What did you do in your garden today?

[DeborahJane]

It was way windy today, there were three fires in our area. Not near my house, but the gas station I’m working at now had all the fire fighters coming in. Oh, and on my way to work, I get called that my prego kitty is in labor, so her mom moved her in with her latest litter to co parent together. I missed it all! Apparently senior Mom was even panting like she was in labor right beside her daughter who actually was in labor, even though her kittens are about two weeks old. Lol.

Sounds like a pretty traumatic day for you all. Hope all is ok

 

[JamieB]

One of the kittens has stripped spots. Too cute! so who all needs a cat? Lol. And a month after they get the little ones weaned, they can expect a trip to the vet for a little surgery to prevent this from happening again!

 

[JamieB]

Ah ...bless what a lovely Senior Mum
How many new kitties do you have now @JamieB??

8. Senior Mom had 4, lost one at birth, jr mom had 5. I’ve got homes lined up for two already, 6 more to go. Jr moms litter is super cute, should be easier to place. Two white with black spots, one with striped spots, one almost solid black with just a hint of stripes on legs, one stripes.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Aah they are gorgeous!!

 

[Sean Regan]

I had to make some changes today.

These six hebes, three in each of two troughs either side of the tea-house steps which we've had for some years and always did well for us. We bought them from Waitrose, they had a stand outside, they were small but they were "three for two" and didn't cost us more than £10 the lot.

Were badly affected by the very cold weather a month back when the temperatures fell to below zero and were reduced to this after I'd pruned off all the dead wood.

At my age, I couldn't be bothered to wait to see if they'll recover and they looked pretty ugly in their prominent position. I've saved four which look as if they've a bit of growth coming around the roots. But they've been relegated to "The Alley of Shame," (the gap between the tea-house and the side fence). If any recover, I'll squeeze them in somewhere.

We now have these, I bought today from Wyevale, which cost the usual, "arm and a leg."

A "Purple Pixie," flanked by two "Pink Pixies" in each.

 

[alp]

Nice hebes, Sean!

I have taken cuttings and I think they are OK.

3 hours of solid work tidying up some of the narrow path about a car width. Tomorrow I might finish it and start on the proper driveway outside the garage. Never ending work.

 

[JamieB]

I want to work in the garden, but strong winds would blow my projects away. I need to dig out some roots, I might get to that after my feet stop hurting from work, but the two other projects I have would be bad idea in the wind. First is laying down plastic to solerize weeds, that’s a nope, as it would blow away before I can pin it in place. The other is filling my bins with soil, and nope, I’ll pick a less windy day for that one too!

 

[Upsy Daisy]

I had to cut back my Hebes two years ago ( quite drastically) and they all responded well and soon filled out again......fingers crossed that yours will be fine too @Sean Regan

 

[JamieB]

Both momma kitties, and all 8 babies. In one box. Just chilling. The only garden thing I got to, was moving a king snake that had my roommate freaked out. The cats or dog would have ate it if they’d found it, so I moved it over by my pond where I’m putting in raised beds.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Still cleaning up leaves, burning them. did buy a few pansies for pots. bought some red ones. as I have lots of daffs and blue already. husband splitting up some daffs also.

 

[vette-kid]

Repotted...er, up potted... Uh, put my banana in a bigger pot! Did the lemon tree too, finally got it out of the crappy store container. I bought the poor thing and then let it sit for 3 weeks. Roots looked a little brown, hopefully it will recover now that it has some space and good soil. Moved the banana from a 20" barrel to a 25" and used the 20 for the lemon.

Tried to mount my weather sensor, got in a hurry and tried to drive the pile in the ground without putting a threaded cap on it to protect the threads and buggered them all up. Now I have to fix that too.

 

[Sean Regan]

I released the several new clematis we've bought, from their constricting canes and spread them out on their wires I put up for them. Cleared some of the dead wood from the big Maylene on the fence next to our drive. Mowed the front lawn and had a tidy up. So just a couple of hours. It looks like rain tomorrow so I thought I'd get everything that needed doing, done today.

 

[alp]

Sean: You've done a lot. I potted up all of my new purchases. I even bought an AGM potato packet. I couldn't believe myself for buying potatoes to grow.

 

[Sean Regan]

If it's not wet I've another job to do tomorrow

This is one of the troughs we have either side of the tea-house steps, well it was like this in 2012 when we bought them. They were only made of cheap pine, so I painted them with Dulux Woodsheen

Now, six years on, despite more coats of Woodsheen you can see that the right hand side of this trough is lower.

When I checked the base panel, which I covered with plastic to protect it, so any water would run out through the holes in each corner, I found that it was rotting away. The pots sit on big saucers.
So I'm going to remove the base and screw two "2 X 1" wooden bearers lengthways along the bottom. I did have blocks under the base to keep the feet off the path, so I'll re-use those. I'll do it for both troughs. They just need a bit of a clean up. So they'll be fine.
The saucers can sit on the bearers. I use saucers as they will retain a bit of water in the summer. The big overhang of the tea-house roof, means the run-off of the rain, misses them. Without a solid base, a bit of air can get under them.

But it's another job I hadn't planned to do.

 

[vette-kid]

Planted a BUNCH of Canna bulbs, some balloon flower and peony. Mowed the lawn