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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

What have you done in the garden today? Part 7

1000 replies

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 27/05/2025 23:59

Continuation thread from MereDint's previous threads.

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Myblueclematis · 25/01/2026 13:54

One of my "pet" pigeons has been sat on my lawn for over an hour in the rain. It's been mooching around in the border but now just sat there, hope it's alright.

JustinThyme · 25/01/2026 16:05

This is the state of my garden today. Tiny bit of topsoil on two metres of solid clay.

Damn, the file won't upload! Anyway it's a small pond where there ought to only be fruit bushes and not a marsh

Agapornis · 26/01/2026 17:03

Helped out at a local seed swap. Topped up my never-decreasing personal seed bank.

I think there is such a thing as too many seeds. The oldest dated ones expired in 2019 so I suppose that's not too bad.

What have you done in the garden today? Part 7
LemondrizzleShark · 26/01/2026 21:36

JustinThyme · 25/01/2026 16:05

This is the state of my garden today. Tiny bit of topsoil on two metres of solid clay.

Damn, the file won't upload! Anyway it's a small pond where there ought to only be fruit bushes and not a marsh

Mine is similar! I have a retaining wall at the back of the garden (neighbour is up the hill from me, so our gardens are stepped). I hoped it would be like a raised bed, and the bottom half is backfilled with rubble so should drain beautifully. But no, the clay holds all the water in and it is soaking wet. Planting in it is like digging out the bottom of a pond, just really heavy wet clay.

I have honeysuckle in there but should have gone for marsh plants! And I bet it will be baking dry in summer.

On the plus side I did get my roses pruned and my euonymous planted. I have a bare root cherry tree to plant too, but that will need to wait until the weekend I think as I need DH’s help to plant it straight.

LemondrizzleShark · 26/01/2026 21:40

I also went to London Zoo over the weekend, and near their birdhouse they have a whole border of Daphne. It smelled absolutely amazing.

I now have that on my wishlist, even though my garden is totally unsuitable for it 🤣

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 27/01/2026 01:24

I am on a seed ban, but I have yet to face consequences for breaching the terms of this understanding.

We are also a clay soil heavy area, and our house is at the bottom of the hill. We are the very last house, and when it rains we do flood.

Rather stupidly, there's the streets electrical unit box outside our house on the street, and it floods multiple times a year. Back when my grandad was alive we had to keep generators for his nebulisers and oxygen tanks because the power went off so often from the flooding. Then over the years as full Fibre broadband has become a thing, they've added the Fibre cabinets next to the electric box, and sort of sunk it into the street, so they also flood.

One of my previous jobs was network planning and we just wouldn't have done this at all, so it often makes me want to throttle the daft eejit who keeps ticking off on these installations.

The frequent flooding also means hardly anything survives planting directly into the ground here, except our peonies which are closer to 50 than 40 years old, and some rogue brambles that have managed to get right behind the rose bushes, and are mostly left unchecked because who wants laceration with thorns on a lovely sunny day.

We get over this by mostly planting in pots but the flip side of that is that on sunny days they dry out extremely fast and nobody dare go outside and water them in case our oversharing, genital obsessed, curtain twitching neighbour springs out for a 4 hour quick chat. Hell truly is other people.

I've come to learn though that if you want to plant something where nothing else seems to grow at all, just throw some nasturtium seeds down once and you'll never have to replant them again.

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Myblueclematis · 27/01/2026 08:43

LemondrizzleShark · 26/01/2026 21:40

I also went to London Zoo over the weekend, and near their birdhouse they have a whole border of Daphne. It smelled absolutely amazing.

I now have that on my wishlist, even though my garden is totally unsuitable for it 🤣

I bought a Daphne Walberton last year, my friend got the same one as a birthday present. We've both lost them. I'd love to get another one, maybe a different type but I'm not keen on paying quite a bit for a plant that might not make it again.

They do smell amazing though which makes it doubly sad that we've both been unable to keep them going. Not sure what we did wrong.

LemondrizzleShark · 27/01/2026 12:07

Myblueclematis · 27/01/2026 08:43

I bought a Daphne Walberton last year, my friend got the same one as a birthday present. We've both lost them. I'd love to get another one, maybe a different type but I'm not keen on paying quite a bit for a plant that might not make it again.

They do smell amazing though which makes it doubly sad that we've both been unable to keep them going. Not sure what we did wrong.

That’s what has put me off. From reading around, it sounds like they are quite temperamental plants and die the minute you take your eyes off them.

No idea how London Zoo manage it, they have a whole border of it growing beautifully and I can’t imagine they are tending it that closely.

Myblueclematis · 27/01/2026 15:47

LemondrizzleShark · 27/01/2026 12:07

That’s what has put me off. From reading around, it sounds like they are quite temperamental plants and die the minute you take your eyes off them.

No idea how London Zoo manage it, they have a whole border of it growing beautifully and I can’t imagine they are tending it that closely.

If you are after a highly scented shrub, last year I bought Sarcococca, Winter Gem I think it was called. The perfume is beautiful and today at the garden centre they have them in. It's currently outside my back door and is around twice the size from when I bought it.

Forget how much I paid for it and I didn't check the price today but my friend who was sniffing it and also lost her Daphne Walberton, said how gorgeous the Sarcococca perfume was.

SarahAndQuack · 27/01/2026 18:31

I have daphne 'Jacqueline Postill,' which is fairly bombproof IME. It's taller than me now and you can smell it from across the street. I've managed to kill sarcococca before, but that was probably neglect. Atm my favourite scented thing in the garden is the paperwhites - I don't bother to grow them indoors as DD doesn't much like the smell, but they come really early outside because the bulbs have been forced, and I really love that.

LemondrizzleShark · 27/01/2026 18:42

Myblueclematis · 27/01/2026 15:47

If you are after a highly scented shrub, last year I bought Sarcococca, Winter Gem I think it was called. The perfume is beautiful and today at the garden centre they have them in. It's currently outside my back door and is around twice the size from when I bought it.

Forget how much I paid for it and I didn't check the price today but my friend who was sniffing it and also lost her Daphne Walberton, said how gorgeous the Sarcococca perfume was.

That was on my list too!

(I got an email from Crocus about Winter Gem, and apparently I am ridiculously susceptible to marketing emails when it comes to garden stuff)

Myblueclematis · 28/01/2026 08:35

I can highly recommend the Sarcococca, I'd love to have another go at a Daphne but I paid £30 for the one I've lost and I'm a bit reluctant to spend that amount on another one and maybe lose that one too.

My friend also has Daphne Perfume Princess and she said that one seemed to be doing ok at the moment.

Gardening can be such a disappointment sometimes 🙄

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 13:22

It's a lovely day here and I fancied a trip to the garden centre but it's not payday yet.

I'll just be mopping up my tears with these fallen lemon tree blossoms 😭

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JustinThyme · 28/01/2026 13:27

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 13:22

It's a lovely day here and I fancied a trip to the garden centre but it's not payday yet.

I'll just be mopping up my tears with these fallen lemon tree blossoms 😭

I'm jealous of your weather! It was initially sunny, then a thick fog settled and the entire garden disappeared.

Occasionally a pale disc in the sky shows through the gloom but it's pretty inspiring.

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 13:33

Don't get me wrong it's definitely not spend hours outdoors weather even with a thick coat but a break in the rain and a semblance of sunshine feels like just the ticket I need right now.

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JustinThyme · 28/01/2026 13:50

I was just so excited to see a blue sky this morning. Then fog rolled in and visibility is about 25 feet maximum.

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 16:51

I think you've jinxed me, this past hour the fog has come in quite thick. It looks like something out of a zombie movie.

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JustinThyme · 28/01/2026 16:56

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 16:51

I think you've jinxed me, this past hour the fog has come in quite thick. It looks like something out of a zombie movie.

Either that or we live in the same region.

Spooky looks big, isn't it?

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 17:36

Ooh we could be in the same region. I'm in South Yorkshire. It's definitely pretty thick fog now.

Although the scariest thing out there is probably the roses that desperately need a prune.

What have you done in the garden today? Part 7
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JustinThyme · 28/01/2026 18:05

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 28/01/2026 17:36

Ooh we could be in the same region. I'm in South Yorkshire. It's definitely pretty thick fog now.

Although the scariest thing out there is probably the roses that desperately need a prune.

Just a bit north of you, although I was on my way to Harrogate when the fog hit and the entirety of Wharfdale vanished.

InMySpareTime · 31/01/2026 10:21

Coppiced the Hazel this morning, now I have a load of pea sticks and hedging material once it’s died off enough to put anywhere near soil.
The front garden is almost ready for spring now, but the back garden needs attention so good enough will do for now.
I’ll pretend I actually planned a more rustic garden, I don’t have the energy or attention span to maintain an orderly garden.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 31/01/2026 10:45

Managed to do some cutting back , mainly dogwood , I got in before it starts getting new leaves . I cut it back last year so just removed the branches that intrude on the path,

Found some snowdrops starting to flower - I'd forgotten about them !

Bought some Nasturtium seeds , there will be some self seeding from last year but I always add new ones .

Cut back 2 Virginia Creeper

We're having a couple of trees lopped next week so probably not much till then except tidy some pots .

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 31/01/2026 10:52

I've just seen a tiktok video of making a hair knot and pin out of brambles, and it's inspired me to go prune my thornless blackberry brambles so I can make some beautiful hair accessories.

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Myblueclematis · 31/01/2026 14:39

My brother is here for a visit, I'm hoping I can persuade him to move some pots around, they are far too heavy for me and my arthritic thumbs are very painful at the moment so any help would be most appreciated. 😀

Mokeytree · 01/02/2026 12:53

I planted some of my nasturtium seeds indoors although they can be sowed outside around April. Was more just to have done something for the garden. I feel like there has been nothing but rain for weeks now.
I need it to stop while I'm free to garden so I can re-weed the bed of doom which is the most pressing job I think.

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