Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Paspatur

3 years ago one of my bird baths cracked due to minus 13. My brother coated it with something which helped for a while but it started leaking again. So I planted sedums in it. Last week or week before it was minus 10. Now lumps falling off it. Excuse the weeds I was otherwise engaged last season and they are endless from next door. Upstand is hollow so I may plant something in that if not also crumbling. The joys of winter 😕 Nothing but rain here so still too soggy and cold to do any gardening.

Paspatur

The other ancient bird bath which is hopefully indestructible with a partial view of the previous photo with all the rubbish

Dustyevsky

ArbitraryRandom said:

I love those leggings  

Her son is still following the trend!
Paspatur, that Pieris at the end of your garden really draws the eye!

ArbitraryRandom

Paspatur, I love those bird baths - very elegant. I daren't have one myself with the cats but I feel it's wet enough around here they don't lack for places to drink  

Something I do want to do when the big stuff is done is look at how to make the garden more wildlife friendly since I took out that huge mass of wild brambles which was an excellent habitat. I started with my bee hotel last year, but I've saved a nice big bundle of sticks from the hedge and I'm thinking a garden 'heap' behind the compost would be a good start. 

YoungBlueEyes

Aye good fun that thread eh Farway. Nice that it had a conclusion too, and even better that they left it up.  So what are you like for fish+cats+ropes? Or Simons+chocolate?  

Another fan of those leggings here, both of them I remember Swampy, I always thought he looked like good fun and hoped he'd win. I wonder where he is now... but I'm not looking it up cos any time I wonder where someone is that I've not heard of for a while they're always dead. 

You've a lovely garden Pas, and how sharp is the edging on your lawn!  I like the repurposed cracked birdbath too, that's a brilliant idea  

Did you get your apple tree in 2p?

Raining here and has been for hours. Still mild though at 10', high of 13' to come. I can just about see my daff through the murk, so they've left me some anyway. I planted those trays of violas the other day and now this morning I noticed slug trails shimmering away, so that'll be them gone. Grrrr. Lesson learned there. Don't be buying that sort of nonsense, even if it's 40 plugs for £5. 

Dustyevsky

YoungBlueEyes said:

Another fan of those leggings here, both of them I remember Swampy, I always thought he looked like good fun and hoped he'd win. I wonder where he is now... but I'm not looking it up cos any time I wonder where someone is that I've not heard of for a while they're always dead.

He's still around. Not a big fan of modern protesters, who mess-up sporting events, attack art etc and generally spoil others' enjoyment to achieve publicity.

I'm being told we have 'fog' at present, and I can confirm the other side of the valley is invisible, so the drunks are right in that respect. However, we've also had rain; lots of it, judging by the sound of the waterfall on the stream this morning. A quick glance at the river cams confirms this, with the big river looking as high as it's been this winter. Fortunately, it seems we shall have some respite now, at least until Wednesday, but the ground is extremely soggy.

So it's either concreting or chainsawing for me today.....and maybe, just maybe, dusting and disinfecting the electric propagator!

P.S. I had a great video in response to the 'bag in a tree' scenario which I put up briefly.....before realising there was a link within it to something not entirely suitable for family viewing. Why do Yootoobe do that?

twopenny

Morning folks. Paspateur I look at your garden with envy. Sharp, clean cut and clever border shapes.
I've thought every which way for my tiny plot. I know sharp, squares would look classy but not leave enough room for all the plants and will look 'done' rather than something to play with and change.

My woodland area, ferns and bulbs up shallow steps to be enjoyed from the sofa in winter has worked well. Taken a while to establish but I'm pleased.
Next on the list to be finished when it dries out a bit.

Mild, damp, sometimes bright here. I was dreaming about playing in the sea last night morphing into terrifying escape from floods so I'm guessing it must have belted down at some point. So no going on the garden.

Tree still in its overflowing bucket Bluey.  Shooting a leaf bud each time I look which is a good sign.
The graft seems to have a mud filled gap.....I'll uncover later and fill with wax if necessary. Otherwise sturdy. It was the only good one in a poor bunch.

How long can it stay in the bucket please? I know I should at least heal it in asap but it really is like Noah flood out there at the mo 

Paspatur

The edge looks sharp because I was working on it when I took that photo, you can probably see the string
Unfortunately just another failure, plan was to put in log roll edging but foiled by too many tree roots which if I try to pull them out run right across the lawn
I would like bigger borders and less lawn but beyond my capabilities to dig that out
Now has 2 raised beds under 2 of the shrubs so I could underplant them for some more colour
So now have astilbes under one rhododendron and the hydrangea
Well not actually now of course but in summer

ArbitraryRandom

YoungBlueEyes said:

Another fan of those leggings here, both of them I remember Swampy, I always thought he looked like good fun and hoped he'd win. I wonder where he is now... but I'm not looking it up cos any time I wonder where someone is that I've not heard of for a while they're always dead. 

Last I heard was in 2020 he was involved in a HS2 protest (bringing his kids along if I remember right), but I've not heard anything about him in the news since then. I would have thought if he supported the XR lot that he'd be more prominent as a known figure so I'm guessing he doesn't? But with what Dusty said that makes sense.

Finally cleared that windowsill and got my propagator set up with the little trays. I've also been hoarding toilet roles as I understand they're important but I'm not 100% sure what I do with them? Just put them on a tray and fill with soil for more seeds, or they to 'pot on' plants that you want larger before they go out? 

I'm thinking I'll start with my potatoes, squash, leeks and beetroot this weekend, which will only take about half the propagator tray for a few of each.  

twopenny

Ah yes, I'm pacing myself aparantly or whatever is wrong is pacing me.

Turf digging is not as easy as it used to be. Creating from scratch I really made some damage to my wrist bashing the soil off the turf just like Bluey seems to have.

Abs, that's ambitious! I don't know how you make the toilet roll middles stand up unless you have tall sides to your tray and jam them in. You could glue them in bunches before you start I guess. I used to make biodegradable pots from news paper while watching TV, but of course now we don't have newspaper.

I think the idea of the middles is that it gives a good long root run. I didn't find that they rotted as they are supposed to when planted.

At some point I'm going to have to put that tree in soil even if its temporary as it's too wet to dig. The water in the bucket is soaking up it's bark and that doesn't seem good.