What have you done in the garden today? Part 8

[Jimmyneutronsforehead]

A continuation thread.

Thank you to MereDintOfPandiculation for threads 1 through 6. We wouldn't have built this lovely gardening community without you.

No gardening job is too small or too big to tell us about.

Spring is springing into action, let's get mucky.

Weeded and dug over a 3m x 1m raised bed which I'd been adding garden waste to for a year to improve the soil. It worked, it was a solid clay dust bowl and is now lovely and loamy.

I love mint, I once had 28 different varieties. Tashkent is probably my absolute favourite.

You need a chocolate mint plant too.

Came back from a lovely garden centre in Carmarthen with some tiny rhododendron plants and a blue alpine that I forget the name of, some fuchsias and am now regretting not buying more sweet peas, beans and well, many other things. They really did have lovely plants.

I did grow them from seed, thanks. Hardening off is so full of jeapardy for me though. If I remember them in the morning, I forget them in the evening, cant help feeling they might be better off tucked up in the bed.

Love B and M so good shout! We have this stuff from the range before and got at least 3-4 years plus out of it and left it when we moved. So the range stuff will last.

Can anyone help me identify this I have two of them I got from my old house in pots and I can’t remember what they are??

I DO need a chocolate mint! That sounds nice. I’ll look out for it 🙂

They look like cherry to me, but the cherry I had blossomed before it put out leaves, whereas my apple, which looked quite similar, put both leaves and flowers out at the same time.

The leaves, dipped in dark chocolate and then sprinkled with sugar and left to harden off are a lovely summer night snack to sit in the garden with.

Rain at last in my bit of the central south east. I planted grass seeds on 2nd April and nothing had happened because it had been dry until yesterday. Had some really heavy showers yesterday and today, so I have refilled the water butts and the grass seed has had a really good drenching. Fingers crossed it will spring into life now.

We had a light frost this morning. That took me by surprise, as it wasn't forecast to get to freezing. Anyone else have one?

I'm currently digging the topsoil of an area at the end of my garden where the grass doesn't grow, but that catches the morning sunshine. I am going to lay a small paved area where I can have a bench and a couple of chairs. It is hard graft digging out the soil and then moving it to a temporary area. I don't have a wheelbarrow, so I fill a sack and then carry it. I'm sure it is doing wonders for my core!!!!! I will then have to repeat the same process to move the shingle from another part of the garden into the dug out area to be the hardcore. It's going to take me ages!

I did my 5th mow of the year on Saturday morning. I'd let the grass grow a bit longer before I mowed, as it is easier to weed that way. Sweet peas are looking happy and growing. My wisteria has leaves but no flowers yet. My acer is coming into leaf and looks happy. My miniature apple tree is in leaf and has some blossom too, although not as many as last year. I'm feeding all my pots and plants weekly at the moment. I think, if I look at it from the right angle, my camellia might be looking a bit less sickly. I've been giving it ericacious feeds.

How are your lawnmowers coping with the wet and damp spring grass enough to do 4 or 5 mows?! 😭

Are you all blessed with well draining, non-clay soil?

@Jimmyneutronsforehead after a really wet winter, since March, it has been quite dry where I am. I do also have well draining non-clay soil, which helps massively too.

I'm packing my bags and my wheelbarrow and moving in with you. Pop t'kettle on love.

@Liquoricethyme two different leaves - so I'm going to agree with @Jimmyneutronsforehead, in a way. I think the first might be an apple (comparing it to my pear), the second is a cherry because I'm fairly sure I can see red glands (extrafloral nectaries) on each leaf stem near the leaf. Post full leaf close ups if you'd like further nerd :)

@Jimmyneutronsforehead kettle on!

@Agapornis I will do some close ups tomorrow thank you!

We got four huge concrete blocks today from our local brickyard centre (we know them well!) to put the base of our huge stone bird bath on, four solid concrete blocks for £7. DH levelled them and they are all in place now. We are hopefully fixing the broken stone bath tomorrow and Wednesday as we have waterproof adhesive and cement on order. It still feels like ground force and not gardening.

Although I planted up a huge hanging basket of trailing petunias! £12 for two packs of 6 trailing petunias at B and M are the moment. So all the hanging baskets and up and done.

All of you guys mowing and I don’t have enough grass to mow the ground is so far. So jealous 😂 We have located a supplier (our local brickyard centre yard gives us a discount now!) of top soil £50 for a tonne and it’s decent soil, so it is now working out much much cheaper than we budgeted to sort this garden out.

@MargoLivebetter that sounds exhausting but it will be very worth it! DH and I painted and waterproofed 12 sleepers and then levelled and screwed them into position with 5 bags of pea gravel levelling them I still ache! So yes you will have a core of steel!

All power to you @Liquoricethyme ! That is a huge undertaking. Sounds like you have a massive garden project underway. Good luck with it all.

I'm feeling grotesquely optimistic today and considering putting the tomatoes out today.

My Nan also brought in a bag of potatoes from the cupboard and said "Ooh dear, Jimmy. Do you want to plant these with your boot potatoes" and the entire bag had sprouted, so I'm going to put the cupboard potatoes out too.

I still only have 1 singular pea out of 24 ish that has terminated, and I'm losing hope now. Peas shouldn't be this hard to germinate.

Has risk of frost passed where you live?
Also, night temperatures are still low so your optimism may be misplaced.

Risk of frost has not passed and won't until the beginning of May but I have heavily straw mulched and have some cloches. The ones I bought from the garden centre have doubled in size this past week and I don't think up-potting them at this point will help. I have got some seeds going for the same variety so if they don't make it it isn't a tremendous loss.

As it happens I shan't be putting them out today as DS is now at home after a heavy nose bleed.

My Nan always says nothing goes to plan, only if you have a plan to begin with and today feels like one of those days.

If you are looking for chocolate mint or several.other weird and wonderful varieties of herbs,I really recommend Urban Herbs. I've had loads from there and plants are always in excellent condition.

I was baking today and had a load of banana skins, so I chopped them up small, mixed them with coffee grounds and put them around my blueberry shrubs to give them a boost. No idea if it’ll work, but most easy plant nutrition is alkaline and I wanted something slightly acidic.
Will report back in summer if it helped at all.

Dammit, just checked and I should have boiled them up first, they’re really alkaline unless processed. Oops, I’ll pick them up tomorrow and brew up a banana potion.

@InMySpareTime I'm scared for you tho - won't you be attracting Ratty Ratterson?!!! That's why I don't do ANY composting round here!

TBH I’ll just be glad if the rats are outdoors, we had one in the kitchen in December and I rained maximum death on all indoor rodents.
Never had an issue with rats on fruit though, even fallen berries or windfall apples as the back garden is very enclosed.