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Post by Ladygardener on Mar 13, 2024 10:25:12 GMT
I've just picked a lovely bunch of mixed narcissus from the garden. They will cheer us up on this grey day and smell lovely.
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Post by Dutchy on Mar 13, 2024 11:14:07 GMT
Cut back the old Hydrangea, a lace cap with loads of dead wood. I'll see if it is worth saving.
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Post by maggy on Mar 13, 2024 11:35:35 GMT
I picked some hyacinths to go in a bunch of flowers for Mo I bought yesterday to go with her Birthday pressie.
Planted a white dahlia called My Love , I've had it a couple of weeks from lydl but had no compost until yesterday , I bought a bag while Chris was with me to give me a hand. Did intend to use my new hand held electric pruners but everything will blow allover in this wind ,
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Post by Tig on Mar 14, 2024 14:12:15 GMT
I spotted some hbc flowering,a few rosebay willow herb & dandelion seedlings coming up in the middle border so got those out, and cleared all the moss the birds had scat off the roof onto the gravel by the dining room window. Cleared moss off the tops of a few more pots and watered what I'm growing on in one of the growhouses.
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Post by Barbara on Mar 14, 2024 16:48:06 GMT
I've been digging out scysostylis (excuse the spelling ) it's weaving it way through the borders in the back garden, I had to dig some lilies out to get at it all, more to come out yet but the ground is so wet it's horrible digging.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 15, 2024 9:28:29 GMT
I'm doing similar Barbara with a rampant daylily! Yesterday I mulched the terraced bit of the garden and the raspberry bed with Rocket Gro Magic Mulch which I'm trying after seeing it at the local GC. I also potted up some of my FG order and a set of summer bulbs I got in B&Q while were away. The daffodil bank has come up blind this year for some reason so I have dug all the bulbs out. I was reading that lack of moisture when the buds are forming prevents them from flowering the following year and we had a very dry spring last year and then a hose pipe ban so maybe that's it. Going to do and experiment with a few of them and see if they flower next year.
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Post by Tig on Mar 15, 2024 19:03:17 GMT
Can't beat an experiment Jasmine, hopefully you will get flowers from them next year. I've noticed that the daffs I have in the damper parts of the garden seem to do much better than those in dry areas, some only flower once and then disappear completely, not even a leaf. I had to tackle jobs before planting my new bare roots today so have pruned out lots of deadwood from various shrubs & roses down the bottom neighbours fence. Got the trellis that clematis Madame Julia Correvon grows up vertical again after the support post snapped. Found a hawthorn growing while I was in there so I dug that out as they are so prickly. Cut back very old wood on some of the shrubby salvias, I must remember to take more cuttings if they resprout as they are ancient now. I've planted out geum orange pumpkin, coryopsis solar fancy, monarda fireball and potted up a dryopteris erythrosora, hosta sun mouse & sedum xenox orange as they all had new growth which looked too tender to cope with a frost. The heavens opened and I had to seek shelter in the garage until I could get back to the house without being soaked through. I cleared a bit of moss when it slowed down and raked over where I'd trampled getting into the shrubs then it started to rain again so had to quit. I will hopefully get the rest sorted tomorrow. I did scatter some s & s pellets around the newly planted stuff as I noticed a lot of damage, even a lily shoot had been munched off to ground level so that won't be flowering
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Post by Tig on Mar 16, 2024 15:20:17 GMT
I have potted up the limonium gmelini Dazzle Rocks bareroot, it was a bit pathetic, but will see how it does in the growhouse. The tricyrtis are planted down the bottom where I prune & tidied yesterday. The gypsophila pacifica freebie bareroots are in front garden in a patch that I have never managed to clear of couch grass, they can battle it out between themselves. I have given a few clems in pots a sprinkle of chicken manure pellets, trimmed deadwood out of the rosa mundi & cleared moss & weed seedlings out of the small border it is in on the front.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 16, 2024 19:54:40 GMT
I finished digging up the blind daffodils, weeded a couple of beds in the back and tidied up the over wintered pots in the 2 growhouses.
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Post by Dutchy on Mar 17, 2024 13:17:25 GMT
I put 2 fences up as the neighbor babysits her granddaughter and the little one is a bit of an Houdini. We have a pond... So one old bit of steel fencing that fits perfect between their new and our old fence and is pretty. It has to be as we can see it from inside. Further down I had to cut some shrubs back hard but before those do their job the little blonde cute kid can sneak through. In went what I call an allotment fence. Side of an old firewood pallet that I still had. Tall enough to keep her in check, low enough not to obstruct the shrubs. An old fashioned one where they still used quite a loot of wood to stop things from falling out. These days they wrap with plastic to prevent that. For a short period like one or 2 years not bad. I hope the shrubs envelop it but then again shrubs never do what you want.
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Post by Tig on Mar 17, 2024 16:26:40 GMT
I've taken deadwood out of some tree peonies and ITOHs, and some more shrubby salvias. Removed hardy geranium seedlings, all that I could find so far. Weeded and demossed several areas where I could see the moss setting seed. Was out longer than planned but it was starting to go cooler so called it a day.
Oh and I found two lily beetles - both now departed.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 17, 2024 19:58:22 GMT
I spread manure on one of the beds by the fence and started to plant some of the many foxgloves that need to go in! The manure was what was left from the delivery I got last summer, it was full of worms and really well broken down. I was surprised No-tail the robin didn't join me although he does have a new tail now and was probably busy trying to find a Mrs No-tail!
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Post by Barbara on Mar 18, 2024 8:04:03 GMT
Who pinched his tail Jasmine,? I planted out over a dozen lily's I've had in pots on the patio, they were an odd mix and didn't look good, so they are free to do their own thing now red devils permitting, more sycamore seedling pulled, I don't remember this being as big a problem until a couple of years ago . Off to the allotment today to tidy paths and spread compost on beds were taking sandwiches and a flask so we can stay as long as we need to.
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Post by Ladygardener on Mar 18, 2024 9:27:57 GMT
I love going to the plot with a flask and something to eat Barbara, have a good day. Jenny has planted our potatoes, (Charlotte) we mixed a bag of manure with home grown compost and bought compost with peat in one of the wheelbarrows and will grow the potoes in bags as always. The used soil we put onto the borders each year which helps because we garden on clay. Aside from that, I've been planting out rooted 1 year runners into the new strawberry bed. I finally cleared one of the old strawberry beds, it took a while but now it will be used for growing other veg this year. Still pulling up flowering HBC and grass that wants to grow in the borders.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 18, 2024 10:20:23 GMT
I used to love taking tea and snacks to my plot so I could stay as long as I liked! Have a good day Barbara! I think the year our robin had no tail it was just natural shedding, he couldn't fly very well until it grew back but his name has stuck. Of course, it could be an entirely different robin 3 years down the line I suppose!!! This morning I have cut back a couple of grasses I forgot about and planted more of my foxgloves. I also planted a new clematis on the terrace as Prince Charles has disappeared. I put HF Young in its place.
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Post by Tig on Mar 18, 2024 14:05:41 GMT
Perhaps Prince Charles threw a strop now he's king It's been lovely today so I've finished off de-mossing the paths and done a bit more tidying up. Checked the plants in the growhouses, they keep getting nibbled in one of them so either a slug or snail is hidden in there but I couldn't find it. I did find 2 more lily beetles which were quickly dealt with.
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Post by Barbara on Mar 18, 2024 14:15:32 GMT
Four hours work makes the allotment look lovely, all ready for planting up now, I'm going to put my first earlies in trugs in case we get a wet spring, being at the bottom of the hill makes a difference when it rains a lot, I'm being given compost from the weed the police confiscated from the growers, it does smell strongly, and I have old compost and leaf mould and mixed with soil should be fine.
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Post by Barbara on Mar 20, 2024 9:02:25 GMT
Emptied a pot that had tulips in they were poor this year, moved them to a flower bed and they will be bed this week, see how they do next year, cleaned the potting corner and the bench, I might give it a coat of paint if it ever dries out, more and more sycamore seedlings pulled, it's like painting the fourth bridge
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Post by Dutchy on Mar 21, 2024 8:48:38 GMT
I cleared away Ivy behind my big seat. Bit of a thing to do with only one hand working well but I got there. Chuffed to bits as the bits on the deck had collected plant debris and were rotting down and that affects the decking. Got it in time I think
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 21, 2024 11:03:00 GMT
I've got the whole day to myself - just me and my dog! We've planted some cowslips, planted a honeysuckle to climb through a gappy bit in the hedge and made the bed I made bigger last summer a bit bigger - it means I don't have to edge it now as it has a new smart edge! Brenna hasn't been much help although she was keen to get her paws on some worms that surfaced!
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Post by Tig on Mar 21, 2024 12:46:51 GMT
Assistant head gardener Brenna requires more training I reckon My helenium mariachi series collection arrived from FG so I've potted them up, look healthy enough but not going to risk them with the forecast cold snap. Planted out the hyacinth Pink Pearl, (found the name on a label sunk in the compost), did a bit more weeding and moss removal and fed three peonies I'd missed with chicken manure pellets. I don't think the peonies will do very well this year, they grew too quickly in the warmth and some are rotting, or have frosted leaves from the colder nights.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 21, 2024 13:31:23 GMT
I've just tidied up the pond and made a little bog garden for some marginal plants which will hopefully make a bit of shade in the summer. I can see little tadpoles swimming near the bottom but never noticed any spawn.
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Post by Ladygardener on Mar 22, 2024 12:18:17 GMT
Fabulous that you have tadpoles Jasmine. I've cut back some more of the Aster, Monarda, and Achillea. I dug out some shasta daisy and planted a couple of divided bits of Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'.
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Post by Tig on Mar 22, 2024 15:16:05 GMT
I was going to plant the sparaxis bulbs in a container. Thought one of the lily pots was empty as no signs of any growth in it so emptied it out, there were bulbs but there were also all these evil little vine weevil grubs in there, all the bulbs were rootless, unsurprisingly! It wasn't even a huge pot either. Thought I'd better check the pot of lilies growing next to it but they are up and looking OK, not one found in that pot. I then decided to tidy up all the clematis I'm growing on it pots, remove moss & weeds, add feed & top up with fresh compost. The Westland with John Innes is rubbish, looks like wool. I may end up using it as a mulch, waste of money. By the time I'd finished checking other pots it was too late to deal with the sparaxis, so maybe tomorrow.
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Post by Tig on Mar 23, 2024 11:51:24 GMT
Concerned that the dreaded vw grubs had got into a rescued magnolia pot I had to check it this morning, no sign but it was in very poor soil so I've added some mpc and shrub feed, will see how it does. Also repotted the comfrey LG sent me ages ago, over time the compost had shrunk in the pot so I lifted it and filled the base with more compost and feed, hopefully it be happier this year. De-mossed all the hydrangea & rhodo pots on the side terrace, and trimmed the clems that grow in pots by the fence. I thought camellia Yuletide had died as it has no foliage at all, but on closer inspection I think there are leaf buds on the end of some of the branches so I've fed that, pruned out any deadwood and will see if it gets any new growth. It is a bit pot bound so perhaps needs planting out, but I've not much space in the right places for it.
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Post by Dutchy on Mar 24, 2024 12:31:46 GMT
Nothing. Rain, wind, cold. I have gone back to hibernating.
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Post by maggy on Mar 24, 2024 12:39:28 GMT
Goodness me Tig, those flipping vine weavels love your garden ! It's a wonder anything grows! Have you thought of upending all your pots I would. Get some help though or you will do your back in. I've dug up and moved the small heart willow from the corner borders I'm going to let the foxgloves and lillies have that area, I've moved it and pruned it it's now on the back fence border, the other one is doing much better than it so it can only do it good.
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Post by Tig on Mar 24, 2024 15:58:59 GMT
Trimmed back more of next doors cotoneaster & some honeysuckle growing through the fence. Removed spurs from the contorted hazel which come up straight. Got loads of rosebay willow herb seedlings out of the veg plot and more moss, then raked where I had stood. It was sunny but quite cool. I'll keep fighting the vw fight Maggy, I should try some nematodes but it is a waiting game until the soil temperature is right for them, manual picking will continue though as I empty and check pots. I've still not planted the sparaxis, went completely out of my head
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Post by Barbara on Mar 24, 2024 16:48:05 GMT
Dozens more sycamore seedlings pulled out, a foxglove moved into the right place, it's lovely in the front garden but the back garden is so cold.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 24, 2024 17:22:41 GMT
That's a lot of vine weevils Tig, did they become bird snacks? I planted the last of my foxgloves and potted up most of my 2 FG orders.
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