April in Your Garden - Page 8

kate1123 wrote (see)

KG did you not do Geoffs freebie seeds?

Did he have some Sweet Olive seeds? 

I love Inka's garden and she has promised to let me live on her verandah

I live at the Sussex seaside and am never sure how big my garden is because I have never measured it.  It is a bit wider than my house.  The front is open plan so I have taken over the bit on the other side of my driveway.  The housing association don't appear to mind that I keep it mowed and have planted a number of shrubs on it.

It was all lawn when I moved here 11 years ago but I have slowly been digging up more and more of it.  There is a veg plot at the end and lots of pots all over the place.  I grow a lot of cottage garden type plants and like dividing stuff up and taking cuttings to get more free plants.  My patio is a bit difficult to negotiate because I have lots of pots (currently mainly strawberries) and various things have self seeded in the gaps between the paving stones (chamomile, tangerine dream poppies, lemon balm and pulmonaria).  I have two apple trees in the back garden and roses in the front garden.  My soil is very light and sandy so I bung lots of home made compost on it at every opportunity. 

KG-no- but they were a freebie.

Might take a chance on getting the grass cut today-before the showers arrive.

Still more rain forecast for the week ahead-golf does not look good for tomorrow

Was able to move shrubs and plants between extreme showers yesterday/Saturday. Very pleased with result.Have pots every where of plants and cuttings for my 2 daughters in law, and someone who wants plants for a new property, and all their money is reserved for the house. I was unable to unsubscribe from the Mid Devon Freecycle, and now I am glad that I was. I.ve given away so much. Great!

It is lovely and sunny here, I managed 2 hours gardening this morning mainly weeding. I am so tempted to plant out some tender plants that are escaping their pots.

Too early -leave them for a couple of weeks at least

Have cut the grass,moved the dahlia tuners from the greenhouse to a sheltered wall for planting out in 1/2 weeks,dug over the bean area and incorpotated chicken manure and erected canes in readiness

Then it rained

Inland South-East England: mostly sunny and blue sky. We had hail downpours last night, but no damage.

Weeded the front garden early this morning, pruned back the climbing rose before it takes someone's eye out (which reminds me, need to sweep the front path clear) also rescued a Salvia Merleau Blue in the wrong place. Then into the back garden to mow the lawn and finish landscaping my veg plot. Have only about 4' square left to do but I needed a cuppa as my back was twinging.

I also demolished a sickly Weigela in a fit of temper as I was passing. It annoyed me. I tried to rip it out the ground last year because its ugly and sprawling and I want more hostas and ferns, but its 15yr old roots defied me. Will have another try to rip it out soon I think and chop off the roots that wont come free.

Feels like spring now, everything is growing.

Bit of a wafty day today, found it hard to get stuck into anything. Potted on my pathetic pepper seedlings, thought about pricking out some basil but then decided to leave that till tomorrow as the forecast for here in South Devon looks grim. Planted out some dwarf borlottis which have been in the cold frame & popped a cloche over them. Cleared about a zillion forget me nots.

Bearded irises should be flowering in a couple of weeks, and there are buds on the Mme Alfred Carriere which grows on the wall outside my kitchen.

Yes, Miss Bateman, that is the view from the upper deck [which I rebuilt this spring; now needs a retaining wall at the back and railings at the front]. Below me in Active Pass, the ferries between Vancouver and Victoria pass by, and there is a rocky islet which dries at low tide and is usually covered with sleeping seals and sometimes sea lions. In the summer, orca whales are common. Beside me is a thousand acre wild park.I need to fence out deer to grow most things.I am blessed to have inherited this place from my grandmother--the house is an improved summer shack--but I would never otherwise been able to afford to live here.

Cleaned my patio with my pressure washer...

 planted a couple of clematis under each obelisk, and sorted out my planters..

That is one clean patio.

Inka - I would spend all day watching the boats.

Geoff - I was also setting out my bean canes today, as per Monty.  The veg patch never looks like a veg patch until the bean canes are standing to attention.  I tied them together with cable ties this year.  I usually use string and then fight a losing battle with the sparrows.  I swear last year every local sparrow nest was made from my garden string.

KG-I used cable ties!!

- a tip Jo Swift should us a few years back-so much less fiddly and quicker than bits of string.

We are of like minds

Almost spooky!!!!!!  You didn't make lemon curd this afternoon did you?

No-but did you cut the grass this morning?

No.....but I did think about cutting the grass.

oh-that fell flat then-now if you had and had fish pie for dinner.............

Hello Inkadog, there is no comparision with our gardens, however I also live on an Island 3hrs from mainland UK, so i too watch the ferry come and go. Our wildlife is not so unfamiliar, regular seals in the harbour, (locals have named one Tyson!!), bottle nose dolphins and not forgetting SHARKS!!!. .

I did cut my grass today, so Im in your club TDC!! Cable ties... a great idea!

After grass cutting I spent a couple of hours here:

 Miss B x

. 

Miss B-you live in Scotland?-where is that picture taken

As a boy scout went camping in Scotland a never to be forgotten place called Achnacloich buy a loch, a cold and wet experience-funy how I can still recall it

Wow! Gorgeous colours in that water! What kind of sharks do you have?

I have Scottish grandparents-or did. From the Highlands.

KG-there are so many boats here-at least one an hour in the summer-I'd never do anything else! The first ferry out of here is at 6am. Active Pass is very active! The ferries run between Vancouver and Victoria, and I am almost exactly halfway.Other ferries connect the islands.

Just mixed and poured a footing for my retaining wall-just past noon here, and I'm already knackered. Maturity has its drawbacks! Resting on my laurels now-or would be if I had any!

Yes Geoff living in the Outer Hebrides, the picture above is taken on the Isle of Harris.

Camping generally tends to be" dreek " in Scotland, and of course the dreaded midge!!! Was it the Isle of Skye you went to as a nipper?  You would of crossed over on a ferry in those days, now of course they have the bridge.

Thankfully Inkadog no great white sharks here, however our surfer boys dispute that!. Basking, blue & short fin sharks are more often spotted.   Miss B x