What did you do in your garden today?

[Sean Regan]

Spent three hours today, mostly tidying up the wisterias, apart from pruning off dozens of new branches that can grow several inches a night I removed a lot of "bunching" foliage. What I removed nearly filled the green bin.

There's two here that cross in the middle, so there's "bunching" of new branches and foliage at each end of the pergola. I prefer an even distribution along its length so I removed a lot. There'll be a bit more thinning out between Christmas and New Year to keep it tidy.

With this one, it wants to grow out towards the lawn so I removed a few "clumps" that were growing out too far. I also took my lopper to some of the lower branches of next door's trees that were hanging over the fence.

Here there's three wisterias, they want to grow out over the garage and were producing too many branches for the "cascade" so I removed a few. There'll be more to thin out at the end of the year if the look like they won't produce any blooms.

The canopy is quite thick now.

This one just needed a few branches removed that were trying to grow up the wall. As I've pruned off a few dozen over the year, when I do the main prune I anticipate that we'll get a lot of blooms next year.

This one was spreading out too far, so I cut it back a bit.

The little acer in front of it will get another bit of a prune tomorrow

With all the wisterias I pruned off the straggly second blooms that you get this time of the year. They just make more work when the blossom falls.

I put off mowing the lawn for a couple of weeks until we were over the worst of the dry spell and we had some rain, so today was the ideal time. It hasn't suffered thast much in the heat.

 

[Amateur Gardener]

A skunk knocked over a tomato plant and digged out its roots. I'm going to have chop the plant entirely because it isn't staying upright. Skunk also knocked over several sunflowers.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Took out my mange-tout, they have done pretty well considering, but I am afraid the rain came to late for them. My broccoli too is just about over, that should have gone on for at least another month, maybe two, I'll hang on in case, at least it is green, the peas were brown and crispy.

 

[Sean Regan]

Another three hours today.
Picked the fruit off the quinces on the side fence. I do this before they fall, beats trying to fish them out from between the rhodos and azaleas. There's never many, as once they've bloomed I start pruning the new growth back to stop it shading the rhodos and azaleas. They go straight into the green bin.

Did the worst job of this time of the year. Cleared all the dead leaves and weeds under everything in this border.
There's enough room between the planting and the back fence to walk along. But it's a hands and knees job with garden gloves and a bucket... well....several buckets, then the same job along the front and finish off with the garden vac. So worth it.

Gave my jukeboxes a "good work out," whilst I was out there. They need use to keep everything working. If I played every side available, at 3 minutes a side there's about 13 hours of music available. But an hour or so on each machine with a few "B sides" to make sure their mechanics get used is enough.

 

[Black_Thumb]

As I mentioned a while back, the seed package we bought for a pollinator garden was total crap. Nothing grew except weeds. We dug all that crap up and replanted our own selection. These were planted by my wife in a couple areas of our yard. Just wanted to share them with you. We've had some magnificent butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds show up too!!

We also had this new visitor show up and was hanging out on our garage for like two days! I believe it's a Japanese Luna Moth! So very beautiful!! It does look like a predator got hold of the tip of its right wing, but it survived and eventually flew away.

 

[CreakyGardener]

We've had a bit of a hot spell, -/+ 100* days last few weeks. Humidity was high last week, made it feel worse. So things've been neglected except for moving the sprinkler throughout. Got a cooler day today. I had the brilliant idea, "Hey, lets do yardwork!" Waiting for the heat to pass, I've been turning a blind eye to the weeds figuring I'd get around to them,.. they're small and no threat. Boy, was I wrong. Some tall as me. I was like, "Where the H3// did all these weeds come from?" (surrounded by pastures and blowing seeds helps) I started pulling, got over heated and huffing. Decided since we're out in the country, the weeds can wait. It's the natural look for now. I went inside, swapped my Carhartt's for a pair of cool airy plaid cotton jammy bottoms (you know the kind) adn a T-Shirt, grabbed an IPA, picked up my guitar and forgot about it. My wife said she didn't blame me one bit,.. so no guilt slackin' on the chores this time.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I learned early on, had a summer job on the gardens around BP's headquarters and we used to start the day hoeing the rose beds, that meant they each got gone over once a week. there were a lot of them, but it is amazing how much you ground you can cover very quickly with a hoe if you do it often enough. Get them before they set seed and after a while it is only the blow ins. It also surprised me how much the ground improved over only a few weeks. They were mostly new beds, but once a tilth is established it protects the ground from the sun so it stays moist and lets the air in at the same time. Pulling big weeds does my back in, I would rather take them down with a hook and then make like Father Christmas; "Ho ho ho".

 

[Oliver Buckle]

"I'm just sitting watching flowers in the rain, watching the power of the rain making the garden grow."

What a lovely day, almost continuous light, gentle rain wetting everything thoroughly. I swear the grass already looks greener, how does it do that so quickly? All my butts are full and I have a hose on the overflow from the bottom one directing it onto the part beneath the oak tree canopy that doesn't get properly wet. Very satisfying.

 

[Sean Regan]

Just more housekeeping.

Mowed the lawn and "vacced," it, the paths and patios. Pruned a few bits off the wisterias.

Then I gave the tea-house a hose down and clean (with car shampoo). I do this every three months or so, mostly to stop it looking scruffy, but covering every bit of the exterior means I'll spot any rot before it becomes a problem. As usual, there was none.

It's now 35 years old and still in perfect condition, although the roofing felt has lost some of its sand, so it looks a bit patchy in places. But it doesn't matter as it's a polymer material and won't deteriorate.
It won't need another coat of paint until next year. It won't need it then, but it, "brings back the shine" as the weather in the winter dulls it a bit.

 

[Ronald53]

From past few days I did not spend time in my garden

 

[Sean Regan]

Just a quick vac of the lawn of the fallen leaves, from next door's silver birches.


Our Sorbus has come into its own now, the leaves will start to die off soon and the berries ripen further.
I've "nursed" this tree over thirty years. We got it from Bents Garden Centre and it had an unbalanced shape and a pronounced bend in the trunk. I've managed to straighten it a bit over the years and the lean is no longer that noticeable. By wiring and pruning it has adopted a better shape.

It still has two supporting wires on lower branches to train them away from the pagoda's sorin and stop them breaking if the wood pigeons perch on them to get at the berries. The berries will be a pain to vac up over a few weeks once they start to fall.

I was a bit worried about my bamboo "forest" along the back fence, as it was decidedly thin earlier in the year and there were a lot of dead fronds in it. You could actually see the fence through it. But it has fully recovered. I made sure it didn't go short of water during the hot spells.



I'm pleased with the way this little acer has responded (as always) to a severe prune earlier in the year. It only forms pink leaves on this side that gets the sun.

 

[Sean Regan]

Just a bit of housekeeping. A couple of hours of it.
Pruned off a lot of dead clematis and more of the tops of the quince on the side fence.

The wisterias are still annoying by sending out their last shoots of the year.

I've a small stake with a round handle I fitted to the end. We've lots of stuff in pots, six hebes, three Mayleen clematis, a sambucus and a Mimosa that need attention a few times in the year. I push the stake three quarters of the way into the pots or tubs, a couple of inches or so from the edge. You can hear it going through the roots. I then give them a good water. The problem is that they can get a bit root bound and when watered, much of it travels between the rootball and the edge of it's container. So this way the plant does get more water.
I'll give everything a good water tonight
Got the vac out and got rid of quite a few fallen leaves. Green bin's nearly full and it was only emptied on Wednesday.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

As I have said in the 'what did you do apart from gardening' thread we were out most of the day so not much. I gathered a bunch of sweet pea seeds and shucked them, did a sort of quick guesstimate counting ten and extrapolating, probably about 500. I am hoping I get a dozen viable ones Then I watered fairly generously , because although my rainwater supply is getting lower light rain is forecast for several days.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Plenty of rain, I have been watering like mad because even though there is rain, dig down three inches and the earth is still dry. Planted out the last few of my leeks, hoed between all the other leeks, potted up some lavender cuttings, cut a bit of grass when we had a dry spell, sorted out a bit more hedge, it is an endless source of dead stuff and ivy, you know, stuff.

 

[Sean Regan]

More "housekeeping"
Cleaned all sixteen of the pot movers today. As they had a dab of silicone over a small hole in the centre, they retained water and gunge.
Now they're clean and the silicone removed so the roses won't be sitting in water through the winter. I took the castors of the movers in the Spring so the pots didn't blow over too easily in strong winds, but I've left them off as I don't move them around much and they slide easily. The half dozen on the first patio I left the castors on, as I do need to move them oxccasionally, but they are more sheltered near the house so the wind isn't a problem.

Pruned off a lot of blackspot infected foliage on some of the roses. We've still a few roses to flower, if an early frost doesn't get them.
I'll give them a spray with Sulphur Rose tomorrow and a few sprays during the winter, including the pots.

Gave the phlox on the rockery a bit of a trim where it was cascading too far over the rocks onto the rose patio.
More wisteria pruning.

Mowed the lawn, it has nearly completely recovered from the dry spell. I'll give it a dose of cheap lawn food in a couple of days.

Gave the little acer at the bottom of the garden another trim. Keeps putting out new growth.

Gave this acer palmatum Taylor a bit of a haircut to make it a more balanced shape.

I reckon it'd be happier out of the pot and in the ground, but there's no vacant spaces.

Need to jet wash the patio and do a bit of re-pointing, but I keep putting it off.