Gardening - what's going on in your garden

Lilymary

I love the look of those bee bombs, but we're too far north for many of those types of plants to survive. But I do let a few wild flowers (aka weeds) stay in my garden as the bees love them, and try to plant shrubs and flowering plants that they like as well. We've got daffodils (!) coming up already, and the snowdrops will be on their way soon. I even have a confused clematis, rose and alstromeria trying to bloom. If it ever stops raining I must try to get my tulips planted - they're all sprouting in the bags, but my hip's bad at the moment so I'm not looking forward to it.

airwave

What’s going on in my garden? Absolutely everything! The magnolia stellata is just about to start showing off, saw our first daff out today. What really pleased me was walking downstairs after an exceptionally long lay in , was the sun playing on the stairs, just like a spring morning, it really lifted me.

Literally everything is just about to burst into life, a potetintilla we have never seems to have stopped, I suppose I’d better get into gardening mode and do some pruning?

it’s a grin, honest!

stellabean

My snowdrops are just starting to show white and the Acronites are just unfurling from the soil and strangely I have 2 roses trying to flower but their flowers should be pink and are peach instead maybe due to the cold.My magnolia stellata is now where near flowering but I hope it is as good as last year it went on until June.

I must start the cleaning of the greenhouse once the snowblower is out of it as I can't get in the door. I am planning the allotment and can't wait to get sowing the sweetpea seeds., it helps to have something to look forward to and if you saw the views from the horses field I will show them from the allotment.Which is 1500 ft above sea level on the side of a hill above a nearby village whit fantastic views but we don't start going up until about March apart a quick trip to make sure nothing has bee stolen over winter.

Mike1

I have tried cutting back a hedge in my back garden over the past few weeks which is not easy balancing on a crutch in one hand and a saw in the other, having created a small pile of branches I have now surrendered and have texted a local handyman/gardener for a quote, I am still waiting for a reply.

dij1966

Hi all, I am so glad to see this is back up to date. It means Spring is nearly here! I am itching to get there, with lots of seeds waiting to be planted. The garden still has a bit of colour with a rose still being in flower? Daffs showing through and tiny buds on the trees ready to grow into blossom.

@Mike I have my tree trunks ready to have a go at a fairy garden like what you did last year, very inspiring.

One of my Christmas presents was a RHS book on jobs to do month by month, for Jan it says be patient and don't rush to get out there, so binding my time and just looking out of the window until I can turn the page for the jobs in the section under Feb!

Just wanted to say, this bit of the site helped me through the summer when I was at a low waiting for my diagnosis, so thank you to you all.

Mike1

@Mike I have my tree trunks ready to have a go at a fairy garden like what you did last year, very inspiring.

Great, have fun with them.

mig

My snowdrops are in flower and have been for weeks, dug up rhubarb crown last year and put some in a tub its started growing already .

stellabean

Spring is around the corner the starlings have returned to their nest site above the barn doorway ( you have to watch out for falling poop) and the goldfinches have made an appearance on the niger feeder too both early compared to last year. The sweet pea seeds arrived all 345 of them ( some for me, my daughter and my friend) and now I am trying to decide which gladioli and dahlias to order just in case the village show happens this year.I am going to enter some of the horticultural classes and take on some of the men, they take it all so seriously.

Lilymary

Wow Stellabean, what a display that will be come summer! We're a bit exposed for annuals up where I am, and the slugs living in the stone walls are voracious, but I do miss them.

Rina

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/676249#Comment_676249

I've only just discovered this site but Good to hear that the RHS recommends we stay indoors and be patient during January - I keep thinking I should go outside and do something, but never seem to make it!

I'm glad this site helped you during the summer @dij1966 and I hope you're feeling brighter now xxx

Mike1

Having eventually realised that there is nothing I can do to sort the back garden out I am waiting for a local handyman/gardener to come round and give me a quote.

Mike1

Finally got a quote from the chap. He is going to remove a hedge and some old fence panels and replace them with featherboarding so my whole back garden will be boarded the same. I already have featherboarding down one side of the garden which cost me £600 a few years ago, this chap is doing all the work for a total of about £850 which is a huge saving by comparison. At least I will not have to worry about getting the hedges cut for me as there is no way I can balance on crutches whilst wielding hedge trimmers. On the plus side I have already planned to fit planters to the inside of the new fences which will enable me to do a bit of gardening. He is going to do the work the week after next so photos will follow. (I have not told the cat yet!!)

Mike1

Today is the day that the back garden starts to get sorted, I hope I don't get too exhausted watching!! Poor old Vixen is in for a shock as the hedge she likes lying under is going!

frogmorton

Oh dear me your cat will not be best pleased! Maybe you can put her a couple of pots near her 'spot' so she can still hide?

Hope all goes well. We are having our garden done this summer too not till June though.

wazz42

What a treat it is to come and read what is going on, I feel so much better, thank you. Thankfully we have nice neighbours, we don't see much of them because our front doors are quite a bit apart but it's nice to know they are there if I ever needed help! Mind you we are all the same generation so it might take all of us to help just one of us get up if they fell over 😉

I hope the bee bombs are good, we have lots of bees with a white bum around in the late Spring - I love seeing them on the lavender.

I managed to get outside and stop the cats using my strawberry bed as a loo (it was not good, poor dead strawberries that had been dug up). We seem to have lots of young new cats on the block and our older cats aren't good at seeing them off the premises. I've cleaned up and planted some new strawberrries a mix of 3 varieties and found a couple of pop up mesh 'things' to keep them safe, mind you I've had to use our tough super strong tent pegs to cope with the wind. It's due to be bad this week for us so I shall have to keep an eye out in case they get blown around. Ultimately a very enjoyable time though and a great sense of achievement

xx

airwave

I have made a 30 foot high tree disappear and am now paying the price for over enthusiasm, will I ever learn, madam is well pleased, even the postman is pleased at keeping his scalp intact😂. Result, One dead chainsaw. Madam even cut some of the grass yesterday. Thought I’d make a pot out of one piece of trunk? I’ve dragged the playhouse back into the garden ready for the next child, she’s entranced by it, the trampoline has started its annual moves around the garden. Now where’s the lady that digs..........

its a grin, honest!

Mike1

As promised here are a few photos now that the garden has been sorted-ish:

This is the new fence which replaced the hedge that was there so no more trying to cut back the foliage! Plus new apple tree. Raised bed that was built years ago. I have ordered a new bird feeding station to go beside the bird table.

Vixen deciding if she can climb the flag pole! There is a little red door there which is used by some of the gnomes.

There are about 50 gnomes tucked away in the back garden, not to mention a few fairies!

AND FINALLY

Vixen in her favourite shady spot.

frogmorton

Ahhhhh! You saved the best till last! What a gorgeous pic of Vixen!😻

Seriously your garden is so exciting Mike! there is so much to see I would love sitting outside. Gnomes and fairies and fish too it's such fun! Ours has nothing at all in it just a lot of grass - for now! I am having beds put in this year as you know.

I see you have your Cornish flag up too and have you had sunshine?! We have only had cloud and maybe fog!🙄

Mike1

Yes, it has been sunny but cold, although I have managed to sit out in the garden with a book and a blanket for a couple of hours. My grass is plastic = HIGHLY recommended!

wazz42

Hi there, Mike your garden looks great, quirky and very individual and just like I would imagine! I love the gnome trying to see what’s in the pond.

@frogmorton is having things done to her garden too, and so are we! I am so proud of myself, I did get out into the garden last week and managed to get the blackberry under control. It had been neglected last year and hadn’t been cut back etc. Thankfully it’s thornless, I need to tie it in a bit but it looks so much better.

Anyway a man came round just yesterday to look at our last bits needing to be built. We want a deck laying at the top of the garden and then I’m going to have a raised pond beside it, built out of 'pretend' sleepers for ease and then a heavy duty liner. We’ve gone for a start date in May so we can get some clearing up done in that area first. I’m hoping it will encourage us to get out a bit more too.

xx

stellabean

I have been planting some of the 390 sweet pea seeds I have for myself, my daughter and friend. We have tidied the hen hut up ready to get our new girls on Monday they will join our remaining 2 old ladies(8 yrs old) so we will be back to having our own eggs again We are going to build a new one soon when we have the Landrover back from repair after our bridge demolition.The courtesy car is so small and only 2 door I have trouble using it.Hubby is trying to repair a greenhouse our daughter bought second hand but the base had been cemented in and he has been chipping the old stuff out for weeks. Then she can plant her own seeds instead of me having to do it all!.

Lilymary

My husband has excelled himself as undergardener today - he's hacked back so many shrubs and cut back perenialls that are starting to grown again, and left me the easy bits so I don't feel completely useless. I managed to take the hedge trimmers to a huge cotoneaster yesterday, and am regretting it now, but there are some jobs only the head gardener should tackle. Mini daffs and self-seeded primroses in bloom, snow drops going over, tulips starting to come up, hellebores in full bloom, roses showing their first shoots, but best of all, the gardens are full of singing birds.

Next job is replacing the trellis that supported a huge wisteria. It has finally completely disintegrated, and the wisteria is held up with string and hooks screwed into old drill holes. Not looking forward to this....

stellabean

Lilymary I am so jealous of your wisteria I had a lovely mature one but it mysteriously died 2 years ago ( there was a form of rot in it). I have bought a new one but it is so young it is still in a pot. My snowdrops are just at the right stage to transplant so I am digging up the small clumps that Hubby doesn't want in his lawn and any congested ones for people who want them.I have to do this every couple of years. Once the car is back we have some to deliver along with early purple orchids and hostas I split for a friend who is redoing their garden on a tiny budget. My blackbird has nested right next to the greenhouse so I can sit at the potting bench and see her, she is very demanding when it comes to meal worms.

Lilymary

@stellabean , it’s lovely to share surplus plants isn't it. I let my foxgloves self seed every year and then move them around the garden and give away the surplus. I gave away over 40 pots last year. Then we had a late really hard frost. It killed off most of my remaining foxgloves, so now I have not only no spare pots but no foxgloves!

I have so many snowdrops I had to get ruthless last year and a few clumps ended up in the recycling bin, but I took loads over to my mum’s little garden which is full of snowdrops in the front, which remind us of my dad. We planted some in a local wood after he died, and while I know you shouldn’t really spread non-native plants in the wild, they”ve flourished and look so pretty in spring.

stellabean

Here are some of our new hens settling in but not laying yet we have a couple of weeks to wait for that. I couldn't get a very good photo they had just been given some corn. We have light sussex, blue haze, marran, and crested rock and should get brown and some green or blue eggs. It is lovely to hear hens in the garden as we haven't got any new ones for 7 years and our 2 old girls in the foreground have been very quiet.