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?

Back from our weekend away and finished off March by watering the baskets and pots this afternoon. Things in the greenhouse I thought might be dead are now showing signs of life, which is and unexpected delight!

Forecast is sunny but breezy here for the rest of the week so I will be able to get plenty done.

Decided to jet wash my patio at the weekend since the water bill is going up tomorrow.

Deadheaded some bulbs and put a load of compost in the border that had a rockery which we've taken out because it was full of invasive plants we don't want. We've reused the rocks to make a little wall to mark one boundary but that raised the level a bit. It's now a lovely sunny border with just an apple tree left in it so now planning what to plant. Very exciting!

Got lots done today. I’m slowly working around the garden and weeding and redesigning the beds. I planted out lupins and dicentras, and some pretty acidanthera bulbs. I really burnt my shoulders though! Can’t believe it, I didn’t think it was that hot.

sunburn is nothing to do with air temperature. It’s about 12 weeks to midsummer, so the strength of the sun is the same as it is in early September. You’d expect to catch the sun in September, and by then your skin has had time to tan a bit.
people always burn more in spring, when their winter-softened skin is hit with sudden strong sunlight.

Today I potted up the cannas I’ve been hardening off for two weeks, and decided where to place the ones that will go in the ground. Tended to my seedlings and started new cleome and ipomoea seeds to replace the earlier batches that I ruined. Tidied up the fernery, moved some ferns together in a big bowl planter, and planted the dicentras that I had first potted up as bare roots a month ago. Started taking off the dead outer layers of the bananas, and was immediately gratified with the sight of green and healthy pseudostems. Started hardening off the begonia luxurians. Sowed Californian poppies. And had multiple cups of tea in the garden to enjoy the sunshine.

Gorgeous weather. Did a first cut of the lawns yesterday and then potted up some dahlias and other bulbs to put in my mini greenhouse. I have several roses in pots that need planting out so I need to decide where to put them. I’m thinking of a new border between a low wall and the lawn.

Bit scared to put my dahlias out because they usually get immediately decimated by slugs.

However since we chopped down our 30 year old conifer last year I've not even noticed any slugs or snails. Or "Barrys" as all our kids have decided to call them, although I'm not sure why they're all called Barry.

They are all ready to go out though except the cuttings I took from topping them.

The lavatera cuttings I took are also still going strong and picked themselves back up after an initial wilting. Really hopeful they'll root because my seed germinated lavatera aren't doing very much in a tray on the windowsill.

Did you see California poppies in the ground. I have some but thought I needed to wait till end of April. Our ground is quite cold.

I’ve cleared the lawn of the dogwood I cut at the weekend so DH can mow later, and moved all the pots etc off the patio so he can give it its spring clean.

@Rictasmorticia no, only in pots. I also think the ground may be too cold still.

Planted garlic in the herb bed and potted out a hyssop which will go in the sunnier herb area.
Dragged trays of seedlings out of the greenhouse to start hardening them.up a bit.

Pulled out some weeds in an area that I'm hoping to grow a small wildflower patch. I have sunflower seeds arriving tomorrow so hoping to sow them into the ground and hope for the best

Used my mini chainsaw to chop off two of the many heads of my cordyline, which were casting shade on a solar panel. I bloody love my chainsaw!

Went out for lunch with DH and passed a nice looking garden centre on the way. Came out with some white nemesia, tomato plants, pelargoniums, some yellow flowered plants that I think is probably tagetes (unlabelled), aubretia and a tree peony. Then came home and started to dig up a white lavender that I’d cut back very harshly and found it was shooting from the base so I’ve left it.

Oh, bought some seeds too, cosmos, antirrhinum and a few other things. Now I need to find the seed trays.

You unleashed your inner Elon Musk then 😆

I'm feeling pleasantly warmed (even though the air is still quite cool/chilly in the Spring sunshine) having been out in the greenhouse for the last 90 minutes.

I unpacked my overwintered geraniums which I had loosely packed in newspaper and in one of those David Austin rose sacks. I thought I was going to be confronted with a load of dry mouldy sticks, but was chuffed to find them all green and sprouting. I snipped off the dead bits at the top of each stem, put them in a couple of troughs and they look quite passable!

Will be good to see how they grow over the next 2 weeks as the sunny weather looks like it's here to stay!

I’m new to gardening but have embraced my mums Beautifull garden when she passed two years ago, struggling a bit due to disability but y grown up kids are helping out.

today I de weeded some paths with a wire brush and watered all the contents of the very warm greenhouse.

repotted two plants which were in pots by were very lopsided. Sat outside and watched my son and his wonderful partner sow some clover and water the newly sown seeds.

I tidied up my fig border. It’s about 8ft by 3, apart from the fig it has some lemon balm, fennel and grasses, I’m going to put some more herbs in and hopefully, some carnations. I bought a pack of chabaud carnations from Real Seeds, and then thought they were overpriced at £9.90. I didn’t complain, but the company emailed me to say they had mispriced them and will refund me £ 8.00. I’m so impressed that they've done that. They were marked clearly at that price, and I chose to buy them, as did others. They could have just enjoyed the windfall. Anyway the border looks miles better. It had a railway sleeper border which had completely rotted, so I took out the stumps and levelled it out. I’m going to a nursery tomorrow, I have a spare big pot. I would love to buy a little spindle tree for it. I’ve got some gaps in my sunny border so ideas for fool proof perennials would be much appreciated.

How dare you 😉. I’d rather be compared with Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Department of Garden Efficiency?

I put all my pots back on the newly cleaned patio, tidying them up as I went. My lower back is complaining a bit.

Today I found myself any jobs to do in the garden, so I did what any sensible person would do - went to the garden centre. I picked up a bunch of succulents and sempervivums and planted them with aeoniums in a big bowl container, for an instant arid garden.