What are we doing in the garden 2025

Sprayed weedkiller on the invaders from the scrub at the bottom of the garden, so nettles, brambles, sycamore, bindweed and a number of other undesirables.
Watered in the greenhouse, moved some trays out to harden off the plants in them, spent the afternoon tidying up a number of enthusiastic ground cover rubus, especially one that roots everywhere it touches the ground, others only root at the tips.

 

Time for an audit today of plants that weren’t performing well, were getting too big for their space or were not quite the form or colour I expected. This had to be carried out to create space for some new, more attractive recruits . I won’t name the rejections but their replacements included 3 Echinacea pallida, a Persicaria polymorpha and four roses, Gabriel Oak, Roald Dahl, Lavender Ice and Admiral.

The roses all got special treatment with plenty of organic matter being incorporated into the soil beforehand. One of the rejections, an ornamental grass, needed two different spades, a fork and a pruning saw to remove it. I had to cut the rootball into 3 pieces to fit it into the bin.

I then mowed the main lawn, trimmed the edges, cleared up some fallen leaves and did some deadheading.

 

This weekend I have mostly been tidying up the garden at the front and back of the house by pruning (especially 2 flowering cherries and a big cytisus), using plant supports to give a better shape to roses and sorting out some pots.

The biggest change though came from swapping around 2 very young hostas in a super prominent position with 2 mature ones that used to be at the back of the garden, because I got tired of waiting for the young ones to grow. Instant gratification, loved it

 

I did mean to plant a tray of sweetpeas nearly a week ago as we had better weather today but first needed to pull out an old clematis from the pot/obelisk I wanted to reuse. For some reason I didn't quite fancy that job so abandoned it and started clipping back another clematis - a winter flowering one which is quite old now.

I should have done it earlier this year after it finished flowering but the weather wasn't good enough then. In the end, I got the electric hedge trimmer out but even that wasn't man enough for the job so it was back to using secateurs - very laborious. They promptly broke having lost a screw/nut somewhere so I had to find another pair. It was a veritable birds mess of twining vines all entangled in trellis and I soon wished I hadn't started the job. Gave up after filling one green bin and will have another go tomorrow. I have decided to cut the whole lot down to 2 ft and see if it recovers. I can already see that I will need a new trellis panel.

 

No rain today so out weeding yet again another path that the plants just love taking over. We tackled the ivy taking over the medlar tree, cut off the beschorneria flower spike and found 2 young growths bedded in the gravel. Do we want more...no. Then the male chinese gooseberry has decided that the fig tree is a great place to climb, but we don't think so. So had to do some tieing up.

 

Our record of having rain every weekend since mid-November remains intact. Yesterday, there was another flash flood warning, seems like we have one every weekend. I had relatives fly from Florida to Saratoga to watch the Belmont race. Two flights, three tickets at $100 each, three days of hotels and meals, and it was down pouring at race time. Today, the sun came out, finally, it was 71 degrees F, and tonight it will be 65 degrees F. My aubergine in the raised bed are beginning to grow, finally. The photo shows the difference between the outdoor plants and the size of the greenhouse plants in the background. The greenhouse plants are starting to flower, the toms and peppers have small fruit. The plants in the garden are stunted from cool temperatures and overcast skies. I planted beet seed around the perimeter of the raised bed. We really enjoy beet greens, but it has been several years since we have seen them in the market. I intend to plant them as many times this season as possible and harvest them while small.

 

All I did this weekend was plant out some Verbena Bons (bought at garden open day) and checked through all the poly greenhouse plants. Cosmos and some sunflowers waiting in the wings…

 

Harvested yet another good size bowl of red currants. Amazed at how many we are having from one plant and still more to ripen. The tunnel needed watering and another orchid (already potted on) needed another pot on as it has grown madly.
Picked our first Spinach America. No idea why it is called that apart from did it come from America? It seems a lot tougher than the usual spinach so we will see if it is to our taste.

 

Cut back a bit of romping ivy. Potted on 3 little Impatiens I took pity on in Home Bargains. Didn't go out for plants. Didn't need any plants. Already have 8 Impatiens plants. Ah well!

 

What type of orchid please @On the Levels ?
And what voodoo mix are you potting them in to get such growth?

 

@ViewAhead I sympathise. I had to resist buying some wax flower (chamaelucum) from B and M. And yet I know they're going to die of lack of water and be thrown away in the shop. What a waste of plants that look to be a few years old.

 

They had some hydrangeas wilting to death too, @CarolineL. So sad ... and such unnecessary suffering.

 

My bare roots arrived today

 

Finishing off the border with potted lilies and cosmos, but haven't finished it yet. Having trouble with pigeons eating the currants so bought these bird repellent discs and they work. Have to put them together and no instructions but i enjoyed doing it.

 

@Logan, old CD's threaded on twine also work well. Used them last year suspended over my raspberry plants to keep the pigeons/starlings/sparrows away.

I spent the day as planned cutting down the old clematis. Had to disentangle it from the trellis (which was being more or less held up by the clematis) and some plastic netting attached to the bottom of the trellis to deter rats. Hideously tangled. I have decided to kill off the whole plant so I've cut it to the ground and will use a strong weedkiller tomorrow on the stumps. No possibility of digging it out because it is jammed in a tiny space between the paving. I'm beginning to suspect that the roots might be the reason why the nearby paving is very uneven - we shall see.

I'm quite sad because it was a lovely plant in mid winter, especially around Christmas when we often used to see big bumblebees in the blossom, creamy bells with reddish freckles inside - hence the name.

However, the absence gives me scope to create a slightly bigger and more private seating area on the terrace. The road below the terrace is about 6 to 8ft below so we feel a bit exposed sometimes. We're still waiting on the builders quote to re-build the whole thing if it proves necessary.