What did you do in the garden over the bank holiday?

My garden reclamation is very nearly finished (and I've lived here nearly two years!)

I put in the last two posts for the fence at the bottom of the garden, took up the rest of the woodchip path and spread out some soil there from where the builder dug out the foundations for my new floor (long story!) which had been sitting on one of my veg beds - so I dug that over and added some compost ready for carrots and beetroot to get sown - done one sowing already so I think i'll leave it a little while - took a load of stuff that was being kept "in case it came in useful" to the tip (because it obviously isn't going to!) after having built a wildlife house with some of said stuff, weeded, pulled some weed out of the pond, and had a general tidy up.

Oh and spent quite a lot of time sitting on the new "grass sofa" looking at the pond, and (it later turned out) getting a bit sunburnt (bad girl).

The only problem now is that I keep on staring out the window admiring it and i'm supposed to be working!

What did you guys get up to? Anything you've been meaning to do for ages and finally got round to?

 

Hi Clare, I have got my son to take the top off a poplar tree I have been keeping down to about 12 ft each winter and allowing it to grow to something around 20 ft in spring and summer. I got him to take it down to about 8ft this time, the height of the brick wall it borders. It took me ages and a couple of blister to prune the bits all down small enough for my garden wheelie bin. But I did salvage enough from it to use as pea support sticks. A friend who has a horse brought me some really good well rotted manure, also some fresh horse dung as well. I have used some of the fresh in a large tub of water to provide some liquinure! I have literally seen my runner beans shoot up another couple of inches since applying it over the weekend. My cucumbers are going to love the well rotted manure as will my roses! Happy gardening but do watch that sun it is particularly strong out there already today.

 

I spent the weekend building a storage area out of left over decking. The storage will be used for pushbikes, lawnmower, strimmer etc and will finally clear some space in my shed so when I need to pot plants or generally find anything, I won't have to cover the garen in big bulky things like pushbikes.
Also started the hardening process for all my darling little seedlings I sowed in February, only a week or two away from planting them out now...ooohhhh, how exciting!!!!!!

 

Quite a bit!

Garden centre early Sat for a lovely hour of plant buying.

Weeding - as I am in constant battle with Green Alkanet.

Planted up a bed in the middle of the lawn. It now has a red Cordyline as the centre piece, some Hebes (Pink Princess and another whose name I can't remember but it has variegated white and green leaves with a pink tinge and is utterly lovely) in each corner for structure. Planted it up with gorgeous Phlox Candy Stripe:

http://www.estabrooksonline.com/images/highres/phlox_candy_stripe.jpg

lots of white Cosmos and some v. red snapdragons.

Am worried it looks a bit too fancy and planned, but we'll see.

Also finished the perennials bed with some white hollyhocks, blue and red lupins, delphiniums and some dianthus. Covered it with bark chips as part of my Anti Slug Drive.

Planted up early pots and hanging baskets with cosmos, nemesia, bush and trailing lobelia, alyssum and ivy.

Chucked in some cheap Gazania in some gaps.

Planted out chilli and pepper plants under cunning cloches of coke bottles.

Built a ramshackle string and bamboo support structure for my peas.

Harvested 2(!) radishes and some salad leaves.

Pondered whether or not I have space for aqueligia in my small garden.

Tried to mow the lawn and failed due to broken blades on the Flymo.

Tidied up the gravel paths around the veg beds.

Had several glasses of wine.

I think that's it.

 

I have taken the liberty of cutting it down to what you should have done flumpette.

 

I did lots of potting on of plants into larger pots, pricking out of seedlings, planting out of bigger plants, moved plants from greenhouse to coldframe (mostly climbing veggies), and others from coldframe to outside (tender plants) - they should be hardened off by now.

I also went to the local GC and bought bedding plants plus a few perennials which I then had to decide where to put. Started lifting hyacinths and tulips (I leave the daffs in) to make room for them.

Did my pedestal pots with their summer plants and removed old bulbs etc. from other pots ready for when it's their turn for the summer planting up.

Phew! Enjoyed it all immensely.

 

John you know the answer to that already, if my mind doesn't deceive me isn't it something to do with a jug of martini's - and no my olive tree still won't provide anything :D

 

flumpette, I used to have that amount of energy, many years ago, but now just reading your post makes my typing finger very tired...

 

LOL, looks like we've all been busy in one way or another :D (by "another" I mean busy watching stuff happen with a nice big drink...)

 

Got my beloved to finally finish the outside of the greenhouse...now all I have to do is lock the door from the outside (with him inside) until he's finished my little path inside it! :D Hel.xxx.