popular What have you done today in the Garden?

Out fighting the wild blackberry’s from swallowing up a few shrubs.

BEFORE….swalloed up by berry brambles…


AFTER...freed from the grasp of the blackberry brambles. Golden euronymus variegated leaves, evergreen shrub.
This shrub is getting a hair cut tomorrow. It has spikes 3” long. Not nearly as lethal as the winding brambles of the spiky bb.

See the pile of blackberry’s pulled from the shrub. Don’t mess with me this chore is an afternoon exercise in building arm muscle. I challenge annyone to an old fashion ‘Arm Wrestle’. Ok maybe I’m getting ahead of myself but I can bench press 8O#’s… well not exactly …. I lift feed bags that weigh 80 #’s. Well… Mostly dragging…

I feel like a pin cushion… did the back and side gardens too… no pics of that..I’m pooped.
I will put a tarp over the bb pile and let the sun slowly kill them all summer. My revenge for all the bodily harm and damages from the bb spikes and a flat tire. No normal plants or shrubs were harmed during this sequence of events.

 

@Pacnorwest Get yourself some rose gloves like these;
$22 and change on Amazon. They go all the way to your elbow and will stop you getting ripped up by thorns.

And, about arm wrestling, when I was in my 20's I arm wrestled all the guys in my barn and none could get me on the table. I either put them to the table, or it was a draw. That was from driving my racehorses. Those suckers pull !!

 

@Anniekay the wrestling champ from working horses is a strengthening force for sure.
And thanx I appreciate the heads up on some fine looking gloves. I use similar type gloves not nearly as nice. I will also add that @Daniel W has those chainmail gloves for using battery op hand pruners. A very good way to protect hands & fingers. I wear my riding boots up to my knee caps while prunning some thicker brambles.
It’s always tricky dealing with plants that just don’t get the hint that they are unwanted garden guests.

Still gotta spray those awful awful burdock weeds that have filled the pastures this season. Just waiting for better weather and no wind. Mowing them down prevents flowers that result in those burdoc stickers that are like Velcro stick to everything. In fact I think that’s where the Velcro began its invention path from burdocks the fish hook style of this weed sticks to everything … so annoying.

 

Well done you, Pac !
What a job that was. You have “Blackberry Babe” bragging rights. Whew, you put me to shame.

 

Thanks Sjoerd

Well done Pacnorwest

It's been raining so i ordered my spring bulbs for next year, they should come sometime in September, i spent £200. after a discount of 15%

 

That title you bestowed … made me chuckle . I’ll take it..

And a big Thanx to Logan.. it’ means a lot when fellow like minded gardeners comment on our garden chores.

 

You're welcome Pacnorwest

 

Oh @Pacnorwest !!! ...and here am I moaning about some minor 'injuries ' from my surprise encounter with a hidden bramble this afternoon, and now being a right whimp over 3 embedded thorns in my hand. I will decline the arm wrestling challenge .....sounds like nobody stands a chance and ummmm....of course I'm too injured as well .

That's certainly is a job and a half you're tackling there though !! I find it bad enough to cope with bramble runners that snake their way through the borders and plants let alone take on a battle with the giant you're dealing with.

 

@Oreti that was a funny read. You have a good way expressing the down side of gardening tasks. I totally agree with your description of how those long bb trails brambling thru the garden almost impossible to find their ever winding trails. But as you found there is no end to our determination to end the universe from these unwanted weeds that take our skin as a joke to prevent us from singling them out of our gardens forever.

I’m on leave from gardening today hoping to tackle more next week. I plan on wearing all the garb associated with bb protection resembling something of a scarecrow for my own sanity.

@Sjoerd has given those of us who wrestle with bb brambles the tag name as “Blackberry Babes” so well earned by those of us who struggle with the armed monsters that fish tail through our gardens at a pace so sneaky that no one notices until it’s too late . By the time they are noticed the bb grip has established ground steaks on our beloved garden plants which seems to somehow grow into a mission for the Incredible Hulk.

 

Today I have been walking around the garden with potted plants ,some of which were the divided Dahlias that got too big for their allotted space last year and so we're lifted in the Autumn and others were cuttings taken from some Dianthus and Antirrhinums trying to decide on where to plant them. Needless to say I kept changing my mind. The pots have been left where I hope will be their new forever homes in readiness for hubs to dig out the larger holes tomorrow . I will do the planting out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get our 2 hours worth of predicted rain tonight that will moisten the soil a bit before they go in the ground.

 

This morning I cut flowers for the vase, did some deadheading and watered my pomegranate bush. Once the veg garden is in shade it is going to be fertilized and watered. I also have to pick my longkeeper tomatoes. They are mostly ripe and I took about a doozen off the soil beneath the plant while outside with Rags (my dog) earlier. Amazingly, they all fell off today and were in perfect condition.

 

Come on @Pacnorwest we're all rooting for you...let battle commence.

 

Well in between the rain showers stopping during downpours I got the watermelons (blacktail, crimson sweet and sugar baby) along with the melons (crenshaw, model, minnesota midget, sweet passion) and cucamelon seedlings planted.

 

The only thing I did inside the fence was nip a few tomato leaves that had spots. Cut the grass and rebuilt the stihl cultivator. I organically fertilized the compost pile which technically counts. Mostly an equipment maintenance day.

 

Well I got the battery op hedgers out and went to town on the rhody’s that were way taller than I am.




Somebody wanted to play.


Now I can see out my windows.