the floor on wire racks (in pots) then draped bubble wrap over them.

I was surprised to see some of them flowering in January!

Yes. Yes I do.

DGC said "look, there's a stone there!"

Planted four tubs of tulips, potted up a couple of trailing geraniums to keep for next year and dug over part of the garden border.

What's really satisfying is when you can peel off a whole sheet and double the width of the path or find an entire border edge.

Oh yes! Many years ago we rented an Edwardian pile that had been neglected for yonks. We set to work on the garden and the joy of finding a four foot wide original path going all along the front and side, and just peeling back the years of ivy carpet.

Oh yes! There’s one or two jobs like that. One is cutting brambles at the base and tugging till 4m of branched bramble follows you out of the undergrowth, another is tugging on a nettle root and seeing 1m of nettle a couple of yards away slowly sink back into the ground.

There’s no point in gardening if you can’t see the difference. Ditto housework. My mother used to dust every day. Madness!

Oh bramble clearing is a joy. I get to do it regularly in DMs as her neighbour's garden has run wild.