Gardening thread 2020

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Gave the grass its first cut today. Looks manky, but first one always does. Repaired the doors on the summer house and have treated the patio table and chairs with boiled linseed oil.
 


Appears a fair few have cut the grass this weekend.
Mild frost last night.
Cut mine yesterday and put some moss killer on a small patch and fed the rest.
janiep said:
Strategy:
  • Front garden: rewild
  • Back garden: for veg and sitting out - let's hope we at least get a lovely summer
BACK:
Compost bin has been emptied and spread on what will be this year's veg patches.

Mr P has put the mini greenhouse up. I've filled a load of seed trays but not planted up yet as the compost was cold and wet. Popped them into the greenhouse to get a bit warmer for a couple of days. Will then plant with veg seed.

I suspect a pond may go in at some point before too long if lockdown continues for months.

FRONT:
Someone's coming to remove the horrible Cypress Leylandii hedge that marks the front garden boundary in a couple of weeks. This was arranged ages ago and it's great they can still do it - they don't need any contact with us at all. We will replant with native hedge species: hawthorn, field maple, briar rose, blackthorn.

Wildflower seeds to go in the front garden at some point.

Am on a no-mow thing with the front lawn. Hard to describe but the front garden is - unusually - very private as you have to come down a little path to get to ours. It has a beautiful corkscrew hazel in the middle. So if we let the lawn go no one will notice and if we encourage some native flowers they'll look lovely around the hazel.

Huge and beautiful camelia which is covered in glorious blowsy pink flowers at the moment to be cut back once flowering is over. Not too much but it's too big for its location at the moment.

There's an embankment verge out the front which is not ours but no other bugger ever walks past it except the postie and visitors so we're going to plant this with brambles to get our own private blackberry patch.
In my dreams I will have a row of step-over apple trees like I had in my last garden. They were my pride and joy.

In other news, the olive tree in a pot ... HAS OLIVES ON IT. That's a first for me. The 4 different varieties of clematis montana planted last year along a very long fence look like they're going to be magnificent. Started the rewilding thing out the front last year with some primroses, bluebells and fox gloves. The primroses are up and magnificent. The bluebells are sprouting. The foxgloves are forming busting little rosettes. The corkscrew hazel has four birdfeeders on it and is like Piccadilly Circus with finches, tits, spuggies and robins. Red kites wheel overhead.
On rewilding, I will know I have won when we get hedgehogs back. May speak to the neighbour to do hedgehog gaps in our fence so they have a run across territories. He's a gardener too so he'll get it.
Click to expand...

Ha’way the hedgehogs mate. Get some dog or cat food at the ready.
Lovely creatures.
 
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Swindon On Tour said:
Appears a fair few have cut the grass this weekend.
Mild frost last night.
Cut mine yesterday and put some moss killer on a small patch and fed the rest.
Click to expand...
I’m waiting a couple more days to cut ours. Working on the pond again today. Lovely to be out in the sunshine. Might have a scarify before cutting as there’s loads of moss in atm.
 
Been to the allotment to prep the soil for planting this weekend. Not planning on planting anything for a week or two as we are still due some frosts.

Still too early to cut the grass at home I think.
 
Seems like I’m in quite a big group of people who gave their grass a first cut today. Front grass really need scarifying, I’ve done a bit but it’ll need another going over before over-seeding it.
 
Out in the spring sunshine today. Potatoes in. Aubergine, cauli, spring broc, tomato and sweetcorn seeds in. That's probably all I'll do this year.

Next week's task around working from home is getting the wild flowers away. Not just a straight forward sow - eg growing wild garlic and bluebells from seed. Interesting challenge.
 
Swindon On Tour said:
Cracking that. Do you get any problems with Herons?
My Father in law has Koi and a few goldfish which keep breeding.
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Occasionally get the owld heron in. I used to put a net up in winter but leave the water lily leaves to die off now and only selectively chop down the marginal grasses and reeds to put a natural barrier up for them. That said, Ive seen him on the lake which was the flooded racecourse a couple of weeks back so mebbes he had bigger fish to fry (pun fully intended) :D
 
Flared Hicks said:
Occasionally get the owld heron in. I used to put a net up in winter but leave the water lily leaves to die off now and only selectively chop down the marginal grasses and reeds to put a natural barrier up for them. That said, Ive seen him on the lake which was the flooded racecourse a couple of weeks back so mebbes he had bigger fish to fry (pun fully intended) :D
Click to expand...
Lad that built my first computer had a pond in his back garden with Koi. Pond was 17×14, 6 foot deep and dug by hand. Some of his fish were 30 years old he told me. He used to hand feed them cracker biscuits. Was gutted when he passed away as was a good mate.
 
Fred Basset said:
Lad that built my first computer had a pond in his back garden with Koi. Pond was 17×14, 6 foot deep and dug by hand. Some of his fish were 30 years old he told me. He used to hand feed them cracker biscuits. Was gutted when he passed away as was a good mate.
Click to expand...
Very relaxing sat by the pond watching the koi marra. The cares of the world just float away.
 
Flared Hicks said:
Very relaxing sat by the pond watching the koi marra. The cares of the world just float away.
Click to expand...
Without a doubt. My dad had them in the garden of the house I grew up in. That and his Leek trench with water butt filled with a bag of manure that was fragrant to say the least. Pubs that used to have Leek shows, thing of the past now marra.

Looking forward to some Surfinia hanging baskets this year. Baskets last year were disappointing.
 
Bloody badgers!

I bought some veggie strips (romanescu & pak choi) to plant out along with some sweet peas. I’d watered them and left on the front door step.

The badgers have been coming in the gardens since the racecourse was flooded as it moved them off their usual foraging ground. They’ve been in all the tubs and pots hoying the bulbs and compost everywhere and had even chewed up my seedling strips.

Between the badgers and the annoying squirrel who I’m sure was a shit metal detectorist in a previous life, the lawn & borders are a right old mess.
 
Been hacking away at my garden and have filled the Brown bin and have ten refuse sacks full. I reckon this will be added to today too😳 anyone know if the Tip is open by B+Q? The brown bin collection isn’t starting till late April
Now too( understandably) so don’t fancy a month with all these bags hanging around if there is an option..
 
FML19711 said:
Been hacking away at my garden and have filled the Brown bin and have ten refuse sacks full. I reckon this will be added to today too😳 anyone know if the Tip is open by B+Q? The brown bin collection isn’t starting till late April
Now too( understandably) so don’t fancy a month with all these bags hanging around if there is an option..
Click to expand...
No marra, it is shut.

www.sunderland.gov.uk

Household waste and recycling centres - Sunderland City Council

www.sunderland.gov.uk www.sunderland.gov.uk

Get the bonfire going.
 
I've planted, potatoes, onions, shallots and planted loads of various seeds in propagator at home. Spent ages riddling soil in a raised bed for carrots. Time to paint the garden fences and decking.
 
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