Spring gardening

Last week the seeds went in and onto the windowsill. Two of each thing I am hoping to grow- tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumber.

No signs of growth yet, I think the windowsill may not be warm enough but hopefully they will be ok. Some of the seeds were quite old so that might be the problem.

This weekend it was the turn of outside. Dead plants were removed, raspberries cut back, pots tidied up and plants moved to new locations. It looks much nicer out there now.

One of the mini fruit trees has blossoms and a daffodil and tulip are both in flower at the bottom of the garden, lots of buds and new growth about too. Spring is definitely underway.

A garden update

I have been a ittle quiet lately, I will try to do better. I thought it was about time for a garden update, some of my plants have survived my repeatedly forgetting to water them, some are even thriving!

The mini potted peach tree has two peaches under way. I was not expecting any this year as it spent all its blossoming season in a garden centre, but some little critters must have made it in there to pollinate anyway.

Possibly the best sunflower I have ever grown, although the head is a bit small, might just be the variety.

A full length shot of the sunflower and the side bed. The sunflower is about 2.8m tall. Along the side there are more sunflowers and raspberry bushes intent on taking over the world. Unfortunately the rest of the plants in here have not done so well.

You also get a lovely view of the bin. It has been moved down the garden to allow for the new recycling wheelie bin that is meant to be arriving soon, it will be an improvement on the purple plastic bags, but there is not really space for it in my garden. Some pots had to be moved to house the general bin, next year I will grow more things over the arch to hide it.

Raspberries, yum! These are an autumn variety (should be Polka, but seems overly thorned). There are lots of them this year and just a handful are coming ripe each day. They don't usually make it into the house before being eaten.

I had planned to have loads of flowers this year, but was not overly successful. These gorgeous dark blue/purple sweet peas made it though.

As did a few gerberas bought as plug plants, a yellow

and a pink.

Strawberry season, part one

I love strawberry season, but unfortunately the plants in the garden have been a little reluctant this year. I suspect this is my fault as I decided to dig them out of the ground and move them to a planter type arrange,ent. Unfortunately the weekend I did this it was hot and dry and they looked sad for a few weeks.

Mostly they are just producing a berry here and there suitable for swiping and munching as you walk past. After a few days of no swiping I managed to gather this lot last night:



Almost enough there to use the word crop, as long as it is in very tiny letters, like these- crop.

In the autumn I will have to make a decision on replacing the plants. I hate to dig up anything that is growing well, but they are a few years old (aparently general garden wisdom says they only do three to four years) and it would be nice to try some other varieties.

When the weather perks up it will be off to the nearby pick your own at Wymeswold for the annual "pick more strawberries than you actually know what to do with" afternoon.

Garden activities

The weekend was meant to be full of garden activities- planting, planting out and generally moving things around. Unfortunately the weather decided not to cooperate so I took refuge inside with some crafty activities instead.

A few activities from the week before:

The tomatoes went outside into a bed next to the path. A large sheet of plastic left over from a totally unrelated project is acting as a temporary greenhouse/cloche.

A blackberry bush has been added to the fruit area. I am hoping this will produce some tasty berries as I was in two minds about buying a cultivated blackberry plant, after all they are available for free but somehow I seem to miss the best ones. Plus I know these have not been peed on by passing dogs, and as an added bonus- thornless!

Finally the easiest sort of gardening, the bits that take care of themselves. Apart from a little bit of weaving through the trellis this rose bush has been largely ignored (possibly why the other bushes have died!?). Last week it burst into a very impressive display and it looks like there will be more to come in another week or so.

Fleece lined hanging basket

The fleece discarded from my sorting as being too weak or dirty for spinning has been put to use in the garden. The first job was using it to make up a hanging basket.

In a bucket scoop out enough compost to fill the basket and mix in some water retaining granules and slow release plant food. Obviously this is optional, but it helps when you forget to water the basket for a day or so later in the year (which I will).

Use the fleece to make a fairly thick layer covering the bottom of the hanging basket to about half way up the sides.

Add compost on top and the first layer of plants- the ones that poke out the side of the basket. I used fuschias for this, bought as plug plants. I have not used plugs before so hopefully these will give a nice display.


Add more fleece around the edges so that it reaches the top of the basket. Fill with the rest of the compost and add the plants for the top. These are some dwarf sweet peas grown from seed.



Water the basket well and either hang or store in the greenhouse away from frosts until the weather is nice enough for it to go outside.









It was suggested that birds might make off with the fleece for nesting material. As long as it is quite thick this should not be a problem and there will be other bits around the garden they can take. We have a bit of a shortage of birds in our garden, good for the berries in summer but it would be nice to see more of them.

In the garden

Like much of the country I have been enjoying the wonderful weather. It has been a great opportunity for some gardening.

The seedlings have been moved out from the sunny windowsill where they were started...

to the mini greenhouse.

The strawberries have been moved from the ground into a strawberry tower. This should really have been done earlier in the year and they are looking a little sad in this photo, they should soon perk back up though.

The fruit should be much better as it is lifted away from the ground and the bugs that steal it!

Other jobs have been mowing the lawn, preparing beds with some compost and getting a hanging basket ready (pictures to come in the next post).

Two new mini fruit trees have also been bought so hopefully this year there will be a few homegrown peaches and cherries- delicious!