What have i yet to do??

Hi gang,winters closing in and i think ive managed to complete the jobs needed round the garden..apart from cleaning out the wildlife pond which im not looking forward too!
Ive cut the gunnera down
Moved tenders to the greenhouse
Lifted the dahlias
Removed other annuals and tidied perennials
Greenhouse and potting shed spring cleaned
BBQs covered and patio sets made safe from flying in extreme winds!
and trimmed down plants in fish pond...is there anything i might of forgot that you all can think of please ??
xx

 

Sounds like you've got it covered Joolz....have you anything that needs mulching....I mulching mad at the moment

 

Did you plant the tulips?

 

You've certainly been busy Joolz.

Any plants in the garden that may need re-siting or splitting up? Checked on anything that may be over-wintering around the garden in pots?

Other than that, time to cosy up indoors with next years seed/plant catalogues.

 

All young cuttings in a safe,cosy environment? I still think I ought to take more Salvia "failsafe" cuttings. You are ahead of me on putting it all to bed Joolz.
Well done,
Jenny

 

Yes loli i need do more mulching now i cleaned up,i will do that next week all extra manure ordered x
Sal, ive planted some more tulips but cant remember where x
Sheal,i protected what i can i think apart from more mulch..not exp enough to know what plants i can split at this time of yr thou ? x
Jenny, eveyrthingsi have done a black & blue salvia cutting,looks ok at moment finger crossed xx

 

I tell ya sheal,if it wasnt for this forum i would 5 stone heavier!

 

you and mum have got me wanting chickens more than ever but i worry about my cats and foxes bothering them my friend offered me some ducks form her farm but im too nervous to try either x

 

Buy a bag of rock salt & get some winter tyres?

 

Rock dust in place zigs hoping for soooo much snow i love it,what are them slip on grips for the soles of your shoes called..prob come in handy for down by the gh now with the mud
Tyres ..i will gather enjoying sat here with you lot over winter xx

 

Urban foxes can be a worry, but not insurmountable, Joolz. I've had a semi-feral cat (Colin Feral) visiting all over the summer and he wasn't in the slightest interested in the chooks or the ducks.

What breed of ducks? If they are Khaki Campbells or Indian Runners, they are fab layers (even through winter!). And they don't even need a pond; a rectangular plastic storage box would do it, topped up with water (but deeper than the under bed ones ). Just so long as they have a secure home to sleep in at night, they should be fine.

I know you have a pond, but be aware, the ducks will trash it and gobble up all your lilies They kept away from the irises though.

Having said that, I think looking after chickens is easier than ducks; mainly because chooks are dry creatures, so their bedding doesn't get as mucky as quickly

Now we have Ozzy, we can't let the chooks free range as much, but they have a large walk-in-run and plenty of fresh greens daily. The ducks still free range because I had a fence seperating the copse area anyway. But, for the first couple of weeks of Ozzy, we kept the ducks in their small run just to keep them calmer.

 

I think your right..ducks will wreck the pond i didnt think of thati could use my 6x4xft shed for chickens when daz lets me move my stuff into his nice new big shed Ive got some creeping to do
Im not sure what duck breed she has,they are smallish and white i will ask and see what chickens she has aswell
As cute as your ozzy is im not tempted to get a dog,i think im the only one in the village that hasnt got one

 

Hose put away (to stop it going brittle) and outdoor taps lagged?

I've opened the drain-taps on most of my water butts (so they don't burst if they freeze solid)

I've put thermometer (actually an electronic wireless thingie linked to PC for logging) in the greenhouse to see how it actually performs. I'm a bit like No. 5 : "More input, need more input"

Do you put the leaves over the crowns? That's the normal advice, for frost/cold protection, although there's a school of thought not to do that - the insulation brings them into life earlier in the year and its then the late frosts that nobble them.

 

Joolz no worries re cat's and chooks.....ofcourse you have to be carefull...but the local cats are terrified of my girls.....my dogs are good with them but they know thier place....i would advise a roof on their run to keep Mr Fox out....my chooks only FR when the dogs or myself are 'on patrol'

 

Nice one Kristen...need to sort the hoses out and butts...thanks for the reminder