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 couldn’t find enough toilet rolls so I sowed my sweet pea seeds in a seed snail.
The lawn has had a second mow, I use the mulching plug so no clippings and I hardly took anything off but it always looks so much better when it’s just been cut.
I also pressure washed the patio that was so satisfying!

Happy mothers day or as I like to call it seed sowing day.

Unfortunately I shall not be sowing my seeds today.

DDog, who isn't mine really, is not doing his best. He hasn't for a long time, but his actual owner who doesn't live with us has been in denial about it, however I think her hand has been forced now so we are just having the weekend to enjoy some time with DDog, and having a small hiatus from gardening related activities.

I have however ordered some more seeds. Love the idea of a seed snail so will be giving that a go as well as soon as I am able.

@Jimmyneutronsforehead sorry about your dog. It’s a great idea to spend a weekend just pouring love into and enjoying them x Also another occasion to take lots of photos.

Blowing a gale and bloody snowing! Where the hell is spring?

@Jimmyneutronsforehead enjoy your seed sowing and time with precious DDog. I’ve done nothing in the garden but I volunteer on a Sunday afternoon at a local animal/ wildlife place and it was gorgeous today to see all these tropical flowers pushing through the ground and the spring flowers crocus etc all pushing up and in beautiful flower. Let’s hope next week warms up!

Hello all
What a fantastic idea for a thread.

I potted on some hostas that I’m looking after for my mum, I planted up a couple of perennials that I bought from the garden centre a couple of weeks ago and have been sitting patiently waiting on the garden table, I checked on my seedlings and watered over wintered plants in the greenhouse and starts sweeping but it was too cold to do it for long.

We are planning on moving house this summer so ive sown probably less tomatoes than ive sown in 20 years. Just 10 Red.Alert bush tomatoes and 10 Peiping Chieh which is a variety that specifically do better with very little attendance other than not letting them dry out. So those are sown and in my bedroom. Im not even putting the heat mat on this year.

I noticed the first signs of colour on my new hebe. The label says it should flower purple.
The potted mint is growing fairly vigorously already.
No signs of life on my hosta.
Rhododendrhon already past its best.

Ordered a "patio knife" to get on top of the weeds.

First tulips are out. Not in my garden however but in some pots I did for my DM.

I must be the opposite end of the country to you. It was windy here but otherwise a sunny day until late afternoon.

I did some weeding in my back garden. Dug up the foxgloves and snapdragons which have self seeded there and replanted them in the front garden.

i emptied last years compost from seed trays ready to refill with new seed compost. Swept up leaves from the beech hedge which I’m having reduced in height and width soon. I haven’t had it cut for about 15 years.

I was immoderately delighted by the evening's rain.

Just after lunch I looked at the packet of lawn after-cut stuff I had, to nourish the grass and knacker the moss. 'Apply when rain is imminent', said the packet.
I consulted at the forecast and shot out at speed, mowed the lawn, applied the stuff to the mossier and sadder bits of the lawn and then walked the dogs. Soon after I got home, down came the rain.

✅Lawn mown.
✅Stuff applied.
✅Dry dog walk.
✅Rain as promised.

Usually my gardening efforts are less successful (and attended by slugs, scale insects, hail and gales), so I'm, making the most of this one.

I feel like we experienced the 4 seasons in South Yorkshire today although very fast turn around.

At about 5pm there was a sudden rain after sunshine which turned into a bit of sleet or rain with a very icy chill to it for 10 minutes and then it stopped and got very sunny again.

DDog spent what will likely be his last day in the garden today, and it's sort of become a tradition to buy a tree or plant in remembrance of our late loved pets, although for our last dog we just sow some forget me nots, so I'm not sure what to do for our old boy. He is very special indeed, but we are quite space limited.

@Jimmyneutronsforehead sorry to hear about DDog. I have lost 2 cats in the last 2 years. And indeed the forget me nots I planted should flower this year. I have a thread on them. My plan is to dry some of the flowers and save them in a mini picture frame.

Tribute to my late cats: Forget me Nots | Mumsnet

That's a really beautiful idea.

On one of the older threads somebody posted a picture of a miniature flower press they had been made and I've often been thinking about pressing the little flowers to make little pictures or to put in a locket. I think I shall have to get a move on and do that this year.

DDog has had as lovely of a day as we could have made it and I think what I shall do for him is make a dedicated pollinator pot, one of those big barrel type ones, because he used to love laying in the flowers and getting crawled on by alsorts of insects. His fur was like a zoo for minibeasts, sounds cute when he's outside but not so cute when you're inside and an earwig crawls out. I think a lovely big pollinator spot fits him well and there's space for it where his favourite sunbathing spot is.

I was hoping to mow the lawn this week as we are "promised" good weather for at least three days but out with a friend on Saturday, she said don't mow the lawn before the 22nd March, apparently if it is frosty it can stunt the growth and damage the grass. I didn't know this.

I am now going to leave it until after that date and I bet it blasted well rains around that time now.

Have more tulips out, one which does not resemble the picture on the pack when I bought them which is rather disappointing but never mind. The forget me nots are now looking more noticeable in the border, I also have a round pot with them in with dwarf daffs/narcissi which is in memory of my cat who was PTS in 2023. The forget me nots were a packet of seeds from the vets and I keep it going each year, last summer I bought a sleeping cat statue which is in front of the pot, it's my tribute to Rufus who loved sleeping in the garden. Bless him. 😻

So sorry about your DDog @Jimmyneutronsforehead the pot as a tribute sounds very appropriate and a lovely way to remember him.

Yesterday the plan was to get the vet out today, because there's no way he can be moved without being in significant distress.

Today, he's still with us, but the vet might not become a necessity. He is calm and comfortable, but given both his smell, and his breathing I think he will be making his own exit. We're going to give it a few hours and make sure he stays comfortable, and if he shows any signs of discomfort or distress we'll have the vet straight out. He's on their radar anyway from a call we made this weekend about what to watch out for, so we're hoping for as smoother transition out of this world as he had coming in.

I've been looking at different seeds because I find the wildflower and pollinator packs you get that are pre-mixed just never seem to give that sort of pizazz that they show on the front, so I'm going to make my own seed mix, and I think having the children help with the pollinator garden will help give them some closure too. I saw a lovely video for a frog hotel DIY that I'd love to incorporate into it as we do get a lot of stray frogs from the field across the road.

@Jimmyneutronsforehead sorry to hear about Ddog. I hope he does pass calmly in his own time at home.

Saturday was a great day for gardening in the central south bit of England I'm in. It was chilly & a bit breezy but sunny and dry.

I planted some alpines in the pebbled strip that runs alongside the garden shed. This faces due west and gets infested with weeds constantly, so I'm hoping that I can get some alpines to thrive and will have to do less weeding.

By the end of the day, the grass was dry enough for me to do my second mow of this year with the mower still on the highest setting (after I picked up the fox shit). I did more weeding and then just before dusk I spread lawn feed and moss killer. I also blocked the obvious hole that the fox has dug under the fence to try and stop it shitting on my lawn.

I got some ericacious fertilizer for the camellia and other acidic plants. Clearly the camellia isn't going to flower now this year, but hopefully with some love it will produce next year.

I've marked out the small rectangle at the rear of the garden where I'm going to put a small seating area. I plan to dig this out myself use the gravel that the previous owners had spread on the beds as hardcore. I want to replant the beds and was wondering what I was going to do with all the gravel and now I have a solution! It is going to take me quite a while, but there is no rush and I will enjoy it. If anyone has ever laid a patio, I'm all ears on tips.

We also have a gravel surplus. It's been used down the side of the house as a small gravel garden but really it is just sitting their ornamentally until I've found another purpose for it. It does come in handy for helping to level some bases occasionally or weigh things down so they don't blow away.

@Jimmyneutronsforehead having the forget me nots in a locket is a lovely idea! Maybe I will do that as well/instead of the picture frame.

Sending love to Ddog and hoping he passes peacefully.

The forget me nots are sort of a metaphor for my cats themselves! In that I was so scared to put the plant outside in case it died. A bit like I was nervous the first time any of my cats went outside! But I always took the view that I had to let them be the cats they wanted to be. My current boy is a former stray so there's 0% chance he would ever be a housecat!

My brother has got a cat that he named Peanut. Peanut had kidney failure and so my brother took Peanut to the vets and the vet asked if he wanted PTS or if he wanted pain medication and to let her pass at home.

He chose the latter.

This cat was the most skittish, indoor cat. Wouldn't let anybody near her, very aloof, weary of open windows.

One day Peanut decided to venture outside which sent my brother into a panic and she didn't return for 4 days.

When Peanut did return, it was like she was a changed cat. Possibly quite literally, because not only did the cat that returned not have organ failure, but had received a full personality transplant too. Loves being picked up, loves venturing outside, greets strangers, doesn't run away.

My brother insists this is the same cat, and he can tell because he knows what his cat looks like, but I've decided that isn't Peanut. That is Walnut, and Walnut has been enjoying getting high off of kitty pain killers.

I hope Ddog is peaceful today. We have planned for a large flagpole ornamental cherry at the bottom of the garden and our dogs will go there when the time comes.

I have done a light bit of weeding in the pots on the decking and unpacked a box from the garage (we only moved in a year ago!) and found some binoculars we can take to the allotment.

@Jimmyneutronsforehead reminds me of that James Herriot bit with the budgie that dies and he just buys another one except this one sings and the owner calls him an amazing vet!

My friends had a Labrador and the wife took out John for a walk (they never put a collar on him unless walking him) and came home and John was on the sofa next to her husband - it transpires their new neighbour who backed on to them had a hole under the fence and had moved in and was anxiously searching for Buddy the Labrador - the dogs got on so well Buddy and John that they left the hole and John and Buddy played together every day for years ❤️

Hope it’s ok to post for advice on here. I have some penstemon and a Salvia I’d like to ask advice about. How far should I cut back ( if at all) the penstemon ? And how do I get this salvia to grow bushy? Ive got rid of some white tall daisy plant around it. Also what’s the plant in the bag? I’ve kept a patch but want to give this away via Facebook. Thankyou!

The Penstemon - After the last frost at least into April you can cut it back to just above the first green shoots. So cut it hard but not below the new growth.

Salvia are quite forgiving I have two large ones in pots give it a nice hair cut and it will spread widthways.