What did you do in your garden today?

[Sheal]

Thank you Oliver. I've not been laid up but muscle damage to my arm stopped any heavy work outside, including mowing the lawns. Muscles take months to heal unfortunately.

The area does get a lot of shade as the garden faces north west and there are five 70-80ft pines in a circle there. I'm gradually planting bulbs in the centre of the trees, there's also some wild primroses that flower well every year.

Over the last five years that I've lived here I've been retrieving the gardens (back and front) from nature, being in a rural position and neglected. I'm getting there slowly and hope by the end of next year all it will need is maintenance and development of a couple of beds. One of which is already underway. I must take some new pictures of the garden to post here on the forum.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Rained all night, so no leaves today. Later---will be out to prune things. but, kitchen cupboard and the glass on the doors need attention today. and yanking out fridge to clean behind and under it. then a glass of wine. Mentally thinking about what type of Christmas decoration I can put in the outside pots, just two of them. and a hanging one by the mail box. on the cheap. have some red spray paint for cut branches.

 

[Sheal]

I don't envy you those chores Esther, although they're well suited to rainy day weather.

 

[Sean Regan]

As every year, it was the big acer's turn to have the dead wood removed. It tends to strangle the new wood a bit. Once removed, it's possible to spread some of the branches. The "red" stuff in the bucket is dead leaves, not new growth.

I'll have to wire some to balance them out and then I'll put the net over it and tie it down until the branches have "set" around April.
The object of this exercise is to encourage it to look like this.

And not this.

The warm weather has lasted longer than usual.
Christmas clematis?

 

[Esther Knapicius]

relocate some yesterday, but leaves below a certain level was still wet, that makes it heavier for me. So I was able to just do two huge mounds dragged to the woods. Now raining like crazy. So inside stuff.

 

[Sean Regan]

Not a lot today. Far too cold.
The six hebes we have in plastic pots in two troughs I mentioned, I've re-potted with some fresh compost. I had a hell of a job getting them out of the pots, they were so root-bound. I managed to break two pots, they were so wedged in. Fortunately, I had some more.
I knew they were root-bound in the summer, so now and again, as I often do with plants in pots, I push a cane through the compost an inch or so from the rim in a few places to make sure water gets to the roots and doesn't all run down between the root-ball and the inside wall of the pot.

 

[Sean Regan]

Dry and not too cold, so spent three hours in the garden today.

I stripped and part pruned, this cascading wisteria.

Clearing the leaves took as long. I also emptied and cleaned out the fountain. Then remembered to turn off its power supply in the garage, in case I accidentally turn it on from its switch, behind the lounge curtains.
Took the sixteen pots on p[both patios off their pot movers and removed all the dead leaves in them. I scraped the moss out of the gaps between the flags while I had the chance.

Then tackled the wisteria between the summerhouse and the shed. It tries every year to grow out over the path, so I have to keep tying it back close to the fence. Otherwise, none of the plants in this bed get much sun. The hebes on the path will go back in the two troughs on the other patio, in March.

This involves increasing the tension on the individual wires that hold the lateral wires between the concrete posts.
Although they are very strong wires, they can stretch a bit over time and it'd be impossible to tighten them by hand.
But, as they are attached to strong screw eyes in the concrete posts. It's easy enough to get a screwdriver in an eye and give it a turn or two to tighten the wire. Doesn't look as if I've done much here, but I have.

I also removed three branch heads that were impossible to move, but it doesn't notice as I spaced others out.

I'll probably strip the wisteria on the pergola over the French windows next week, if it's not too cold. The leaves are rapidly changing to yellow.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

crazy raining. and still is.

 

[Sean Regan]

Far too cold to do any gardening this morning. The ground was white with frost, so I went and played golf instead.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

raining again. if anything, maybe more pruning.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

"Pruning in the rain", who was it sang that?

 

[Sean Regan]

Too cold this morning for gardening. -3c.
It's now +1c
The drop in temperature overnight was enough to make these leaves fall from the wisteria over the French windows.










I de-iced both bird baths and refilled with fresh water.
I've turned off the water supply to the basin in the room in the garage and to both outside taps. Don't need to take chances with the freeze.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Chilly here, and very soggy . I might go out and do some pruning. but always have indoors stuff to do.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

There was a frost this morning that hung about all day in the shady places, and they say it is going to be even colder tonight, so most of what I did was putting things in pots under cover. Even the hardy ones don't like it if their pot freezes solid.

 

[Sean Regan]

It's been snowing!
So no gardening today!
























Well, actually, those photos are from 2010. The last time we had real snow.
What we had overnight, was this. It would be best described as, "a smattering."
We rarely get snow, that's why I call where we live, "The Tropic of Trafford."










In other years, this much would normally clear by mid-afternoon. But with the such low temperatures we are presently experiencing, which are forecasted to last over a week, it won't and we might get some more snow yet.