Starved of gardening talk

I am raring to get in the garden but cannot stand on the soil, far too damp. I hopped around today lifting and moving some rubber stepping stones and managed to clip the hellebore leaves.

I need to go on the soil to take off the old hellebore leaves, it won`t matter so much this year as they have only been in for 6 months, just waiting for a few more dry days

Job after that is to get the 3 new small beds assembled and tucked into the soil but I need to get the pry bar in and dig out the builders rocks and stones first. I hate the thought of having mud up to my ankles again and need to be in the mood. I am sure a sunny day will cause the mood

2 wests and elliot rootrainer stand is built and I have made slats to go across to hold various pots and trays as well as the rootrainers. I am raring to get started tbh. Propagator, small greenhouse for hardening off and stand for growing on.

The few frosts have been beneficial, many plants need that. Ground is still soft underneath and I can still pry my leeks up. I remember when I started veg growing, almost 50 years ago. I never cottoned on about being unable to get my parsnips and leeks out the ground. I seem to remember that we had good frosts most years

I am having to plan veg numbers as it is only me and limited space. Red drumhead seeds ordered, will sow a few and only plant 2. I have pop-up covers that keep the cabbage whites off. Might put these in between roses

Wych Hazel, aconites, and snowdrops are in bloom in the park.

There was a good sunset sky on Saturday with the unusual effect of an apple green streak.

I've been given a subscription to an online 'grow club'. You visit the website, chose 6 items (seeds, bulbs or plants) each month and they're sent to you. I can't wait for 1st February when I can start looking

Have you tried the Candide app it’s very good.

Just ordered 50 snowdrops in the green, for planting in my ‘woodland’ area.
Too cold today to do much, but planning a wall and a gazebo for the summer

Never mind Namsnanny you have your flowering bulbs to look forward to.

This is my shrub in today’s sun.

Still planting late bulbs here.
I am doing it indoors into troughs with compost.
I'm out of the blustery rain but what a mess I'm making of the kitchen floor!!

leggy seedlings CC, too warm and/or too little light. They need slower growth

Terrible unexpected winds here again, even my covered chairs and table are moving and I have had to take some strain off the trellis with rope tied around a huge heavy pot. I had to lift very heavy sodden bags of compost onto the tables and even the leg straps have torn. There will be trees down

-13 c here today, so no thoughts of getting into the garden!

I can look at seeds though, and plan for my many potted annuals. I love nemophilia 'penny black' and have planted it many times. The dark little flowers go well with other brighter ones.

I do have issues with leggy seedlings that flop over though. Any recommendations? I tend to do use a small plastic windowsill greenhouse to start seeds.

Ooooh yes! We have new shoots on some roses, many spring bulbs are making an appearance ?and I've been picking carrots, parsnips and swedes ?

Beautiful garrya

er um, retaining walls of any type need footings to make them safe and they need to be carefully constructed to ensure that they are safe

nanytopsey, we had retaining walls behind the last house and ended up with 2 sets of steps. My one bit of advice, from experience, is not to use wood, no matter how well treated. It took 8 years and in spite of preserving every year, the walls started to show signs of rot and the wooden steps started to also rot. I was glad to move and get away from that worry

I absolutely love gabions, they can have bits of soil in small spaces and will support sedums up and down the mesh

My Garrya this winter

Oops, I was wrong wasn't I, but glad you knew what I meant! And they're better used in coastal gardens perhaps? So you need a dry stone wall with aubretia, tiny ferns, etc planted in the cracks. Good luck with finding some lads to do the work.

They call them gabions.

Gaunt47 that is another idea we are toying with but they are a bit industrial for this rural garden. I know we could soften them with plants.
The snowdrops were in flower before New Year here.

Mizzle is moisture in the air, not nearly as heavy as drizzle lemongrove. But it still keeps gardens too wet to do much in! (And will frizz up your hair in no time at all )

It's windy here too.

After last night we thought there could be some damage to clear up!

Phew! I feel tired just reading some of the posts here.?
It’s too windy here to do anything at all outside.Raining now too.Never heard of mizzle, drizzle with some mist?

nannytopsy what about buying ready made groynes? Metal mesh cages filled with stones? Dig out and straighten the front of the bank to make it vertical and then stack the groynes at the front of the bank. Just a thought.

Yes, cut back after flowering. If in a real tangle then I would hack back fairly harshly to maintain a good structure realising it will not flower as well next year. Otherwise , cut back old flowering stems, any dead bits, throw a bucket of mulch around and job done.
It really is one of the easiest shrubs - fear not !

Lucky you winterwhite. I love mistletoe and hope mine takes . We have several camellias and all have big buds. Dreadful weather here again today so no gardening

I had amateur's luck with Christmas mistletoe squished direct onto the branch of an old apple tree about 20 years ago. Forgot all about it, then it was suddenly conspicuous after about 5 years, now enormous and annoyingly low since the original branch was at my own height.
Snowdrops and hellebore well poised for action here, also large pink buds on an old japonica (that I refuse to call chaenomeles). I make a mistake whenever I try to prune it so often leave it alone, now in quite a tangle. Cut out flowered stems after flowering, is that right?

Since late summer have done sod all - what a slut !
In my defence we are moving this year so really not prepared to spend money on a well stocked garden that in all probability will be ripped up anyway. That said I am amazed to find , without the usual Autumn clean up, how much has self sown.
My favourite rose - Gertrude Jekyll - which covers an arch with clematis "Wedding Day " in the warmer months is now almost done, think I have cut the final blooms. The damn thing truly hates me however, even with gloves a rhino would find hard to pierce Gertrude finds a piece of pi*s! Will cut it back when feeling up to the challenge !!