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?

@FiestyFeyre you've nothing to lose but a little time from trying. Not quite the same but I planted some bare root lillies last spring which had been lost in my shed for at least 18 months. They were still in the plastic bag with the tiny amount of compost that they arrived in, I stuck them in a pot and all 3 of them grew. I couldn't believe it! There is absolutely no way they should have survived.

Definitely worth a try.

Ok, I'll pot them this weekend. Nothing to lose as you say, and if they don't make it I'll dig them back out in the spring and use the pots for growing veg!

They may decide not to flower, in which case continue to let-the leaves grow and build up flower buds for next year

Today, with great trepidation, I tried out the mini chain saw I got for Christmas and lopped off a few chunks from the lilac that fell down last year

Last week I did a bit of light pruning in the front garden.
Today I've been to our local Homebase which is closing down & got some reduced compost & pots. And then on to a local garden centre 'just for a look' & came away with a reduced syringa & 5 reduced David Austen roses 😁 No idea where to put them but very pleased nonetheless!

Got some pruning done today, and sowed some broad beans. Will do another lot in a month or so. Also planted some onion sets a friend passed on. They're past their date, but worth a try. Don't really know what to do with onions, to be fair, so no great loss if they don't work!

I went out there which felt good, and surveyed the mess. Then I too, sowed some broad beans, into toilet roll inners which have been cluttering my window sills for weeks. I weeded my green house borders and thought about what to do next. It’s a start!

I remembered my bulb pots, stashed with some wide wire mesh over to guard against squirrels - iris reticulatas starting to bloom so I've moved them onto the patio.

And inhaled deeply the sweet box every time I go out and in the front door.

I went out again, weeded the small beds in front of the green house, planted some strawberries and cut back my enormous patch of aster. I’m on a roll!

I've just planted out some alliums today, really hoping they take but better out than in I guess! Still no sign of the 100 crocus bulbs I planted out last year though.

The young dock leaves are coming up again in the patch of my garden that was densely weed filled last year.

I'm going to follow the advice given and give them a good whack before I put some weedkiller down.

If any one has any recommendations for some reliable weedkiller against dock I'm all ears and very appreciative.

Please don’t use commercial weed killer. It gets into the food chain and destroys insect pollinators and the birds who eat them. I understand vinegar and also salt work, altho I’ve not tried them myself. The best defence against weeds is hand clearing followed by dense planting.

The area is eventually going to be playground bark for the children to safely play on and I am unfortunately battling against my disability so can't always hand weed. The ground was also decoratively pebbled prior to me taking over but without a sufficient membrane so there are tonnes of pebbles heavily compressed into clay soil and the roots are really mature.

I wish I'd had the energy to deal with them as soon as they'd come up but there are hundreds of them and I can only bare being outside doing physical labour for a short amount of time.

I did try killing them off with boiling water and a weed burner but it just didn't work.

I think weedkiller is my only option for long lasting and immediate results so I can get on with relaying some proper ground sheet and playground bark.

@Jimmyneutronsforehead if it's somewhere with only weeds you can pour a little heap of salt in the crown of each weed rosette and let rain do the rest.

Can you cover the area with plastic for this year- do you need it clear straight away? Clear plastic is especially good as the weeds try to grow then get sizzled by the sun and die properly! You'd have to use so much weedkiller for established docks, it's really best avoided if you possibly can.

I'll try the salt. I don't ever plan on growing anything there except maybe in pots. If I could upload a photo I would but it's the back end of the back garden not connected to any grassy areas or plant life other than weeds.

Sadly does need dealing with this year as I've been trying to sort this since before DS could walk so he has a play area with his cousins and now he can full on argue back so it's knocking on a bit now.

My biggest issue is that last year I left it too late and the plants were huge and established so was advised to wait for last years foliage to die off and start with this year's tender growth.

Bugger all today! I do have some Sweet pea seedlings growing which have done alarmingly well so they'll be early to flower I think.

Can’t do much in the garden until March as the grass is like the Florida Everglades right now

Tidied the area around my pond, closely watched by a robin. They have such spindly legs, it's a miracle they can stand up.

Wiki tells me they weigh 16–22 g (0.56–0.78 oz)... it's perhaps more surprising we don't see these little birds being blown around like tumbleweed on blustery days! They must have wonderfully grippy little feet.

Back before double glazing we had really shiny single glazed windows on a west facing wall and in the winter all of the robins would fly into our windows thinking it was the sky of which they reflected.

Had to go out multiple times a day to collect some rather shocked little Robins to rehabilitate before the neighbours cats prowled through.

They ar3 so fierce though, they patrol our garden, seeing off much larger birds. I do Chuck them worms as I weed. I love worms too but they aren’t cute.

Hello everyone, have missed this lovely thread.

Have been out in the garden for the first time this year. Picked a load of stones out of a bed I'm planning to put fruit trees in.

DH inspected the replacement automatic closing mechanism for the greenhouse - apparently we were supposed to spray it with WD-40 every 3 months. The old one had been there about 15 years and I've never done it - oops.

He thinks his DIY skills are up to it. I looked sadly at my cannas which look very cold and very dead.

I started a war on my Spanish bluebells. There are so many they are choking the flowerbed and so I am chopping the tops off to try to starve them. Am not optimistic it will work.

On a brighter note, some of the hundreds of bulbs I planted seem to be peaking out of the soil. Roll on spring time.

I started a war on my Spanish bluebells.

I've got to man up and do this too. Soooo many though.

I agree - the little bastards multiply every year and it doesn't matter how many I dig out. The bulbs are so deep.