Daffs in pots

Planted the last of the daffodils today. Too hard to put them in the ground so they went in pots.
So that is all 20 of the sweetness ones in pots and the last 9 of the feb gold. I also put some crocuses bulb from last year in a hanging basket. This is to try and stop the squirrels from digging them up.

Still got the 200 tulips to go. Will just have to plant them a few at a time over the month.

Cleared up leaves from the back bed and have put in bags to make leaf mould. I guess I need to check on last years leaf mould at some point and put it round some plants. I think it would be best for the ferns. Maybe I'll keep it until spring and use it if I plant some more ferns (actually probably shouldn't plan to do any planting in spring!).

We drove to a garden centre in Enfield this morning. It wasn't as good for plants as the one I went to with mum and dad last year. I'll try a different one each time i go up there. It was massive and had lots of gardening stuff there. Got some manure and bulb compost.

Have now mulched the back bed with two bags of manure. There is a little bit not covered but I'll add the soil from the tomato grow bags at some point.

So the two new beds left to clear, plant bulbs in and mulch....

Snow in London in OCTOBER

For the first time since 1934 according to the radio.

Now I wish I'd brought the last two Deliah blooms into the house!

It finished the Cosmos off as well.

70 daffs in

The rain stopped and I got 70 daffs in along half the bed by Joes.
30 Jenny
41 Feb gold.

Its really hard getting into the ground. Its almost solid but very sticky clay. Couldn't use the bulb planted as the little one broken and the big one pretty useless the soil (clay) just got stuck in it and I can't get it out. The bulbs were huge so needed a big hole to be buried twice their height let alone three times. So dug big trenches and mixed in loads of homemade compost from composter and grit.

I was to tired to plant the last 9 Feb Gold so will buy a clay pot to plant them in.

Still got 20 of another sort (I've forgotten what they are called) plus most of the free bulbs to do. Hopefully I'll get time next weekend.

the lawn got pretty muddy where I was walking on it to do the planting. Need to do some autum lawn care next weekend as well. I hope its dry the weekend of bonfire night otherwise it will turn into a mud bath with people walking on it.

Its raining and the bulbs will have to wait

My daffodils arrive this week and today was planned to be the big bulb plant. Its pouring with rain though. I did try and plant some but its just to wet.

The end of the garden did need some rain I guess.

Thanks for the toms tip. I will put the soil along with compsot on the end of the garden. If I ever get out there again.

What to do with the soil from tomatoes with blight?

My tomatoes eventually got blight. I've burnt the plants but am not sure what to do with the soil from the grow bags which still has the roots of the plant in. Can I put it on the compost or over other parts of the garden.

I've started clearing bits of the garden but lots of it is still looking OK. The cosmos are doing wonderfully. Star plants of this year. I will definitely get lots more next year. The rose has also got new flowers on it that have just come out this week. And the fushias are all still doing well.

After a rainy miserable summer most of September and October haven't been to bad.

I've ordered all my bulbs now. The tulips are here but still waiting for the daffs.

Yesterday I started planting the free gardeners world bulbs in the back bed and some pots but didn't get very far. Where the xmas tree used to be I planted some Chinodoxa and Brodiaea. There are some puschkinia to go in there as well but I ran out of time and got to tired. I spread a think mulch over where I planted the bulbs and hope to continue with that over all the beds.

I've just found Brodiaea in my book and it needs light soil and full sun and shelter from strong winds so i don't now give it much hope where I've planted it. It should come up May - July.

The puschkina along the front of the bed will be much more suitable. Needs to be planted september / October (I'll do it next week) and comes up March-April.

Narcissus

I've order a few narcissus today:
Sweetness - 14inch march
Feb Gold - 12inch feb
Jenny - 15inch white.

I want the garden to be full of colour in March and so I selected ones that would flower early. I'll get them in the garden by the end of the month.

I ordered 200 assorted bulbs from gardeners world/T&M last week.

So just need to order some tulips now.

And then I will stop!

I'm trying to leave the back bed i planed lots of snowdrops and bluebells there last year, not all of which came up. I'm hoping they do this year so I'll avoid disturbing it to much.

The garden still looks pretty lush and colourful from where I look out of the window at it. Its certainly been getting a lot of rain. The rudbeckia are still the stars of the show with the cosmos a close second.

Somethings up with the toms though. They are all wilting round the bottom. Must investigate.

End of August

Yesterday was a lovely sunny typical August day and I sat in the garden and enjoyed it.

I did a bit of neatening up here and there but actually it was all looking OK after last weeks tidy up. I picked lots and lots of tomatoes that became lasagna and soup and planted some more salad leaves.

Today it is once again raining.

The plan to stop spending on plants is in a precarious position at the moment a the bulb catalogues have started to arrive and I think I just need a few more to go in the new flower beds.

Out in the garden at last!

Today we finally did some proper gardening! It was the first time we've been out properly since before we went away in July. I tidied up the beds, cut back lots of the perennials that had finished, cut the edges of the grass and pulled out all the grass that had grown in the beds. Mr L planted the last few plants that we hadn't done before - a penstemon, the astrantia (shaggy) plants and the ground cover we bought at Hampton.

The soil at the end of the garden is really dry despite the amount of rain we've had. I guess it has a tree canopy to cover it. Yet in the winter it gets all the water come down off the park but that just doesn't seem to happen in the summer. The ferns don't look that happy. I need to think of some other plants that like shade and not much liquid.

I've finally got some sweet peas growing up the pergola. Considering the amount of seeds I planted its not many but at least its some. And actually they are from the two little plants I bought. The passion flower is doing pretty well up the other plant support though. Actually that bed, considering it was a lot of things thrown together, looks pretty good and well thought out. This winter I need to move the horse tail as it gets lost where it is. I'll put it by the fence near the shrub. And then decide whether the cadix and other grass I got can be split to start filling that bed out a bit more. The hostas got completely decimated by slugs whilst we were away. Two of them have been eaten all up. If I'm still planning to have a hosta bed it might be better to take them out and put them in pots! Or to have a re-think about what to put round the edge of that bed. We both really like lambs ear so maybe lots of that - just need to check it's OK in shade.

The rudbeckia in the hot bed looks amazing. The dahlias still haven't come out. I now think that bed doesn't get nearly as much sun as I thought. I cut back the lupins and poppies from the front that had finished and it looks a bit bear along the front. That is the one bed I will add some more things in next year - I want to add some red achillea. There is much more yellow in that bed and not much red. Especially as the red lupins actually came up pink. Maybe I'll move them to the cottage bed.

Mr L also got busy with the compost bins. The one at the far back hadn't been turned at all as I couldn't reach into it. So I'd started using the nearer one again. So he emptied everything out of both of them mixed it and created a new system which means it should be easier to get compost out of both. The further one is now full of almost ready and turned compost and the nearer one is ready to add lots more lovely stuff to. I cleared so much up today we added about another 4 trug loads.

So left to do is the mowing which will hopefully be done this week and finish the garden off nicely. Next weekend I need to feed the plants and lawn and think about taking some cuttings. Plus I need to sow some more salad leaves. I lost all the lettuces whilst I was away and the salad leaves all went to seed. The tomatoes are booming though. We've already had lots off and there are still plenty more!

The tomoatoes have gone mad!!

Well, its been ages since I blogged or really went out in the garden. After a two week holiday it was all looking a bit overgrown and wild, especially the tomato plants. So today I've finally manged to spend an hour or two tidying up the tomato's and most importantly harvesting some! So home made tomato pasta sauce for tea - delicious!

Have learnt lots for next year re toms though. I must be more religious about nipping out the extra growth and space them a bit further apart. This year we've mainly got cherry tomatoes but next year I'll try some bigger ones as well.

And once the lawn had been mown it all looked a lot neater. Looking forward to next weekend and spending some proper time out there tidying it all up and planting the last few things that I still haven't got round to doing!

Beautiful

The garden looks amazing now. The campanula in the cottage bed has really made that bed and it looks great. The penstemon is just about out and the pinks look fab. I've been cutting them and bringing them into the house. The foxgloves and lupins are almost over. I need to cut the lupins back for a hopeful second flush. Still waiting for the lilies and something at the front (which I've forgotten what it is!)

The hot bed is beginning to blossom. The coreopis and helenium have come out. The redbukia will be along later and since the great slug die weekend the deliahs have been able to get above ground.

Some more plants arrived from crocus last week. The last I'm buying this year (honest - well except for some bulbs!) I haven't had time to plant them though which is a bit worrying. It had been hot all week and I'd been out there watering them everyday. I was planning to do it today but its windy, cold and raining and I'm not so keen on going out!

I got some of the shaggy plants I loved from Tom Stuart Smiths Chelsea garden. They are a type of astrantia. I also got a couple more penstemon for the cottage bad and a white hydrangea for the shady bed near the house and another hosta.

The tubs out the front and the hanging baskets are all looking good so I'm pleased with them too. I'm now worrying about watering when I'm away.