Topic: What did you do in the garden today?

[pumkinlover]

sounds like you are not having a good day Brownowl!

[ACE]

Mowed the lawn, cut the driveway hedge, loverly sunny day, just like spring, the bluetits were checking out the nestboxes.

[brownowl23]

sounds like you are not having a good day Brownowl!

You could say that, it took 5 and a 1/2 hours to get am EMERGENCY plumber out last night! MEanwhile we couldnt turn the water off as the stop thingy was jammed and we had water coming through the ceiling into the garage where our circuit boards are. So couldnt go to bed till a plumber had been.

Ive vowed if anything else happens today im hibernating for the rest of the week  ;D

[steve76]

went up to Lotty far to wet still to do anythink :(
So popped out to a garden center and got some seed pot's in pink fir apple, winston and epicure makes me feel like I'm doing something :)

[Mrs Gumboot]

Ive vowed if anything else happens today im hibernating for the rest of the week  ;D

After a bad day yesterday I decided I was going to hide in the basement. A quick facebook poll of friends found that most had had a crummy day & they all want to join me. At this rate we're going to be having a party down there  ;D

Started dismantling one of my much hated conifers this afternoon in a bid to get the worst of the disruption done before the birdies start to nest. Not that anything with an ounce of sense would nest in a conifer but there you go.  ;D

Man it feels good to finally be getting rid of the blooming things.

Although since you mention birdboxes Ace, I might have had rather a good idea.

[gwynnethmary]

picked up several piles of dog poo!

[Digeroo]

I have had lots of dog poo on my allotment over the winter.  I really hate it.  I can smell it so I have to find every bit before I can work.

But today I started on the garden.  I got the lottie well sorted before the winter but decided to sort out the garden it is a terrible mess.  But the soil is great.  I have been growing veg in it for 26 years and the soil is like butter.   One area I put a lot of manure in is now heaving with worms. 

It is however very full of weeds.  I planted out some strawberry runners in the autumn and even though I put an inch of recycled compost on top the goose grass has come up big time.   

[tonybloke]

Pruned the Wisteria

do you know a lot about wisterias TB, cos I got a question for you if you do  ;D - will a wisteria flower if the graft has failed (what I was told) even though it grows well in every other way and is pruned properly (sometimes)

the usual reason they are grafted is to put a white or pink flowered one onto a more strong, blue-flowered rootstock. wisteria usually take up to 7 yrs to start flowering ( it's why you should always purchase one in flower)
moisture and a south or west facing aspect are the usual requirements, no need to feed, but provide a good root-run. ( mine is on a south facing wall, under a leak in the gutter, with a concrete path in front of it) there's some pictures on here somewhere, I'll see if I can find one
rgds, Tony

[tonybloke]

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,41529.msg415726.html#msg415726

[pumkinlover]

Thanks for good wishes Saddad and Brownowl

Planted some more seeds and lined this greenhouse -Tomatoes and Peppers

This is my propagator with the LED lights- I will PM AALiverpool to see how long he leaves his lights on.

[calendula]

do you know a lot about wisterias TB, cos I got a question for you if you do  ;D - will a wisteria flower if the graft has failed (what I was told) even though it grows well in every other way and is pruned properly (sometimes)

the usual reason they are grafted is to put a white or pink flowered one onto a more strong, blue-flowered rootstock. wisteria usually take up to 7 yrs to start flowering ( it's why you should always purchase one in flower)
moisture and a south or west facing aspect are the usual requirements, no need to feed, but provide a good root-run. ( mine is on a south facing wall, under a leak in the gutter, with a concrete path in front of it) there's some pictures on here somewhere, I'll see if I can find one
rgds, Tony
[/quote]

thank you m'dear  :) mine is east facing and is about 14 years old so maybe the  trick is to water like crazy this coming few months - yours look lovely, so not jealous  ;D but glad I asked

[calendula]

dug 2 more beds and pruned the apples that needed in - all in an arctic gale  :o but at least the sun was shining, came home when I couldn't feel my fingers any more and saw blue tits using a new bird box - early? a good sign methinks - thawing out now  ;D

[sunloving]

Ive been tackling the privet hedges around my house at last after moving in nov 2009. they are four feet wide! well no longer and the front garden looks massive now. good job ive just germinated 20 echinacea to fill up the gaps.

that wind made it feel so bitter yeasterday though , i went inside and to bed with a hot water bottle for a hour to warm up and watch tele before heading back out to clear more of the pruning up. Great to see the birds investigating nesting sites. Ive stacked the prunings behind the compost to get them a lovely secluded place to nest this year. Sparrows chirping like mad in the eaves.  :)

Brr woke up to frozen washing on the line oops forgot about that! light by 7.45 though ace

x sunloving

[tonybloke]

Attached some coils of barbed wire to the top of the allotments site gates ( bloody thieves / vandals  >:( )

[pumkinlover]

I was advised by Mr Pugh from NSALG that we should not do that Tony in case of injury to the bloody thieves/ vandals.

I have put some at on the fence in the past and have not removed it. ( sorry m' lord I did not realise it was there!)

However a couple of years ago my OH heard a young girl shouting out and found her suspended from the barbed wire which had caught in her clothing as she tried to climb over.  He had to lift her off and he was alone at the time.

The possible consequencies if she had told porkies to her parents could have been a nightmare! ::) ::) ::)

[jimtheworzel]

  we should not do that Tony in case of injury to the bloody thieves/ vandals.

i put barbed wire round my plo t and wa stold by the powers that be to remove it for the same reason

[tonybloke]

 we should not do that Tony in case of injury to the bloody thieves/ vandals.

i put barbed wire round my plo t and wa stold by the powers that be to remove it for the same reason

it was put up following advice from the the local police!!

if any thieves get injured and want to pursue a claim, our association will be pleased to  meet them in court!!

[cornykev]

Lets hope you catch a couple Tone, you should leave them hanging there as a deterrent to others.  ;)      ;D ;D ;D

[caroline7758]

Dug up some leeks (ready-trimmed to the ground by rabbits  >:() and parsnips. Pulled up the brassica stalks (completely stripped by rabbits too) and did a bit of clearing up. Soil was too wet for digging.

[saddad]

OH worked on tidying the greenhouses and I went through all the potatoes in Store to check for rots/ mice damage/ frost damage. Except for the Aura which had a lot of frost damage they were in quite good nick. Very little rot and only the epicure starting to chit...  :)