Gardening corner 2018 season!???

Looks like a sunny day for us today, maybe the last for a while.
I went to the nursery and bought some flower seedlings, late yesterday. I really couldn’t resist! Just in case none of mine germinate. So it’s in the greenhouse for me, pricking them out.
mcem Acers prefer a sheltered spot, but having said that I planted one at the front of our last house, in a very open spot and it thrived. The leaves can get wind scorched.

I love acers. I had two for years in pots in my last garden where I was trying to get a bit of a Japanese theme going . One I had to put in the garden because it outgrew a very large pot and the other moved here with us because i couldn’t bear to leave it behind - and then promptly died! This garden is very sheltered.

Have been out doing some tidying up, pruning roses and fuchsias that hadn't been done earlier and clearing away dead leaves off the crocosmia and iris and hesperantha that hadn't been done earlier. That cold snap and snow seems to have done quite a lot of damage though. I have a two year old standard cotoneaster tree which looks as if it is actually dying now. and the new shoots on a photinia are completely frazzled. A friend told me that fish/blood/bonemeal will improve soil condition if used for a couple years. So have been scattering a couple of boxes of that.

This thread has almost brought me to tears. Since my husband left me my garden has gone to pot. I have no idea where to start.
I think my first job is to rake the dead leaves then seed the lawn which looks dead to me.
I would love to lay fake grass but it's too expensive

I'm very lucky in that my garden is divided into sections around the house. I've decided the bed furthest from the kitchen window is earmarked for renovation. My first plan is to dig it over (can only roughly remember what's in there worth retaining and where!) and then overwhelm the bed with lupin plants which are already in pots and rarin' to go. The subsequent conflict of actual result and mind's eye remains to be seen! All part of the challenge methinks. Love it and itching to get out there but still have patches of snow. Dream on!

I went to a talk last week about the new movement for growing flowers here in the UK rather than importing. The woman giving the talk recommends the 'No Dig' policy - I'm not sure how that works as your beds could become higher and higher, but apparently digging disturbs the underground systems where nutrients are supplied to the roots etc.

www.charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-growing/why-no-dig/

I need to tidy the pond of tree branches and leaves and cut back the grasses and water lilies. Problem is the wild ducks arrived at the weekend - normally here til June - and the water is teeming with frogs. Don't like to disturb them in case they disappear.

Thanks for Acer comments.
Am thinking of one near kitchen window - sheltered, facing north-east, light shade.
Second in open south-facing spot and 3rd south-facing but sheltered by hedge.
The trees are tiny and the pots are fairly large so off to buy bright primulas today to place round the edges. Just a bit wary of putting them out, given weather forecast.

The snow 2 weeks ago & freezing rain have killed all the new buds on my hardy (perennial) fuchsias. Hellibores are doing ok, crocuses have been & gone but miniature daffodils starting to flower. Most of the rest of my bulbs are slow.

No pruning of roses until end of March & Alan Titchmarsh is recommending delaying cutting back shrubs etc to give them a fighting chance. It's been either wet, windy, very cold or snow so doing anything other than a quick walk around the garden is impossible. Roll on Spring

We saw a yellow butterfly on Sunday and someone said that means we’ll have a sunny summer. But if the first butterfly you see is white the summer will have more cloudy skies. I’ve never heard this before, has anyone else?

I had a happy hour yesterday tidying pots. I had kept most in the garage to protect the plants from frost. Hopefully the frost has gone for this year, so all my plants are outdoors again. It's raining today and i feel the nature is doing it's work. I have a window box of winter pansies which have flowered all winter. Even when dumped with snow they came back as good as ever.

My garden is in a dreadful state. I have been ill since September (usually have problems October/November so that am always playing catchup) but at the moment the lawn is like walking on wet sponge and needs mowing which can't be done yet and the borders are depressing so will start with general tidy up.
Regarding the no dig post, DH emptied the composters onto the borders in the autumn and left them saying that the piles would go down, which they have, even the ones that have not been used as cat litter by the local population including my own dear moggy. SO first job is clear up cat poo!

First the snow now heavy rain. Will I ever get my lawns cut? Paving is going green so it will be a toss, when weather permits , grass v pressure washing.My Cornus Midwinterfire are still showing their spectacular colour so their annual february pruning can wait.

My hellebores are splendid this year - did what Robin Lane Fox recommended in autumn (put it in the diary!) and watered them with Miraclegro. It really seemed to work.

Camellia with many flowers on before the Beast came and browned them all. Tete a Tete daffs are doing their stuff but the lawn is awful. All moss and if I dose it, there will be nothing left. Why am I sitting here when I should be out there??

Oh Kacee think of it as a sort of therapy,clearing up, starting afresh with your own ideas,you may begin to enjoy it.????

Much of the snow has disappeared and I'm both amazed and delighted at the amount of green shoots I now see. Just rembered (!!) I planted a wheen of new and untried bulb species at the back end. Gosh - so much to look forward to. Doesn't every day often bring its own bonus no matter how small? That's mine for today. Hope you all find some unexpected pleasure for yourselves.

I'm not actually doing any jobs in the garden just now, I just stand on the patio and look at it. I expect I ought to wash some of the pots (whoops, should have done that last season) and then I'll pull out the weeds.
I'm thrilled with the mini daffodils and helebore, the muscari are just showing their little heads. This is my favourite time of year.

sarah I bought some Cornus Midwinter Fire 2 years ago after I saw them in the winter garden at the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. They are spectacular aren’t they?
They are being a bit slow to get going & I’m hoping they will make a bit of an effort this year!
kacee I hope you find some nice little flowery surprises under the dead leaves and your garden is therapeutic for you ?

Desperate here to get out into the garden, it is a walled city garden with mature trees, and as it has rained here since December resembles a swamp.
DD went out this afternoon but just sank into the 'grass'.
Even thinking of buying Wellies so I can do something.

Planting 120 Freesia bulbs my daughter kindly sent me for Mother's Day.

My garden is small but I have had some bags of compost delivered and dug over the flower beds. I'm not going to plant anything in them until after this weekend in case it snows (as the forecast predicts)
I have a blue lace-cap hydrangea which is coming into bud after hard pruning last autumn and peach coloured roses which have a glorious perfume all summer long.
My winter Christmas rose is still blooming in a tub but everything else is on hold.
I did treat myself to a small greenhouse in the Autumn sales last year and plan to have tomatoes, raspberries, salad stuff and a few new potatoes in there.
I also have orange and lemon 'trees' which withstood the poor weather and have been repotted into larger planters.
Much to look forward to in 2018.

Sorry Kacee that you’re feeling low, hopefully some time in the fresh air and sun(?) will be a tonic.
Start with small jobs so you can see the results quickly.
?

Hi mcem - I have a 13 year old acer palmatum which is in a very large pot on my south/east facing balcony/patio. It has thrived. Not sure that north exposure would work, and the west afternoon sun might be too harsh. I've repotted mine three times as the little tree got bigger. Its now well over 6 ft tall, and yesterday I saw the tiny little buds have appeared. My personal sign of spring!

Ugh - hate gardening, but can't bear an untidy garden, so weeding the front beds is the first priority and then chopping some brushwood from last autumn for next winter's kindling.

Planting or sowing whatever I can afford that will, I hope, take up as much room as possible in the flower beds.

I am seriously considering putting down wood chips or the like in the flower beds.

Looking into the price of paving stones to pave path and driveway.

I have heavy clay so mine is still too wet to do anything. Once it's dry enough I shall cut back old growth, weed, fork over and add grit, compost, leaf mould, manure and then top dress with shredded wood from last year's tree pruning.
In flower at the moment, Tete a Tete daffodils, hellebore and surprisingly coming into flower an orange Geum! Hope it hasn't gone over by the time I get out there!