GreenFly - A 'flylady style' gardening thread with weekly tasks to tame your garden

Cheery_Daff

Hello stranger 😊😊 I'm enjoying this thread for the encouragement that 15 mins at a time can make a difference - which i have found to be true 😊

I've twinged my back, so no proper gardening for me today. I have, however, taken the compost out, which I am counting as 'gardening' for the day 😂 And I am making jam with apples from my friend's garden, and blackcurrants from mine, albeit having been in the freezer for 2 years 🙈

EssexHebridean

We had a discussion about the large and unwieldy Jasmine. It grows furiously but produces relatively little flower, and what is does produce is not (sadly) the beautifully scented sort. We’d hung onto it for a year on the basis that it was only fair to see what it did, but as what it actually did was “cause us to spend a lot of time furiously chopping it back” we decided that it was time to get tough… A chunk of the day spent cutting it right back, then MrEH got on his hands and knees and got as much as possible of the stump and roots out. Clearly it’s not the first time it had been “dealt with” as we discovered another old stump in amongst the roots of the plant too - so not just us who got fed up with it! 

The garden waste bin has earned its keep for another month and is full again - no chance we were putting Jasmine in the compost! The long term plan for the bed is that we will probably get another couple of clematis to go into it. We already have one at one end of the same bed, which went in back in the summer and has grown well. We’re looking at possibly using metal frames to grow up rather than trellis too - as the fence that side has concrete posts so not so easy to fix into and the metal frames will be lighter and we should be able to simply wire them back to eyelets in the fence itself.  I suspect the removal of the Jasmine will also mean that my almost triffid-like pulmonaria will redouble it’s takeover-bid efforts, it was one of two clumps of it we brought with us from the flat, and I have never seen it looking happier! 

Other jobs I got done yesterday were to take out two of the three courgettes - the one that is left still has a decent number of fruit which are swelling, and I’ve increased the airflow round it in the hope that those will ripen better now. The final two tomato plants have also been discarded, and the last cucumber too - we took the final (admittedly small, but still!) fruit off that just a few days ago so it’s done incredibly well! 

redofromstart

Hi Elmo, very welcome to join us on doing 15 minutes whenever you can. 

redofromstart

This weeks effort has been the severe pruning of both the pink camelia at the back  and a major short back and sides for the front wisteria which was causing serious havoc to the roof, fascia's and gable windows. Both necessary for roof works. 

greenbee

I'm way behind on the pruning, but have weeded more of the veg plot and mulched it, put the weeds in garden waste, and refilled the compost bin by adding more of the commercial compost thats not great. Mixing it in with the homemade stuff should make it a lot better as it'll acquire a few microbes and some worms. And the good stuff will go further. 

After all that I had a bath... 

greenbee

Remembered to put the orchids in to soak when I fed the cats.

greenbee

And then I did some weeding - the first asparagus bed is clear (apart from some feverfew which is still flowering) and a lot of couch grass removed from the paths. And the garden waste bins are stuffed full. 

The asparagus crowns that went in this year haven't done much and I suspect they've died. To be fair, they were hanging around for rather a long time before they were planted, and the ridges probably weren't high enough. Now I've removed the weeds I'm going to inspect the plants before mulching and making a decision on ordering more. If I do, I'll make sure I'm ready for them this time. I think I might look into more perennial vegetables too. Although what I need to do first is look through my seeds and work out a planting plan with locations and dates. Given the floods in Spain, home-grown veg is clearly going to be important.

I've also been offered a climbing rose by a neighbour which I'm going to pick up on Saturday. Apparently it's a 6ft tall climber, so I need to think where to put it. It'll be fun getting it home in a wheelbarrow!

greenbee

I decided to do some scything today (unlike mowing, it can be done when the grass is wet). It's going to take some time as I'll probably have to go over everything more than once due to the grass having been flattened multiple times in different directions. But I've done two rows (badly!). Just for @Cheery_Daff here's a photo... 

spendaholic

Hello everyone!

I'm a longstanding MSE'er who's spent a lot of time first in Money Saving Old Style and then in Competitions Time. This is my first time in the garden forums, though, and like others, I like the idea of a greenflylady-type thread.

But we have a big problem. We're currently renting and the garden we inherited is very big and very neglected. It's got everything it needs, but everything is either overgrown or long past its best.

As we're renting, we don't want to spend a huge amount on getting people in to do the work for us, although for some jobs we will need to (i.e. tree surgery). BUT...if all the planets align, we may buy it, so we'll benefit from anything we do do anyway.

We spent a lot of money earlier in the year, having a fence and gate that had blown down in the gales replaced, and he came back and cut some of the boundary hedges right back, revealing 4 massive tree stumps in among the brambles in one patch and refusing to pull out a lot of ivy along the rear boundary hedge as it made up pretty much all of the hedge. (I presume the ivy killed the hedging.)

I know how to maintain a well-maintained garden. I even know how to design a blank canvas. And I know how to look after plants and shrubs I know the names of. What I don't know, though, is how to clear and revive a huge garden that may or may not be fully ours one day. I suppose it's like renting a massive allotment that may or may not be whipped away one day.

We've decided that we need to have a systematic approach and tackle one thing at a time. However, what I need to know is:

1. Where do we start?
2. What do we do first?
3. Does the season matter?
4. How can I tell, for example, if it's a hybrid tea or a floribunda we've inherited?
5. And, depending on which one, can we hard-prune it now or do we wait?
6. What do we keep?
7. What do we sling?
8. etc, etc, etc.

I have actually started with a list of lists, where each list is a section of this very large garden (front right, front front, front left, back right, back back, back left). Each list has its own page and every time I think of something I add it. e.g.

• front right: remove dead ivy from roof
• front right: remove moss/algae from path
• front right: hard prune hedges
• etc.

We also have a garage that is slowly being reclaimed by nature, but we want to keep it as a workshop/storage building. We have an old shed we've already rescued from ivy but the ivy's coming back. We have a very old greenhouse that we can't get the glass for anymore and that a horrid hedge keeps breaking the panes further. We've already killed ivy that was invading the roof space (it's a bungalow). Now we have to clear the ivy away. 

Trees on the property include a chestnut tree, 2 apple trees (1 in poor shape), 2 pear trees (1 that's diseased and doesn't produce fruit), topiary conifers, and conifers the neighbour would like removing (and he'll do it too). We have shrubs that are like triffids and have already had to cut one right back from the road as it was covering a road sign.

We have 4 lawns that are lumpy, bumpy, filled with moss, and haven't been edged in years. And I'm sure there were once wonderful borders in there too, at one time. The chap who owned the house loved his garden, but it's been neglected since he died about 4 years ago. Plus, the outside tap has been disconnected, when for such a large garden + greenhouse we need an outside tap as none of the house taps are proper ones and hosepipes fly off them.

The landlady (the late owner's daughter-in-law) has told us she's happy for us to do whatever we need, but we doubt she'll pay for it without putting up the rent. (The integrity of the house itself has already been compromised, but she doesn't seem bothered by that at all.)

So, we have a lot to do, and we're feeling a bit overwhelmed, as well as feeling our age. We're both 60+ now and don't have the energy we once did.

Sorry for long post. Any suggestions very much appreciated! Especially what we should ideally be doing in November.

Working_Mum

Hello Spendaholic,
Do you feel comfy sharing pictures? It'd be good to see what's there and people can share their thoughts which may inspire you too!

I found everyone super helpful when I started a thread about my own blank canvass (nothing but gravel and artificial grass).

The good thing is that it sounds like it's got good bones - do you have any old photographs of it in its prime? 

It sounds like you've got a pragmatic approach to it too which will definitely help!

Good luck,

WM