What are we doing in the garden 2025

Hi,

Neighbours two cats have been visiting since they were adorable kittens and now in their mid teens I feed them three times daily; they are my little furry friends whilst I'm in the gardens following me around; they love leaving me little presents in the soft soil so I'm aware of it and accept it after all I'm feeding them so what would I expect.


My two little friends Harvey & Gems keeping me company; now I'm totally on my own I appreciate them more.


We had three badgers visiting at night for years but I've not checked the CCTV at night for ages.

8C forecast today but it can't be warmer unless accompanied with rain; the rain's hardly let up for days and I daren't work on the steep slope whilst it's so wet because of the danger; it's difficult standing upright when the soil is dry. Tomorrow is forecast little chance of rain but will the slope dry enough to let me crack on removing the couch grass; perhaps I'll manage a couple of hours in the afternoon?

Removing the couch grass from the middle meadow has become an obsession with me and I've declared all out war against it; I wish the climate would stop helping it to grow.

It's dark; wet; chilly and downright miserable outside but my recording studio is welcoming. It's just that time of year again so it's pointless moaning but it's annoying.

Kind regards, Col.

 

As a surprise Hubby bought me 3 packs of lovely pink tulip bulbs to cheer me up as not felt like doing any gardening for a while. He bought them becuase he knows l like to plant up 2 very large blue decorative pots iv got each side of my front door that l usually plant up for Spring. l will need more bulbs to fill them so will look on -line what l can plant up with them. It's so cold here and dark and rainy it's making me feel depressed. iv got nothing looking good in garden ie winter flowers or shrubs so l plan on making a list on what would look good this time nk yr as l hate not having any colour in the garden. ( can anyone recommend any plants that look good this time of year ? )
l think l will make some hm bird feeders crafts that l had planned on doing plus l want to make some outdoor pine cones decor to hang on my garden shed with some tartan ribbon..the pictures l found on -line look so lovely and lv got a bag full of large pine cones. l havnet even checked my greenhouse artic winter lettuces etc that were growing ..hope they are still alive under the bubble wrap.

 

Washing the glass on the inside of the greenhouse to remove the algae, or at least where I could reach it; that's the problem with overwintering a lot of plants in there.

 

I gave that job up years ago.Life is too short.
Along with washing pots each winter.

 

Today I potted up a Camellia and a Skimmia separately for some winter interest and colour. Both have lots of flower buds on them. I then did what I’m hoping was the final clearance of leaves, mowed my main lawn, trimmed the edges and cut back a couple of Heleniums.

I noticed that two young Buddleias that I planted earlier this year have been rocking in the wind so I reduced their height by a third to prevent any damage and firmed their roots in. I left the more mature one as I like to see the dried flowers over winter.

I then moved a purple leaved Heuchera to another border and planted a Choisya in the border in front of my sitting area. The yellowish/lime green leaves add a bit of cheer at this time of year. I finished as it got dark, the solar lights came on and then faded after about five minutes .

 

I've never washed pots and I gave up emptying the greenhouse to use Jeyes fluid on the glass when I got a larger greenhouse. However I find that if I don't wash the worst parts it gets really bad, possibly down to the generally higher humidity here in Devon.

 

I also have never washed pots. Can’t see the point and would rather the plants just toughened themselves up

 

It's even worse when you line the greenhouse with polycarb. I had cleaned before installing it, but algae still builds up...

 

Mine needs cleaning badly the most it gets is a broom over the outside on a wet day.

 

Another non-pot-washer here. I reckon once they're empty and left outside in the cold all winter that must kill off any lurking nasties.

 

I do wash pots. And then I run boiling (or near boiling for the plastic ones) through them. Probably absolutely no point given all the microbes in soil and compost anyway, but I got into the habit of doing it when I had no garage as I kept them in the understairs cupboard when not in use, and I have just continued. My garage has to be tidy to squeeze the car in, so pots live stacked on shelving now, all clean and graded by size (to fit more in), ready to go!

 

I've got a similar amount kicking around, I can't let free pots goto waste, I occasionally raid the recycling bin at a nursery.