Trowel and Error

[FiveO'Clock]

Your dahlias are gorgeous!

[Derek Nimmo]

They really are And cut yourself some slack - you've done amazing things with some very large pieces of land, but everyone needs a break sometimes!

[Mountain Goat]

Crikey yes, I get overwhelmed by a fraction of what you deal with. You've done a sterling job.

Do I need to be doing something to my dahlias? They are still going great guns and are fairly sheltered (near a wall).

ETA yesterday I planted (in the front) three hydrangeas, two hellebores and 50 motherfucking bulbs (20 snowdrops, 15 daffodils, 15 quirky alliums). I nearly did my back in. The soil did not readily yield.

[baargain]

I buried some bulbs in very rubbly ground once, so I feel your pain.

I was off seeing a friend yesterday, and there was rumours of a frost last night, so I took her the ones above, and gave my lovely neighbour a bunch of cafe au lait and cornel bronzes, as she'd been admiring the cafe au lait, and looks after the garden when I'm not here. I suddenly panicked about the frost, as I thought it might turn them all to mush, and I really wanted lovely neighbour to have some, turns out they were fine when I got home today. Hah! Once the frosts really smoosh them, I'm just going to cut them right back and bury under a pile of mulch, and just cross my fingers. I cba to dig them up and hide them in the shed (cos it's full of onions), my allotment dahlias survived the - 12c last winter with a half trowel of mulch each, so meh.

[Mountain Goat]

I am hoping the same, as my friend down the road said she hadn't been arsed to lift hers and they were fine. I haven't made up my mind about placement, if I decide I want them in a different place (possible, but depends on other placement decisions yet to be properly thought about) then I'll dig them up of course.

Cafe au laits are lovely. Mine are almost all the same, although that was NOT what I ordered.

I'll say that some of my bulbs were not placed at the full requisite depth as I lost patience. :)) Bloody new build soil. I'm trying to improve it but sometimes it tests me that bit too much.

[absley]

Amazing squash haul, Baa - I had 3 crown prince plants and each gave me a pumpkin so I'm happy enough with my much smaller haul! I do love Charlie Eyebrows, thanks for sharing her concern about the situation

I'm sorry you felt overwhelmed - I had similar last month. And yesterday about the freezer, so I have jammed another kilo of gooseberries, to clear a bit of space :ella:

For the garden, I've realised that help is useful for actually making progress rather than just pottering, and I am now getting my gardener to come round and help me with things that I know I can do but just need a bit of guidance/ where hard labour is required. So today he dug up 4 massive clumps of irises which needed dividing (they had grown outwards into doughnut shapes with dead middles) and I then tidied up and replanted them, which was a job well done. I now just need to pass on the excess clumps, or find spots for them.

He had a fabulous rake which I want to buy - it was great for getting the soil off the lawn where I was working - this one, in case anyone needs similar. His tines are much shorter though, through much use! :))

Congrats with the bulb planting, Goat. I've decided I really don't want to do that some have seed browsing on my list for a future weekend instead.

[Mountain Goat]

That sounds so sensible, abs. It can be such a lot of work (and you have a lot of space, and a lot of mature planting to figure out) and it should be enjoyable. Also the choice to avoid bulbs. :lol: I've still got 30 alliums (two types) and 30 tulips to plant. The tulips don't want to go in yet anyway and will be in the back where the ground is well dug over, but the alliums are for the drought friendly section which is poor soil and will be an absolute bastard to plant. Plus I have stuff to dig up first (at least those bits will be easier to plant once I've disturbed the soil).

I was expecting that rake to be £££ when I clicked on it! Bargain.

Frost this morning! I didn't spot it myself so either I was too late up or my garden was a bit more sheltered, but I have heard tell on the local grapevine. :)) Everything seems fine but I'd better get a mulch on.

The clematis I planted the other week which looked a bit sorry for itself when it arrived is thriving, I'm going to have to get its trellis up sooner rather than later. I'm pleasantly surprised, I was a bit concerned for it. It's an evergreen/winter flowering.

[Disco]

I planted 50 odd bulbs the other week and am expecting another 35 soon.

[baargain]

My garlic turned up yesterday, and MumBaa also gave me about 10 heads of elephant garlic :lol:

[Disco]

That'll keep you busy (even busier)!

[absley]

I'm so glad that past me was lazy with bulb planning... :))

Baa, is MumBaa being pass agg with the garlic?!

[baargain]

No, just generous, she offered me some, and I expected like four or something. But no! She has an allotment too, and her garden is 50% veg plot, and she has quantity control issues/a severe abundance of enthusiasm. I don't know where I get it from :lol:

[absley]

[baargain]

She finds it hilarious that I am morphing into her. I am dooooomed.

[baargain]

I forgot to highlight my tiny baby

IMG20231006093653.jpg

[Disco]

Toooo weeeeee!

My bulbs have arrived so I'll be looking for a clear spell this week to get them out.

[absley]

I pruned all my blackberries, loganberries etc earlier and have many tiny thorns in my fingers that snuck through the gloves. :verm: I was doing it to release work stress, so not an ideal diversion!

I now just need to research how to put back the support wires that I found but seem to be loose/ broken etc.

I then need to decide if I'll do the same for the raspberries, as it turns out I should have done them in summer after they finished fruiting.

[Mountain Goat]

Ouch!

Did you get your bulbs in Disco? I still have my alliums (should go in soon) and tulips (apparently best to do when it's colder). I worked like mad at the weekend: pruning, weeding, planting, removing plants, taking cuttings, lifting soft herbs and potting them to go indoors, mulching, and a million things I've forgotten, but I still have a tonne of jobs left. It's looking tidy, and the front of the house is almost put to bed for winter now (I have to treat my yellowing skimmia with Epsom salts, apparently, which I confused the chemist with). The side needs so much work, I want to take out a lot of the (developer) planting there and then improve the soil before planting it properly in the spring, but my brown bin and compost bin are as full as possible so it has to wait until brown bin day. And they've planted a tonne of pyracanthus, which is lovely and good for the birds, but there's way too much and it's a bloody pain to remove because of it stabbing me whenever I go near it. It's also too close to the pavement (some of it) and I fear it taking someone's eye out if I don't remove it soon. The sections at the back can stay.

In good news, usually when dealing with this section I find all manner of grim litter and builder's crap that I fish out with gloves while pulling a face, but on Sunday I found a five pound note among my catnip. :))

[Disco]

Busy bees!

A fiver is a nice surprise. Perhaps one of the local junky cats left it there as payment. I have to grow the catnip inside or every cat in the neighbourhood turns up.

Yes, I got them all out on Saturday. I did a lot of weeding, tidying, chopped down a lot of mock orange blosson, dug up 75% of the crocosmia and ended up temporarily 4 inches taller with thick mud encasing the soles of my mahibis.

[absley]

We trimmed one of our pyrocanthus on the last brown bin cycle, so completely know how you feel, Goat!

What do you mulch with? I have things that say they need this, but I don't really know what it means.

Good bulbing, Dics.