What Did You Do In The Garden Today...?

[Tig]

5 vine weevils yesterday evening, some were newly hatched as the bodies were soft, short lived! Found a clutch of red devil grubs on some lilies in pots this morning so got them all off then went checking the bottom leaves on the others I could find round the garden. More deadheading and weeding. Cleared some of the melica transsilvanica Red Spire out of the border behind the akebia arch, it loves it there, too much, self seeds & smothers everything else. I also cut back more of the new growth on the akebias which were crossing the path. Watered the WIG and am hoping the forecast rain will water the pots and garden for me. It has just started, but not that heavy yet.

[Dutchy]

Too cold for the slugs which is good.
Too cold for me which is bad.

I wonder when summer will appear and if things then go to high numbers at once so acclimatizing is difficult......
At least I am glad I am not in Greece where it hit +40 *C

[Ladygardener]

It seems to be one extreme temperature or another Dutchy.

I've finally planted out the last of the sunflowers and a white phlox from FG that I'd been growing in a container. I've had to do my best with the huge delphinium in the lockdown bed, the wind was brutal yesterday.

[Tig]

The wind and rain has been a challenge this year LG, especially for tall plants. A lot of the peony flowers got too heavy with the wet and snapped the stems.

I only did a bit of weeding yesterday and cut back more new growth on the akebias. Found a fair few more hazel saplings and spotted holes where the squirrel must have been looking for last years, without success

I won't need to worry about things in the borders needing water today, it is pouring down again. I have watered the pots under the acers though as the rain doesn't get to them when they are in full leaf, and the butt was almost overflowing so it seemed a good opportunity to use that rainwater. I did get rather wet myself though.

[Barbara]

I resowed carrots and beetroot on the plots, germination has been really poor this year, at home I found lily beetle grubs on the leaves of my tall lily, squished now but where was mum ? I've collected seeds from my lupin and dark purple foxglove, hope to get those sown soon, wet again this morning but supposed to brighten up this afternoon so I might get them done then.

[Tig]

Camellia yuletide binned, it had died but was pot bound when I emptied it out. My bad. Decided to weed, demoss and tidy all the hydrangeas & other container grown shrubs on the side terrace, 11 in total, fed with slow release fertiliser pellets & topped up with new mpc which is rubbish but will have to do. Repotted three into large containers and a rose I've grown from a bunch of flowers. Decided that I didn't want the rose that wasn't Handel, so I've dumped that, the pot was full of ants so they are in the garden bin too. I've still got the hydrangeas on the bench seat to do but decided I'd done enough bending and lifting for today, wet pots are heavy.

[Ladygardener]

Wow, well done with that Rose Tig. You're right to not try to do everything in one day.

I was clearing stuff from the wildlife area at the bottom of the garden. Very interesting that there are 2 large Host down there with not a single bite out of them, the ones up along the side of the house however have been feasted on by the S&S of course. I've planted some Geum and some other bits out of two of the big containers, it will mean less watering and management and add a bit of colour where it's needed.

[Tig]

Perhaps there are more s & s predators in the wildlife area LG, it is amazing what a bit of natural pest control can do.

After all the rain we've had some of the rosebuds had balled so I've pruned them all out this morning to stop them going mouldy. Also deadheaded more peonies, iris and taken another branch off the sambucas nigra black lace that was over-shadowing a new phlox I planted. May do a bit more later but I'm trying to pace myself.

Found two vine weevils yesterday evening, I knew there were some lurking as I spotted fresh nibbles on the newly repotted hydrangeas!

[Barbara]

Some of my peonies have balled Tig, so i pulled them off, the roses funnily enough are fine, well for now, I watered the toms in the GH and did some weeding on the allotments and potted on the 20 wallflowers, came home and dug out a dead lavender and planted one grown from a cutting in it's place. it's been a lovely afternoon the sun has been really warm.

[Tig]

I went back out once the sun was shining and have pruned back several shrubs, taken side shoots off the magnolia which won't be staying in next year if it doesn't flower, and cut back the regal fern because OH didn't want to get wet going to his rubbish pile of old wood I still had a bit of room in the brown bin which gets emptied tomorrow so I hacked back more of the clematis montana mayleen and the jasmine stephanense along the garage wall. Bins full now

[Tig]

9 vine weevils and 15 s & s yesterday evening. It's been too cold to do much today, just weeded out a few self sown welsh poppies and more weeds, watered the stuff in the WIG & a few pots that had dried out already.

[Dutchy]

My hunt gave me one big slug and 3 minute ones. I still feel I am on top but wait for warmth. They might get out by the hundreds again.

Not doing much else at the moment although I think I will sow some more chard.

Somehow the new plot pot makes me look more intense at things, well yes there is less to look at anyhow.
I had never fully realized that beans come out of the ground with their seed and runner beans leave their bean under ground.
Isn't it funny how I managed to sooooo not look properly at things. Or rather did not register it before.
Over 60 and still learning, love it.

[Barbara]

I started in the garden at around 9.00 this morning, dug out a day lily that didn't flower last year and has no buds this year even after feeding, it was massive, I had to use Derek's fork mine was snapping, I'd grown a dahlia in a pot so after a struggle I got that out and planted it in the hole left by the llily, watered it well and then cut back the dug up lily, split it and put it in the empty pot, it has two chances next year, lot's of watering and feeding on the allotments , made more nettle and comfrey tea, did a bit of weeding then home for showers and sandwiches, bushed now time for a relaxing afternoon.

[Tig]

It was a perfect gardening day this morning, overcast and mild. I cleared the area of the veg plot of calendulas so I could plant out the 6 patty pan squash which were desperate to leave the WIG. First thing I spotted was a dead bird! Goodness only knows how it died, it wasn't a chick & there were no signs of mauling. OH reckons it could have flown into the back neighbours windows, bounced into our garden and somehow managed to get into the plot before it expired. After dealing with that I got all 6 plants in, mulched them with some mpc, but hadn't noticed the sun had appeared and I was wearing a black top. Had a funny turn and thought I was going to faint. Too hot, so came in, drank loads of water and cooled off. Felt OK after half an hour and the clouds had hidden the sun again so I managed to plant out the dianthus first scent candy floss I rescued yesterday, and the alstroemeria, plus 4 cosmos I'd grown from seed. Magic shoehorn worked well. Caught another mouse in the garage traps, OH dealt with that.

1 vine weevil last night and one red devil yesterday, none so far today.

[Dutchy]

Hurray for magic shoehorns.

Warmer days to come so we must all be careful when we garden.

[Barbara]

I sowed some cosmos late and just planted them out into an empty spot, I hope they get to flower, the slugs ate the sunflowers that were there,

[Tig]

Only wandered off to deadhead roses, ended up pruning back a dark leaved weigela, the exochorda niagara and the main stems of several foxgloves. Had a good tidy up where I keep the watering cans, found 15 snails hiding in all the little buckets, shells, etc I had stashed. Cleared several old pots, renewed the compost in three containers and added the coleus I've been growing on. Sowed the strawberry foxglove summer king in a couple of the bigger pots and a row of lettuce intred in a small trough. Watered the baskets, dahlia & lily pots. Caught 4 vine weevils last night and one more red devil late afternoon.

[maggy]

Planted up 4 pots with nicatiana , petunias and geraniums , Ron cut the roots from under the plunged pot that had the remains of the fig I cut down, I decided it was spreading too much , he broke up that lovely bench with the wagon wheels John bought for one of my birthdays sadly it had rotted and was unsafe to sit on, we bagged it up and he took it to go to the skip he has something to go. I actually sat in the garden today after we had finished.

[Tig]

I cut back some brambles and ivy growing through from ndn's, and did a bit of weeding. OH went to look and found another bramble coming through further along so he climbed in and got that one out, plus more ivy and a bucket full of herb robert, it is a pretty flower but self sows rampantly here, and on our side. Did a bit more deadheading of peonies & roses I'd missed. I've fed the stuff in the WIG and had to water more pots as things are wilting already, me included.

[Ladygardener]

I've been deadheading Roses and digging out creeping buttercup. Other than that, I've been making sure things in containers don't dry out. Thankfully we don't have too many now. Jenny and Hannah put the new birthday bench together and I have it at the front side of the house which gets shade from the sun. It's the same bench I used to have at my house and that one lasted for years.

[maggy]

I've removed all the foxgloves out of the corner plot , Phil cut down the ivy that's growing over my back fence I picked up all the cuttings out of the borderm trimmed a lot of Montana from the corner fences m by the time I'd done that we had lunch and I needed a shower it was roasting out there.

[Tig]

Apart from cutting spent sweat peas I've done nothing so far today, it is too hot. I will be watering later again. Yesterday afternoon I managed to tidy up my clematis I have growing on in tall plant pots. Two had died, one had a root but no top growth so I've put it back after replenishing the compost, time will tell. Found 5 vine weevils on my nightly hunt, all lurking around the clematis pots!

[Barbara]

Watering pots and deadheading roses, long may this weather last, last night we were sat out till nearly midnight, the bats were zooming about the back garden.

[Dutchy]

Watering. And nibbling a few strawberries.

Can't say I like it above 25*C

[Missredhead]

I've done nothing apart from watering..I did deadhead the other day but I have no energy in this heat to do anything else..

[Tig]

Did the watering, a lot was wilting, especially the container grown hydrangeas. Picked a mini cucumber, and ate it

[maggy]

Tig, I will be asking these gardeners to dig up my hydrangea to keep in a pot, I've bought a big 50cm plastic tub, I'm wondering if it needs to stand on a big tray if I can get one so it doesn't suffer if I'm away ?

[Ladygardener]

maggy, we've grown a climbing hydrangea "Petiolaris" in a huge container for a few years now and only this year transferred it to the ground. We did have the container in partial shade during the summer months and it coped well.

Added more material to the compost heap, dead headed and added some succulents to the small green roof on a thingy we made for bugs a few years ago.

[Dutchy]

Has the plastic container got one of those water retaining things in it? Seems nowadays most big pots do.
That would help but if not I would get a big saucer of a kind. Maybe a dishwasher bowl that is big enough?
Or get those upside down plastic water retaining thingies that drip into the pot.
And put straw or hessian on the soil. That helps prevent water evaporating.

I have been watering today and got yet another "toast full of strawberries" to eat... that is 3...
It is nice though to just have it as a deluxe breakfast treat.

Again no slugs since I put the copper foil around my big pot. First time they were there but those might have been in undiscovered and could not get out anymore.
The verdict on copper edging is still out.

Picking loads of mini flower bunches from Pot 2.0, Love it.
The purple Dahlia I saved from next doors plot, the one someone tried to steal by yanking it out and then leaving it broken, is in flower.
It seems to be Thomas Edison a big electric purple flower.

Other than that things are growing and I discover that being greedy, well which gardener does not want more plants, can be a tad difficult.
I need to plan better and remember what size plants can get......

[Barbara]

We emptied the water butt and used the smelly water on the back border, it gets bone dry because of the trees in the gardens that back onto us, cleaned the barrel out and waited for the promised rain, the black clouds passed over at a rate of knots, sowed some foxglove seeds and cut back the lupins that were finished.