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

EssexHebridean

Ha - Bungalow Legs made me chuckle! 

Would you believe we had frost again, AND the wretched squirrels have been digging in pots and troughs again. That decides things though - I refuse point blank to have most of our soft herbs and salads destroyed by them this year, so some form of deterrent will be crafted. 

1 more (admittedly small, but fiddly as round the handle) section of shed has been rubbed down this morning - and last months free KG Magazine seeds finally made it to the seed box. 

debtfreewannabe321

Those flowers are lovely redo 😍 I have nothing spare to cut really that would make a nice display like you've got so well done!

greenbee

With help from the lovely @kazwookie I have FINALLY got my raspberry frames build and up. Despite them not being very bulky, once again, it makes a huge difference to the feel of the veg plot. I also planted some beetroot my neighbour gave me, cleared the ground under/around one of the new raised beds and lined it with cardboard, pulled up lots of weeds, built a teepee from hazel and planted some giant sugar peas which were threatening to take over the greenhouse!

I'll need to get on and build the bean frame soon as the borlotti and runner beans need to go out. And the french beans will shortly be ready to go. 

Cherryfudge

Further adventures with the garden path - we now have cement footings for the sides. It took longer than expected because of the tree roots and gradient, No soakaway yet but the hole is there, and may well get a practice run tonight if the rain comes.

They had to take out a cotoneaster as the path is slightly wider than before, but it was just a sub-set of the main one that makes a hedge near the kitchen, and it was always awkward to weed round, so I'm not sad. They also rescued more irises for me.

The apple tree is struggling so I'm not sure I can keep it going. A shame, but it's shown me how much I love apple blossom so perhaps I should look into something on dwarfing stock.

KajiKita

Picked apple mint for tonight’s spuds. 🌿 

Finished up the latest pick of strawberries with ice cream for dessert 🍓 

Picked a generous bunch of sweet peas that are scenting out the snug 😊 
Pinched out the tips of the broad beans and squashed / hosed off the black fly that were just starting to get going on them. 👏

KK

greenbee

I need to plant up the remainder of the pots on the patio at some point. I've got three chocolate cosmos to go in one pot, and am trying to think what I should put in with them.

redofromstart

Assuming we all have had some rain:

1.  Don't forget to water anything that is covered or sheltered.  I just did the tunnel and was about to snaffle the first two ripe strawberries as a reward.  Spotted the huge slug before I ate them, and left them outside the tunnel for the birds.

2. Last call for summer bulbs, all of mine are plant by May.  Have you got anything still lurking in its pack?  

3. Weeding as much as you can.  The combination of the heat and then the heavy rain has sent all of mine into flower production so we had a really thorough attack of the sticky weed this afternoon (weeding by proxy, I am rather allergic to sticky weed so DS1 does it)

4. Any bed preparation for seeds or plants- our dried out soil went back to workable over night, and again DS1 has done a great job of clearing the rest of the cat bed, and most of the long shady border.  

KajiKita

redofromstart said:

Assuming we all have had some rain:

1.  Don't forget to water anything that is covered or sheltered.  I just did the tunnel and was about to snaffle the first two ripe strawberries as a reward.  Spotted the huge slug before I ate them, and left them outside the tunnel for the birds.

2. Last call for summer bulbs, all of mine are plant by May.  Have you got anything still lurking in its pack?  

3. Weeding as much as you can.  The combination of the heat and then the heavy rain has sent all of mine into flower production so we had a really thorough attack of the sticky weed this afternoon (weeding by proxy, I am rather allergic to sticky weed so DS1 does it)

4. Any bed preparation for seeds or plants- our dried out soil went back to workable over night, and again DS1 has done a great job of clearing the rest of the cat bed, and most of the long shady border.  

Ooh, you’ve reminded me about my little gladioli bulbs … 🤔

Can I borrow DS 1 please? 

KK

EssexHebridean

greenbee said:

I need to plant up the remainder of the pots on the patio at some point. I've got three chocolate cosmos to go in one pot, and am trying to think what I should put in with them.

Go for oranges like marigolds or calendula and create a full on 70’s vibe? 😆

Redo I am another who can’t cope with the sticky stuff (usually called Goose Grass or Sticky Willies in this household) as I react to it. 

We have a bits and bobs day planned here I think - as nice as it would be to head off somewhere for a day out we have garden oddments to do, and also lots of stuff to crack on with for our voluntary role, and so a day split between those two things beckons. 

We need to pop to Al’s in any event so may nab a bag or two of their cheap basic compost just for topping off the left hand side bed. The soil there is not the best, and compacts badly, so getting some more organic matter in is a priority, although it doesn’t need anything particularly posh I don’t think. Also want to tidy round the old log store where the rubbish that went to thr tip yesterday has been stored - and maybe even see about getting the timbers cut to length for the rebuild of that. Then at least one more section of sleeper on the outside of the shed to be painted as well - I rubbed it down on Friday. A few minutes general weeding front and back might be a plan too… 

greenbee

KajiKita said:

Can I borrow DS 1 please? 

KK

I was going to ask whether he was available for hire... 

Some of my fencing pins will need bashing in a bit further as the rain has softened the ground and the wind is blowing them about.

Today I need to tie a bamboo to the trunk of a baby sorbus, build the bean frame, and stick as many of the baby bean plants in the ground as I can. If I can get some weeding done or fill one or more of the remaining beds, that would also be good, but I need to get a bit of laundry done too while there is sun/cheap electricity/wind. Although I'd quite like the wind to go away!