September 2022

Grass and wildflowers have burgeoned in the last few weeks with the grass turning from short and brown to long, luxurient green following cooler, wetter weather. I have cut the grass on the highest cut, just to tidy it up a bit. I also saw a frog just before I started mowing and didn't want to kill it by using a low cut setting. I did encourage it to move along but it disappeared among the lower stems. Frog camouflage is very effective. It is also great to see lots of seedlings coming up; so far I have spotted foxgloves, primula, geranium, and a lovely blue flowered annual whose name I have forgotten which probably won't survive the first frost. Fingers crossed that it does!

Brambles have been cut back by hand in the long hedge - next jobs include cutting the brambles in the high hedge back with the extending hedge trimmer.  I have cut back some perennials that have finished flowering, but not to ground level as stems may be useful for winter wildlife.

I spent an hilarious morning with a friend putting new roofing material on the shed. This involved standing on wobbly ladders, climbing on fences and ultimately climbing onto the roof itself, then sitting there enjoying the sunshine and scaring the neighbours! Great fun. Oh yes, we got to hit things with hammers too. Yay!

The thornless blackberry continued to be fruitful and I have picked and frozen several kilos of berries, made apple and blackberry crumble, and chutney. I have started cutting the fruiting stems back now and will tie in this year's canes soon. 

The compost bin needed dealing with so I emptied out the dustbin of mature compost and spread it under shrubs, then emptied the big bin. In the process I found three slow worms and lots of slugs, spiders and woodlice. Mature compost was put into the dustbin ( it has holes in) and a large bucket, and the new material was put back into the big bin. I always find compost bins fascinating.

I am slowly dealing with the paper bags full of seed heads that I have collected over the summer, and spent a very pleasant hour detaching honesty seeds from their papery seed capsules while also trying to get a photo of a high speed camera-shy woodlouse spider. I failed at the latter task. Many of the potted plants around the garden have been moved under the lean-to at the side of the shed so that they don't get too wet over the winter. I may make that area into a nursery, but not sure how as yet.

There is still plenty to do in October so I will be busy, depending on the weather and my energy levels!

Flowers this month:

Agapanthus, California Poppy, Hawkbit, Chives, White Clover, Dandelion, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Fennel, Fuchsia, Fuchsia 'Bella Soila', Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill', Geranium nodosum, Geum urbanum, Golden Rod, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Toadflax, Mallow, Calendula officionalis, Passiflora caerulea, Pelargonium, Perennial Sweet Pea, Phygelius capensis, Penstemon, Ragwort, Red Deadnettle, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sedum spectabile, Sedum spectabile purpurea, Soapwort, Teucrium, Verbena bonariensis, Mexican Fleabane, Mint, Oregano, Willowherb, Wood Sorrel, Hyssop, Buttercup, Fuchsia magellanica alba, Sunflower.

August 2022

The drought continued until nearly the end of the month. when we had a huge thunderstorm and downpour and my water-butt went from empty to overflowing in about half an hour. There was flash flooding locally as water came down too fast to be absorbed by the parched ground. There was then more gentle but prolonged rain during the remainder of the month which had a chance to soak in. We are, however, still officially in drought conditions and the hosepipe ban continues. 

At the start of the month a lot of the garden was parched and browning, and I was only watering where absolutely essential. It was interesting to see which plants were coping well with the dry conditions and which weren't/ I thought my hydrangea had had it, as all the foliage died off and the flowers shrivelled, but after the rain and cooler conditions it started to sprout again. I just hope we don't have hard frosts as those would finish it off! Plants that did well include Fuchsias, Golden Rod, Mallow, Fennel, Rosa Rugosa, Teucrium, Sempervivum, Sedum, Lavender, Oregano, Mint, Passion Flower, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm. Many of these are native to hot, dry climates anyway so no great surprises. Many of the perennials have died back, but I have hopes that they will survive and resprout in the spring and run the gauntlet of the slugs! There were still a fair amount of flowers blooming which I will list later on.

Jobs have been fairly few and far between, mostly because it has simply been too hot, and also because there was a tent in the way for a few days as it was cooler to sleep outside at night than in the house. Anyway, jobs included moving potted plants to trays to minimise water loss and water could then be absorbed from the tray at the plants' leisure, deadheading and cutting back perennials as needed, potting up some pot bound succulents, and taking a large amount of non-compostable rubbish to the tip.

Flowers include:

Agapanthus, bindweed, blackberry, Hawksbit (previously named Cats Ear by me for some reason), white clover, fennel, enchanter's nightshade, echinacea, eupatorium, evening primrose, mexican fleabane, Fuchsia, Fuchsia 'Bella Soila', Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill', Geranium nodosum, Geranium endresii, lemon balm, Gladiolus 'Jessica', Honesty, hydrangea, lavender, toadflax, mallow, mint, oregano, passion flower, pineapple lily, cape figwort, penstemon, ragwort, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Scabious, Sisyrinchium striatum, soapwort, sweet william, teucrium, Verbena bonariensis, willowherb, Californian poppy, fennel, golden rod, hyssop, marigold, pelargonium, Sedum (yellow), Sedum spectabile, Sedum spectabile purpurea, spurge, perennial sweet pea, winter savory, wood sorrel, climbing rose, dandelion, and red deadnettle. 54 - not bad!

July 2022

This month has continued hot and and dry, with two of the hottest days on record recorded. There has been no rain, there are cracks in the soil, and my waterbutt has finally emptied, apart from the thick layer of sludge at the bottom. From the end of the week we will very likely have a hosepipe ban.

Most gardening jobs have taken place in the evening when the weather is marginally cooler. Jobs have included deadheading foxgloves and cowslips, saving seed from the latter, cutting back perennial geraniums and brambles, as well as part of the mallow which had snapped and fallen over. I have also had to throw out several potted plants that had succumbed to the heat and erratic watering. There is a lot of rubbish to take to the tip that cannot be composted at home. I have finally emptied the dustbin of rotted compost around the blackberry and the climbing rose, so will need to turn the big bin next month.

The Japanese Wineberry bush has produced a pleasing crop - I had forgotten how sticky they are, but they are delicious. The thornless blackberry is laden with unripe fruit so I am looking forward to harvesting them soon. I picked a kilo of berries from the wild bushes up a nearby lane today. They are my favourite fruit.

Flowers have been fairly abundant this month too! Over 60 varieties in flower over the month, which is not bad going for a small, somewhat neglected and slug-ravaged patch:

Alchemilla mollis, Astrantia, Blackberry, Cat's Ears, Cephalaria gigantica, White Clover, Creeping Jenny, Bellis perennis, Enchanters Nightshade, Eryngium 'Magical Blue Lagoon', Evening Primrose, Privet, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', pink patio rose, Rosa rugosa, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Fennel, Feverfew, Digitalis purpurea, Fuchsias, Geum urbanum, Grasses, Hebes, Hydrangea, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Purple Toadflax, Mallow, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Sweet William, Verbena bonariensis, Geranium nodosum, Pink Perennial Geranium, Calendula officionalis, Orobanche hederae, Passiflora caerulea, Pelargonium, Penstemon, Pinks, Potentilla, Sisyrinchium striatum, Spiraea, Strawberry, Teucrium, Willowherb, Helianthemum, Bindweed, Sedums, Scabious, Nigella, Self-heal, Ssoapwort, Sow Thistle, Spurge, Sweet Pea, Oreganum, Agapanthus, Echinacea, Lunaria annua, Plantain, Eupatorium, Gladiolus 'Jessica', Knautia macedonica, and Wood Sorrel.

June 2022

June was another relatively quiet month in the garden as I was either busy elsewhere or tired! I managed a few jobs though, which were mostly restorative to my frazzled mind. These included mowing the lawn, which deliberately hadn't been done since the beginning of May to see which wildflowers grew; there were a variety of grasses (no idea which!), white clover, cats ears, daisies, dandelions and self-heal. I decided to leave a patch of clover and cats ears for the bees, and it is still flowering well. I also cut the side of the hedge between me and my neighbour back as it was starting to obstruct the path. I then bought a larger, extendable hedge trimmer so that I could attack the other neighbour's hedge where it was growing over my back gate and shed roof. That hedge has been cut back hard to the boundary!

Once I had finished playing with the machinery, I pottered about deadheading foxgloves, pulling up bindweed and other weeds, watering potted plants - I even remembered to feed them - and potting the odd plant up here and there. I also spent a reasonable amount of time on a sunlounger admiring the flowers and watching the wildlife. The garden is rich in insects, with lots of hoverflies, bees and bumblebees, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies, aphids, beetles (I particularly like the thick-legged flower beetle), grasshoppers, brown and red ants, as well as slow worms, tiger worms, slugs of several species, snails of several species, woodlice, several species of spider and birds,. And cats, but we won't go there!

Flowers this month are as follows:

Alliums, Astrantia, Campanula, Buttercup, Cats Ears, White Clover, annual Geranium, Oriental Poppy, Scarlet Pimpernel, Speedwell, Strawberry, Verbena bonariensis, Chives, Daisies, Dock, Euphorbia, Fleabane, Forget-me-not, grasses, Knautia macedonica, Passion Flower, Sedum, Sweet William, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Alpine Sisyrinchium, Brambles, Foxgloves, Geranium macrorrhizum, Geranium nodosum, purple Geranium, Pink Geranium, Purple Toadflax, Pelargonium, Salvia 'Amythyst Lips', Sisyrinchium striatum, Three Cornered Leek, Lavender, Geum urbanum, Helianthemum, Heuchera, Herb Robert, Marigold, Nectoscordum, Plantain, Scabious, Sow Thistle, Spurge, Violets, Honeysuckle, Japanese Wineberry, Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant', Osteospermum, Nettles, Nigella, Climbing Rose, Cephalaria gigantica, Potentilla, Feverfew, Honesty, Lampranthus, Privet, Pink Patio Rose, Orobanche hederae, Spiraea, Blackberries, Eryngium 'Magical Blue Lagoon', Dandelion, Hemerocallis, Evening Primrose, Feverfew, Fuchsia, Hydrangea, Verbena bonariensis, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', Pinks, Alchemilla mollis, Bindweed, Creeping Jenny, Willowherb, Penstemon, Self-heal, Rosa rugosa alba.

May 2022

The weather this month has been typically British, ranging from chilly to unseasonally hot, to damp then dry to loud, wet thunderstorms. Entertaining! However, all this has meant that the plants in the garden are growing rapidly and I am struggling to keep up with weeding. Just telling myself they are wildflowers does help!

Plant jobs have included potting up Echinacea seedlings and struggling Iris germanica. These latter are some of my favourite plants but are also a favourite of the slugs so need to be kept in pots and raised high if they are to survive. I was given some branches of curry plant that I left in a bucket of water and forgot about; they produced some roots so I potted them up. One or two look like they might survive. I was also given some Strawberry runners and these were also potted up. Dandelion flowers have been prolific so I have been deadheading them in the vague hope that they don't take over the entire garden. Apparently you can weave the stems into things. Might give it a go. I went to a local garden fair, followed by a trip to the local botanic garden and came home with an Echium, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Eryngium, and a perennial with large bronze leaves and tall yellow flowers whose name escapes me for now. These have all been planted out and the Eryngium has been attacked by the slugs. Of course.

I am trying to empty the quite frankly smelly waterbutt by watering all my pots and dry corners, but it rains heavily every time I think I am getting near. I can't really complain about that though. The water did stop coming out for a bit as there was some sludge in the tank, but a quick poke with a piece of wire through the tap soon sorted that out. 

The slugs and snails are everywhere; I have figured out that mine is the only garden in the neighbourhood with much more than lawn, so they all come to mine to eat. On two occasions I have popped out at night and filled a bucket with the pesky molluscs, and then deposited them on the other side of the local stream. This hasn't made much difference, so now I am using slug traps made from old takeaway tubs with holes cut in their lids, and partially filled with a mixture of marmite juice and oats. This seems quite effective so far.

Last night I decided to edge the garden path and cut about 6 inches of lawn off it, then did the lawn edging the patio, and then most of the stepping stones in the lawn. This looks unnaturally neat for my garden, but was satisfying to do. 

The flowers in the garden are really amazing, and my favourites so far are the foxgloves; they have flowered in a range of shades including white, lemony yellow and purple, and are towering above everything else and buzzing with bumblebees. Absolutely gorgeous! 

Flowers this month include:

Bluebells, Bugle, Buttercups, Daisies, Dandelion, Euphorbia, Fleabane, Forget-me-nots, annual geraniums, Honesty, Iris germanica 'Oklahoma Bandit', Iris germanica 'Indian Chief', Lungwort, English Marigold, Nectoscordum, Rosemary, Sedum, Speedwell, Strawberry, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Violets, Three-Cornered Leek, Herb Robert, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sow Thistle, Aquilegia, Foxgloves, Geranium macrorrhizum, Allium, Chives, pink perennial Geranium, Geum urbanum, Heuchera, Geranium nodosum, Helianthmum, Sisyrinchium striatum, Sweet William, Campanula, Nigella, Pelargonium, Spurge and honeysuckle.

The climbing rose is in bud, as are oriental poppies, Knautia macedonica, Astrantia and Agapanthus.

Nectoscordum ("Honeybells")

Foxgloves

 

April 2022

This has been a fairly busy month in the garden, with good weather to boot. The shed needed a good clear out, so after a grubby afternoon it is now relatively tidy and organised. The potting bench created there last month has been well used for potting up cuttings of tarragon (taken from a reduced price pack of herbs in the supermarket), repotting many houseplants, and repotting sempervivums into small terracotta pots. I think that these will be much happier now they are in a very well drained compost in smaller pots; I half-filled the pots with grit before adding the compost which had been mixed roughly 50:50 with sharp sand. The pots were then topped with grit. Other plants to be repotted include Cercis seedlings, strawberry runners from a friends garden, Pineapple lily, Japanese Anemone, perennial hardy Geranium, perennial half-hardy Geranium, and a random bronze grass seedling I found.

Outside the shed I have cut the grass twice as it is growing well. I may well do 'No Mow May' though to encourage wildflower growth. I have weeded the area around the Hydrangea and blackberry bushes, and planted the Sarcococca 'Little Gem' nearby, then mulched it. This should then flower early next year and provide much needed winter scent. The old vegetable beds have been weeded, straw put around the strawberry plants, and a potted champagne rhubard planted out. The grass between the beds was trimmed but has grown back up again! 

The curved border has been weeded and old stems cut down. Fuchsias have been pruned too. The Euphorbia that usually comes up has not reappeared unfortunately. I have weeded and tidied the border under the bathroom window and planted three evening primrose plants I had lying around.

The garden is looking really lush and green right now, with the majority of plants throwing out new shoots and growing well. The foxglove plants have thrown up flower spikes, and these are getting taller by the day - they will look fabulous in a few weeks when in full bloom. The Gingko is breaking into leaf, as are the roses, Fuchsias, and Cercis. There is plenty of wildlife too, with the compost bin brimming with woodlice, as well as slugs and snails and at least two slow worms. So exciting to see them! There are blackbirds, robins, blue tits, sparrows and pigeons too, as well as the flipping cats. I have seen wolf spiders and zebra spiders, bumblebees, honey bees, other bees, butterflies, red ants and brown ants, and aphids. 

Plants in flower include:

Berberis darwinii, Bergenia, Bluebells, Celandine, Cowslip, Dandelions, Euphorbia, Forget-me-not, Hairy bittercress, green Hellebore, Honesty, Lamium galeobdolon, Lungwort, Primroses, Rosemary, bugle, violets, daisies, English marigold, annual Geranium, red deadnettle, scarlet pimpernel, three-cornered leek, yellow-flowered Sedum, strawberry, Aquilegia.

March 2022

After what has felt like a long winter, the lighter evenings and slightly better weather of March allowed me to get back outside and start doing some jobs.  There was no reason not to get out there earlier, but there wasn't actually much that needed doing!

I have begun weeding the side borders, mostly removing hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and annual geraniums. The climbing rose has been pruned back hard, as has the mallow although this was mostly dead stems. New stems are now sprouting up. The dead stems of fennel flowers have been removed too and composted. When I pruned the Spiraea I discovered some branches had rooted where they touched the soil, so these have been removed and potted up, to plant elsewhere or give away. I continue to dig out self seeded brambles wherever I see them, as they are a little irritating! I do have a large, thornless blackberry though which is now trained in great loops against the fence. Next to this is a Japanese Wineberry; there is only one stem on it at the moment, but it is very long, so I have trained it up and around a bamboo tripod and hope to get some fruit this year, with more stems for next year.

Other jobs included cutting back Verbena bonariensis, and taking cuttings from the prunings, cutting back the oregano, gritting around Iris germanica to try and dissuade the slugs from eating them (not a hope!), sowing seeds of sunflower and nasturtium, and moving my pots of cuttings and seedlings to the bottom of the garden where they currently reside on a four tier greenhouse frame by the shed. I might have popped to a garden centre and bought a couple more Irises too! Oops.

I have decided to make the lean-to by the house less of a workshop, so to this end I removed a couple of shelves in the shed and now have a potting bench there. I think that this will work better as all the pots, compost and grit will be in one place.

Quite a lot of wildlife is around, and I have seen a queen wasp in the shed (removed), a few bumblebees, bee flies, brown ants, slugs, hundreds of woodlice in the compost bin and wolf spiders on sunny days. The temperature got very warm for a week, then plummeted back down and snow flakes were seen briefly. There are birds of course; blackbirds, sparrows, starlings, herring gulls in the skies above, and pigeons (one of whom appears to have had a scrap with the neighbours cat - feathers everywhere). 

There have been a lot of flowers! I am quite impressed for this early in the year. The flowers are:

Dandelions, English Marigolds, Primroses wild and cultivated, Hairy Bittercress, Berberis darwinii, Cowslip, Sarcococca 'Little Gem', purple Crocus, Lungwort (Pulmonaria), green Helleborus, Rosemary, lesser Celandine, Scabious, Forget-me-nots, Bergenia 'Rotblum', Euphorbia purpurea, Bluebells, Lamium galeobdelon, Selfheal, and Honesty (Lunaria annua).