What did you do in your garden today?

[Sean Regan]

As it's warmed, up I decided to change the leaking tap of the water heater above the basin in the garage.

I'd managed to get a replacement for £10, rather than pay sixty quid for the same part as the original that the manufacturer's wanted.
It meant a bit of fettling as the connections weren't in the same place.
Took about half an hour, then all done. So I thought, but when I turned the water supply on, although my new connections were fine, I discovered two bursts under the basin, one in the supply to the basin and one in the supply to the tap outside the shed and my pop-up lawn sprinklers.
So down to the plumber's merchants for more pipe. Replaced the two pieces of pipe and turned everything on. No leaks anywhere.
Then turned on the water heater, although I was getting water from it to the sink. It tripped out. So maybe the trauma was too much for it. Probably the element was shorting out or water had got into the electrics, due to the pipes inside freezing up.

This heater must be fifty years old, it was second hand when I acquired it, so it owes me nothing. Ordered a new Ariston 2kw water on eBay for seventy quid. It'll arrive in the first week of January. It'll be an easy swop over.
I don't like to be without hot water in the garage. It means I can "wash up" after gardening and it's handy for filling a bucket with hot water when I want to wash my car or anything else outside.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

@Sean Regan , that is awesome. would love it if husband would put a utility sink in the garage. Or even set up some sort of wash up sink at the outside faucet . Always something to do about the house.

 

[Sean Regan]

I put the basin and hot water supply in the garage when I was about to build our koi pool in the eighties. I built an 8ft by 8ft room at the back end of the garage to house the filters and quarantine tank. It had a massive home-made filter, a 300 gall quarantine tank and its filter. With decking squares above the pipework and a false ceiling.

But when we closed the pool down a few years ago, I had to re-make the floor. It's six inches above the garage's concrete base.

and re-paint it all. There's still 18ft of garage beyond that door.

This bit looked really tired.

It just needed a tart up. It has a soap dispenser and a towel ring and a paper towel holder. Plus my Budweiser fridge.

I put in a cupboard and a little shelf for a small electric kettle, so I can make myself a brew if I want to.

The original garage windows are the back wall of the shed that backs onto it I built for our eight year old daughter's rabbits, in 1976. It's been my "tool shed" now for decades.

I can, if it's a "mucky job" on the agenda, change into gardening gear in here and when done, wash up and change back, so I can't traipse in stuff when I go back indoors. There's always some stuff that sticks to your clothes and falls off, you the moment you enter the house.


We have two back-up freezers in here now and it's where we keep the garden furniture when not in use and anything else we want to store out of the damp that we don't want in the house.

This is the water heater I've ordered.
It should be a "straight swop" (says he, hoping!)
Thge spout looks a little short for swinging round and filling a bucket on the floor, if it is, I can probably re-use the one on the old heater as it looks longer.

 

[Sean Regan]

The water heater arrived around 2.00 pm this afternoon and it's up and working

This was a bit of a marvel as there were no instructions. I've e-mailed the supplier for them.

I removed the old Santon heater, which was really heavy, I imagine it must have a big copper cylinder inside the metal casing.

Like most stuff, the new one is all plastic.

I then had to work out where to fix the bracket on the wall, on which the new heater hangs, to line up its inlet with the existing pipework.
I needed a screw on 15mm. adapter to go on the heater inlet, which would accept the original compression connector on the supply pipe. It wasn't supplied.
A quick trip to the plumbers merchants was abortive, they'd closed for the holiday. I could have left it until the New Year... But, "me being me".....

I thought, as I'm out, I'll drive to the nearest B&Q and risk the idiots driving to the Trafford Centre for last minute Christmas shopping.
But fortunately, the traffic wasn't too bad. B&Q had the part, £1.99, (another marvel), so a further half hour journey was worth it.

I managed to connect it all up without any leaks, which was a marvel as I've had to use a few waterproof seals to pack out one connection. I've also put a tap in the feed to the heater and the basin tap, in case need to change a washer in the basin tap at any time.

 

[Sean Regan]

Spent an hour in the garden today, pruning these two wisterias.

Not as well as I like, still needs a bit of attention. I'm working under a handicap, my wife doesn't like me using the ladders as I'll be 83 in four months. I understand her concerns, as if I had a fall (unlikely!) we'd be in trouble, as we'd both be disabled. So I was using my telescopic pruner, this makes it more difficult and gives me neck-ache looking up all the time.

This one presented no problems and is finished.

I think the mimosa has been killed by the frost.
It looked fine a couple of weeks ago, in the snow, green foliage and nice little yellow flower buds

Now the buds have died and the foliage decidedly grey.

I'm very philosophical, in these situations. We've had it since a "baby" must be twenty years. It's become very spindly.
If it has died, we'll get another in the spring, but hopefully an established one. At our age cost is not really a consideration.

I'm hoping the acer palmatums and other plants are OK. The "Taylor" is in the room at the back of the garage, so should be OK.

I'll clear the patio of leaves and bits of pruned wisteria tomorrow, as the bin will get emptied on Wednesday.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

There's always some stuff that sticks to your clothes and falls off, you the moment you enter the house.

So true! "Take those trousers off before you come in the house!". It sounds quite promising at first, "Then get straight in that bathroom, and clean it when you finish"

I have just been away for a couple of days, but Christmas eve before I went I dug a trench about 2'6" wide and six foot long, filled it with wood, then another next to that putting the earth from it on top of the first one, filled that and dug a third. partly filled it but ran out of wood, so I need to go foraging before I can do the fourth and fifth and cover the last with the earth from the first. It is a bit like double digging

 

[Sean Regan]

We've these three wisterias on the pergola on the side of the garage.

Here in 2020. The one in the middle was new the previous year, those either side were self rooted bits of a really old one that died.

Over the past two years, I've trained them to cascade.

They're, blue at each end and white in the middle, which refuses to flower at the same time as the others,"nature uncooperative, as usual."

They looked great in June this year.

But as the year progressed, they got a bit out of hand. This is a small garden and I don't like anything to become too dominant.

So this morning, before it rained, I spent fifteen minutes, pruning off a dozen branches. I may yet remove a few more. On the next dry day, I'll run a wire round them at about a foot from the top, so they'll be much tighter to the pergola by the time I take it off in April and won't intrude too far over the patio.

The big acer I try to restrict its diameter by selective pruning.

But sometimes you have to take drastic action.

In 2004, we had these three camellias in the centre of the garden. Which had grown to this size, so they had to go.

Since then, we've had this small circular bed. Whatever we put in a big tub in the centre, doesn't obscure the view of the bottom of the garden from the house.

Heaven knows how tall and wide those camellias would have grown, if we hadn't made the change.

 

[DrMike27]

It’s a lovely rainy, ‘winter’ day in the desert today. Finished harvesting the pumpkins yesterday, and my narcissus finally bloomed after 2 years (bought it at Lowe’s Christmas 2020).

 

[Esther Knapicius]

its actually a decent day outside today---more leaf relocation.

 

[Sean Regan]

Did a bit this afternoon, just a couple of hours. Cleared a lot of leaves off the main patio and the borders. Still a lot to clear.
I'll do some more tomorrow if it stays dry. There's a lot under the azaleas in the front garden.Finished pruning the wisterias.
I might manage putting the net over the big acer palmatum.

Jobs for January.
Get some Wet n' Forget for the main patio.
Remove more overhanging branches of next door's trees. I've extended my extended lopper again, so I can tackle some higher ones.
Give the "lollypop" acer in the front garden its annual prune.

We may be in for a bit of a rude awakening in a couple months time, when we find out what we lost in "the big freeze."

 

[Esther Knapicius]

again seems like it will be a decent day. so more leaf relocation. probably some pruning also. the place I drag my trap of leaves in the woods has some water frozen on top of the ground.

 

[Sean Regan]

Cleared more leaves today. Just a couple of hours as the light was going and it was starting to rain.

Those under the azaleas in the front garden. These are mostly those from the two viburnums. Strange plant. No leaves now but lots of blossom coming out.

The main patio is clear of leaves and bits of wisteria prunings. Raining now.

I've cleared most of the leaves under the plants in the main border of the back garden. By selective pruning over the years, I've made a narrow passage between the planting and the back fence. So can work my way along it.
The "green bin" is jammed full now. So I can't put any more in until Wednesday.

Then I tackled the big acer. I covered it with several pieces of netting and ran a strong wire around it at the bottom. Then dragged it down with more wire. I can never get it completely symmetrical as the big branches put up various amounts of resistance. Bend them too much and they will snap, as it's hard wood. The idea is for it to be contained within its round brick border as far as possible, as otherwise its shade means I get moss.

I'll remove the net and wire in late April when the branches have "set." I can then "let it get on with it." I've done this twice before in the last 20 years.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

A bush in a hair net

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Been away with lots of family stuff. Finally all are traveling gone. Now for my lovely garden.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I have been building a wood store from a fence pane;, four fenceposts, two lengths of trellis, a lot of two by one and three by inch and a half and some corrugated plastic for the roof. They are all things I already have, so it is free other than a lot of figuring and work, but it is taking a lot of time and I need to prune my grapevine and quince tree, plus a load of other jobs.