What are we doing in the garden 2025

Friday I mowed front and back grass and planted out some erigeron that I grew from seed.

Yesterday I weeded out the flower beds at the front and planted out gazanias and gaillardias that I grew from seed. The plants are a bit weedy and pathetic looking but I hope they'll cheer up now they're out of their pots. I also planted out a blue sisyrinchium and a salvia amistad that I bought from a car boot sale last weekend, and the polemonium that I got from Morrisons, and sowed some annual seeds both front and back (lots of cosmos).

Today I've been outside for an hour; I planted out a supermarket basil, 4 marigolds that I got from the same car boot last week, the 2 heucheras that I got from Morrisons (3 plants for the price of 2 with the polemonium) and 3 more of the erigeron. Then the wind gusts got so bad that I decided it was sensible to come indoors. I have several huge trees in full leaf and don't fancy being hit by a falling branch.

 

Planted out the next pea seedlings. The ground though is still like concrete. Very very hard to put in the pea sticks which we must do not for them to climb up but to stop the pigeons attacking them. We need more rain as the hose isn't rain.
Weeded around the dwarf broad beans. They are slowly showing tiny pods.
Then sowed some more dwarf french beans in pots as succession to the plants outdoors now.
Sowed yet more lettuce/salad leaves in the tunnel. Not doing well this year. Maybe too hot for them.
Watered the orchids and insectivorous plants. They need so much humidity and watering when it is so warm. That's why we need more rain as well as the water butts are very very low.

 

Dug out a cornus Midwinter Fire. It looks lovely in winter, but it seems intent on sending roots sideways to put up new shoots everywhere! Not good in a border of precious things. So I've saved some of the new youngsters to put in a pot instead.

 

Sown 3 types of basil (Genovese, Thai and British), Coriander, potted on Basket of fire chillies, planted out Gazanias, petunias and picked sage for stuffing!

 

Today, after the “not enough, Lord!” rain had passed, we tackled the pompom viburnum. It has finished flowering, and is one of the few plants flourishing in our Belgian garden (wondering what the cutting will do in Hereford soil)… The flowers are now over, so we cut back each stem to the nearest fork that didn’t flower. Now that has been done, I can see which thick branches need to be cut out, to keep it in check…

 

Not enough rain here either, and the strong wind is a double whammy. Have done some watering, but a really good downpour is needed.

 

I planted 5 in the wrong place and am aiming to widen the bed and move them to give them and everything else more room. Far too crowded but looks great in the winter

 

My viburnums grow well here so i think ‘ erefordshire clay would suit.

 

Thanks @Goldenlily26 , I indeed decided to soften the protruding blob on the right. I was impressed with a local natural pond that has a prominent peninsula with brilliant Aspleniums but then realised it's a natural one without a liner.

We have now dug the edge where the liner will end under rocks, more or less shaped the bird bath shallow area, and gone down in the middle.

Hopefully it will again rain over night so that tomorrow we can finish the shapes and check the levels. Clay soil is nicely mouldable, a bit like doing sand castles

In other news, I sowed second batches of Cornflowers, Cosmos and Corncockles to have some in flower also later in the season.

Being a greenhouse newbie I'm most amazed with the ease of hardy seeds- just sow them and leave there, no hassle or fuss about legginess or other fine tuning, things get on just fine.

I also potted on some newly purchased £3 Convulus (I can't spell that, it's the silvery Bindweedy bush), £1.50 Fuchsia, various herbs and sowed Basil and something else I have already forgotten.

Ate loads of Welsh onion and Radishes from the makeshift raised bed. The Degus ate a lot of home grown dried Dandelions.

 

Everyone seems to have been busy.!

I didn't get going until midday when I decided to empty out pots of Iris Ret. Only half seemed to be any good so I replanted these in the wall sleeper bed. The gone over potted daffs I replanted where I dug up loads of unwanted Allium 'Purple Sensation' and promptly binned these, they are very invasive.

Then I decided 3 pots of Marais de bois strawberries in the G/H needed to be in bigger pots with some fresh compost added, despite showing signs of flowering/fruiting. I know I should have done it earlier but life got in the way.

Late afternoon we had a rather a hiccup in that one of the ratchet straps for our our newish shade sail over my hanging egg chair suddenly became looser due to the very high wind gusts we'd been having all day. Having tried to remedy that with no success we had to take the whole lot down and are now having second thoughts. I think it's frequently far too windy here for it to be successful which is a shame.

 

Nothing was done in the garden yesterday.
The weather is still a cold wind and showers so no long spells outdoors.
I have to pot on the chillies, one tiny plant already has a flower bud on it.
The runner beans are now through, I will be able to give my daughter her potful soon.
The brambles and field grass are turning brown but I must sit on my hands and wait a bit longer, (Patience), before pulling them all up, I want the roots to be dead, not just the foliage.

 

Bit of a surprise last night. Watering my first earlies ( which i have not grown before) i found two of them were in full flower. I am pretty sure that those potatoes have only been in the ground , at the very most , 8 weeks , which seems very early . Maybe due to the dry weather. I have grown 2nd earlies before and they are generally consistent on the 3 month cycle . I think i will give the flowering ones another fortnight and check them out then. Any first early experts out there who would care to share their experience please?

 

Sorry @Robert Bowen we gave up growing pots years ago as they did so badly it wasn't worth the effort. Experts will respond.
Here we have had to prune back the lovely tree peony as (like most plants in our garden) it was hanging over the path and also the washing line. We did wait until all the flowering had finished. Weeded again the "herb" garden. Didn't take so long this time.
Started clearing the covered area in readiness for the pumpkins and squashes to be planted out.
Rain forecast but 6 drops don't count!

 

First time potato grower here so can’t advise, but I’ve been posting on the ‘potato’ thread that I can see flowers just coming after 8 weeks @Robert Bowen.

 

Thanks Aunty Rach , interesting you are having the same experience