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That's a shame.
We've been really lucky here this year. Last year, a late frost put everything back two or thee weeks.
What did you do in your garden today?
- Thread starter JBtheExplorer
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That's a shame.
We've been really lucky here this year. Last year, a late frost put everything back two or thee weeks.
The climate throughout Europe is changing, there is snow in Spain, there are big anomalies.
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Another one is to use a plug to make a circle, put a sheet of plastic over it, stand a pot in it, and trim the plastic off round the edge. Pot saucers are pretty dear. If I am putting it somewhere visible I use a bit of green hose pipe, I make the plastic sheet from an opened up plastic bag, so I pick a green bag. The blue pipe and orange bags are kept in the background.
I went back out and cut the back grass and moved the water butts, the missus was home late, held up by an accident and had to take the long way round to get past it, so I had time. There is a bit to finish off tomorrow, but basically it is done.
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Not a lot today.
Other than tying up a few clematis and taking the castors off the pot movers.
They are unlikely to be moved during the summer. Without the castors the pots on the movers are more stable as the rose foliage grows. The year before last when the castors were on, the strong winds blew over one pot and cracked it.
It's been a dry day so I'll get the hosepipe out this evening.
Other than tying up a few clematis and taking the castors off the pot movers.
They are unlikely to be moved during the summer. Without the castors the pots on the movers are more stable as the rose foliage grows. The year before last when the castors were on, the strong winds blew over one pot and cracked it.
It's been a dry day so I'll get the hosepipe out this evening.
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Thinned out the beetroot a bit and planted three extra rows with the thinnings. Connected up the water butts, not a perfect job, but if it rains I should catch it, then carried a fair bit of water from the butts on the patio to steady the empty ones as wind seems more likely than rain. Moving them away from the greenhouse has increased the light in there immensely. Planted some old saved seed from Crimson King basil, it is probably to old to work, but it is worth a try, it's a lovely plant. I have a new basil growing this year, Around Midnight, supposed to be blue and drooping for hanging baskets. Watered stuff, I am mostly using water on pots and in the greenhouse, but it is still crazy that I could empty two butts in April, what happened to "the sweet Spring showers, going on for hours and hours" ? Planted some shallots, some went in a month ago and are looking good, hopefully this will give a bit of succession.
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Big jobs today, were reorganising and tidying the garage and shed. I only got the garage done. The shed will have to wait until tomorrow.
I'm pretty much up to date, apart from weeding the rockery which I might do tomorrow after the shed.
I did make a quick trip to the local garden centre for some compost and another clematis to replace one which has failed to appear this year.
It was for the back corner of this small bed. It has a wisteria, part of which climbs over the fence and along the side of the house and another branch grows under the kitchen window and up past the trellis to join the other wisterias on the pergola.
The bed is full of cyclamen, some bluebells and there's an Amber clematis on the fence. There's also a jasmine that I cut right back near the door, but it will grow rapidly over the next few months.
The new clematis is called Bernadine
Hopefully it will grow and fill the gap under the kitchen window. There's wires for it to climb along.
This area only gets the sun in the late afternoon.
Our cascading wisterias on this pergola are doing well, I was doubtful about a few branches, as a few weeks ago they showed no sign of growth, but they all have buds on now. So we'll have some blooms for longer than usual.
I'm pretty much up to date, apart from weeding the rockery which I might do tomorrow after the shed.
I did make a quick trip to the local garden centre for some compost and another clematis to replace one which has failed to appear this year.
It was for the back corner of this small bed. It has a wisteria, part of which climbs over the fence and along the side of the house and another branch grows under the kitchen window and up past the trellis to join the other wisterias on the pergola.
The bed is full of cyclamen, some bluebells and there's an Amber clematis on the fence. There's also a jasmine that I cut right back near the door, but it will grow rapidly over the next few months.
The new clematis is called Bernadine
Hopefully it will grow and fill the gap under the kitchen window. There's wires for it to climb along.
This area only gets the sun in the late afternoon.
Our cascading wisterias on this pergola are doing well, I was doubtful about a few branches, as a few weeks ago they showed no sign of growth, but they all have buds on now. So we'll have some blooms for longer than usual.
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I potted up my courgette, runner bean, chilli and tomato seedlings so they are in thier final home before being planted outside in late May.
Me and my fella have also weeded and jet washed the back garden! See before and after pics, hard work but we are pleased!
Me and my fella have also weeded and jet washed the back garden! See before and after pics, hard work but we are pleased!
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Tidied and cleaned the shed I built in 1976, from reclaimed materials including two wooden windows, orginally to house our eight year-old daughter's increasing purchases of rabbits and guineapigs, they were in two banks of hutches. Although it's been used for gardening equipment for over 35 years, we still call it "The Rabbit Shed."
There's no spare space in here.
The box on the right contains two full bags of compost, but it's on a dolly I made with big castors, so easy to drag out.
I keep the bird food in here as the shed is "mouse proof."
No spare space anywhere,.
There's no spare space in here.
The box on the right contains two full bags of compost, but it's on a dolly I made with big castors, so easy to drag out.
I keep the bird food in here as the shed is "mouse proof."
No spare space anywhere,.
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I got to try out my new Ryobi 40-Volt weed trimmer! That thing is awesome! My yard is too big to be dragging an extension cord all over and I didn't want to have to deal with mixing gas and oil and all that. So, I bought this Ryobi and it's great! My next purchase will be a mulching kit for my riding mower.
Pulled out a bunch more dandelions by hand today and am making a good dent in them! I have a long way to go though, because there are a lot more weeds to deal with.
I hope everyone is having, or had, a great weekend!
Pulled out a bunch more dandelions by hand today and am making a good dent in them! I have a long way to go though, because there are a lot more weeds to deal with.
I hope everyone is having, or had, a great weekend!
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Got taken to look at bathroom tiles today, but saw 1.5 kilo of seed potatoes in B&Q for 50p as a remainder, so planted some spuds when we got home. A bit late but I should get my 50p's worth 
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Gave the patio in front of the French windows a hose down and scrub with my deck scrubber, to remove the pigeon poo.
More tying up of clematis.
Checked on our "lollypop" acer in the front garden, the foliage is beginning to appear, it starts off pink and very pale green..
As is the blossom, hard to see as it's also pale green.
This was the camelia we kept of three which were originally in the centre bed. It's hiding behind a rhodo. There's never many blooms as I prune it to stop it growing any taller.
There's "a choice of blooms" white, pale pink, or red, all from the same plant.
The cascading blue wisterias are nearly all out. The white in the middle is still to come.
You can see here that I've taken the castors off the pot movers to make them more stable in the wind.
A tall rose actually got blown over on Saturday, but fortunately the pot didn't break. It was on the right hand side of the patio, but I've moved it to be next to the left pergola post.
You know you've got the pruning right, when there's no foliage as yet. But once the blooms have gone it will form a thick canopy above the French windows.
I'm pleased how rapidly the lawn is recovering, I'll give it a cut tomorrow. The several azaleas around this tub form a nice contrast, unfortunately, they don't all flower at the same time.
The first of the rhodos is out, it's always this one.
This azalea that is starting to come out must be eight feet tall now.
Th phlox on the rockery is starting to come out (so's the grass in it) hope to get into it tomorrow to remove the grass and expose the rocks more, there's some big ones in there.
More tying up of clematis.
Checked on our "lollypop" acer in the front garden, the foliage is beginning to appear, it starts off pink and very pale green..
As is the blossom, hard to see as it's also pale green.
This was the camelia we kept of three which were originally in the centre bed. It's hiding behind a rhodo. There's never many blooms as I prune it to stop it growing any taller.
There's "a choice of blooms" white, pale pink, or red, all from the same plant.
The cascading blue wisterias are nearly all out. The white in the middle is still to come.
You can see here that I've taken the castors off the pot movers to make them more stable in the wind.
A tall rose actually got blown over on Saturday, but fortunately the pot didn't break. It was on the right hand side of the patio, but I've moved it to be next to the left pergola post.
You know you've got the pruning right, when there's no foliage as yet. But once the blooms have gone it will form a thick canopy above the French windows.
I'm pleased how rapidly the lawn is recovering, I'll give it a cut tomorrow. The several azaleas around this tub form a nice contrast, unfortunately, they don't all flower at the same time.
The first of the rhodos is out, it's always this one.
This azalea that is starting to come out must be eight feet tall now.
Th phlox on the rockery is starting to come out (so's the grass in it) hope to get into it tomorrow to remove the grass and expose the rocks more, there's some big ones in there.
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Looks fantastic!!
Got rained out today, so I didn't get anything accomplished. We are getting possible freezing temperatures tonight, so I did at least cover my raised beds with some blankets. Tomorrow, if the rain holds off, I think we're going to plant our cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and onions in the ground. They are in pots in our basement right now. I also need to cut my grass again. Every four days and I have to cut it. I really enjoy it though!
Rained here too yesterday morning 1/2". Half inch of rain in a freshly tilled garden turns it into a mud bog. Almost had a frost here this morning so had my tomatoes covered up. I wear those water shoes when it gets muddy like that. 2" of mud on the boots feels like your wearing four pairs of boots.
I'm going to plant my peppers but I'm going to let my mud dry out a day or two first. You could have already planted the onions and carrots if they were ready. Don't forget about a possible blackberry winter. I looked at the 10 day weather and don't see one but they love to change the forcast as soon as I plant my stuff.
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Yesterday I dug all the grass out of the rockery, it was either that or convert it to another lawn.
Exposed some of the rocks by removing the moss with a wire brush then vaccing it up.
Gave everything a feed and water today.
Then tidied up this Mayleen in a big tub, that grows over our front door. Tied a few branches down. As usual I'll encourage it to "trail" down to the front door over the next few months.
I then tackled the Vax vacuum cleaner that I use in the garage. It has a retractable power cord, but it wasn't fully retracting so I took it to pieces and gave it the mechanism a squirt of WD40, which cured the problem.
Tomorrow I'm going to the garden centre to get another Apta green pot, like these.
The plan is to put it on the plinth in front of our front door on the right hand side under the porch light. It's for either a rose or an azalea, we've two or three spare in plastic pots. A case of putting the plastic pot in the glazed one, so we can ring the changes.
I'm also going to give this acer a "haircut."It's fully out now and I want to make it more uniform. It's a bit lopsided. There's a few branches that are growing the wrong way and the "hem" needs a trim. Too long and the grass next to the bricks goes mossy.
It needs to be more like this. I have to be careful as it's possible to leave "holes" in the canopy, as there's no depth in the foliage.
I'm also going to prune back the euonymus on the fence. It's growing out too far over the rockery.
Exposed some of the rocks by removing the moss with a wire brush then vaccing it up.
Gave everything a feed and water today.
Then tidied up this Mayleen in a big tub, that grows over our front door. Tied a few branches down. As usual I'll encourage it to "trail" down to the front door over the next few months.
I then tackled the Vax vacuum cleaner that I use in the garage. It has a retractable power cord, but it wasn't fully retracting so I took it to pieces and gave it the mechanism a squirt of WD40, which cured the problem.
Tomorrow I'm going to the garden centre to get another Apta green pot, like these.
The plan is to put it on the plinth in front of our front door on the right hand side under the porch light. It's for either a rose or an azalea, we've two or three spare in plastic pots. A case of putting the plastic pot in the glazed one, so we can ring the changes.
I'm also going to give this acer a "haircut."It's fully out now and I want to make it more uniform. It's a bit lopsided. There's a few branches that are growing the wrong way and the "hem" needs a trim. Too long and the grass next to the bricks goes mossy.
It needs to be more like this. I have to be careful as it's possible to leave "holes" in the canopy, as there's no depth in the foliage.
I'm also going to prune back the euonymus on the fence. It's growing out too far over the rockery.
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