What are we doing in the garden 2025

I wasn't able to take care of the garden much this week due to other priorities, so now I am doing lots of watering, deadheading and some weeding, to make it up to it. When I am done, I plan to get some humane mouse traps for the shed and potentially go to a garden centre for a little pick-me-up. (Though in reality I shouldn't be buying plants at the moment, considering I am going away next month and it is mid summer...)

 

Awww thank you @ViewAhead I take photos of things and post on insta as a way of remembering year on year (there is also a lot of dog and bread and cake photos on there hahahaaa!)

 

Sounds like a lovely community spirit, sharing, listening to stories and learning I bet and a lot of laughing I hope

 

Went up to the greenhouse picked a brace of cucumber, some tomatoes and spent time hunting tomato munching caterpillars got 4, will be giving them a late night visit tonight.

 

"Brace of cucumber"... nice, I'll add that to my vocabulary, thank you @NigelJ

It's very kind of you to visit your catepillars but perhaps you should consider getting rid of them?

I have spent all afternoon weeding and reclaimed the last bit of unexcavated soil under the laundry line. A stepping stone, some Thyme (I need more, and am pretty sure there is some lurking around somewhere and Hydrangea grown from cutting that screamed to get out of it's pot.



I start to think we got things right by dedicating the first winter and spring in this house to digging. Clay soil is lovely, but I can definitely feel the difference in areas that have been dug and improved with compost, manure and sand to the areas that haven't.

I can't get the fork in in the undug places

Digging has a downside, the soil that is no good for keeping (in particular, the yellow sub- clay from the pond) needs to go somewhere.

This is the project for next winter, Mount Ararat and a kennel sturdy enough for a herd of Bisons (Oh, and the gravel path might need some touch ups here and there too, like some gravel to start with...)

 

@Selleri could you use the yellow subclay on what will be the gravel path.

 

Today I cut a hole in my fence. My garden borders a stream. The previous owners put a fence to protect their child from falling into it. I used to climb over to reduce the growth of brambles and weeds, but thought why risk an embarrassing pratfall? So I removed the wire mesh, cut out the rails and attached a rope ladder, which gives me easy access to the stream so I can trim back weeds.

 

Unfortunately the clay is waterproof. The path would probably turn into a stream in the winter rains.

I think I need some sub base stuff, a layer of weed membrane and then gravel on top, I will ask the local merchant when we get that far. It doesn't seem like a good idea to do the path before the main playing with soil is over, or the fancy gravel path will turn into a gravel garden for draught tolerant weeds

Currently I'm smuggling the clay into the general waste bin, two bagfuls by collection.

 

I have been growing a sunflower and waiting with anticipation for it to open. This morning I got up to find that the pesky squirrel has eaten the head, all I have now is a very long stalk!
Taken yesterday before the vandalism

 

They're a seriously bl**dy nuisance @Friendly. Too easy for it -right beside the fence.
It's infuriating when you're looking forward to something. Maybe next year you could site it/them somewhere it can't easily get access. Difficult though....
@Selleri - all my gravelled area, and the paths I had before that, are on top of sticky, manky clay, and the whole site was a typically compacted one [end property] with an area of slabs on coarse red sand, which is quite a common way of slab laying up here, and then just gravel and grass beyond that. There was hardly any planting anywhere other than a couple of trees at the very back of the plot and a few shrubs. A membrane topped with a good layer of gravel is fine because the rainwater still gets through. The planting around your paths will also soak up excess water.

I doubt I'll be doing anything outside today as it's to be wet until the evening. I got a lot done yesterday though, as the showers were light, and many of them missed us. Finally planted the Acer and it's looking pretty good. It was tricky as it's a weeping variety, so getting it the right way round and then filling in around it was awkward. I felt like weeping too...
A lot of deadheading done, and fed my sweet peas and the toms. Planted some sweet williams into the basket I had strawbs in, so that can go back up on the fence. Got the last bit of the back gate done, but the rain came on properly at that point, so the painting will have to wait. Bird feeders are needing filled again. I need to charge those birds more rent.

 

That is seriously annoying, @Friendly!

 

Picked some dwarf french beans...hopefully not stringy this time. Checked for figs, loads of green ones. Then tackled the last pea bed. Again how do "weeds" do so well when the plants you want to do well are struggling?
Sorted out an area that was a mess. Manage a coffee break and back outside but hang on....it started to rain! Not in the forecast but still very welcome.
So last job not finished.

 

Had all weekend to the garden which makes a change lots have been done , I am wondering around thinking what can I do ( more like want I want to do ) .

I've attacked the Aucuba seen as the clematis jackmanii has finished that got hacked to along with the ivy, the Aucuba didn't want to come out so got mauled by the mattock . Made a nice new planting spot which is for a new shrub rose but for now its got two Thomas edison Dahlias underplanted with 3 geranium rozanne .

Old picture from spring



Shredded the waste and did a lot of weeding and cutting back a few misbehaving perennials and the lawn got a cut . Tidied up the pots and plant stash potting on plants which I have no idea what I am doing with.

Today I've been picking primula candelabra seeds and sowing a couple of trays, sorted out all the dried off bulbs and packed them up for storage .

 

Just sowing seeds today, or rather, weeds from seeds

Thistles, native Foxgloves (I'm sure I bought some fancy ones too but can't find them), Aquilegia (my inherited ones look like funeral flowers so I want to mix things up a bit), Malva Moschata, and the tiny purple flowering weed that grows on walls I like very much.

And yet another batch of Cornflowers, I must have used 4 bags of seed this year as I needed a filler to keep the weeds at bay on the newly improved soil. Cornflowers are perfect, just chuck some seeds in fruit trays and plant out a month later- excellent for cutting too.