What are we doing in the garden 2025

I finally got around to tying my shooting star courgettes to supports, rather than just let them trail along the ground. Now that it's getting muddy again it seems like a good idea to lift the fruits up. I also managed to put in a stake for my eryngium which has been pretty much horizontal for months, and I've been having to climb over it to get to the tomatoes and courgettes on the other side.

 

@Allotment Boy, thanks for the raspberry support advice and the link. I'll have a look later.

 

I managed to get my grass done and the little bit of tidying of the hedge [and also the overgrown shrubs from next door along my path...] as the rain stayed off long enough to make it viable. Timed it all nicely. Had to spend a bit of time cleaning all the wet grass of the mower though! All the edges done, and the hoe pulled along the edge to make the border neat too. I don't spend much time in the front garden - it largely looks after itself apart from the grass/hedge getting cut, but the mature oak leaf hydrangea I have under the front window could do with a more permanent support as it hangs over the grass, so I might try and make an edging along that section. Not maybe a job for today though.
I also have a shrub in there that I started removing, but it wasn't going to be easy so I left the trunk in situ, so that the ground would get wetter after being more exposed, which will hopefully make it easier. I might have a look at that and see if it's more shoogly, but it's to be wild and wet later, so that should help even more.
May not be time for much out there today, but there isn't a huge amount to do anyway - just deadheading.

 

Been busy preparing ground for a new south facing hedge against a fence. Aiming for a mixed informal hedge to include cotinus cogyrria , several different physocarpus , camellias, lilac , buddleia . I have some of the plants but need some more so i await some by mail order. Definitely a bumper year for apples and i thought last year was good and they are ready early. Two of my trees which have produced nothing previously have produced a lovely crop - Winter Gem and Little Pax- both crisp and sharp. Best of all is the free standing dwarf James Grieve . I have had a couple of delicious apples previously but this time a bumper crop of 20 or so large apples . Even Mrs B likes these and we will enjoy these with some cheese and crackers in the coming days. Rest day for me today , i overdid the mattock and shovel work yesterday and i am feeling it now.

 

Our James Grieve apple tree has also produced a bumper crop this year @Robert Bowen although OH likes the sharp taste more than I do. I'm hoping more sunshine may add just a little bit more sweetness to them.
The Elstar apples are growing enormous, more like Bramleys than eaters and so far they are sharper in taste than they usually are. Last year they were quite bland.

 

Hard labour.

Replaced the two broken roof GH panels successfully, and whilst up there The Child realised that we could perhaps hide some of the mountain of inherited paving slabs between our and neighbour's fence in the back.

There is a handy 20cm gap, excellent for brambles.

So, The Child pulled and chopped out as much of the brambles as possible, and then we slotted around 20 paving slabs into the no-mans land.

The Child, clearly on a paving slab mission, had another brainwave and declared that many more could be slotted between our shed and the fence.

So off we went, lifting, slotting and swearing ( I never swear so blame my sister for teaching The Child all the juicy Finnish swearwords she used with a bright, innocent smile and a giggle ) and in the end we realised we had cleared enough room to start building a compost.

Have wood, have a saw, have a plan... I'll do some umming and ahhing tomorrow.

Then the blessed rain came in so I indulged in my favourite garden task, pulling off excess tomato foliage. The scent is heavenly

Now I have a greenhouse I can nearly walk in to without breakdance movements, full GW bin and a large basketful of tomatoes in various states of ripeness.

We'll gather some energy and then we can pickle chillies and green tomatoes, the jars will sterilize in the oven before the gammon goes in.

A good day. I just hope that the paving slabs between the fence and the shed will not decide to fall into any direction, there is a domino opportunity of "the slabs fell on the shed, the shed fell on the greenhouse, the greenhouse fell on the fence"... and so on all the way to Scotland.

 

Did a bit more weeding and trimming the grass edge around the borders.
Don't need to do any watering because it's been raining since 4pm.

 

Started to plan the 'hot' (for here) dry border for next year. it has been a disaster mainly due to the unusual weather. The agapanthus 'Nothern Star' was fantastic for two days before being flattened by the storm we had. The Eryngium 'jos eiking' was beautiful for a short spell but succumbed to wind and torrential rain. I would like to lift the eryngium but I believe it has a very long tap root so I am not sure of the best way to do this. Also. if I remove the nandina which has been disappointing, it would allow the philadelphus more room to thrive. Still raining so plenty time to think things through.

 

@Robert Bowen - re your hedge. I wouldn't plant Camellias in a south facing site, unless it's got a cooler, shadier spot.
If your Eryngium hasn't been in situ for long @daisym , just go for it now. Several plants with long tap roots can be lifted and relocated if they've not been long in their site. I haven't grown Eryngium for decades, so can't remember what they're like, but I've lifted Fennel no problem, when it's been planted for a year, and it's got a notoriously long tap root.

I managed to get the Weigela out from it's site yesterday. I wasn't happy with it. No time for passengers, so anything not doing well enough gets short shrift from me! One bit of root was clinging on, but I got the loppers into it and out it came. I'll sort out the soil there soon, and see what I'm putting in there instead. Lots of other small jobs done in the couple of hours after my walk, while it was mainly dry. I had to get another one of those water scarecrows due to an ongoing problem in the front garden, so I just got that set up as the rain came back on.
Today is to be fairly bright and dry, apart form a few showers early afternoon, but it's to be really windy, so I'll play it by ear. Deadheading anyway, and maybe pick some more toms as they've decided to really get going now that it's a bit cooler. Too much heat is as bad as too much cold for them IMO, and they stall. Not sure the outdoor one will have many more though.

 

Its a good point @fairygirl . They will be in the shady section , sheltered by the house , so i am hoping for a good display. Fingers crossed .

 

Yes - it can be tricky with them if they don't have the right spot @Robert Bowen.
Some shade -especially in summer, damper conditions etc. Even here, where they're pretty easy shrubs, I see some that now get very bleached in summer, because it's much hotter and sunnier for longer spells. In the past, it wouldn't trouble them too much being in a sunnier site, but that's all changing.
Early morning frost in spring, when they're often about to flower, can also a problem for new buds/flowers, so bear that in mind too. It depends on age/maturity of plant and variety etc, but it's always worth being careful about positioning. I gave up on them because we also had the problem of really rough weather trashing the flowers just as they were opening, so they didn't earn their keep well enough in a smaller garden. Can't win!

 

Took out the remaining water from the 200l butt, cleaned the butt, and filled it with the rain water from the greenhouse roof.
The old water went into the beds.

 

Dead headed the roses that had been shattered by the wind and rain. Did a few other bits of general pruning. Grass is recovering a bit but I won't cut it for a while yet.

 

Picked our White bullace damson, but we'd lost a lot



We've had it at least 10 years and it's never fruited before. It'll need pruning asap, now.

 

There are some trees overhanging my allotment, they are rootstock suckers from a plum tree in a garden a distance away.
Doing a google it appears these are likely a form of damson.

Not seen fruit on them before but this year lots.
Tried a few but pretty insipid TBH but very sweet.