What are we doing in the garden 2025

I cannot resist the temptation to comment again.. Beautiful once again - the fact that the sphere at the top of the obelisk is mirrored in the shape of the topiary is really the chef's kiss!

(I considered Vanessa Bell at some point and ended up getting The Country Parson instead - I still wonder sometimes if I chose wisely).

 

Thank you @CostasK, much appreciated, none of my visitors notice these things . The description of The Country Parson on DA’s website is intriguing. I like it .

 

Have a good rest @ViewAhead, your efforts will be rewarded. I have often considered adopting a non-intrusive style of gardening (let it go wild ) to avoid all those aches and pains .

 

I have Vanessa Bell @CostasK. She’s lovely but doesn’t cope at all with the rain, any flowers not fully open simply ball. Also a lot paler than I expected. Only really yellow in bud and for about 2 minutes once opening, then she goes very pale -more a delicate hint of a tint

My Lady of Shallots are very healthy this year, but it’s taken them 3 years to really get going. One was a very feeble specimen right up until this season. A gorgeous rose though

 

Thank you for the information @Butterfly6 My ladies are 5 years old and 4. Despite the blackspot, they are very vigorous and seemed super healthy overall until I started removing the infected leaves, which made them less full.

I don't recall having a particularly bad problem with blackspot when they were younger. I wasn't using bark chippings then... so based on what @Plantminded said, I might remove it.

Interesting about Vanessa Bell. She is a very elegant lady. I think the reason I sometimes wonder if I should have chosen her instead, is that The Country Parson is next to two elegant roses (Penelope Lively & Emily Bronte), whereas that one seems a bit more wild in regard to some of its features (thorn count, colour of new growth, shape of flowers). I do like it though on its own right. It's always the first one to bloom, the fragrance is lovely and it's very healthy. I actually like the fact that it's absolutely laced with thorns (like its sister rose, Harlow Carr). Eventually I plan to move it to a different border, where it should really shine. It also fades to a light colour quite easily in full sun - that other border gets less sun, but still enough for it to be happy.

 

The day your garden has a blade of grass out of place, @Plantminded, will be the same day @shiney has a lie-in and then sits in an armchair whiling away the hrs watching mindless TV!

 

So, pretty much a day off for you today, @shiney.

 

New lawn to fix the new building soil drainage issues

 

I'm just glad you removed your smalls from the washing line before you took the pic of the garlic @Selleri ....
I didn't do anything yesterday. It was a damp, murky day and I was suffering massively from a lack of sleep. Today isn't looking much better, bit smirry, although I had 'the sleep' so that's a better start.
I've sorted out and bagged up an Iris for daughter to take to a work colleague today. I might take her, instead of her having to carry it on the bus, and will do the shopping then, instead of at night when I usually collect her [terrible bus service] at the back of 9.
It's meant to clear up later so I might get some of the plants put in that have been hanging around all over the place, and are for covering the bed in the front garden.
Other than that, and apart from watching the birds, maybe the little bit of lonicera/mixed hedging trimmed now that the battery's charged up. It's only a small area and it just covers the fence, so it's not difficult to do. Grass edges need cut too, as I didn't get that done the other day when I did the grass.

 

Blackspot needs to be treated early in the season, before leaf break. Regular spraying helps. Once the leaves have developed it is a bit too late unfortunately. Always collect and burn affected leaves The wet winter will have encouraged black spot.

 

I have seen very few butterflies this year so far despite being outdoors for several hours each day. They have a part to play in the balance of a healthy garden and i am planting a new boundary hedge on the north side of the house which will incorporate a couple of buddleia weyeriana partly to attract butterflies into the garden.
Is this lack of butterflies apparent elsewhere in UK and beyond too?

 

I've seen more moths than butterflies so far.

 

Thanks @Goldenlily26 I did do prep e.g. removing all the old leaves. The only thing I didn't do was pre-emptive spraying. You are right of course, once the black spots are there, they won't go away, but I was hoping that spraying would at least stop the spread. This hasn't been the case. Thankfully (so far at least) it only affects those 2 shrubs.