The zombie army COVID-19 Gardening thread.
Discussion
That's a fantastic Magnolia. And the garden with the bridge looks a great place to be.
Well I sort of made a start, though it's going to be cold again this week.
Planted the potatoes - Charlotte.
Don't normally leave the leeks in this late but they look OK.
Onions and broad beans planted in October seem to be doing OK. I've some more onion sets to go in but as the forecast isn't good I might as well wait.
Nice to see some colour at last.
Finish tidying the greenhouse tomorrow, get the containers ready for tomatoes and cucumbers, and sow the padrons in a propagator. Then to split some perennials, and put in some wire restraints for the taller ones, and many other things I'm sure.
Well I sort of made a start, though it's going to be cold again this week.
Planted the potatoes - Charlotte.
Don't normally leave the leeks in this late but they look OK.
Onions and broad beans planted in October seem to be doing OK. I've some more onion sets to go in but as the forecast isn't good I might as well wait.
Nice to see some colour at last.
Finish tidying the greenhouse tomorrow, get the containers ready for tomatoes and cucumbers, and sow the padrons in a propagator. Then to split some perennials, and put in some wire restraints for the taller ones, and many other things I'm sure.
Spurred on by having a massive pile of wood chippings left over from when our tree surgeons visited last week we decided to re-do the paths around the garden. As you can see from the pale area of grass we've made inroads into it but there's still a long way to go!
The pond was cleaned last week and the water is beginning to clear nicely, fish seem happy. And yes, we have a problem with herons.
Then it was a case of barrowing the chippings onto the paths. We've been here 5 years and I've always wanted to clear a path / hack a way through / the rhododendrons to create a sort of woodland walk. Today I finally got round to starting. I was pleased to find some old stumps under one of the rhodies because that's something else I've always wanted - a stumpery so now I have the beginnings of one, I just need to find a few more stumps and some ferns to plant around it.
Eventually the path will come out at the working area, what we call the copse. I just don't want to look at all the wood that's there at the moment because I know it means a load more work cutting the logs, splitting it, burning the offcuts and disposing of the rubbish.
Still it's what retirement is for isn't it? 
The pond was cleaned last week and the water is beginning to clear nicely, fish seem happy. And yes, we have a problem with herons.
Then it was a case of barrowing the chippings onto the paths. We've been here 5 years and I've always wanted to clear a path / hack a way through / the rhododendrons to create a sort of woodland walk. Today I finally got round to starting. I was pleased to find some old stumps under one of the rhodies because that's something else I've always wanted - a stumpery so now I have the beginnings of one, I just need to find a few more stumps and some ferns to plant around it.
Eventually the path will come out at the working area, what we call the copse. I just don't want to look at all the wood that's there at the moment because I know it means a load more work cutting the logs, splitting it, burning the offcuts and disposing of the rubbish.
Still it's what retirement is for isn't it? RichB said:
Spurred on by having a massive pile of wood chippings left over from when our tree surgeons visited last week we decided to re-do the paths around the garden. As you can see from the pale area of grass we've made inroads into it but there's still a long way to go!
The pond was cleaned last week and the water is beginning to clear nicely, fish seem happy. And yes, we have a problem with herons.
Then it was a case of barrowing the chippings onto the paths. We've been here 5 years and I've always wanted to clear a path / hack a way through / the rhododendrons to create a sort of woodland walk. Today I finally got round to starting. I was pleased to find some old stumps under one of the rhodies because that's something else I've always wanted - a stumpery so now I have the beginnings of one, I just need to find a few more stumps and some ferns to plant around it.
Eventually the path will come out at the working area, what we call the copse. I just don't want to look at all the wood that's there at the moment because I know it means a load more work cutting the logs, splitting it, burning the offcuts and disposing of the rubbish. Still it's what retirement is for isn't it?
What a lovely project. Yes, hard work, but that looks terrific. Please keep posting pics as you do stuff. The pond was cleaned last week and the water is beginning to clear nicely, fish seem happy. And yes, we have a problem with herons.
Then it was a case of barrowing the chippings onto the paths. We've been here 5 years and I've always wanted to clear a path / hack a way through / the rhododendrons to create a sort of woodland walk. Today I finally got round to starting. I was pleased to find some old stumps under one of the rhodies because that's something else I've always wanted - a stumpery so now I have the beginnings of one, I just need to find a few more stumps and some ferns to plant around it.
Eventually the path will come out at the working area, what we call the copse. I just don't want to look at all the wood that's there at the moment because I know it means a load more work cutting the logs, splitting it, burning the offcuts and disposing of the rubbish.
Still it's what retirement is for isn't it? 
Harry Flashman said:
What is the hedging species?
Project use the lawn as a flowerbed continues. So favourite bulbs are narcissus February Gold (flowers have elegant swept back petals), crocuses Vernus Pickwick, Jeanne D'Arc and a giant yellow crocus species (big, bold flowers)
Duffers are crocus tommasianus (weedy little flowers that are barely visible against the lawn), narcissus early sensation (boring flowers) and iris Katharine Hodgkin (weedy flowers barely visible against the lawn and that last only a few days).
Narcissus ice follies yet to flower.
Bulbs planted last autumn have flowered late, whereas the crocuses done the year before have naturalised and came in in late January, so much earlier than their first year of flowering, and they have also multiplied nicely. So I'm hoping everything planted in 2021 also multiplies, synchronises and blooms a bit earlier in spring 2023...at the moment, it all looks a bit scrappy.
Love this and far nicer than a perfectly manicured lawn.Project use the lawn as a flowerbed continues. So favourite bulbs are narcissus February Gold (flowers have elegant swept back petals), crocuses Vernus Pickwick, Jeanne D'Arc and a giant yellow crocus species (big, bold flowers)
Duffers are crocus tommasianus (weedy little flowers that are barely visible against the lawn), narcissus early sensation (boring flowers) and iris Katharine Hodgkin (weedy flowers barely visible against the lawn and that last only a few days).
Narcissus ice follies yet to flower.
Bulbs planted last autumn have flowered late, whereas the crocuses done the year before have naturalised and came in in late January, so much earlier than their first year of flowering, and they have also multiplied nicely. So I'm hoping everything planted in 2021 also multiplies, synchronises and blooms a bit earlier in spring 2023...at the moment, it all looks a bit scrappy.
Hadn't realised there was a major gardening thread on here until fairly recently, my first contribution isn't a good one though...
Moved house in December and only discovered the other week when mucking about in the garden that the entire area is a disaster from a soil point of view. Almost every single area, borders and lawn, only allow a fork to go approx. 3 inches deep before hitting stones, large stones. Can only assume the b
ds who turned this area into a housing estate 20 years ago filled the gardens with crap. Honestly not sure what I'm going to do. Get the impressopn it might be clay as well, a proper change from the nice sandy soil of my old place.Have plenty of perennial containers and dahlias to plant in large pots for interest but will need to have a think about what is worth doing. If we planned staying here forever I wouldn't hesitate in putting the effort in but this isn't the case.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
What a lovely project. Yes, hard work, but that looks terrific. Please keep posting pics as you do stuff.
Will do. I blame a head-gardener friend of mine. When we moved in 5 years ago I had no idea what to do with this wooded area. It has many mature oaks and chestnuts under planted with rhododendrons many years ago that had in time become an impenetrable tangle. You could make a woodland walk, said my friend casually, and the idea has stick ever since. More work tomorrow. 
Edited by RichB on Tuesday 5th April 21:08
RichB said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
What a lovely project. Yes, hard work, but that looks terrific. Please keep posting pics as you do stuff.
Will do. I blame a head-gardener friend of mine. When we moved in 5 years ago I had no idea what to do with this wooded area. It has many missive oaks and chestnuts under planted with rhododendrons many years ago that had in time become an impenetrable tangle. You could make a woodland walk, said my friend casually, and the idea has stick ever since. More work tomorrow. CharlesdeGaulle said:
RichB said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
What a lovely project. Yes, hard work, but that looks terrific. Please keep posting pics as you do stuff.
Will do. I blame a head-gardener friend of mine. When we moved in 5 years ago I had no idea what to do with this wooded area. It has many massive oaks and chestnuts under planted with rhododendrons many years ago that had in time become an impenetrable tangle. You could make a woodland walk, said my friend casually, and the idea has stuck ever since. More work tomorrow. Lots more wood chip shifted yesterday, probably two thirds gone. I finished the path around the back of the woods opening out by the pond in front of the house and my wife got stuck in and shifted barrow loads up to the hydrangea path at the top of the garden where you can see 'Topiary Ted' in the distance, beyond the honeysuckle arch.
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