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.

I sowed 40 pea seeds in my questionable compost. Two germinated. So dispiriting.

I came back from a week long holiday yesterday - I'm loving the weather! I was wandering round the garden with plans to start planting summer bedding, then realised it was 1 degree last night - and I'm down south. So the summer bedding can stay tucked up in the greenhouse for now.

My brother came to cut our grass today and accidentally went over the alliums. Got a whiff of l'ea de onion on the school run and it's clung to me as I can still smell it sat in the playground.

Oh dear . Are you heartbroken? Mine are all starting to pop. I love them. I cut some flowers for the house today, including wild garlic, and it’s interesting in the living room. My gardening time keeps getting interrupted by household tasks. When Dh asked me If I was walking the dog, I said I’d be happy to, if he edged the lawn and pulled some weeds. They’ll be back soon, and here I am taking a breather, but I’ll be up and doing when he walks through the door!

I am a bit heartbroken about it. We had lots of globe alliums and some tiny white ones, can't remember their names, as well as some Sicily honey garlic that I had been eagerly awaiting flowering as I've wanted some for years since I drove past someone's bungalow on the way into Bridlington and thought it was beautiful.

He says it's my fault for not putting a border in because they just looked like long grass.

I said after you mauled the first one could you not smell you'd chopped it down, and he said he didn't know where the smell was coming from he just thought a neighbour was making a particularly garlic-y meal.

I can forgive him though, it was an honest mistake.

For the next few days I'm trying to help yank my poor Dad's overgrown garden back toward what it once was. As a man in his 80s with significant disabilities, he's been unable to keep up with it for a number of years.

He has been been in denial about this - quite understandably - because it's horrible to face we can't manage our own homes anymore. Unfortunately, what was once a beautiful garden is now a weed-ridden patio, a grass-choked shrubbery full of leggy competing plants and a once gorgeous lily pond choked up completely.

I move between stick, crutch and wheelchair so am restricted on the tasks I can tackle (I'm remarkably adept at pruning from the wheelchair). However, I've used weedkiller on the slabs on the drive (yes, I am ashamed but needs must), pruned 3 hydrangeas that having been touched in 5 years into something resembling a shape and cut back the conifer obstructing the path.

A lovely young tree surgeon in our extended family has offered his labour tomorrow for pruning, sawing and weeding. We can't do it all in a weekend, and I do need to return the 150 mile journey home soon, but at least it's a start.

I’d be gutted! Mine are developing a flower bulb at the top, but they’re nowhere near as tall as I expected. About 8”. It was a mixed pack of six from B&Q.

Today I repotted my strawberries, and bought a hozelock thing that I can’t figure out how to fit. Will YouTube it when I can be arsed. Also potted some spider plant babies that have been rooting in water for a couple of weeks.

I think it's a lovely thing you're doing for your dad.

I wish there was more of like a community presence to help our less abled friends and neighbours so that they can enjoy their gardens and homes the way that they used to.

Jimmy, I empathise - 4 years ago DP emptied all my dahlia tubers from all my containers into the brown bin, thinking it was just spent compost. I've just not had the heart to replant.

My Dad is a funny bugger. When Mum was alive she paid for someone to keep it nice. That didn't bother him. But afterwards he kept wanting to think he could manage it with the help of a local kind coming for an hour to mow the lawn.

He's in hospital at the moment but we're trying to Garden Force it to make it nice when he gets home.

I made a new planter for a clematis (montana rubens), to grow through a honeysuckle and cover a fence. Good to use up scraps of wood.

Something dug out my nice bushy 1.5 year old hawthorn :( I quickly put it in water so hopefully it'll survive until I can buy more compost. Probably done by a fox or particularly rabid squirrel, they don't usually bother with my garden. They dug up some half dead bulbs in pots too, but that's not quite as heartbreaking.

Watered and fed everything. I usually forget to feed, and it feels like months since the last real rain already. Is this why my alliums are 30-40 cm, rather than the 60-90 on the packages? 😬

@JustinThyme Near me there's Right To Grow who help out people who can't maintain their gardens anymore. All a fairly informal network, they add it to the schedule for volunteers. I think Good Gym does it too, but it's more formal, through referrals. Maybe ask your local Age UK?

I’m on another thread about replanning a border and someone has suggested putting in Hawthorn.

I’m not very familiar with it although I’ve seen pictures.

How have you found growing it and what do you like about it?

I have hawthorn, Maggie. It's spiky, obviously, but it's a wonderful hedge.

Gorgeous mass of flowers in May, thronging with hover flies and other insects. Birds are in it constantly, and the little red haws (like tiny rosehips) keep them fed all winter.

It's native, it's robust, and in my heavy clay at least, it is nearly indestructible.

@Maggiethecat I also have a hawthorn, though it was self-seeded in the garden and all I do is trim it back if it gets too big. It’s pretty for a lot of the year, and always full of little birds (they are safe in there as big birds or cats can’t get in the branches). It’s in this picture behind an Acer, the colours contrast nicely.

@Maggiethecat all of the others' reasons (yes very good in clay soil), and it's sentimental, where I grew up (not the UK) is famous for its hawthorn hedges. Love the smell of the flowers, the shape of the leaves.

You can grow it as a standard tree with enough patience, which was my long term plan. There are varieties with red or pink flowers instead of creamy white, should you prefer that.

It was essentially maintenance free until this shitty rabid squirrel/fox came along :(

I was a bit put off by the sound of the thorns but am told they’re not as bad as roses.

Thanks for this picture! I’m considering Hawthorn and Maple and they do go together well.

Do you know how long it took for Hawthorn to get to that size?

My cat won’t be pleased to hear that 😂

Lovely smelling flowers are a bonus!

Someone mentioned that the blossoms smell a bit funny., have you found this to be the case? Maybe depends on the species?

Sorry to hear about your plant. Maybe a very liberal sprinkling of chilli flakes around it might give them what they’re looking for?

@Maggiethecat I think the smell depends on your genetics (like people who can't stand coriander). They're flowering in the south east right now, go sniff some once they're out near you. The smell on a bright sunny day is different from overcast/rainy days.

@Agapornis - how interesting! I’ll try to get a sniff if I can get to one.

@Maggiethecat it took about 8-10 years from finding the self-seeded sapling twig to about that height. That tree is nearer 15 years old now and I’ve spent the last few years just pruning it back whenever it gets too “sideshow Bob”.
My soil isn’t clay like PPs, it’s lovely alluvial loamy soil with sand underneath about 2ft down. Native tree species aren’t too picky.

I’ve planted assorted shrubs in the front raised bed today, and some bulbs which I assume won’t do anything this year. They’ll be a nice surprise next year, because I’ve already forgotten what I’ve put where. I also planted some zinnia and cerinthe seedlings - might be a bit premature, but I kept forgetting to put them out & bring them in. They can take their chances outside.

Got a lot done today. Weeded a forgotten bed tucked away behind the greenhouse. Full of grassy tussocks that put up a fight! Planted out seedlings and young plants,repotted the olive tree and gave it a feed. General tidying up and pottering.

Did loads today, sorting out pots and pressures washing the patio area, all tidying mainly. V stiff and tired!

You are brave with the zinnia seedlings. I am not brave at all but mine spent their first night last night without cover, but in the greenhouse. It did not dip below 6 last night and they should be fine but I constantly read how they are heat loving plants.

I also have stock seedlings and read that they like it cool so they have been out for a few nights. But I feel the flowering for my garden is covered. If we have a cool summer I'll get lots of stock flowers. If it is hot I will have happy zinnias (like last year).

Had a hugely productive day yesterday. The sunshine and lack of wind made it a good day to clean out the greenhouse. Everything taken out, all the cobwebs cleared and the floor swept, and then everything neatly back in by 4pm when I sat on the bench with a glass of fizz and admired my work 🍾

Potted up all the primroses from various pots and hanging baskets into individual pots in the hope of reusing them next spring. Deadheaded, all brown leaves removed and gave them a feed. Now in a cool part of the garden to recover.

Pricked out some salad stuff into a window box for easy picking (radish, mixed lettuce, rocket, coriander) and sowed another batch.
All sweet peas now in pots and tied into cane wigwams. They look a bit sickly but hopefully will perk up now.

Finally, as I drank my fizz, I wrote up all my random notes into my gardening notebook so I can refer back to it next year to see what worked and what didn’t; been meaning to do this for years and no excuse now I am retired!

The two tomato plants went in the greenhouse last night and look fine this morning, which is a relief as none of my seeds germinated. Good thing I bought these two as back up. Only things in the propagator or on the windowsill now are malva and rudbeckia. Only sowed the rudbeckia three days ago and they are sprouting, but no sign of the malva yet, sown 3 weeks ago 😕

Today’s jobs are to find somewhere to plant out my snow peas and feed and water everything; quite a relaxing day 😎