☘️What have you done in the garden lately?

[NitrousOxide]

Inspired by a Mumsnet thread of the same concept, I wondered if anyone here is into gardening and would like to share updates from your gardens?

I'll start:
I'm currently renting so just have loads of pots in the garden, but hoping to buy soon and have proper soil to plant into! I can't wait!

Yesterday I cut back the hellebores and mulched around them with compost; they've been flowering since Summer so I'm hoping they'll build up plenty of energy and get back to their natural rhythm of flowering only in Winter!

I also sowed a trough full of lettuce seeds and three big pots of cosmos. Because we are hoping to buy soon and don't know if we'll be in this house for much longer, I'm trying to plant things that can grow and be harvested or appreciated quickly.

Also cut back some mint and mulched a few kale plants I've got growing in pots.

Feel free to share your own updates and photos if you wish!

 

[coconochanel]

The weather hasn't been dry enough to do very much so it's more verbal planning at the moment but far I've potted some plants and planted my potatoes still need to plant a few more veg.

 

[givepeasachance]

So far, I've put some grass seed down on lawn patches.

I've got a silene which has spread like wildfire so pulled loads of that up. Still tons left My biggest garden regret is planting that.

I've got a few different varieties of clematis which are growing fast, so I've been doing daily tying to keep them supported. Been 'rehoming' lots of slugs and snails I come across.

I've topped up the potted plants with fresh soil, and finally decided to pull out two old tatty shrubs which I've been putting off for a while thinking they might make a comeback. But they came out of the ground so easily, so it was their time to go.

Oh and dug out an accumulation of cat turds from the back of the garden

 

[NitrousOxide]

Oh the cat poo So grim isn't it?! Haven't seen one for a while, haha.

 

[Bobby Chariot]

Cut the grass twice so far, the weather has been so poor though it's like a bog & our dog has made patches & holes on it, so need to fill them.
Picked up some packets of bulbs a few weeks ago & put them into our containers, along with fresh compost, no sign of anything appearing yet.
Lillies that are in 2 containers are growing well, Lillies are great, they only flower once but the flowers last quite a while through Summer & they multiply year after year.
Will start feeding our Cherry tree & Apple tree (in large tubs) with Tomorite soon as they have started flowering
Need to cut a Laurel bush that's about 8ft high but it blocks out the chavs next door, lol.

 

[givepeasachance]

Ah now I have a couple of questions inspired @Bobby Chariot if anyone can answer....

I planted a dwarf cherry blossom last year, it's doing really well but now I'm wondering if I should be feeding it some Tomorite or other fertiliser - or is that just required for actual fruit trees?

Second - I had a gorgeous pot of lilies for a few years but the leaves kept getting decimated by those red lily beetles. I resorted to continually hand picking them off, but the bloody things kept finding their way back and multiplying! So in the end I got rid of the lilies, and regret it. Does anyone know of a way to deter the beetles? (preferably without killing them).

 

[Bobby Chariot]

Ah now I have a couple of questions inspired @Bobby Chariot if anyone can answer....

I planted a dwarf cherry blossom last year, it's doing really well but now I'm wondering if I should be feeding it some Tomorite or other fertiliser - or is that just required for actual fruit trees?

Second - I had a gorgeous pot of lilies for a few years but the leaves kept getting decimated by those red lily beetles. I resorted to continually hand picking them off, but the bloody things kept finding their way back and multiplying! So in the end I got rid of the lilies, and regret it. Does anyone know of a way to deter the beetles? (preferably without killing them).

Shouldn't be any need to feed a cherry blossom with Tomorite etc, just the appropriate compost, cherry blossoms are quite hardy I think. We planted one about 15 years ago & it's about 6ft high & quite wide.
I've never had the beetle issue on Lillies or maybe I've just never noticed them

 

[NitrousOxide]

Cut the grass today, leaving certain areas long so that they flower and look beautiful later in the Spring/Summer. It always looks so much neater when at least some of it has been mown. I used most of the grass cuttings to mulch potted plants like our blackcurrants and gooseberries, as the grass serves as a moisture-retainer (not needed right now but maybe soon!) and also adds nutrients to the soil when it breaks down. It's so satisfying to do!