|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2019 21:40:14 GMT
Today I took down the remaining 5 hanging baskets from the front of the house and emptied them. I then potted up some plants from them that I want to keep to take cuttings from in the spring--,surfinias, calibracoas and bacopas. Also potted up some geraniums from tubs under the carport.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 6, 2019 21:08:41 GMT
Today I got my tubs ready for planting .At this time of year I just replant those at the front of the house and under the carport,not those round the back as I do in summer. I had removed all the summer plant from them before.I just forked over the compost and mixed in a bit of Q4 fertiliser then added some more compost if the level was low . Planted some with daffodils and some with tulips with either polyanthus, primulas, bellis, forget me nots, pansies or violas as well. I haven't finished them all though. I also planed two hanging baskets for a friend. I then dismantled the table from the back terrace and put it away in the shed and also the chairs. I had to do some tidying in the shed to make room. We had a very heavy shower this afternoon .Good job I was working under the carport.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 7, 2019 21:03:08 GMT
It hasn't stopped raining all day until this evening and it rained very hard at times. We had a very wet health walk at Blackleach this morning. Not surprising that only 22 people turned up instead of the usual 40odd. When I got home about 3.45 it was still raining so I didn't go out as I had got wet enough.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 8, 2019 21:06:39 GMT
Not a bad day today after all yesterdays rain. My car has been at a garage since Tuesday having some bodywork repairs done. So I have not been able to go on the allotment and I wanted to go to the garden centre for some more basket and tub plants. This morning I potted up some diascias from the window box at the back and did some general tidying up in the garden. However, I got the car back at 12.00 so I did go to the garden centre then went on the allotment. I had three sacks of bedding plants that had finished and plants from the hanging baskets so I took these and put them on the compost. Spent the rest of the afternoon removing annuals that had finished and put them on the compost. They had all been supported by canes so I had first to remove the twistits and rings that had fixed them to the canes which took a while, and I brought all the canes home.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 9, 2019 21:46:16 GMT
We didn't get any customers at all at the hut this morning. Four of us just sat chatting all morning. As you know, Rosemary and me go to Blackleach Country Park every two weeks to count the birds and write down the wild flowers. We went this afternoon but we are not doing the wild flowers again till next year when the snowdrops arrive. So we only walked round the reservoir and not the rest of the park. When we got home I did a bit more planting in the tubs and removed the annuals from the border between the back lawn and the path.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 10, 2019 20:16:14 GMT
This afternoon I went on the allotment and removed all the remaining annuals . The Rudbeckia "Indian summer" were still in flower and I considered cutting some for a vase but even though they looked good from a distance the rain had spoiled them so I put them on the compost along with the others.I also got rid of the sweet corn plants. We have had some nice cobs and I showed one last Saturday but the few that were left were no good.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 12, 2019 18:23:56 GMT
I was at Blackleach country park all day yesterday but it was too wet to do anything outside so I was just sat behind my desk all day. It was raining again this morning so I decided to have a morning in the greenhouse. I went through all the plants in one greenhouse , tidying them up and cutting back any that need doing. Also discarded some that were no longer any good. It did stop raining mid morning and the sun came out but I decided to stay in the greenhouse and finish what I was doing. Will do the other greenhouse some other time. After shopping this afternoon I removed the rest of the annuals from the back garden. The dahlias are still in but I usually wait till they have been blackened by the frost.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 13, 2019 21:53:30 GMT
Forgot to mention yesterday that while shopping I posted eleven seed orders to Dobies from members of our horticultural society and our allotments. It was raining again this morning so I went in the other greenhouse and started going through the plants like I did in the other greenhouse. It soon stopped raining, though, so I decided to put the bird table in position. It goes on the border alongside the back lawn , but obviously it cant go on till the border has been cleared of plants which I did a few days ago. When not in use I put it behind a rhododendron bush. When I got it out, though, I saw that it needed some repairs doing. It has some sheets of Perspex screwed on down the sides to stop squirrels getting on the table. They can climb up the stem but can't get any farther. One of these pieces of Perspex was broken. The bird table from Blackleach that I took to Heather in Wales a few weeks ago had some of these on but she doesn't get squirrels so I took them off before I took them and put them in my shed in case I ever needed them, so I put one on my table. I also needed to put a new piece of wood on one side of the table. Went to my son Martyn's this afternoon. He has had three large conifers removed from the border alongside his lawn . The lower branches had spoiled the grass in places so I made a new straight edge to the lawn and took up all the dead turf. There was too much to put in his re-cycling bin so I will have to take some sacks down to put it all in and take it to the re-cycling centre. I also did some more weeding on the rest of his border but didn't finish it. This is a picture of my bird table taken a few years ago to show you the sheets of Perspex on the sides
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 14, 2019 21:21:09 GMT
Very cold and windy today. Was at Blackleach till 3.45. Because of the weather I just stayed in the visitor centre this afternoon and carried on with my writing. The nursery beds need weeding but they will have to wait till the weather improves.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 15, 2019 23:00:02 GMT
A better day today. Still a bit breezy but not cold like yesterday. So I went on the allotment this morning. The wind had disturbed the nets over the brassica bed which are there to keep the butterflies out and there were gaps between the nets so butterflies could get in. In the summer I would have fixed the nets back in position but I didn't think it was worth doing now as there were no longer butterflies about. So I removed the nets and the structure of canes on which they were supported. Folded the nets up and tied string round them ( this wasn't easy) and put them and the canes in the shed. I also removed the plants from the communal tubs and put them on the compost. I intended going to the allotment again this afternoon to do some weeding but it started raining. There are five lengths of wood on the side of my shed on the allotment the need replacing so I decided to go to Axfords at Farnworth (about 3 miles away)for some wood. By the time I had got the wood it had stopped raining so I did go to the allotment after all. I put the wood in the shed then did some weeding on the annual beds. No large weeds,just small ones, mainly bittercress. There were three aluminium frames on the allotment in which I had been growing carrots. I grow carrots in them to keep out the carrot flies but they are no longer needed there. I use them at home in the spring for hardening off plants .I can get one at a time in the car so I brought one home this morning and another this afternoon.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 16, 2019 21:52:15 GMT
This morning was the last one at the hut till next February. After we finished at 12.00 we had the A.G.M. David Valentine , who used to be on this forum as David V ,brought me some dahlia tubers to the hut because I told him that I was short of small and medium decs. He brought me some Sorrento flush, Swanvale and Lakeland autumn. A few years ago he gave me Trengrove millennium but I have now lost it so I asked him for this one again but he has lost it too. This afternoon I went to the allotment and did some more weeding on the annual beds.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 17, 2019 20:48:33 GMT
It rained for a while early afternoon. It did stop later but I thought it risky to go to the allotment. So I decided to stay at home and prune my H.T.roses. They can be done anytime from now till next March but I usually do them now because I'm not as busy as I am in spring. I only had time to do just over half of them.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 18, 2019 21:16:59 GMT
A dry day so I had a full day on the allotment. I told you last Friday that I had bought some wood the repair the shed and I did the repair today. I needed a dry day because I didn't want to take off the old wood if it was going to start raining before I had put the new wood on. I then gave the new wood and the rest of the shed two coats of paint (wood preservative )one this morning and one this afternoon (it soon dries) I then finished weeding the annual beds.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 19, 2019 20:02:12 GMT
This morning the dahlias were blackened by frost for the first time. After shopping this afternoon I cut them all down and will probably start digging them up tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by derekbrooks on Nov 20, 2019 21:42:25 GMT
This morning, as I said I would yesterday ,I dug up most of the dahlias in my garden. Dahlia growers have their own ways of treating the tubers. I clean most of the soil off with a screwdriver (I don't wash them ). I then knock the screwdriver down the stem and out at the bottom which frees any water trapped in the stem. I tie the label on with waterproof string right round the tuber , not just round the stem . The stem shrinks as it dries so the label would come off. I then stand them upside down in boxes in the greenhouse to dry . Can't remember if I have told you before but Rosemary usually goes to Martyn's on Wednesdays to do some cleaning. So if I have a job to do in his garden I always go with her. I told you last Wednesday that I cut some turf from the side of his lawn that had been spoiled by the large conifers. This afternoon I put it all into five sacks and took it to the tip ( the re-cycling centre).I also took the old wood that I had taken off my shed. Martyn wanted the border at the back of his lawn widening because he wants me to transplant some roses there so I had to take up some more turf. This also filled five sacks so that meant another journey to the tip.
|
|