2022 - What I did today

Planted the 13x strawberry runners I'd potted up last autumn.
Pruned the hydrangeas.
Finally managed to pull out the remains of a Virginia creeper I'd chopped down last spring. The thick stump and roots had eventually dried up sufficiently that I was able to drag the whole thing out of the ground. Very satisfying!

First cut of the back lawn. These day I have to help P transport the arisingss up to the compost bins, which might be a good thing as I tend to give them a stir at the same time. A bit of gh work, potting on etc. A lot of weeding out bittercress. I managed to persuade P to relinquish the old climbing frame which is now proudly sitting in the bed for trombas and beans. Also had a lunchtime cup of tea on the back lawn and laid out on a tarp looking up at the bright blue sky listening to the robins have a singing match. A lovely day all round.

Beautiful day today and I planted the first early potatoes.

I've not done much today due to birthday celebrations, but I did manage half an hour in the garden, and in that time broke up all the concrete that NEEDS to go for me to dig the foundations. In fact, it doesn't need much digging - just levelling.

Did some weeding in the pea house. Spotted a few strawberry flowers in there.
Put some timber down about 2' away from the new netting fence where I plan to strike some rose cuttings and plant sweetpeas and mangetout. May turn it into a flower bed (mangetout have flowers!).
Pulled a load of couch grass out from the rhubarb bed. I've been reluctant to walk there until I could see where the rhubarb and elephant garlic were.
Watched a pair of buzzards circling overhead. I trued to look big in case they wanted me for lunch.
Lovely sunshiny day. My washing dried as I watched.!

Lovelyish day yesterday, and MrPP did the first cut of the grass. In shorts, the mad fool. Does he want to look like an English/Welshman abroad?
Mulched veg beds with clippings, planted out a row of low growing hypericum on the bank below a hedge, hopefully it will out-compete the weed, but I doubt it! And spent the rest of the day just doing a zillion little jobs as I came across them - cutting edges, cutting back, weeding, pruning buddlejas.

Potted up lettuce moving them into the cold frame. Sown pre- chatted peas into guttering.

Did the weekly sow list.

A day of Bramble bashing beside the chicken run. The brambles were encroaching on the run, poking their vicious fingers through the wire netting and they always seemed to catch me whenever I went in the run. I'm trying to dig up the bramble roots but some of them must be as old as Spec, huge gnarly roots that spread everywhere.
Bessie sat on the old bench and watched. Every time she moved there was an ominous creaking noise until, finally, two of the planks in the seat gave way!! Glad it was Bess sitting there, not me.
Meanwhile, Ted decided that the perennial kale needed the bottom leaves removed. It would have been the top leaves too if I hadn't spotted him. To his credit, he picks the leaves to eat, not just to annoy me.
Another lovely sunshiny day - I could get used to this.

A long day of meetings meant that I was cooped up most of the day. I had a cleaner come around to give me a quote for a weekly touch up which I found very agreeable indeed, so that should give me more time in the garden

I did have time to go out in the garden after work to pick up some rubbish that had blown in with the wind, and tidy up a bit among my pots and baskets. I had to make sure the greenhouse is closed too, as it got really quite cold over night last night.
I think some of my kale has bit the dust too and will need re-sowing.