popular What have you done today in the Garden?

I planted one pack of me Spinach. I'm saving the other two packets to extend my harvest. This afternoon I'm going to water all the raised beds and that it.

 

All the cages are out of the garden and put away. I opened the fence for running loads of leaves and twigs and compost. I got the backpack out and arranged the leaves so I can mulch and sweep them up tomorrow.

 

I did NOTHING in the garden. Well, almost nothing. I fed the chickens and ducks, gave fresh water. The hens found a new hiding place for eggs, which I discovered tonight. Eight eggs! They are fresh, from the last 3 days at most.

Last week I got different hen food. This one has marigold petals. The yolks are deep yellow now.

 

Daniel— mate, what’s not to like with your pictorial posting !
The tulippies are really colourful. I grew some that were very similar a number of years ago. In the end I had to stop with tulips because the rodents eat them. Sad.
My favourite ones were the smaller original tulips, like Tulipa turkestanica. They are all gone now…the rodents. Gurrrrrrrr.

The Schlumbergera is gorgeous. REALLY gorgeous. Full marks, mate.

The leaves and eggs round this magnificent posting off perfectly.

Give that black fuzzball a ruffle from me.

 

@Sjoerd You can always make little chicken wire bowls to plant your bulbs in. Once you have the hole dug you set the bowl inside the hole, put your bulb in, then fix the bowl into a ball shape. They can't get to the bulb through the wire. A bit of a fuss but worth it to be able to have at least a few of your favorites.

 

Annie— cheers for the encouragement.
I wonder if rats cannot bite through the wire. Something to think about for sure. Thank you for thinking along with me.

 

Back before I got sick we started spreading stall manure and covering the veggie plots.


Then turned our attentions to the fence. We removed it and dug out the buried wire and fence poles.


Then looking from the other direction:


Finally we organised the rubbish to be taken away. We piled it up onto two plots, here is one:

 

I did a bit this afternoon as it had dried out.
I stripped the wisteria on the pergola above the French windows.
I wouldn't have done it if it were very cold, but at 11c, it won't come to any harm. It'll get its winter prune as usual between Christmas and New Year.
As it will be sunny tomorrow, I'll strip the other wisterias on the pergola on the side of the garage. Some of the branches need thinning out and I'll need to re-route some, where they've strayed into another colour's territory. Then I might tackle the fallen bamboo leaves at the bottom of the garden. It will be raining from Wednesday for the rest of the week.

 

Nothing as yet ,as our garden remains shaded until midday now at this time of year. The only area that gets the sun for most of the day now is the nursery/ greenhouse/ coldrames area and the side of the house area leading to it and that is the designated laundry drying area.....which is in full use today.

I will be out there after lunch as I must start to put the Dahlias to bed for the Winter. Most will be snuggly covererd and left insitu but there are a few I will attempt to dig up and Winter undercover this year . I have a feeling this could be quite a job as they are well established plants that have a huge tubers and root systems. They need to be moved to hopefully reduce the risk of powdery mildew a bit next year.

A friend is coming over in his van this afternoon to help hubs stock up on multi purpose compost .We will buy enough to see us through next year. Our friend 's help is always greatly appreaciated but more so at the moment as hubs is still a bit 'fragile'.

 

I did a bit this afternoon.
I got into the last of the wisterias, pruning off surplus branches and anything that wants to grow up, rather than laterally. Once the foliage was down, I was able to see what's what" and retrain some branches and remove others so the blossom, will be blue at each end and white in the middle. All the wisterias will get the annual "hard prune" at the end of December. I had to borrow next door's empty green bin for what I'd taken down. The bin men come tomorrow, so it's not a problem. I noticed a little bit of rot in one place on one of the two main beams of the pergola. So I dug it out with a small chisel and filled the small hole with Cuprinol. I'll get some filler and repair it on the next dry day.



The gutter on the back of the house needed cleaning, when it gets partially blocks with moss it drips onto the flat roof of the lounge extension in the same place. Not good.
So I had to use my extending ladder to get up onto the flat roof and then use a step stool to reach the gutter. I do it pretty much every year. I put the four feet of the step stool on pot saucers, I'm always wary of possibly damaging the felt that I last had changed nearly thirty years ago. I left my garden gloves on the window sill, I was able to retrieve them from the bedroom window.



It was starting to get dark at 3.00pm. so I called it a day.

That will be it for the rest of the week as it will be raining every day.

 

Made a good start on bedding down the Dahlias. It's takes a surprisingly long time. First I cut them back, then clear away any debris around their base ,next place a mound of used compost ( with Perlite) over them followed by a pile dry leaves. Depending on their size I then select either a bucket or flower pot and fill half of them with freshly bagged polystyrene chips . This is then upturned to cover the Dahlia tubers, placing a brick on top to ensure the wind won't cause any disturbance.
Still have a lot more to do , will be very happy when they are all safely snoozing away soundly.

 

One of the jobs I needed to do today, was to sort out this security light at the front of the house below the small bedroom's window. (photo from earlier in the year).



I noticed when I took some rubbish out last night that it failed to come on.

It's the "big ladder job."
There was no way that the single securing screw of the front glass frame would come out. So in the end I had to take a hacksaw to it. Then get a mole wrench on the back end of the screw to remove it. Then find another screw with the same thread.

I had a spare lamp, so turned it off from its socket on the skirting of the small bedroom, change the lamp, then turn it back on. Now these sorts of lamps, if you turn off the electric supply in daylight then turn them on again, will light up for a few seconds before turning themselves off again. After I'd replace the lamp, I checked it out, but it didn't come on.

I thought maybe after replacing the lamp, when I turned it on again, by the time I'd got up off my knees from the bedroom floor and got down the stairs and out of the front door, maybe it had come on and gone off again! Or maybe I needed a new security lamp.
Anyway, I went out with some more rubbish when it was dark tonight and it came on!

 

I am at war in the garden with a vole that has set up for the winter in my Memory garden.

I've seen the greedy little goblin three times, and missed all three times. He's buried the traps that we use for woodrats, which caught over 25 voles this summer. I laid a swath of mouse traps and baited with carrots and beets....a buffet that he enjoyed but managed to avoid all of the traps. I'll place 10 more this morning.

I've removed most of the hiding spots, and removed all of the fencing. I'm hoping Mr. Fox or Herman the Ermine will venture in at night for a vole feast, so all of the traps come up and then go back down in the morning.

I would not have thought one little vole could do so much damage. He's only about twice the size of a mouse.

The top few inches of the soil is frozen now, but he's still managing to dig down and eat the roots of the peonies, phlox, sedum and painted daisies.

I'll poke all of the holes again and take Angus who is a pretty good Vole catcher, before baiting and laying more traps. I'm going to see if the Goblin is partial at all to cucumber and apple, as I'm out of beets and carrots.

The snow is supposed to come and stay in a couple of days, so the Vole war of 2025 is on until then.

 

Melody Mc. Mole wars is always a tough game. You’re doing the right stuff eliminating the yummy garden plants & hiding places . I get it ..I have had a bit of an issue with them for many years. I have the most success with dynamite. Find their Bunkers and just blow them up. . A good strategy if all else fails.

 

I weeded the raised beds and now have the sprinkler on. Still haven't gotten a really good amount of rain and they say we might get something near the weekend, hopefully !!