Preparing for Spring!!!

Rowan9

Lovely to see this thread up and running again. I'm a keen reader of it!

Glorious sunshine here - we've had sun for days and days - a fab thing to say about Scotland! It's very spring-like. Lovely to hear the birds in the park. I had all the windows open yesterday for ages.

Plans are to spring-clean everywhere and get it all sparkly and fresh.

Buy a couple more house plants as I love them and we only have 3.

DH will be on window cleaning this weekend because he is so good at it

What are you all up to?
ps - loving hearing about your outdoor plans Fru. Sorry about the cat pooo!!

Eenymeeny

We've had sun yesterday and today, strangely unsettling can't believe that we aren't going to wake to snow tomorrow! (There was a hard frost this morning)
Trying to stay calm and stick to tidying and cleaning in the garden for the moment. Memories of very wet weeks last year when I spent a lot of time carrying plants that I'd sown too early in and out of the house!
Really nice to see though, everyone was outside doing little maintenence jobs today. I think that we all just wanted to be out in the sunshine after waiting so long!

TattyG

I am up for this

So far me and the kids have planted some Courgette, Chilli and Cucumber seeds ready for the garden. The Courgette have already started to come up !! Next week we will be doing lettuce, beans and maybe something else.

We need to sort the garden and trim the hedges !!

Have had a good sort out of the girls room and now need to do our room.

Would like to touch up the paint in the hall and freshen it up ready for spring.

Have a good Spring Clean and declutter

Will update again soon - can't wait to get everything fresh !! x

[Deleted User]

My first day out in my patch of paradise (teeny weeny garden). I decided to clean and tidy rather than plant anything atm. Im a novice when it comes to gardening. I cant do much planting as theres not enough room, so ive decided this year to plant in pots. I feel so much better for being outside.

sparrer

Hope it's okay to join in, I'm no great shakes as a gardener but it's something I love to do. I find it so peaceful and rewarding, and gives me as much pleasure in the fine weather as meditation does in the Winter.

There were a couple of really fine days last week when I managed to get outside and do some tidying of one of the patio's (I have two, soon to be three, none bigger than 8'x9' as the total garden size is only 18'x24'), weeded all the pots & troughs and dug them over and started to drag the 4 potato planters nearer the gate so I can get someone to put them in the car at some point.

This morning I mowed the lawn, it looks so much better if a little threadbare in places but it will soon come back with some seed, feed and tlc. The lawn is an L-shape, max 12'x14', just enough for the dog and me to sit on when it's warm.

The majority of my planting is done in pots, tubs and hanging baskets which I'll shop for in a few weeks. Never sure what I'm going to come home with, I give myself a £limit and buy whatever takes my fancy as long as it's colourful and has a long flowering period. I dig granules into the soil so I don't have to water every night unless we have a heatwave - last summer I was watering every 3/4 days or less

I have to move a 3 y/o Victoria plum which is growing in a pot on the small far end patio at the moment as my neighbour is putting a shed up this year which will partly shade the area. Sadly I lost a beautiful eucalyptus last year so the plum will take its place, in the ground.

Last year my crops included Tumbling Toms, runners, peas, blackberry, strawberry, tayberry, potatoes, apples, plums, and a variety of herbs. The pear is too new to fruit yet, maybe next year.

This year I won't be growing veg as I have a lung complaint which means I can only be active for short periods, so it will be predominantly flowers and the soft fruit tubs which will go on the new sunny patio (which will be laid in the next three or four weeks).

Sorry I've gone on about it a bit, fingers crossed this weather will last a few more days so I can get the grass seed down

Eenymeeny

Woke up to snow this morning, it's really cold and windy and we're getting snow flurries in between periods of bright sunshine!
I feel very pleased with myself as I've cleaned the windows (inside!) dusted and hoovered, mainly keeping to the sunny side of the house. (It was showing up the dust ) I'm thinking that if I get the inside jobs done I can get out in the garden as soon as the weather improves. Minus 4 degrees forecast overnight:eek:
Keep warm everyone

[Deleted User]

Sorry to report Spring cancelled, making a snowman instead!!!!!

sparrer

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Sorry to report Spring cancelled, making a snowman instead!!!!!

This area must be one of the luckiest in the country, we woke up to beautiful sunshine for the third day running. It's very cold still and has a little bit of dandruff floating around occasionally but not really enough to call it it snow.

Went to my favourite garden centre at the weekend, didn't buy anything as everything is too small and fragile at the moment but the tea and fruit cake were very good value :

Roll on Easter, I reckon (hope) that'll be the turning point

Fruball

Spent a windy but warm day out in the garden today

Everything looking very battered from bad weather and chickens scratching the grass and borders

Chickens now in a run so that is one job done. Also, cleared kids debris from around the garden, cleared half of the patio of rotted leaves (quite a layer of compost came from that which went straight on the borders!) and gave it a good sweep. Cut back a load of ivy that was at risk of taking over the patio - gained a good foot back all the way along! It hasn't been cut for 2 years so hardly surprising.

All in all, the patio looks twice the size (and I still have the other side to do!) and it all looks better than it did - still a way to go, sadly.

Garden furniture (which I swore would be put away each winter) has suffered from 2 winters outside but I will treat it again and get a last year's use out of it, hopefully. Perhaps pick up a new set at the end of summer in the sale

I also cut the base of a honeysuckle which was taking up far too much space, and I have a highly scented Jasmine to go in it's place once I get around to cutting the whole thing back - the remaining stems can serve as a support for the jasmine

Broccoli (PSB) is growing nicely on the windowsill at present and will be planted out later. Sweet peas are starting to come up and courgette seeds will be sown in the next couple of weeks along with beans and whatever other seeds I find knocking about

Can't wait for some proper good weather. Surely it can't be long now?!!

Eenymeeny

I was glad that I made the most of a day in the garden on Saturday. Yesterday was ok but very windy but I was able to enjoy the new tidier view from the back window over a re-gravelled little seating area, plants repotted, lots of mulching went on... looking good! (Got a few bargains, rosemary and skimmia being sold off at Homebase at half price and cheap dutch iris bulbs which are now in pots waiting for Summer now )
Hoping for a dry day now so that I can give a bench and table a fresh coat of stain. Like you, Fruball I left them out all winter, didn't even cover them like I usually do... I think that they'd been wet all summer so I had lost interest by then.
Feeling a lot more optimistic now, you can really see growth in the garden over the last few days!