What are we doing in the garden 2025

Yesterday, when I had time to get outside, I mowed the lawn.

But when I went to clean the mower I noticed petrol leaking and dripping down onto the body. Panic set in as the petrol tank was full - I thought about using my turkey basters to suck as much as I could from the tank. Then hubby came to the rescue. It became a two person job - me holding the mower vertical, while hubby disconnected the flexible fuel pipe. It had a split near the end so he sliced a small section off and the pipe was still long enough to reattach to the petrol tap. Job done and it seems OK. But trying to source another fuel pipe for a Kawasaki engine is more of a problem.

 

Gardening dilemma! One spot - two plants in competition for it, a geranium Azure Rush and a small conifer, grown from a cutting, now 5 yrs old and 50 cms tall. The location would be perfect for the Azure Rush and I would prefer to put that in. However, there is no other place for the conifer to go, so it would be confined to a pot forever. The Azure Rush could go elsewhere, but it wouldn’t be quite as ideal in terms of morning rather than afternoon sun, so it would need a lot of watering.

 

There must be an alternative location for one or other of the competitors. Maybe moving something else would solve your problem for the geranium and the conifer.

 

Well … I could move a campanula, to make a home for the Azure Rush. But all this musical chairs gardening is quite hard on the back. Digging a hole is no easy feat due to the presence of huge amounts of large stones and a gravel top dressing. Then, where would the campanula go … and would it come out in one piece or several, in which case where would all the pieces go?

 

I planted up 2 x Seed Potato's in Bags. Back is now hurting

 

I'd let the fast mover have the space @ViewAhead (Azure Rush) and leave the slow grower (conifer) in the pot on standby to replace any casualties in future .

 

Pricked out 50 cosmos, 60 pot
marigold and 90 short pot marigold seedlings.

 

Sounds like a plan, @Plantminded. Also, the Azure Rush is potentially moveable in a season or two if necessary, but, once in, the conifer, would need to stay put.

Of course, this is all dependent on sundry tree roots allowing me to create a sufficiently large hole. Unlike Monty Don’s garden, where he seems magically able to excavate right beside trees with no such issues, out here in the real world such impediments to progress do exist.

 

Yesterday I weeded a not very big bed which took over 2 hours. I thought it would be a quickie but I haven't weeded it since the autumn.

 

I had a message from my mother this morning. Apparently my father planted his Cosmos seeds yesterday.
Without being in contact, I wonder what the odds are that we've both done so on the same day?!!

 

Well, if it stays dry, then this aft I'm going to plant a Pittosporum Bannow Bay that arrived from ebay yesterday. A lovely, healthy plant in a 3l pot and much bigger than I thought it would be.

 

Transplanted out the dwarf broad bean seedlings at long last. Have sown some more indoors but no germination so far. Have had to do a lot of watering as the ground is so dry (probably regret saying that!)

 

Done it!

Gravel topping scrapped away.
Three small grasses moved and replanted.
Hole dug.
Large stones sieved out of removed soil.
Smaller stones sieved out.
Soil mixed with MPC and small amount returned to hole.
Azure Rush extracted from pot and placed in hole.
Soil and MPC backfilled round it.
Sieved small stones washed and returned as top dressing.
Azure Rush and grasses watered in.
Fork, trowel, sieves, tray, bucket and bowl washed and put away in garage.
Spare, and as yet unwashed stones, put away in garage.
MPC put away in garage.



Now lying on sofa. Chuffed to have got it done before the forecast rain while the soil is fairly dry and so not too claggy to sieve.

 

Gave my front lawn its first cut of the year this afternoon, after picking up cat muck and making a half-hearted attempt to fill in the holes the fox had dug - not easy with everything so dry. Spotted some flower heads forming on the sylvestris tulips.

Then it started raining so I've done some pricking out of seedlings - Cobea and Nicotiana - and potted up 5 Polianthes bulbs.