What did you do in your garden today?

[DirtMechanic]

We are 13 inches above normal for rain this year. I have done little today because amazingly its raining again.

 

[Sheal]

There's been flooding in many parts of Britain over the last few months. The rain has been incessant and doesn't look like ceasing any time soon. It's been snowing here all day in my part of Britain's soggy world.

 

[Sean Regan]

Too wet for golf, course closed.
Too wet for gardening.

Looking for something to do, so did a totally unnecessary job in the room at the back of the garage, which used to be the koi pool filter room.

"I spent hours getting rid of some wires."

I reduced the number of sockets above the washbasin to two doubles. The others used to power a lot of koi pool equipment.
The yellow plug was for the fluorescent over the quarantine tank, (where our garden chairs are stored now, we keep an old fitted sheet over them), so I connected the supply to that of the inset 60 watt lamp in the middle of the ceiling of this room, so it comes on now with the light switch. So the yellow plug and its wire have gone.

The wire above the tiles to the right of the basin comes down from the void above the ceiling and is the low voltage supply to the fountain, it is connected to the consumer unit in the garage.
Plug number 1 in this photo, its transformer is above it.The switches for all three sockets are in the lounge.

it disappears under the decking and out through some alkathene pipe to the former koi pool sump and then up to the fountain.
I decided to hide it by running the wire through some trunking down the wall in the corner of the room, behind the little fridge, ceiling to floor.
This meant the cupboard had to temporarily come off the wall and part of the floor decking come up whilst I did it.

The fridge is now connected to the sockets on the other side of the room and the wire is hidden in white trunking along the bottom of the windows.

So now the only socket in permanent use over the basin is the one for the kettle.

Three of the sockets on this other wall are now in use for the fridge and the two freezers.

A fourth one is for one of these, a radio cassette player. It sits on a tray on top of the freezers. It's been in the garage since 1986 and still works.

This leaves me a double socket on each side of the room, the one over the sink I can use to connect "stuff" I'm using in the garden as the side door is next to the sink, the spare on the other side is handy for the vacuum cleaner.


So a very productive day..."doing naff-all."

 

[Sean Regan]

Rain early on but it's stopped now.
Can't do anything other than a walk round.
Our mimosa in the big tub on the patio is in flower. We lost a few blooms with the winds.

The first of our three quinces on the side fence has blossom, it's always the first, the orange and red follow.

Some "mini daffodils"(and some moss).

The roses are doing well in their pots on the new patio. This patio drains quickly never any puddles despite being below the original pool collar. It's sitting on 20 tonnes of eco-friendly fine hardcore so the rainwater passes quickly through it and then through holes I drilled in the concrete base five feet below.

The phlox on the rockery is "rampant" I'll drag some of it away from the rocks later, as they are completely obscured by it.

The evidence of a few hours of work in this room, wouldn't look any different to anyone else.

That sad looking Santon water heater must be fifty years old. I acquired it from my company's works department for a couple of quid in 1986. It had come from a shop they were refitting. It's on its own mini-breaker on the new consumer unit, so if it ever shorts out, it won't affect the other supplies.

This is a bit tidier. The cassette radio was a "freebee" from one of my suppliers when I was working, it's not something I would have bought myself, but maybe it was the inspiration for me getting my "real" jukeboxes 20 years later.

 

[Sean Regan]

I found homes for three of the four clematis we bought from Taylor's. Struggling at the moment to find a home for the last.
Tidied up this Mayleen that trails over the front door, ready for when it leafs out. Difficult in that it doesn't want to trail, so a bit of pruning. (Taken last May).

If it stays dry I'll cut the lawn tomorrow. I'll also give the roses a spray. There's fifteen in ceramic pots on the two patios and three in the borders. Plus another six in pots in "the avenue of shame." (I call it that as they are ones my wife doesn't like, but it would be a shame to dump them). They are in plastic pots along the side fence of the drive.

 

[Sean Regan]

A bright morning , full sun, not a cloud in the sky. So spent two hours out there, not too cold. Mowed both lawns and did a lot of clearing up. A lot of loose moss, leaves, twigs off next door's trees, etc., on the paths and patios, Cleaned out the bird bath.
The moss on the lawn is the worst I've seen, not surprising given the amount of rain we've had. Gave it a dose of iron sulphate. I'll order some more on eBay.
The garden doesn't look too bad if you don't look too closely.

Even "the avenue of shame" is coming along.

I found a home for the last clematis, in the corner of this bed under the back kitchen window. It'll get enough sun her and I'll train it up wires against this wall.

 

[Andrew_]

Took a random pillar out this morning

This was a fun surprise

Only 2 more to go...

 

[Sean Regan]

Took a random pillar out this morning

View attachment 61491

This was a fun surprise

View attachment 61492

Only 2 more to go...

Well done.

What was it for?

It least you could dismantle it brick by brick.

Your grass looks very healthy


I had a bigger problem with this tree stump.

The tree died about twenty years ago and I cut it down to about eight feet and grew a wisteria up it.

Twelve years ago it rotted at the base and became dangerous. So I "unwound" the wisteria and rocked it out. I then had to cut it up to get it in the boot of my car and take it down to the tip.

I replaced it with an old bird feeder stand and wound the wisteria back up it.

Last year. They are very resilliant.

 

[Giri]

I used to hate Monday mornings.This morning I was up just after eight, had a fox´s breakfast, donned boots and waterproof hat and ventured outside. A cloudy morning for a change and signs of a light shower rapidly disappearing, so I set off down the winding path to the public footpath which bisects the garden, about 100 feet below the house.
Spring flowers are erupting everywhere, buds are appearing and the grass is turbo-charged — reaching the footpath I could see 10 blooms on the Arum Lilies, which may fall prey to a passing ¨admirer.¨ I try and take it as a compliment.

Checking the level of water in the concrete well, I could see that the stream, or acequia, which runs mostly underground, was a very satisfactory torrent — someone from the pueblo must have been up the canyon and raised the sluice-gate. Villagers have a rota for tending the acequias, and since I´m the highest house in the canyon I am first to use the water, so I need to get my lower garden watered as early as possible.
Having said that, I only divert about a quarter of the acequia, and half an hour sees the lower garden nicely flooded.

There are avocados down there which like a lot of water, oranges and lemons both bearing fruit, a feijoa which will just be waking up, and chestnut trees line the footpath.
With the high water level it was not necessary to build the temporary dams to raise the water through my sluice gates, and since I got the channels cleared of leaves and chestnuts there was no work to do with the hoe either, except to act as my third leg on the climb back up to the house for a pot of coffee.

When I´d got my breath back and fortified myself with caffeine, I stuck my head out of the kitchen door, and sure enough, the other acequia which serves the upper terraces, had begun to flow. I´m the last in line on this acequia, and can use it whenever it flows.
Half way down the upper garden there´s a gully leading up to the sluice gate, scrambling up I stuck my plank in the concrete slot to dam the flow, lined it with a large plastic bag and opened my gate. It serves two channels which loop around the terraces before merging and returning to the river below. Since the flow was on the small side I treated each loop separately, which worked with all the trees except the last avocado, which I´ve given its own hose feed from a tank on the roof of the outhouse.

We are hoping for some rain today, but the clouds are breaking, the sun is having an occasional peep through, and the little bit of rain earlier will have satisfied the flowers, while the trees have had a good soaking.
So apart from shutting one hose and opening another, that´s the last the garden will see of me today, lunch, siesta, guitar class and the pub afterwards is the plan.

 

[Sean Regan]

I did some weeding then pruned off the last of the dead wood on our two acer palmatums. I take some off in December each year, but leave bits that I'm not sure are dead. But by now there's small buds on all the live wood, the bits I was unsure about have gone white so could come off.
I gave everything a feed including the lawn. All this recent rain will have washed a lot of nutrients through the patio pots and the borders.

I'm completely up to date with everything. Although I need to replace a couple of hebes. One looks dead, the other half dead.

It's the two inside ones in the two wooden troughs. The troughs I bought to go either side of the teahouse steps, but when these hebes are in bloom my wife can't see them from the house.


I might have a trip out to Dobies tomorrow and buy a couiple of replacements.
.

The half-dead one I'll find a place for down at the bottom of the garden to give it a chance.

 

[Andrew_]

Well done.

What was it for?

It least you could dismantle it brick by brick.

Your grass looks very healthy

Cheers. First thing i did last summer(first summer in the house) was try and sort out the grass. It's getting there. Needs a cut.

Not entirely sure why the pillars were put up. Still a couple more to get rid of. Hoping they are as easy as the one on Saturday. Dismantling the bricks was ok, the pole cemented into a giant rock took a bit of time to get out.

There's also a small wall at the front of the garden i need to take down. Will have around 1000 bricks lying around once it's all taken apart that i'll need to get rid of/find a use for. I am thinking of a new wider edging on the left, so may use the bricks for that. Would also like to take the paving on the right away and put something going through the middle instead.

Thinking new border for here also.

 

[Sean Regan]

A quick trip to Dobies Garden Centre for a couple of new hebes today. The small ones at the end of the troughs. The variety is Caladonia.
No change out of twenty-six quid. Plants are so expensive these days.

Mind you, isn't everything? I've just ordered a new pair of Ecco casual shoes on-line, as they say, "they cost an arm and a leg," but I like the brand, they're very comfortable.

 

[Sean Regan]

Nothing today, apart from a walk arouind. I keep checking on the roses as we got a lot of black spot last year, so I'll be giving them regular sprays.
All are showing healthy growth, but the established ones more than the newbies.

We'll be knee deep everywhere in bluebells again this year. If I disturb any when planting stuff, I bin them, we have that many. They look nice in bloom, but afterwards the leaves go very slimey, so I clear them as soon as possible, but it's a hands and knees job as they are under everything.

The rhodos never let me down. Lots of fat buds on them all and the leaves look very healthy.

I have to keep an eye on this sambucus, black fly love it. In past years I've come out into the garden and found it completely covered in blackfly and very limp. It seems to happen overnight. It's happened twice in the last twelve years. It's then a question of wiping down all the foliage by hand whilst spraying it with a hose. A time consuming job. But it is very resiliant, it completely recovered overnight each time.

I prune it back to this size each Autumn.

The mimosa is in full bloom, it lasts for weeks.

Whilst I was in Dobies on Tuesday buying two expensive hebes, I looked at the lawn rakes, the one I've had for a few decades is now "short of prongs," after a lot of use over the winter. They had quite a selection with nice polished hardwood handles, prices ranged from £25 to £35. I didn't bother. Out shopping this morning, I bought this in Wilko's. It has a plastic coated steel handle. It was £7. I doubt if the leaves will notice any difference.

Wilko Carbon Steel Leaf Rake | Wilko

Shop for Wilko Carbon Steel Leaf Rake at wilko - where we offer a range of home and leisure goods at great prices.

www.wilko.com

 

[Andrew_]

Trying to find a use for all the bricks so might go with them for a border. Laid out to see earlier. Looks ok.

 

[Sean Regan]

Trying to find a use for all the bricks so might go with them for a border. Laid out to see earlier. Looks ok.

View attachment 61645

Seems like a plan.

If youi're going to cement these in, you might want to put in some drain holes to let any water on the patio drain into the bed, if the fall is in that direction.