Four Day Weekend

One day's work.

That's right, out of a potential four days of gardening, I managed to dodge the raindrops to get in a day's work.  That includes a visit to the garden centre to pick out some plants on Sunday (generally an awful day) and the luxury of little rain in the afternoon on Monday.  Even a tiny bit of sun peeked out.

Sigh.


So, off to Phoebe's Garden Centre on Sunday to purchase three tomato plants, two courgettes, and a cucumber.  Two lovely little Nemesias because I couldn't resist.  Sadly none of the easy-carry just-add-water compost I'm so fond of.  A 10-litre bag of compost which was all we could carry, not nearly enough to do anything with.

Monday was promised to be at least fair.  But first I needed to get more compost because the plan is to plant the tomatoes in these.

I discovered that the local Homebase had something like my easy-carry compost.  Sadly, it filled one of these.  It is made by Miracle Gro, so I'm sure it's good, but obviously not nearly enough (more is on order from the internet).  So at the moment, all three tomato plants are in a temporary home, in the one.

That's not all I managed to do.  The herb border was being overrun - by weeds only, so that is now cleared (note the Jasmine is still alive - shhhhhhhhhhhh)




Job number 2:  clear the recently "Ready" vegetable border of cat poop.  It seems the cats have decided that, apart from any other part of the garden, this particular border is now their litter box.  That was the second purchase from Homebase:  Growing Success Cat Repellent.

This is not of course to repel the cats entirely from the garden, but from this plot.  I could get all sorts of cat repellents; sonic repellents and such, which would eject the cats from the garden completely.  But since I have a cat, no, all I wanted to do was keep them off the border.

So I cleared the patch - again - of poop, hoed, raked, ready once more.

This is when the disturbing thing happened.  There is no photographic evidence of this, it all happened so fast.  I'm not sure if the sequence of events is related, but here goes.  Ginger squats in the newly once again prepared patch (but not yet sprinkled with cat repellent).  I shout "no", and pick him up mid-squat and place him in an acceptable place.  He does his thing.  Fine.  He vacates the garden through the hole in the trellis, and minutes later returns with something squeaking in his mouth.  I heard the (loud) squeak before he appeared.  "Oh crap, is it a bird?".  No, it was a mouse.  In his mouth.  He sat and looked for approval.  "I've brought you a present".  "Oh crap".  Poor mousie.

Must remember to remove mouse body before I cut the grass.  I'm ... honoured.  Horrified.  That's never happened before.  "Good kitty" I say.  After all, it's what cats do and who am I to interfere in the nature of things.

Yuck.  (For the record I have no problem with mice.  Only spiders).

Border, by the way, is now sprinkled with Cat Repellent, and I'm happy to report when I looked today there was no poop.  It smells strongly of garlic - key ingredient, it seems - and seems to have done the trick.  Hurrah.

Even with all the rain today.

I leave with you a picture of the lovely Nemesias, in situ.  Berries and Cream, and Raspberries and Cream.



Am trying not to be too fed up with this gardening lark.

Ready.

But for what? The recurring question on my mind, and will be for the next 5 days. Vegetables of some kind. Courgettes? Cucumber?   Potatoes (too late?).  There is certainly a lot of room without tomatoes, which I think I have figured out a plan for, to put into action next weekend.  It requires a deal of compost, which is always an issue without a car.  I hope to find some of those compost blocks, just add water.

I'll just have to see what delectabilities my local garden centre has on offer when I visit on Saturday.

Ah, next weekend, four whole days of it. Plenty of time to get everything planted.

I was given some leftovers from the Bristol Affordable Art Fair - I never get to go, but it sure must have looked pretty with the wide assortment of flowers on offer.

On the other side, very exciting these lillies. There was only one last year, with one flower.  How wonderful all those buds!  I think perhaps when they bloom and fade, I may move them elsewhere, to make room for the desired shrubbery (will it fit?  Another burning question).

And the poppies are coming up nicely too.

The delphinium is blooming, but I may have to move that as well.  We shall see.

Did I show you my Ceanothus?  Yes?  Well, here it is again (did I mention my favourite colour is purple?).

Fabulous weather, fingers crossed it lasts .... very excited about next weekend!

Greetings from the Midwest

Here I am, visiting my parents, in the small, delightful suburb of Chicago where I grew up. Where, 7 years ago (it doesn't seem that long!), I planted for them, or tried to, an English cottage-style garden. I get to revisit it from time to time, sometimes in inclement weather. But when the weather is like this, I make improvements. Or so I hope.

Like most American suburban homes, my parents' house has a lovely big backyard, mostly lawn, with a flower border. The man who lived in this house many years ago was a keen gardener, and his legacy remains in the beautiful lilacs by the side of the house, and the peonies and roses that grace the left border.

My task was to transform a small patch next to the house, into an English cottage garden. It all began in 2003, when my father sent me the dimensions, and my challenge was set.

Planting time was October, when I was here to run the Chicago Marathon. The grass of course had to be dug out, but eventually, we successfully cleared the patch, and the fun began - choosing plants, and planting them.

The initial palette was predictable: Lady's Mantle, Lambs Ears, Clematis, Cranesbill Geranium. Phlox, I believe, a Heuchara, Dianthus. I can hardly remember what all went in at the beginning. Lavender was attempted, twice, but didn't take.

Like most gardens, some things died, some things thrived. This is two years later.

Note the dainty Hosta in the centre, just behind the fountain. Every time I come and the weather is good (so, not at Christmas time!), I work.

I have an interesting challenge this year, to do with that Hosta.

It has grown rather larger than expected! Something must be right in that soil. Stay tuned as I mull over this situation ...

Weed and Feed

This weekend will be a weed and feed weekend. We are promised sun and rain - the last couple of weekends have been so glorious, I know I can never trust the weather reports until I wake up in the morning and see for myself. In England, morning sun doesn't always last, and I might wake up and see glorious sunshine only to see it disappear over the course of the morning until it starts raining by midday.

But in the words of Monty Don, paraphrased, you take what the weather gives you, and you work with it (I've just finished my Friday fix of Gardener's World). If I'm feeding (including the lawn), and it's raining, well then I don't have to water it in afterwards.

I'm having something of a glut of lettuce. We had our first gorgeous, home-grown salad the other night!

Not a problem, of course. I just don't want it to bolt, which would mean it would start flowering, and completely run away, and would then be inedible.


So it's salad every day for me! Am I complaining? The rocket and spinach too must be picked, and of course eaten ... mmmmm. That seemed to be marvelously quick, between the sowing of the seed and a full salad bowl every night. I find that if I pick some lettuce, or rather just hack it off with a scissors by the big handfuls, bring it in and soak it in ice cold water in a bowl with a dash of vinegar (to kill any bugs), then spin it dry, it will keep amazingly well in the fridge in a plastic bag. I was very surprised that it lasted lke that for days, and I had a lovely Greek salad last night.

The tomatoes - I have read that you need to water little and often and I must remind myself to do that. The week was mostly fine, with lovely periods of sunshine, moderately warm some days and cloudy others. But not enough rain, I believe, so when I checked on the garden last evening I realised I really should have had the hose out for some light watering all around. I watered. This weekend I will feed again with some Tomorite.

I'm pleased with most of them. They need some more tying up this weekend, and they are growing wonderfully, except perhaps that one in the middle there, which although it is flowering, like it's neighbour on the left (every flower a lovely tomato!) is looking a bit wilty.

And then I discovered last weekend, when I was tying up the new jasmine towards the back (the idea was to have it behind crawling up the fence behind the vegetables) - I have mangetout!

Gosh, isn't that gorgeous?

Speaking of jasmine, the one behind the herbs is finally coming into it's own.

That baby was in a pot in my previous, mostly container garden, up until last year. When I finally took it out of the pot, I actually had to break the pot with a hammer to get it out, it was so root bound. I could almost feel the roots saying "ahhhhhhhhh", as they stretched out into the ground. It didn't do a whole lot last year, but I am well pleased with the progress this year. The scent!

You see the alliums are still there. The heads themselves, even without the flowers, and so lovely and sculptural I cannot bring myself to cut anything down. Not to mention the other beautiful bulb, whose name I cannot remember (I shall be looking for those bulbs in Tesco again this autumn!) which went from this lovely thing

To this beautiful seedhead. Like little rockets. Very special!

Finally the left border is bursting, but there are some plants I am slightly concerned about - the clematis has done fairly well, as have the other flowers, but I am worried about that soil, and have purchased an experimental bag of grit to dig in. Perhaps I shall do that this weekend, too, weather permitting. But I shall most certainly put down some feed over there and try to hoe it in, soil permitting (I don't want to have to get the pickaxe again)! The roses will get their own dose of Toprose, and I shall just generally spread and hoe in some Growmore. It just seems to me that last year some of the plants were a bit more, well, thriving. Perhaps I am unduly concerned, as the whole thing really was only planted a year ago (Happy Birthday left border!), and everything really only burst forth in July.

Tomorrow is the first day of summer, I believe! Well then, time to roll up the sleeves and really get stuck in!

Good news - I have a new, more satisfying, more fulfilling job. Which means I can re-focus my out-of-work energies where they belong!

One last note to self - must get the next lot of nematodes down. Some things on the left are looking a bit chewed ... I might try a garlic-water as well. And set up my new slug trap ...

A general update

The weather is turning out to be much as promised.




A wetter, but warmer summer than last year. This is no bad thing, I think, as there will certainly be no hosepipe ban, and water is "good for the garden".





However, I do have that waterlogging problem ...





But I was thinking, as I did my normal evening round of the garden last night, that perhaps all this rain will help me to deal with the problem on the left, of the solid, solid ground (a pickaxe??). The ground will hopefully be more workable, and if I can dig something in whilst the soil is wet now, rather that waiting for the autumn and for everything to die back, well, that can only be a good thing.


My research continues. Do I add sand? But that seems contradictory to me, as wet sand holds a lot of moisture. Sharp, or gritty sand, however, seems to be an option.


I think I may need to get some worms, as well. I wasn't sure, but now I am seriously considering it.


All that being said, as I was standing out there again tonight, I have to admit - it's beautiful.

I am reminded that last year, it looked like this.

And now I have this

And this

And this

And it all makes me very, very happy.

Another weekend looms - what will I accomplish this time?

When Worlds Collide

Just at the moment, the outside world is interfering, not so much with my gardening thankfully, but with me sharing it with you. So I am taking a moment to say hello, and show you some kind of progress.

The potatoes are, well, mental. I didn't get to earth them up over the weekend but that is top of the list. It is necessary as one, apparently, gets more yield that way.



I'm pretty darned happy that they've all come up, though!

I did cut the grass. Ah, Saturday was beautiful, as promised. Sun, hot sun even, hardly a cloud in the sky all day, just a perfect gardening day.

I have put the final two tomato plants down. I put three in a couple of weekends ago, when the weather was, again, very fine. When I went to the garden centre, I was shocked to see that there were very few tomato plants left! So even though I would normally have waited until the end of May, I thought I'd best grab some and get them in. The woman at the till said it didn't seem too early, as there would likely be no more frosts down here, and every tomato plant they've had in has just gone like hotcakes. Hence two weeks ago I put in a Moneymaker, a Beefsteak, and a Marmande. This weekend I put in an Italian Plum, and a Shirley. I wanted the various varieties to see how each one progresses, and to find some favourites. It's been several years since I've grown tomatoes. I don't know why as in my previous two "container" gardens I could have just had them in a grow bag, but there you are. They are down now!

In celebration of the fact I would like to share this song with you, which I have known since childhood, and which is the absolute truth, in terms of growing your own tomatoes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nitgmAInI18

Let's look at the left border now. All those things that I was waiting for to come up - they didn't come up. I succumbed at the garden centre, and bought plants. Poppies, a Lupin, another Phlox and a Lily. I was happy to see that actually one of those Lillies I put in is coming up, but nothing else.

Slight calamity. That soil over there is a large problem, and will need to be addressed. It gets worse the closer you get to the house, and better up by the shed. I believe this is because the sun, when it does come back around, hits the upper part of the border first, whilst down by the house, and the compost bin, it was, during the winter, almost waterlogged. I would have to hold up my hands and say, this is not well-drained soil.

In fact, to plant the poppy, I actually had to get out my neighbour's pickaxe to break up the soil. Now that can't be a good thing, can it? The fork wasn't going in, the border spade, the hand tools, I would have broken them all if I persisted. I need to seriously work on that, and any suggestions are more than welcome.

Thankfully, though, all the plants I put in last year are thriving. The Rose, ah the Rose, is blooming. The blueberries are coming, and the pinks are about to pop. The Delphinium is profuse, and an absolute joy. Even the new Red Verbena is blooming now, and I expect it will be large like the purple on the other side, in the herb border.

Thank goodness for gardens, I say.

And cats.

My Progress at the Weekend

Ah. That's more like it. A day like that, every weekend, would make me very happy. It was so warm and sunny in the garden, I got mild sunburn! I never even thought to put sunscreen on. Go figure, when two (three?) weeks ago it was snowing.

First up was some serious weeding of the left border. And some admiring of my tulips! They opened darker than I imagined, but I'm very happy with them.

I may possibly consider re-siting them to the back border next year however, as sitting next to the round dalek that is the compost bin doesn't really do them justice. And I'm not sure if that lovely Choisya is being a bit stunted in it's growth surrounded by those lovelies. Or perhaps it just grows slowly. Time will tell!





Apart from the normal weeds, I am plagued by these, which come from these seeds off the tree at the back (not in our garden, just behind). They are everywhere, left, right, centre. I guess that's how forests grow!

Things are coming along nicely on the left. The Delphiniumhas a lovely big flower coming already, the Geraniums are about to pop, and although the Lady's Mantle (alchemilla mollis) isn't as large and spreading as I had hoped in it's second year, (having grown them before), I'm sure with some sunshine it will grow, and hopefully spread.

And my gorgeous rose has some buds! The Euphorbia looks fantastic as well. The support you see was an absolute find. If it did not have that, the whole think would be sprawled on the ground like it was last year. Perhaps that's how it managed to self-seed so much (do you see? I haven't had the heart to take all of those out. I'd kind of like to see how that pans out) but it was something of a mess. I am all for plant supports like this. The delphinium has one as well. All of these can be moved up as the plant grows taller. I'm sold!

Left border duly weeded, it was time to tackle the next big but satisfying job - cutting the grass.

There's my baby there (the lawnmower, I mean), having just done it's job.

In the meantime, though, I went off to the garden centre to get that job done. But no! Bad news, no seed potatoes left! Now, when I was watching GW on Friday evening, Joe Swift, one of the presenters had just put his maincrop potatoes down this week. The lady at the garden centre was a bit sniffy and said "well, it's a bit late..." Hmph. Alan Titchmarsh in the brilliant The Kitchen Gardener says April is fine for maincrop.

I bought my few bits a pieces there (more supports!) and was making the trek home. First, I passed an outdoor flower stall, which also sells plants - oh, very naughty, I bought two peonies (two for a fiver!).

I love peonies! The problem is I have no place to put them yet as they are intended for the back. Yikes. I think I shall put them in some large-ish pots for the time being until such time as the ground is ready for them.

If I'm realistic I'm not going to be planting up the back now until October. I mean, look at it. And summer is not the time to be laying a border, in my experience. No, October is the target.

Then I thought perhaps I'd just pop into my 99p Store. Do not ignore your local 99p Store. Result! Four bags of seed potatoes, 8 in each, for 99 pence each, I think I went a bit nuts as that's 32 seed potatoes each producing a bunch (this is my first time growing potatoes so I'm not sure about the results of a crop); I could be having a right glut in the autumn ... that's if I can manage fit them all in! We'll see.


Grass cut, smell to die for. If next weekend is fair, I believe the lawn needs some TLC in the form of a "weed and feed", but that's not looking too bad for the first cut after a winter with no sun.



I tackled the much-talked-about vegetable patch too, but I believe I will save that for the next post. Too much to share all at once!

I'm pretty happy with what I did, though. I shall enlighten you very soon!