Grubbing in the dirt

[baargain]

I have planted my new apple tree! It should be in a better place, and should have tastier apples. It is a sunset apple tree. I think I have overdone the tree security we have an invading muntjac deer, and occasional wild rabbits.

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[Princess Morripov]

Yay! How long until apples?

[baargain]

It could give me apples this year! But I should really take them off, and make it concentrate on growing big. So three years for full on cropping. I might keep two on for tasting.

[Estrella]

I am the least green fingered person ever. But we have a lot of stuff established in our new garden and added a paw paw tree last week that someone at MrE’s work was giving away. It’s pretty small so no idea on when to expect it to fruit.

[Little My]

That sounds exciting, Est. I may challenge you on the least green fingered person ever though!

I am starting to think about spring. My daughter has asked to grow strawberries, so that's number one on the list. I'm thinking the covered pool area would be a good spot, so they don't get eaten up by the birds/animals. And I will be needing a big pot of peppermint, but that's easy.

[Estrella]

We’ve got a lot of fruit trees - mulberry, nectarine, apple, mandarin, lime, lemon, blueberries (which were fruiting when we moved in and were delicious!), raspberries, a grape vine and I found a little peach tree in a pot too (it had two little peaches on it that got destroyed in a rainstorm). Plus a massive rosemary bush.

At our old place the strawberries were in the pool area for a bit of protection.

[Hobbes]

Well, my new puppy has absolutely wrecked my lawn, plus all of my pots, so I think this year will be spent trying to repair some of the damage.

Plus I’m going to concentrate on getting some nice walk/fence pots so I can have some flowers up high that he can’t reach!

[Princess Morripov]

Oh no! At least their cuteness makes up for the destruction

We have lawn based plans too, we have taken out a fence that was down the middle of the garden (as it was originally split into the garden and a “paddock”) and are trying to level it out. A has taken out the fence, all the bricks that were there too and so far it’s been filled with sand and compost, but today we are going to go and order 2.5 tonnes of top soil so we can do the final level off and then get some grass seed down.

[baargain]

You can pretty much grow a fruit salad, Est! That's exciting.

[Princess Morripov]

A has a few wheelbarrow loads to get going on

Hoping to get all of this shifted onto levelling the lawn today and some grass seed down.

[baargain]

He's got a fun day ahead

[baargain]

I have edged the beds in the greenhouse, they weren't edged before, and all the water kept running off and going all over the path.

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And I have thrown compost all over all the beds you can see here.

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[baargain]

Then it hailed and I had to run away

[Derek Nimmo]

I admire your industiousness so much Baa, I will not be the same kind of gardener as you - imagine Margo from the Good Life wafting around in a kaftan, clutching a g&t

This has just popped up in my front garden, am I right in thinking it's a camellia?

[Princess Morripov]

It looks like a camellia to me. How lovely!

That is an excellent effort, Baa. A has shifted the two ton, put the grass seed down etc, it was a really enjoyable character building opportunity

We have a fucking horrifying scarecrow, which we thought would be funny but I’ll put some money aside for therapy for my kids at some point

[Toast]

Show us the scarecrow, Pov!

That's a lovely camelia. I have inherited a climbing one I think but it hasn't flowered yet. You didn't have a garden before did you, Derek?

My greenhouse is gone. We were going to have to move it because it sat in front of the ugly garage which we have plans for and I don't think it would have gone back up very well (it was old and not brilliant) so I asked the previous owners if they wanted it and they said yes. I'm looking at potting sheds now so that I have some storage and a place to keep plants.

[baargain]

I was full on grubbing in the dirt this weekend I think I overdid the horse poo in one section of my heap, as it was a bit solid. I have started hoarding cardboard from deliveries to balance it all out.

That's a lovely camelia! Your gardening sounds much more sedate than my manic dig dig dig.

Toast, my mate had problems with leggy seedlings in her potting shed due to there being less light, but she's since acquired a few zippy greenhouses to give other options. Don't know if you're thinking about seedlings, but it's worth contemplating.

Pov! I was going to ask how poor A was doing and yes, show us the scarecrow.

[Derek Nimmo]

Yay for recycling a crappy old greenhouse at no expense or trouble to you!

I last had a garden about 17 years ago, and it was a London courtyard. This is quite a different prospect

[Little My]

Taking over a garden where you're not sure what's planted is tricky too. Every season you get a surprise.

Speaking of seasons, I'm finding it weird looking at your industrious photos because my yard is a frozen wasteland of snow and will be for at least two more months. Not much to do other than make plans.

[baargain]

My poor hosta! Think I left the repotting a bit late.

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I've upgraded it into a 66cm pot, and filled another one with compost ready for horseradish.