muddygardenerblog

~ My gardening year at work and home.

muddygardenerblog

Category Archives: fruit garden

Finding motivation

22 Tuesday Feb 2022

Posted by muddygardenerblog in February, fruit garden, My garden, Vegetables, Winter

≈ 2 Comments

Hellebores in the sunshine.

I have been struggling to get motivated in the garden this year, it’s not been the weather, although the last few days with two storms have been pretty grim. In January we had quite a bit of sunshine and some nice crisp days with lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Sunset

I have been busy being creative for my customers with new borders and new vistas but my garden hasn’t changed and I have only ordered my seeds for the allotment today. Unfortunately my polytunnel blew over in storm Eunice so I don’t have anywhere to sow them yet, but it’s a start.

New vista so you can see across the two borders from the top of the steps, I’ll come back to this another time.
Before
I have cleared this bed to create a herb garden near the kitchen door.

I despair when I look at my own patch, there is so much to do, but today I sowed some vegetable seeds in a customer’s, only slightly broken, greenhouse and did a bit more to the allotment.

Strawberry runners growing in the gravel.

I have decided to dig up my strawberry bed because strawberry plants don’t really have a very long productive life and they are really diseased as you can see. They came up more easily than I had expected as it turns out they are also suffering with vine weevil grubs eating the roots. I will replace with some new stock somewhere else, probably not as many.

Compost heap
Lines of compost, dug soil and old strawberry plants.

One of my many jobs to do is make compost bins but meanwhile I am combining digging over and turning the compost pile and topping up the raised bed with the good stuff.

There was even a bit of sunshine today!

It’s February, where is spring?

06 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by muddygardenerblog in February, fruit garden, Monthly report, Pub garden, Spring, Vegetables, Winter

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

#gardenblog #wintergarden #snowdrops # gardenersyear #fruitgarden

Snowdrops in the rain

I said that I wasn’t going to take so many snowdrop pictures this year, as I have loads I from previous years, but the drifts are just reaching their peak and I can’t resist. The flowers are opening out now but the cold and wet weather mean that they are lasting well.

Mahonia in flower now.

Well, here we are in February and, apart from a few sunny days, it has still been mostly cold and wet. I am not able to work in some of my gardens due to the waterlogged ground, I am really hoping to get going again this month.

These are borders in two different gardens.

As I write this, I have enjoyed a couple of days of mild weather, with hints of spring, but we are forecast another “beast from the east” bringing snow and freezing conditions; so I have rescued a couple of plants from the floods and fleeced the seedlings in my polytunnel.

Old fruit cage
New fruit cage

On a more positive note, ‘my’ fruit cage is very nearly finished and the new fruit arrived and planted. I ordered it from James McIntyre and Sons and it arrived quickly. I have gooseberries and blackcurrants, saved from the old fruit cage, and a new selection of raspberries, strawberries and a redcurrant. It’s not really my fruit cage but the customer and Trev, who built it, both refer to it as “your” and I’m in charge!!

As well as the snowdrops, the hellebores are also putting on a good show and shoots of the peonies are beginning to show.


Peony shoots.

I have got on well with the muck spreading at the pub with a bit of help from my son. I have also added to the fruit bushes there with red, white and pink currants and an Aronia. The loganberry from the old fruit cage has also been relocated here where there is more space for it to grow.

In other news, I have enrolled on a distance learning garden design course. I have so far enjoyed the buying of materials and setting myself up with some office space but I am finding the measuring and drawing difficult, which is what I expected. I am looking forward to getting to the plant bit and I will update as I go along.

Meanwhile, here’s some more pictures of a Daphne humming with bees on a warm day and more glistening snowdrops.

Daphne, the scent is amazing!

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • February 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016

Categories

  • April
  • August
  • Autumn
  • December
  • February
  • Flowers
  • fruit garden
  • Giant pumpkin
  • Instagram review
  • January
  • July
  • June
  • March
  • May
  • Monthly report
    • October
  • My garden
  • November
  • Pub garden
  • September
  • Spring
    • Garden visit
  • Summer
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegetables
  • Winter
  • Year

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • muddygardenerblog
    • Join 44 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • muddygardenerblog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...