popular What have you done today in the Garden?

I have several weeping cherrry trees, weeping elms and a few other small understory weeping trees. Weeping willow trees are huge and are beautiful. Your child home sounds beautiful .

To the climbing up on the roof…
The roof section I only climb up on is a flat roof which is like walking across the driveway except on the roof. That makes it a lot easier. However the other section of the roof is pitched with concrete tiles. Not walkin on that any more. Earlier years I would power wash the moss off the tiles then paint it with a elastomeric coating. I guess you could say I’m pretty much a handy man err or gal….this has been a way of life for me for a very long time. I had years of practice and some days I start at 6am and have a lot of energy. I guess you’d say I’m like a solar battery. When the suns out I’m charged… and recharged . Also I know when to stop be mindful of movements and I know when to stop for a few hours and rest. Then pop out for a bit more. It’s not every day . Since I do all the gardening I try not to get too far behind.

flat roof is above the garage.


Tile pitched roof.


The roof is a bit odd I know… not the average style. It’s a custom home built and designed by an architect. I am the second owner and have learned the ups and downs of this type of roof.

 

I got quite a bit done today.
The plants in these two troughs still have some mileage in them. They are in plastic pots sitting in saucers on the slatted base of the troughs. So I took them out through the water in the saucers into the adjacent border, there's bound bound to have been some nutrients in it, cleaned the saucers and put them back but upside down, so the base of the pots will now not be sitting in water.





I did the same with the pots on the patio steps.



And the pots along the side fence of the drive.



I transferred the climbing rose in the corner which was in a plastic pot inside the largest size of Apta ceramic pot and put it into a spare square planter with some fresh compost.




I need this ceramic pot, which cost £50 two years ago. It was wasted hidden in the corner.



It matches the one to the side of the front door, as I intend to change it for the terracotta one. The mayleen clematis in it grows up the trellis and over the front door. I'm not going to try to save the pot, as I could damage the clematis.
We don't need it, so I'll take a lump hammer to it. The compost is pretty old but has had regular doses of feed.
With fresh a compost mix, if I do this in November, the mayleen should be OK and maybe the different clematis I've tried to grow, often unsuccessfully, from the same pot on a wire around the bay window will have a better chance.



I then tackled the front garden.
The lawn always suffers where the azaleas project over them. I laid the brick edging, getting on for 20 years ago, it wasn't a problem back then, but the azaleas have grown, so the grass under them is permanently in the shadow of them.



I trimmed the bottom of them to allow more light to reach the grass under them and after mowing the lawn I cleared a lot of leaves already fallen from the big acer.

 

Planted some more wallflowers

 

Managed to get out my telescopic chainsaw and tip off a few wild hairs on the weeping cherries and tackled some biggie branches with the chain saw off the weeping cedar . Then moved on to some dead tree branches and a shrub lost to ground squirrels. Used the blower to clear off the pine needles. Took some tree branches and debris to a section of the pasture. I stack all the cuttings on a tarp , then roll it it with and secure the tarp with bungie cords then hook to my garden tractor and pull the whole kit and caboodle out to the pasture to dump it to dry out in the sun to eventually mulch . Managed to clear a camilla plant from the roof area next to a gutter. Just another day full of sunshine to recharge my batteries.

 

Today’s tasks include more trimming shrubs and trees. Clearing out debris pine needles and pine cones.



Found this guy in the flower bed once the plants were all cut down. He looks a bit lonely now.

 

Oops. I forgot to make the manure tea. We finally had rain here. I think I got about 3-4" for now. Things look improved. I keep falling asleep here by my computer. Both shoulders are interferring with sleep. I guess too many old injuries are acting up.

A friend gave me a baby fig tree yesterday. She says it is a Brown Turkey fig tree. I never heard of it, but it is figs! They are not hardy in this area so it will have to be an indoor pet in cold weather. (I may get a Chicago hardy fig later). Figs are nearly impossible to find around here in the stores. If you ask where are the figs, the clerks ask "what is a fig?"... They do have Fig Newtons, but that is it.

Plants to come indoors for winter: 3 large spider plants, 2 Boston ferns, 4 lemon trees and a fig tree, and a some of my ginger plants... and 1 small available window. There are 2 other windows, but one is shaded, and the other not accessible because DS has stuff there. I would put my ferns in my bedroom, but they were quite unhappy in there last winter. Did you know cats get high on spider plants???? And 3 of my cats live in my room. Two winters ago, they nearly killed my spider plants. They were quite frazzled after all the cat attacks.

Maybe the fig or ginger can go in there? Actually, my bedroom is a bit chilly for ginger plants... I will harvest most of my ginger, but want to save some over winter to grow in the spring. I better get at that elderberry jam before frost, so I have room to freeze my harvested ginger. I cannot haul that big mineral tub indoors, and certainly no room for it either.

Hmmm... the fig tree will need a rather large container to grow in.... and I am not hauling it around.... maybe I can get at a greenhouse soon I hope.

 

Looking lovely Pac. I love the way the sunlight filters through the trees and and creates flecks of light that dance around on the ground as the trees sway. Are you going to get Mr Stonehead a companion??

Very envious of your Fig tree @AAnightowl , I would love one but can't really find a space that would be appropriate without causing more crowding and shading out over plants. This is an issue we have become aware of this year...although not entirely Dahlia related but definitely other plants have suffered in varying degrees. Now it may have been notice by some....... that I'm completely hopeless at naming plants but ...drum roll please Brown Turkey is a name that I DO know of and more impressively.....I know that it is a Fig Tree too. Yay..well done me!!

 

Not much, just trimmed a bit off the top of the tall mimosa.

My water bill arrived today. I had been paying £52 a month, but it's going up to £80 a month, a 45% increase.
However, I've used a lot more water on the garden this year due to the very hot spells. 28% more than last year, so the increase is about 19% on the amount of projected use.
Much less than the national average increase. If I use less, I'll get a refund.

 

Pac... love Roxy

 

Oh…did I tell you my clump black bamboo story, Phyllostachys Nigra . I’ll make it quick..
Unlike some other plants that flower based on seasons or weather, bamboo has a built-in genetic clock that dictates when it will reproduce. After the mass flowering event, all the individual bamboo plants of that same species/parent plant all died. This is a form of semelparity , a new one for me…where a plant reproduces only once in its lifetime and then dies.
Also the synchronization of flowering ensures that genetic material is shared across a large geographic area at the same time, promoting gene diversity within the species.
In 2022 all the bamboo planted in several areas for over 25 years of the garden all flowered then died. Have you ever seen a flowering bamboo. Neither had I so with a little research I found that they are genetically predisposed to flowering then just die once seed has set. It was a bit shocking and I miss it. Vida La Vida.

Flowering bamboo. Not like these flowers have any visual quality but interesting to see when the genetics are involved.

 

Me too! She is a smarty pants …

 

What a very interesting and informative post .Thanks Pac.

 

Nothing today had to wash my hair instead of tomorrow, tomorrow River goes to the vets for his booster so won't be doing anything in the garden again.

 

@Pacnorwest , Yep, heard that. By the time my Bamboo flowers I'll be long dead !!

That is, unless I live to be 95 or so.

Century plants do the same thing; They flower spectacularly then kick it.