Through the Garden Gate--May 2024

The rainy weather has continued through May, but it's feeling warmer now and there has been some sunny spells too.  I always think of May as being a green month, a time when the plants in the borders fill out, the buds on the trees open up and everything looks so fresh and green. 

On the good weather days we've enjoyed sitting out admiring the garden while it's looking so lovely. Before long the early flowers will have gone over and I will have to start cutting back before the summer flowers appear.

One plant display I have been loving is the candelabra primulas. I'm glad I took a photograph of them while they were looking good because we had some really heavy rain one day along with strong winds which flattened the primulas and although they gradually recovered, they were never quite as good looking. Other plants are doing well though and the first rose on the Gertrude Jekyll has appeared and with lots of buds appearing we should have a good display through the summer.

I've done some planting of new plants in the borders. I thought I would try growing some dahlias this year, so I bought three plants. I hope they will provide some mid to late summer colour as well as being good as cut flowers, so long as the slugs don't get to them first.

Speaking of slugs, the Hostas are looking good at the moment. Some of them have slug damage, but I am keeping a close eye on them.  I grow most of them in pots and I do have quite a lot of them. A few years ago I made a Hosta bed in the front garden, where we had a damp shady spot which had really awful soil and the grass didn't grow well. We took the lawn up in this spot and put a layer of bark chippings down. I decided I would put pots of plants on here and as I had so many Hostas then it could be a Hosta bed. I have acquired more Hostas since then--I have a gardening friend who has a collection of them and often splits them up to give away to friends. So most of the Hostas are displayed on this area of the garden. They seem to have less slug damage grown in pots on the bark mulch with a layer of grit on the top of the pots. 

Some of the Hostas are arranged on the bark, some in the shade of the house wall and others grouped together in a corner of the drive. 

I have been tidying up the Hosta pots this month, removing weeds, repotting or splitting up where needed. It was quite a job, but they are looking good now and I am now at the stage where I can give some away to friends.

So that was a busy month for me, hope you are all enjoying your gardens.

I am linking this blog post to Sarah's blog at Down By the Sea for her monthly Through the Garden Gate post.

Through the Garden Gate--April 2024

It's been a busy month in the garden, catching up with Spring jobs, mulching, planting, sowing, tidying up. The weather has continued to be very mixed with plenty of rain. This month we have had wind and hail too as well as some sunny days. I finished mulching the borders, a job which I started last month. At the weekend I put a bark mulch down on the woodland bed which made it look much better. It smells really woody and the plants show up well against the bark. 

The borders are filling out now as the plants start to grow.  There's not much yet in the way of colour from flowers, but everything is starting to look really green and fresh.

 The star of the garden at the moment is the crab apple tree which is full of white blossom. It started to get quite windy yesterday so I was hoping the blossom wouldn't get blown away. We are hoping for plenty of fruit in the autumn. Last year there was hardly any when in previous years there has been loads of crab apples which give a lot of colour through the autumn and winter. The birds like the fruit too.

I've been filling in a few gaps in the front garden borders with plants which I lifted and divided from the back garden last year. So I planted some Solidago (Golden Rod) and pink Cow Parsley. I bought a perennial wallflower (Erysimum) which someone told me will flower from now until October. That sounds the ideal plant, so I will wait and see. I planted it in the raised bed border in the back garden, where I want more colour.  Also in that bed I wanted to fill a gap at the back to hide the fence, so I bought a clematis --Clematis Montana Alba.

Last month I told you about a pot of tulips I'd planted which I thought were orange but as they were opening looked like they were going to be white. Well they've opened up and this is what they turned out to be. They are called 'Copper Image'. They don't look very much like copper to me, but I do like the colour and they are lasting well. 

It was my daughter's birthday in April and she didn't want a gift but a day out with lunch. She's been working hard on her Masters degree and has finally finished. I'm all for a day out, so it was a treat for me too. We went to Lytham Hall, there's lots to see there. Click on the link to find out more. It was a lovely day and we were able to sit outside for our lunch. The birds were hopping around us obviously used to being fed by visitors. The Hall is really interesting. 

We had a walk in the grounds which has a lot of woodland and was easy walking. There is also a walled kitchen garden which was immaculate.

The volunteers were working at the time and it was nice to chat to one of them who was so enthusiastic about her work. Also outside in the courtyard area was an antiques and salvage hub and a plant hub. We couldn't leave without buying a plant or two. I bought foxgloves for my daughter and myself. It was a good day out.

I am linking this blog post to Sarah's blog at Down By the Sea for her monthly Through the Garden Gate post.

Spring on the allotment

 

April is a busy time on the allotment. It's time to get sowing and planting. The soil is warming up and the weeds are starting to grow. Despite the awful wet weather we've been having over the last few weeks we've managed to keep up with our winter jobs and are fairly well prepared now as once the growing season gets underway it can get to be very busy on the allotment.

I've pruned the fruit bushes, and tidied up the strawberry tubs then gave them a feed and mulch. The fruit cages needed quite a bit of weeding too. 

The shed finally got it's big spring clean out, I'd been putting it off but it's always good to see it clean and tidy again. While we were cleaning we found holes where the rats had been able to get in. And lots of  rat droppings! So Richard blocked the holes up and after cleaning I sprayed round with a peppermint oil spray which is supposed to help deter them. They don't like strong smells apparently.  Camphor, garlic, coffee grounds are other smells they don't like. Putting pots of mint around the plot is supposed to help keep them away. It won't get rid of them completely I know, but if it helps to keep them out of the shed I'll be glad. We've seen them running around outside on our plot and neighbours plots, they seem to be quite active at the moment. 

I've also cleaned the paths of debris, weeds and mud and swilled them with a cleaner. I always think that if your paths are clean and tidy it helps to make the rest of the plot look good too.

The green houses and cold frames are filling up with trays of seedlings. The broad beans and peas look almost ready for planting out. I started planting the onions a few days ago. It's a back breaking job especially for me with my back problems. I did three rows before I had to give up. That was 66 onions. There are still plenty more to plant so it could take me a while to get them all in the ground. 

The first early potatoes (Rocket) were planted in potato bags two weeks ago. I have been transplanting tomato and flower seedlings this week and  have now moved them to the allotment greenhouse because there is no more room at home.  I will be growing the flowers in the cut flower bed on the plot and anywhere else I can find space for them. I wish I had more space to grow  flowers for cutting I always seem to grow more than I have the space for.

I always seem to be going on about the weather, but it's important for gardeners to have the right conditions for sowing, planting and growing. So many people I know have got really soggy allotment plots and are finding it difficult to get started on their new seasons jobs.  So let's hope we get some drier weather soon. How are you getting on with your allotment at the moment?

Through the garden gate --March 2024

 

Well, Spring has arrived, but it hasn't brought any good weather with it. We continue to have lots of rainy days. The garden is starting to look more colourful, lots of yellow and blue from the daffodils and pulmonaria. The trees all open up their buds at different times. The Amelanchier is the first to flower, it looks attractive even before the blossom comes with  a haze of pink buds. I can see it will be flowering in the next week.  

We have had some dry days and I have been very busy trying to get the Spring jobs done. Pruning is a job to do in March and I've gradually got most of that done. I decided that the twisted willow tree needed a prune too, it grows very quickly. One branch which was growing very tall needed some attention and it involved Richard up the ladder with his saw and me holding tightly onto a rope tied to the branch to stop it falling over the fence on to our neighbour's car. I don't think we would have been very popular if it had! I cut the branch up afterwards, it's twisted stems will make good supports for the peas at the allotment. Other smaller stems look good in a vase and the remaining thick stem was sawn up and put in the bug hotel. Other very small bits of twig are left on the lawn for the birds to help with their nest building. Nothing wasted. Holly enjoyed playing with all the branches too.   

I started tidying up the borders and mulching. I have almost finished the back garden and then will start on the front and side gardens. It's a long job and hard work, but the garden looks so much better when it's done. The mulch shows up the emerging plants well, I can see what is coming through as I go along and decide if any need moving or thinning out. 

The tulip pots are starting to flower. I planted some in the autumn which were a mix of purple and orange and I am quite pleased with them, although the orange ones look more red than orange, but the colour combination is quite good. I have another pot which looks like they are going to be white although the label I put in says orange. Either I have labelled them wrong or the garden centre did. It will be interesting to see what they turn out like.

I love the pulmonaria which are flowering now and how they self seed around the garden. They pop up in unexpected places. I usually leave them unless they are in completely the wrong place. 

The euphorbia are in flower too now, growing well in the shade of trees or shrubs. I have been cutting them and the pulmonaria for the house, they go well together. Also starting to flower are the brunneras and primroses --more blue and yellow.

This weekend is Easter and after a rainy week it looks like Saturday and Sunday will be sunny days then we will be back to rain next week. So wishing you all a very happy Easter and enjoy your gardens.

I am linking this post to Sarah's blog at Down By the Sea for her monthly Through the Garden Gate post.

Through the Garden Gate--February 2024

The days are lengthening now which means more gardening time, but not when it's been raining as much as it has  in February. We wonder if it will ever stop, will we get some sunny weather soon?

There have been a few dry days when I've dashed out to get some work done. There's often a decision to make  "shall we go to the allotment? or stay home and do the garden?". It's which ever needs the most work doing. The damp, cold weather isn't good for me, it gets into my bones, but I try to keep going for the exercise. 

So in the garden I've started tidying up the beds. February is when I cut down the grasses. They were all very straw like, some of them still good looking but the new growth was appearing at the base so the old stems had to be cut back. 

The taller grasses had quite thick stems and could just be snapped off. I thought it would be easier than using the secateurs, but I'm not sure. Either way was hard on my arthritic hands. Last weekend I cut back the dead perennial plants foliage. The garden is looking a bit flat now with lots of the dead grass stems still lying around. They soon blow away or the birds take them for nest building. 

I can see now that the garden is slowly waking up as new shoots start to appear. The snowdrops have mostly all gone over but new spots of colour can be seen. Coming into flower now are crocuses, tete a tete daffodils, primroses and pulmonaria. 

The Hellebores have been in flower for a few weeks and are looking lovely. Hellebores 'Anna's Red' is a dark red and standing quite tall. It has big flowers but not many of them, whilst the other hellebores are low clumps of paler, smaller flowers. 

The patio is bright with pots of daffodils and the tulips pots should make a good show, that will be quite a while yet, but it's something to look forward to.

Well that was February in the garden, I'm hoping for some good weather in March, there will be much to do.

I am linking this post to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.

Stormy weather and winter jobs

 It's quiet on the allotments at the moment, we hardly ever see anyone else down there. Not surprising, with all the storms and snow we've had in the last few weeks it's not been fit to do any work. We've managed to do a few short sessions since the start of the year, taking advantage of the odd fine weather day. Fortunately in the autumn we got most beds cleared and mulched and the greenhouses cleaned out.

I don't do any planting in the ground yet and I don't usually start sowing seeds in warmth until early March. It's surprising though how many other jobs we find need doing. This time of year is a good time to tackle repairs and  maintenance jobs. The high winds blew over some of the fencing so that needed fixing back in place, the compost bins need  repairs to some rotting wood, and the heavy rain upset our drainage system. 

An old land drain runs down onto our allotment from the plot above and when we took the plot on years ago Richard put a drain in place to divert the water down, into the pond, onto the lane outside and into the woods. It works well most of the time but after any really heavy rain the drain overflows and needs clearing of silt.  Well we've had our share of heavy rain in the last few weeks and last week after more rain there was water running down the paths and it had also got into the shed. So Richard has had quite a job on trying to sort out the blocked drain. This week he thinks it's sorted at last but we are left with a very muddy mess.

One job I didn't get done in the autumn was pruning the fruit bushes and that's what I have been doing recently. It's taking me longer than I thought to get it done. I have to work at a slow pace because  the pruning aggravates my arthritic hands and bending and shoveling compost hurts my back. After I've pruned the fruit I've been giving them a sprinkling of chicken manure pellets and a mulch of home made compost. Nearly done now, just have the blueberries to do. Those I mulch with the shredded branches of our Christmas tree for the acidity. The rhubarb is growing fast, it's pink shoots seem to increase so quickly. Every time we visit the plot it seems to have grown much bigger.

Finding the shed floor covered in water I had to sweep it out, but it reminded me that the shed needs it's annual clean out. It needs a fine day to do this so I can move the contents of the shed outside before I can give it a good clean out. This is my least favourite job as I never know what wildlife I will find once I start. For the time being I can put that job off, but I really want to get it done soon so I can have a clean start to the growing season. What we need is some drier weather then we can really get a move on.

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