What did you do in your garden today?

[Sean Regan]

I've given myself a bit of a day off today.
Just had a tour round, checking on progress.
It's going to be another bumper year for blooms on all our wisterias.

There's a few hundred on this one.

and this.

I remembered to put this square of weldmesh over this peony we've had for decades. I let it grow through the mesh then drag it up and support it on canes, so it doesn't flop and you can't see the mesh for foliage. It's fighting its way through the bluebells.

I'm please with the progress of our euonymus on the side fence. It's over thirty years old..
Until two years ago it was "split" by this huge conifer.

When we closed the koi pool we had it taken down.

I wired branches of the euonymus encouraging them to grow to completely close the five foot gap left by the conifer.

We're nearly there.

 

[UrbanWild]

I dug out the last of the drift roses that either succumbed to Rose Rosette Disease or were in the process. They were next to the sidewalk and mainly there to deter dogs and people (the latter being more harmful).

I then planted 14 smallish gooseberry plants (two varieties from DeGroot) to take their place. Hoping for great growth! I planted 7 gooseberry 'Hinnomaki Red' and 7 gooseberry 'Oregon Champion'. I had one additional 'Hinnomaki Red' but it was DOA. I got them all from Tractor Supply. I'm hoping they work out. The site has the majority of the hot afternoon sun and is right next to the concrete.

Then we had to replant a few dozen large daffodils and a lot of ground level succulents in the bare areas.

It was blustery winds and light rain all day so we got a little wet and a lot covered in mud. I'm just about to take a HOT shower and go do errands so we can be back early and continue bingewatching Boardwalk Empire. We're near the end of season 2.

 

[GneissPlace]

I sowed some pole beans, planted some marigolds and squashed a cutworm! Oh and I gave my tomato seedlings 3 hours outside in the big world of sunshine and breezey days.

 

[UrbanWild]

LOTS of weeding today. Getting containers ready for planting. Used the hole saw on containers that didn't have drainage. Mixing up soils.

Thursday/Fri/&Mon nights are forecast within frost range. That is changing up the prep this week. Also might have to whisk new plants back down to the cellar rather than get them in the ground. Just days ago the forecast had everything above 50F.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

According to some so called X-PERTS, due to the pandemic, last year too many veg. garden suppliers were in short supply. I got a head start this year and ended up with way too many plants and I can't even get our daughter to take any, so now i'm having to build more open top green house tomato and pepper cages. I'd better stop talking and begin more doing because i have a few to go, like maybe 6 or 8.

 

[Sean Regan]

I s'ppose I could call this sort of gardening.

Apart fron the ten ornamental lights and three sets of fairy lights controlled by the switches behind the lounge curtains, we've seven PIR security lights around the house. Two on the front, spot and porch, two on the side of the house and three in the garden.

One of the two on the side of the house gave up the ghost a few days ago. They are of the same design, "specially made in China for B & Q."
Unfortunately, they aren't "specially made" any more.

So I decided to replace both. Instead of halogen I've gone for 60 watt conventional ES lamps. They're really just so I can find my way to the bins of a night from the front door. We don't use the door in the kitchen, the space in front of it is taken up by the necessary bins for non-recyclable, paper and plastic and glass we have to keep in the house.

I got the new lights on eBay, they are quite well made. Two for £36. They arrived this afternoon.

 

[zigs]

Finished putting the path down in the shade tunnel and added 3 ferns to the small fernery at the back

 

[Tetters]

Rebuilt Steve the scarecrow and put him on Sentry duty on Tetters new flowerbed View attachment 78167

Well that is not 'Steve' His name is ''Wilson'' ...... AND his bum has dropped off, his face is non existent, and he`s facing the wrong way.
When I have got him sorted out, I may just have to post another picture for you.

 

[Sheal]

Looks like you may be in the doghouse @zigs. Your rebuild of Steve/Wilson obviously isn't up to the expected standard.

 

[zigs]

Looks like you may be in the doghouse @zigs. Your rebuild of Steve/Wilson obviously isn't up to the expected standard.

I'm off fishing with him

 

[Tetters]

How can Wilson go fishing? He has no bum, no legs, no face and no brain - poor sod .....

 

[UrbanWild]

Bob?

 

[Sean Regan]

How can Wilson go fishing? He has no bum, no legs, no face and no brain - poor sod ..... View attachment 78321

With what many imagine happens next (the comments below the video go on forever), I bet Chuck never gives Wilson another thought.

 

[Sean Regan]

I ripped out the rotting decorative panels in the balustrade of the old koi pool pergola. They were worse than I thought, the water had seeped through most of the laminations. I then cleaned up the rails and gave them a coat of clear Cuprinol. They are decking balustrade rails, so are quite sound.
But where the panels had been it was still a bit of a mess. So I've put new framing in today, this will need painting.

I've still not decided about replacing the panels. It needs to be solid wood, not plywood. Even with the new frames the panels would have to be 9.5" tall. Timber that wide doesn't come cheap and more to the point it is likely to be a lot thicker than plywood, so might be beyond the scope of my jigsaw.

 

[Sean Regan]

I've given the new wood in the pergola a couple of coats of Dulux, it may get one nmore and the rest a single coat. At the moment I can't be bothered with replacing the panels, I don't think it looks too bad as it is.

The rest of the morning was taken up with mowing and generally tidying up. I've just ordered a new Flymo Strimmer, fifty quid on eBay, free postage, here for Tuesday. My old one must be fifteen years old and the bearings are very worn.

Some weeding still to be done and tying up of clematis. I'll do that this afternoon.

This quince on the side fence is doing very well.

Wisteria blossom nearly there.

I'm pleased that the nearest of our two acers in pots in the foreground in pots has responded to my wiring it at the end of last summer, it had a couple of droopy branches, I've been able to take the wire away now as it has returned to a more symetrical shape.

Likewise at the same time, vour big acer palmatum, this too had two droopy branches, I put two large canes three feet apart and a strong wire between them to lift the branches up. They've responded in the same way.

We've some frog spawn in the little pond, just one clump. When we had the koi pool, frogs would hide over winter in the folds in the corners of the liner. So some years this little pond would be completely covered in spawn. So I guess there'ds far fewetr frogs in our garden these days, mind you we still got them when there was no water in the garden at all.