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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 6, 2020 22:20:00 GMT
This morning I carried on with my planting. Besides the hanging baskets I am planting the tubs at the front of the house and under the car port. Some of them still needed emptying and some had geraniums and begonias in so I took them to the greenhouse and potted them up. I don't put fresh compost in the tubs at this time of year. I just loosen it with a hand fork and add some Q4 fertiliser. I put some new compost on the top if the level is low. There are 7 tubs and a trough . I planted daffodils in 3 of them and tulips in 3. I didn't want bulbs in the other one at the front but I still had bulbs left so I decided to plant tulips in 2 tubs on the back terrace so I had to empty these first. I still have some of the baskets to finish but I wanted to get the bulbs in first. The tubs that have bulbs in will have other plants in them as well such as pansies, primulas, bellis and forget me nots and some of these plants will go in the baskets too. Went to Martyn's this afternoon and cut his hedges for the last time this year. Not much needed cutting off so I did them with my hand shears and not with his electric cutters. I then removed the bedding plants from his garden. He had 5 dahlias in and I dug these up and brought the tubers home. I took 2 sacks to put all his plants in but I had to go home for some more and they filled 5 sacks altogether. I will take them all to the allotment next time I go.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 7, 2020 22:35:19 GMT
This morning I finished planting all my hanging baskets and tubs but I had to go to the garden centre again for some more plants. Edna came for the baskets I had planted for her. After a walk this afternoon I went to the allotment. I took the bedding plants from Martyn's garden and put them on the compost (5 bags ). I picked some lettuce leaves and more sprouts. Also did some repairs to the shed.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 8, 2020 20:47:55 GMT
Today I put up my hanging baskets then I finished clearing the plants from the border round the front lawn. Rosemary had done most of it. There were a few fuchsias in it that I potted up. I planted a row of crocuses in front of the roses at the front . There were a few left so I planted them in a bowl. I then started forking over the border I had just cleared but rain stopped play about 4.00. I had done about a third of it.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 8, 2020 20:53:34 GMT
Hanging baskets planted yesterday
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 9, 2020 21:30:41 GMT
This morning I went on the allotment and finished pulling up all the annuals and putting them on the compost. Most of them had been staked so I had to remove all the twistits that had secured them to the canes and put them away with the canes. I brought home another cauliflower and some more swedes, beetroot and turnips. Also cut some dahlias to put in a vase. They were smaller than in the summer because I haven't disbudded them recently but they weren't bad. After a walk this afternoon I finished forking over the border round the front lawn .There was a ball of begonias under the car port and I emptied this .
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 10, 2020 19:12:37 GMT
A fine day today. Went on the allotment this morning . Now that the annual beds are empty I started weeding them. There are two beds and I finished one and started the other. There are no big weeds, just a lot of small ones. This afternoon we went a walk then went shopping. When we got home I washed the veg I brought home yesterday and took some of it to three of our neighbours.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 11, 2020 19:06:02 GMT
Another dry day. I have removed all the plants from the border round the back lawn except for the row of dahlias along the fence. On the border on the other side there was just one dahlia (Garden friends ).I dug this one up then forked over the whole border. There were still a few nice flowers on the plants that I removed so I cut them and put them in a vase.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 12, 2020 19:46:05 GMT
Yet another dry day but I've not done much apart from weeding . Went to the allotment this morning and carried on weeding the annual beds. I also painted the front of the shed. Went to Martyn's this afternoon and carried on weeding his garden but didn't get time to finish it before it was going dark. Now that I have shifted the plants off the border alongside the back lawn and forked it over, when I got home I put the bird table in position on it. This is where it stands all winter. I have, of course, to move it in May or June to put the plants in. It goes on the other side of the path among some bushes and has still been in use there for the last few months. These are the flowers I cut from that border yesterday.You can see my diamond wedding picture on the same table
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 13, 2020 20:12:56 GMT
Went to the allotment this morning and finished weeding the annual beds. Also picked some more sprouts for ourselves and two of our friends.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 14, 2020 18:50:06 GMT
This morning I went to deliver the sprouts to the two friends I told you about yesterday .Then went to Blackleach to update the bird chart in the visitor centre. We are not doing wild flowers again till next year when the snowdrops come out. While I was there I removed the annuals from the border. We went for a walk this afternoon but as soon as we got back at 3.00 it started to rain . So I went in the greenhouse for a bit and tidied up and labelled the 5 dahlia tubers that I had dug up and stood them upside down in a box to dry.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 15, 2020 21:08:03 GMT
It was dull and drizzly first thing but it brightened up and has been nice all day but it is pouring down at the moment. I went in the garden and started pruning my H.T.roses in the back garden. Martyn went a walk with us this afternoon. We asked him because he is not getting enough excercise. He used to go walks with a friend but he can't do that now.Went in the garden again after and finished pruning the H.T.s then started doing the floribundas that are in the front garden.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 16, 2020 19:32:04 GMT
It was showery first thing so I thought it was risky to go to the allotment or anywhere else. So when it wasn't raining I finished pruning the floribunda roses. It didn't rain again so I decided to weed the rose beds in the back garden because they are easier to do now that the roses have been pruned and I managed to get them finished.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 17, 2020 19:40:27 GMT
A dry day so I went on the allotment this morning. Rosemary wanted me to bring a cabbage home . There were also 3 cauliflowers ready and these need using soon because they don't keep as long as cabbages so I brought those as well. As you know, I cover this bed with nets supported on a framework of canes to keep the butterflies off .Every time I want anything from this bed I have to remove some of the netting. I decided to remove the nets and all the canes and put them away in the shed because there aren't any butterflies about now. Not an easy job folding the nets up and tying them up and this and shifting the canes took me nearly all morning but it will be easy to harvest the crops now. Removed a lot of yellowing leaves from the sprouts. I have to do this nearly every time I go.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 18, 2020 21:29:34 GMT
Went to the allotment this morning . Did a bit of tidying on the paths by sweeping soil off them then I decided to prune the roses and I did about half of them and brought the prunings home .I intended going to Martyn's this afternoon but it started raining so I stayed in. The rain stopped later, though, and I went out and cut down the dahlias along the back fence and began digging up the tubers and prepared them for storing. I have told you before how I do this. I cut them down to about 3 inches , remove the loose soil then knock a screwdriver down the hollow stem and out at the bottom which helps them to drain. I tie on the labels with waterproof string round the tuber and not just round the stem because the stem shrinks when it is drying and the label would come off. I then stand them upside down in boxes and put them under the greenhouse staging .
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 19, 2020 19:39:27 GMT
Went on the allotment this morning and finished pruning the roses. I then started cutting down the dahlias and putting them on the compost but didn't have time to do many. After a walk this afternoon I finished digging up and storing the dahlias that were in a row along the fence . There were only four to do. I then started cutting down the dahlias in the main bed but, again, hadn't time to do many. Put them in bags to take to the allotment next time I go. So, I still have dahlias to cut down both on the allotment and at home.
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