What are we doing in the garden 2025

We tackled the ivy growing up a brick wall in readiness for some fencing work next week (weather permitting!). The trunks of the ivy were huge (and don't mention the roots) and it took both of us over 2 hours to clear an area about 18feet. Had to cut back some of the magnolia growth overhanging the gateway so that the fencing people have a better clearance (probably better for the postie as well, when we have one).

 

I painted a half whiskey barrel black, drilled drainage holes and moved a camelia into it. I had bought it yesterday and while the rustic colouring was interesting, I wanted it to blend in with the fencing and the container pond.



I also keep moving pots around and contemplating the next changes to the garden

 

No labouring today, I just unpacked my tulip order and put them in a cool, dark, dry place. Lots of time to decide where to put them .

 

Hard labour

Placed the gigantic stone we carried in two trips into the pond, I'm slowly building a sort of rock pool in the shallow shelf. The stone is under the surface but at least I know it's there



The utilitarian stepping-paving slabs will need some camouflaging, but the pond is getting on nicely.

Last Friday I was taking a break from home working and sat by the pond. First one, then two damselflies arrived and before I got over my first burst of happiness to see them, started to love one another very much right in front of me.

They formed a sort of loop, stayed in the position for 5 mins or so, and then flew together like a bi- plane around the edges of my pond, the presumably female dipping her tail into the water every now and then.

If we are lucky, we should have a Damselfly offspring hatching in the coming weeks

Google tells me that the lifecycle of Large Red Damselflies is two years, so they will not take wing until the summer after the next.

In other news, potted up my recent purchases of Szichuan pepper and Cruel climber, ticked off various items from "when I get the ladder and the drill out"- list and washed my white variegated Dracaena after The Child said she spilt some white paint somewhere when doing the ceiling- it's rather challenging to see what's paint splash and what's variegation but at least the plant is now clean.

 

I picked lots and lots and lots of apples.

Then I picked lots and lots and lots of pears!

The biggest pear weighs a 1lb.

 

Ah - I understand @Allotment Boy , and also about the site for a compost bin. It can be tricky can't it? I eventually bought 2 plastic ones, and they're at the front of the house, tucked in between 2 walls, but I built a 'box' for them, so that they're not such an ugly feature!
Good work @Selleri - lovely once you start getting that wildlife enjoying the facilities. They have no shame though, do they!
It's such a lovely feature, a pond, and if we get some pleasure from it too, then it's worth the hard work involved in creating it. I'm not good at sitting for any length of time, but I love watching the birds in particular, using the pond. I can easily watch from the house when it's cold and wet, or far too hot for me, so it's been a lovely addition in this site, especially after I moved and enlarged it.
I can't remember what I did yesterday, but it was one of those hokey cokey days weather wise, so it wasn't much. Mostly dry for my walk, but no so great after that. Certainly not ideal for mortaring the toadstool, so I might do that this morning as it's to be very wet again later on. I've got a couple of plants I want to swap, so it would be a good day for that too, as the weather is very hit and miss for the foreseeable.
I'm trying to create a bit of suitable access round beside the shed as it appears we've had a hedgehog tootling around, and I'd like to get a good, safe point for it get into the garden, so that I can feed if necessary. That whole area isn't easy to get in at though, but it's got very good cover for wildlife, so I started sorting that out, which involved sitting on top of my storage box and trying to use loppers and secateurs to clear a little pathway in the corner behind it. That was fun! I'll look at the access point on the outside of the fence, and see if I can arrange a little ramp for it to get up the rocks on that side. No doubt after going to a lot of trouble - they'll never appear again
We have lots of good habitat round here for them, but it would be nice to have them visiting, and possibly overwintering. Lots of place they can do that in my garden, including a specially built box - which the bees and wasps have mainly used. I can only do my best....

 

I have become rather disheartened about trying to do anything in the garden.As soon as there is a clear area of soil my neighbour's feral chickens come in and scratch large holes to use as dust baths and looking for worms etc. I would have to cover the whole garden with chicken wire to keep them off. They are small bantams and can fly over gates and banks etc. They even roost in the trees as they refuse to use the hen houses.

I usually give my pot grown dahlias a feed of some kind when they begin to sprout, I must admit I have never replaced the compost, just top it up each year with farm yard manure. I give mine a dahlia stake as they are the larger decorative cactus type. I want to grow Cafe au Laitlled dismally so far.

 

@fairygirl . Hedgehogs are curious critters. My grandson gave me a purpose built ‘ideal for hedgehogs’ structure . I read up about where to site it and placed it at THE most difficult place under the conifer hedge . That was 3 years ago and its still “ to let” . The garden cam regularly picks up a hedgy in that corner of the garden though so where it sleeps i do not know. I keep a terracotta dish topped up with water in that area but , by the size of him/her , i think there is plenty of food to be found locally. Good luck with encouraging your hedgy !

 

@lizzie27 lots of crumble , pies and pureè? Lovely ! In recent days i have noticed a mob of starlings descending like a cloud of pirates on my neighbours apple trees and attacking the fruits. It seems like yobbery because they seem to maximise the number of fruits they attack but they only stay put a minute or two and move on after damaging the fruit. I have already netted my cordons and there is a lot of fruit there but there is only one apple exposed and that is badly ripped - not a problem i dont mind providing a wee share of the spoils. Mrs B and I are currently enjoying a couple of apples fresh off the tree diced up into some muesli each morning and then , later in the day , a nice James Grieve either with some cheese or just on its own. For the sake of some pruning each year my apple trees provide a great bounty for not a lot of work. So , @lizzie27 enjoy your apples and pears , i am hopeful that Mrs B will make some apple scones today!

 

@Selleri Your pond is maturing nicely. You cant beat a good water feature , and yours ls very good . Frog spawn next year with the hope that you will develope an army of slug scoffers ?

 

I decided to move the bird feeder to a place where I would be more inclined to fill it.

I was reminded of this cartoon.
There was a brick about one foot down. I had been congratulating myself that I hadn't disturbed any bulbs.
If it wiggles, I'm giving up.

 

Went out and picked the pea beans that have seeded for next years sowing. Have removed the pods and now they are drying nicely in the garden room. Then I saw some dwarf french beans that had recovered and produced more beans. A bargain and so they were duly harvested, enough for some meals. Then onto the figs...yes they are still producing fruit and while I couldn't collect all (not tall enough) we still had plenty.

 

Planted out some of the polyanthus that i grew from seed along the path

 

That sounds a complete PITA @Goldenlily26 . We had bantams for a while where I used to work [stables] and they were a nightmare - always in the tack room - sitting on beams [what could possibly go wrong with that] and other places they shouldn't have been able to access. Fortunately, they became too big a nuisance and were 'dispatched' somewhere. 'Gone to that nice farm' maybe
The hedgehogs will have to access the back garden [if needed] from the front garden @Robert Bowen . I won't bore anyone with detailing it all, but the inner soil level is higher than the outside level, which I hadn't fully realised. I thought the fence plank that was level with the inside, was the bottom one on the outside...but it wasn't. Long story short - I'd have needed to install a lift for them to get in there
There's a lot of habitat here for them, so I'm not too bothered, as I know they're around. We had the little family in the garden some years back, which was lovely, and it prompted me to make some good access points in the front, with a suitable spot for them to get to the back.
I got my mortaring done though, and pricked out and potted up some harebells I'd sown a few months ago. Sorted out a new handle for the compost bins 'box' and did the usual deadheading and also sorted a little bit of one of the bird cages. Rain came on by mid afternoon, so I went and collected something I'd ordered, and it was chucking it down by the time I got home, so I was pleased I got done what I did manage.
Nothing much today as I have to go out after my walk, and the weather's to be hit and miss anyway, so I'll just have to wait and see. Took some pix, before the sun came up over the houses, so I'll sort those out later.

 

Pruned a Buddleja and a neighbouring rose, cut back another rose to reduce wind rock. Then pruned a Philadelphus and another Buddleja and now just got a mass of stuff for the shredder. Also pulled up a load of ash seedlings.