What did you do in your garden today?

[Black_Thumb]

I cut the grass today. It looks very nice when cut but a closer look reveals all the weeds. I put down Scott's Weed and Feed and the weeds laughed at it. NOTHING is dying in terms of weeds. The wild violets certainly could care less about it. I didn't deal with those in time because being that it's our first time seeing what our new yard will yield, I wasn't prepared to deal with them early on.

I'm still planning on getting some beneficial nematodes for the backyard. Each time I dig up certain areas, I find lots of grubs. I'm also finding long and hearty earthworms and nightcrawlers as well. Those I don't mind. They aerate the soil.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Rained here too yesterday morning 1/2".

I just got up and made my first cuppa, I was dreaming about rain. Of course it hasn't rained, it hasn't rained for ages, there is no rain forecast, three of my water tanks are empty, soon the lawn will be turning brown. This is England in April, and there are still climate change deniers.
Did little in the garden other than lose a few weeds, bought some runner bean seed, careless, let my saved ones go mouldy, and some cucumber seeds, I had some from last year, but only one germinated and then promptly died

 

[Sean Regan]

Still dry but a bit overcast and colder.

Went to the garden centre for another Apta pot.

Decided to get the largest size, (£50) which was fortunate as the plastic pots would not fit in the ones that the roses are in.

This is an azalea I bought last year, but really didn't have a place for it other than on the steps outside the French windows.

I put a block of wood in the bottom and the pot sits on a saucer on that. It only just goes in.


Thirty-five years ago I built this six inch high plinth outside the front door, of bricks, concrete, bits of crazy York stone and capped with some paving stones.
This was to make it easier for my wife to get in and out the front door using her crutches. It would be a far too great a "step up" for her without the plinth.

There will be an opportunity to swop the azalea with any of the four roses in the green plastic pots along here.

Sorted out the euonymus.

Bit of a pain as it was hard to move it back without losing a lot of the foliage, but it does give the rockery a bit more "air."

So a bit of pruning and more dragging back towards the fence with wires.

My work was watched closely by "Rocky" our Robin.

Gave this acer palmatum a bit of a haircut. Pruned off "sticky up" branches that would never turn down. some btanches are still sticking out. If I removed them there'd be a "hole." Over the next few weeks they'll turn down with their own weight.

This one just needed "its hem shortening" with shears. It'll give the grass under it a bit more light. The seed I put down has taken well, a month ago it was almost bare, still a way to go yet in its recovery.

 

[KGun12]

@Sean Regan how big is your garden?! Every time you post a pic it looks so whimsical!

 

[Sean Regan]

@Sean Regan how big is your garden?! Every time you post a pic it looks so whimsical!

Thanks for the interest.

Ours is a small semi built in 1965. It was built in the same format as the other eighty houses in a U shaped crescent, by the same builder.
Our house is on the inside of the crescent and has a garden the same size as the house behind ours.
The garden is 85ft long. The end of the drive, the area of the patio, the space taken up by the garage and shed, cuts down to getting on for two thirds of the garden to only 18ft wide.
The last part is 30ft wide but the tea-house occupies about 140 sqare feet in the bottom right hand corner.

I designed it with different features to make the small size less noticeable

If an area of land the same size as this "mini estate" became available in this country in similar suburban area of a major city, no one would be getting an 85ft long garden. Gardens of new builds locally, are tiny, so developers can cram in more houses.

 

[Black_Thumb]

Gave this acer palmatum a bit of a haircut.

They are looking fantastic!! I'm really enjoying watching the progress with each post! Have a most excellent Friday and weekend!

 

[Neno Baylov]

Rooster and plum.

Pacho, checking the new plum in the garden, makes the final decision whether it will grow with us.

 

[Sean Regan]

Didn't do much other than a bit of watering as it hasn't rained for a week.

I did secure the new pot with a couple of screws in the 6" square block of wood through the drain hole, into the front door plinth.
Not because I thought it could get stolen, (it's not that sort of neighbourhood, lots of big ceramic pots in front gardens in our road) but because it could get knocked off by the hose when I'm dragging it round to water the front garden. If it fell over, it'd break.

 

[Black_Thumb]

I pulled a bunch more dandelions this morning in the inside of the horseshoe shape of our raised beds. It was a veritable dandelion jungle. Sadly, once I got done pulling the dandelions, there was nothing left but dirt, so I reseeded the area and just got done watering it. We are in for about four days of rain beginning tomorrow, so I wanted to get that seed down and settled into the soil a bit.

I am attaching a couple of photos because I don't think I've shared a photo of my yard. You can see the horseshoe shaped raised beds behind me. We have three more up by the house, and I'll be putting in more maybe later this summer; just not sure yet. You can see a part of the backyard here. There is a little more to the left and to the right of me, and the front yard is about as big as the back.

This is a portion of the front yard. There is quite a bit to the right from where I'm standing and also an entire section on the other side of the driveway to my left. The trees are Dogwood trees and we have seen probably a dozen species of birds so far that come to eat at our feeders.

I'm excited to get the weeds out of the yard (for the most part) and get a nice thick and lush yard. It'll take some time though, but I enjoy it!

I hope everyone is having an awesome day! Be well and I'll catch you next time!

 

[Black_Thumb]

Oh, I forgot to post these earlier. This is spinach and romaine lettuce from one of the raised beds by our house. My lovely bride made a fresh lettuce with our Atlantic Salmon for dinner and it was divine!!

 

[Sean Regan]

I did a bit of weeding along the back of the main border. I get grass from next door's garden creeping under the concrete base panels of the fence. It was noticeable that the back of the border was a bit dry, so watering will be needed later on today.

"Tarted up" the 6ft concrete pagoda. It sits on three Corporation paving stones. The roofs needed a bit of fresh grey paint in places. But I didn't bother with anything else. I like it to look a bit weathered, which it is, being now 35 years since I made it.

Everything in the garden is progressing.

There's a Sorbus tree next to the pagoda. It has a lot of blooms coming, these will be followed by bunches of red berries.

The wisteria on the pergola on the back of the house is in full bloom almost, it'll start losing some petals soon.

The white blooms on the other pergola are starting to open.

This wisteria on the fence won't be as prolific this year as it was last year, but it has had the same sort of cycle for over thirty years..

This odd looking one, originally I trained up a tall tree stump but it rotted away from the base, it's now tied to a redundant tall bird feeder.

The front garden is making an effort, the rhodos and azaleas are starting to come out and the tree will become pinker before it goes completely green. Even the grass under the azaleas is recovering.

 

[Black_Thumb]

Was walking the perimeter of my yard and saw this vine. No idea what kind it is but it goes up 30 feet and tangles into the huge tree.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Went to visit my daughter today, so nothing in my garden. She has a garden that is totally concrete or decking, but grows lots of stuff in pots and bags, so I took her a couple of tomatoes, a couple of summer broccoli, several lobelias, one each of three different chilies, and several large pots.

 

[Black_Thumb]

We planted several trees a few weeks back. They are starting to bud now! I also pulled some more nasty weeds and did some overseeding in an "experimental" area of my yard to see if it'll work. I want to buy a tow-behind aerator and a dethatcher as well. My soil is clay, clay, and more clay, and it's very hard to work with.

I mixed up some more homemade weed killer and sprayed more of the Bermuda grass invading near my raised beds and along my driveway. The stuff is relentless and pert near impossible to eradicate. The methods recommended are just not feasible for me. The battle continues.....

 

[Sean Regan]

It rained last night so the garden was still quite wet this morning, so I did other jobs.

Cleaned the car, golf clubs, golf trolley and golf shoes.

But I did have an "aphid check" of the roses and found none.

Our tallest azalea is making quite a statement.

The roses are starting to come out too.