What did you do in your garden today?

[DirtMechanic]

I washed a stump.

Not kidding. Durn persimmon tree fell over and the stump would not come up with my Wimp-O-Winch, so I am attempting to cut it. The rocks are all embedded in the roots. Usually we leave stumps to the squirrels unless they are in the lawn and I actually attempted to get it BACK into the hole.

This whole thing is backwards. I did get a wood turner to geek out and come get the wood. He said he would make me a bowl from the tree.

 

[Sean Regan]

Got quite a bit done in a few hours today. Lots of heavy lifting.

Removed all seventeen glazed pots and their pot movers from the new patio. Brushed in half a bag of fine sand, before the rain had a chance to come. Some of the sand is a bit wet. It's the damp coming up from the fine hardcore below the flags, by capillary action. Needs another brush over in places.

The fountain sits on a round paving stone on the top of what was the koi pool pump sump. Which is connected to what was the bottom drain of the pool. There's a hole in the concrete plinth I made for the fountain, so I can put a "dip stick" down to check if there's any water in the sump, which would indicate the hardcore under the flags would be waterlogged. But I've never found any. The stick always comes up dry. I must have drilled sufficient 1" holes in the pool's concrete floor, so the water is draining away. Our soil is a bit sandy, so free draining.


Topped up with compost and cleaned all the pots and their pot movers, put ten back on the new patio and the rest on the other one. Put the troughs back with their heathers. Replaced the bird bath and 'arry's feeder with some dry hedgehog food, in case he shows up.

The pointing's not yet completely dry. I'm getting couple more glazed pots on Friday, when they arrive at the local garden centre for those hebes on the French window steps. I'll just put them in, in their plastic pots. I can then ring the changes with other plants if I choose.

Nothing planned until Friday. (Golf tomorrow, shopping Thursday).I need to get into the rockery and remove a lot of dead leaves, a few weeds and a lot of grass, to give the phlox a better chance.
The re-pointing of some places on the path next to the garage, isn't urgent, so can wait for a week or so. I won't spend more than three or four hours "doing stuff" in the garden.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

Actually a few days ago, and not strictly "in" the garden, but just got back from 2 weeks in Jamaica, looked out the window and said "Not going out there!"

 

[Sean Regan]

Checked all the clematis, we've more than a dozen, all showing signs of life. The two Mayleen in smaller tubs in the drive that climb up the party fence are fine.
But this in a big tub by the front door is not. No sign of life, which is a pain. It's been there for at least ten years.
May have to replace it, I'll change the compost at the same time.

Its smaller companion, which grows along a wire under the front room bay window, has survived.

This year's David Austin catalogue has arrived. As we've sixteen roses in pots and two in beds, I'll try to resist buying any more.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

There has been a nasty disease of clematis going around, probably not the cause if the one next to it survived though.

Shifted a lot of compost heap onto the garden and raked it through to spread it, remove the un-rotted bits, and mix it into the top layer of soil. Also incorporated a lot of manure, some wood ash and burnt clay into a bed I am planning on using for tomatoes. Put some carrot seed to soak in an old margarine tub, it may be early yet, but nothing ventured ... , and I can do more later easily enough, and will.

 

[Alicelovesgardening]

I got some coffee seeds today, but I don't know if california is the right place to plant coffee. lol.

 

[Sean Regan]

Not getting any joy from Garden Plants on Line with the mimosa.

They believe it will recover if I planted it out.

So I've done this and sent them a copy of this photo. It's looking worse. We'll have to wait and see how it goes. If it doesn't recover, I'll be back at them,

​

My de Jager scented pink and white bare root lily of the valley have arrived. They are really tiny but had a lot of root on them.

The "deal" was for nine over two varieties, but I received ten. At £25 they weren't cheap, they were my wife's selection from one of her TV shopping channels, "I'll have to take her TV remote away."
I potted them up in 4" pots as recommended and put them on the window sill of the shed. I'll eventually plant them out in the narrow border next to the garage.

Tidied up some more clematis. At least two will need replacing as they are definitely dead, which isn't as bad as I thought it might be.

My trail cameras are picking up three cats that visit our garden during the night. As well as a black and white cat, these other two are showing an interest in the back of our summerhouse. although I haven't put any food under it for the hedgehog (if he's there), for a few days. There is some dry food in the feeder on the main patio, but it's "cat proof."

 

[Sean Regan]

Not doing anything in the garden today, my wife has talked me out of getting into the rockery as she says it's too cold.
I've still my golf trolley and golf shoes to clean ready for Monday. (I don't want it to show up the new golf bag I bought from the pro shop on Friday, do I?). A zip on the old one had gone. They can't be repaired, as they are fitted during manufacture. He will always match prices on eBay.

But I can watch the athletics on TV.

I've checked on the lily of the valley and they seem to have grown a bit overnight!

You can see three of the dozen re-cycled primroses in the border.

Nothing escapes my trail cams.

No cats but, "Intruder alert!" heading under the summerhouse.

The local garden centre has had a delivery of the green glazed Apta Cambridge pots, of which I want two, but "they haven't been unpacked yet, try next week."
So much for the "They'll be in on Friday," I was told on Tuesday.

The water heater I bought to replace the ancient one in the garage has packed up. On inspection, I found there was a pinhole leak in the tank. I could contact the supplier and I would be expected to pack it up and return it and then wait for them to decide whether they would repair it, replace it, or give me a refund.

But at my age, I can't be bothered. For what it cost, I've ordered another make from a different supplier and it'll be here on Monday. It'll be a half hour job installing it in the afternoon when I come home from golf. Being without hot water outside, I find very inconvenient.

 

[Logan]

Keeping a eye on the seedlings in the conservatory and just watered them.

 

[Amateur Gardener]

Clearing out the front yard. I haven't been able to do much gardening due to the storm and heavy rain in January and February. I was able to get some work done in the past two days.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Cold and grey, so I stayed in the greenhouse and went through my seed box planting old seeds, if they work I am a week ahead, if they don't I get some more and I'm not much behind. Seed trays all over the greenhouse and my bedroom windowsill, I'll probably get some failures, but some will work.

 

[Sean Regan]

I got into the rockery this afternoon and removed a lot of grass and moss amongst the phlox. It's a case of trying "not to throw the baby out with the bathwater." I then gave it a good sprinkling of compost and a watering with a bit of plant food.
Earlier I drove up to Bents Garden Centre and bought this white lilac. It'll give us an alternative to the sambucas in the circular bed in the middle of the garden. I've put it in a big pot with some fertilizer pellets. But not as big a pot as that of the sambucas. That's a real pain to lift and in and out of that bed, having to avoid the azaleas around it.

This is the variety,

a syringa-vulgaris

 

[Neno Baylov]

I've had them for a while, so far they cut well, give reliable results. Last year was good to me, Merlot.

 

[Sean Regan]

My replacement water heater arrived this morning, so I was able to install it when I got home from golf this afternoon.

Nothing's easy.
The support bracket was of a different type and needed fitting in a different place. But I expected that.
What I didn't expect, was that the cold water supply to the tap has a connection behind it, whereas, with the previous one, the supply entered from underneath the tap.
Luckily, I was able to find a 15mm. compression elbow amongst my spare plumbing stuff in the garage and some copper pipe.
But I think the cold water connection supplied for the tap was designed for "speed-fit" pipe, as it wouldn't grip on the two inches of copper, pipe. Fortunately, I had some.

Another complication, was that a couple of bolts that connect the garage panels were in the way, (there's one above the heater, that's not), so I had to hacksaw off the ends of the bolts and then mount the heater support bracket a "nut's width," off the wall to clear the garage bolt's nuts. I need to get some more pipe insulation.
The heater has to go to the left of the basin as I need to be able to swing the spout to the left for when I want to fill a bucket, placed on the floor.
I like the temperature control on the front. It heats up very quickly. I was able to give everything a wash down with hot soapy water once it was up and running.

I must remember to turn the water supply off if it looks like it might freeze later in the week.

 

[Meadowlark]

Continuing to turn my compost piles scraped up from feeding livestock this winter.

I've got two piles now estimated at 500 cu. ft. each. At the current price of Black Cow and other soil additives that's about $70,000 worth of stuff.

They are composting at 180 deg F so all weed seeds and harmful bacteria will soon be gone. I mix in a little topsoil as I scrape this hay and cow excrement into the piles. That makes for an incredibly rich and safe soil amendment.