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?

My winter flowering jasmine is going full tilt on the flowering front! Usually it waits until Christmas to put out any flowers, but this year it's been fully flowering for at least a month. I rely on it for winter colour but it looks as though it might well have shot its bolt long before the real grimnes of winter sets in. I went out today to tie some more of it in because it's wild this year. It must at least have doubled in volume - something really was good for it this summer.

Finally managed to get my bare root roses in. As I only had minutes in between torrential brain and hail I bunged them in the old veg patch. I’ll have to think properly about where to put them. Didn’t have time to do much else. Dahlias have finally succumbed and need cutting down but I got drenched.

Cut off a load of brown fern fronds, which made the garden look much tidier in a short time.
Thwarted a sedge invasion before any got big enough to set seed, but caught a couple of stinging nettles in the process.
Hoping to tackle the front garden in the next week or so before everything gets too frozen or slimy.

I’ve got to plant three Midwinter Fire Cornus. But it’s too wet and dripping.

I have planted 6 lychnis that arrived possibly six weeks ago and have very politely not died. Plus did a general tidy and weed of the bed they went in.

Finally sorted getting a replacement pane of glass for the broken one in my mini-greenhouse. After much faffing and trying to work out which model I have and measuring the glass, I phoned the company, they brought up the record from 15 years ago and glass is on it's way. Honestly should have done this years ago.

Currently trying to write a Christmas list. So far it's all garden related.

I’ve finished pruning the fig and the grape (think figs are meant to be done in spring but I’ve always done mine in the autumn). Done a “quick win” of pulling a load of dead fronds from a couple of huge ferns, thus clearing a path and mulching my rhubarb in one go. And cleared lots of dead stuff from the greenhouse.

December-February is what I've usually seen recommended for the main prune of figs - has to be while they're still dormant. Then in summer knock off the growing tip of each branch once it's grown 5 new leaves.

I mowed the lawn as it had become surprisingly long. It was nice and sunny where I am yesterday.

No chance of much today, it’s pouring down.

Oh well, it’s pretty well December.

Then in summer knock off the growing tip of each branch once it's grown 5 new leaves. Like that’s going to happen on a tree 4m long and 3m high

That would be quite the project! I think that part is more for ones in pots.

Green house glass arrived and it's all the wrong size....

I feel your pain. New fridge has arrived and it won’t fit under the work surface.

Today I scythed the last bit of the lawn/meadow, picked the medlars, and swept up lots of leaves

We've got ridiculous amounts of frost on the first free day where I needed to pull up the turf before it roots too much and becomes a much bigger job to remove (newbuild). 🤦‍♀️
Do I need to do anything to my blackberry or lingonberry bushes (newly planted) to protect from frost?

Depends where they came from. Bare root from a nursery, no. Container grown and tucked up warm in a garden centre, possibly. Personally I wouldn’t

@MereDintofPandiculation They were both container grown at nurseries and recently planted out (about 2 weeks ago) so the soil around them hasn't settled properly yet. I also planted a rhubarb spear but it snapped when I tried to put the soil around it so I am not holding out much hope for it even without the frost.

I have settled for clearing up some stray stone chippings, moving some containers around, and waiting for the ground to defrost a bit more (it was -4 this morning) before tackling the turf.

If they've been kept outside up till now I'd have thought they'd be find. They're both hardy plants, and as long as the roots aren't frozen solid (causing desiccation) they should be fine.

If they've been out two weeks, haven't they already survived one frost?

Yes but the last frost seemed milder somehow compared to today's, I think that's what worried me. I didn't know if there was a point where even a hardy plant will be affected by the cold. I shall stop worrying. 😅

I got back from our walk at about 3:45 , realised it's brown bin day tomorrow so had a twilight half-hour cutting back spent Michaelmas daisies, phlox and campanula to fill mine. There's a nice lot of honesty behind where the MDs were.

Lingonberry is Vaccinium vitis-idaea, which is known in the UK as Cowberry. I know it from a huge patch half at about 500m above sea level in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s seriously tough.

Didn't think I would be mowing the lawn on Nov. 30th.

Used the grass clippings to mulch another bed.

Put another bag of leaves on the leaf mould pile.

After my garden work I went to the park with the DGC and DD. I was completely distracted by the fallen leaves. "Oh, here's some walnut. These here are all oak, they take a long time to break down." I even hatched a plan to drive my mower over with some bags to collect as much as I could drive back. Between swing pushes.

I have it bad.

Planted the last 3 bags of crocus round the cherry tree. The ground seems to have recovered from the soaking last weekend.

tomorrow I need to rake the tonnes of soggy leaves off the drive, they're everywhere. Will mulch the roses with them.

Didn't think I would be mowing the lawn on Nov. 30th.

Didn’t think I’d be working in my shirtsleeves on Nov 30th.

Drastically chopped a couple of Queen Elizabeth roses that had got far too tall, tidied the plants on the terrace, increasing visibility of Cyclamen, planted 3 Cornus Midwinter Fire and 5 Echinacea, pruned a Euphorbia mellifera to give light to the pear tree behind, crown lifted a holly, turned off the outside tap for winter, watered the greenhouse and returned some late developing tadpoles to the main pond.

Few aspects of garden produce give as much reward as composting

Today I cleared the second-to-last of the silly massive invasive shrubs the developers planted in the front garden and I replaced with some Christmas lights. Long term, I'm not sure what to put out there.

DH and I mended the mini-greenhouse. Thankfully the cannas look still alive despite having been out in the frost with a massive hole in the greenhouse.

He then raked up leaves while I did a final weed before hopefully bulb planting on Tuesday.

Pondered how the whole job would have been more fun wearing waterproof trousers and added them to the Christmas list.