Dorset Garden Diary - Frog Spawn and the Birds are Getting Fussy

Hi everyone,

Over the past couple of weeks we've had the coldest night so far and now we have unseasonably warm weather which makes gardening much more pleasant. The garden is springing to life. As is the wildlife. There is already frog spawn in the pond...

this is a month earlier than last year - it appeared just a few days before the beast from the east in March. The pair of blue tits are in and out of the nesting box and we have had visits from the heron and a woodpecker. The small birds, however, are getting fussy. We changed the bird feeder from this (the seed version)

 

to this

because last week we noticed it was at a strange angle and when him indoors went to investigate a rat had managed to squeeze inside the wire outer. Unfortunately, it's tail had got caught on the bird feeder stand and it had died. Not a pleasant task for him indoors to have to untangle the rats tail and remove the feeder. I don't like rats but I did feel sorry for the poor thing. Anyway, I decided revert back to the type of feeder we used to have. But the birds don't like it and they won't feed from it! Anyway, it's staying up...I'm sure they'll get used to it eventually.

Last week was the annual clearing out and tidying up of the pottering shed. Before

and after

Much better. Him indoors also cleaned a lot of the pots and we spent some time tidying the garden.

Today has been very pleasant and I finally got round to sowing seeds:- mustard and cress, dill, parsley, coriander, antohi Romanian pepper, tomato Alicante, razzmatazz chilli, cucumber passandra, lemongrass, organic corn salad, radish and some free trial seeds for leek stocky F1. I also planted a couple of avocado stones to see if they grow.

The hellebores are in flower

the iris reticulata are so cute - only about 6-8 inches high

alpine narcissus - also 6-8 inches high

tucked away behind some leaves a primrose

And indoors the amaryllis is amazing

Well that's it for this week, apart from a light shower tomorrow morning the week ahead looks mild and dry...good for getting out and tidying the garden.


DD

Follow me on Twitter @daisydigga

Dorset Garden Diary - It's That Time of Year Again

Hi everyone,

Hope the snow didn't cause you too much inconvenience. I cancelled my travel plans on Thursday afternoon because the local radio was adamant the snow and ice was coming in at lunchtime and of course, it didn't arrive until the evening. We don't normally get much snow here by the sea but it did settle and hung around until the following afternoon.

There was a heavy frost last night but the sun has come out and is trying to warm things up a bit. I've put the seed potatoes into egg boxes to chit, this year I'm growing Pentland Javelin and Charlotte second early. I'm going to grow them in pots because they haven't done so well in the veg beds although the nitrogen has been brilliant for breaking down the soil. And talking of soil, last weekend we finally put the manure on the veg beds

I sorted through the seed packets today - I can't believe it's that time of the year already. I've put them in order of sowing...March is going to be a busy month! There were a few packets of flowers that were out of date so I've sprinkled them on the flower beds and we'll see if they grow.

I also decided to cut back the other Miscanthus in the cottage garden but I've left about two foot or so of stubble for small animals and insects to shelter in

As you can see there's already plenty of greenery around the cottage garden and the honeysuckle is coming into leaf on the arch.

The daffodils are coming up

and I've no idea what these are so that'll be a nice surprise

A tiny primrose is beginning to unfold

And the iris reticulata have suddenly sprung up, they're only about six inches high.

In the greenhouse the jasmine is close to flowering

the bird of paradise has settled in nicely

and there are more lemons!

That's it for this week. According to the  weather forecast there is a warm front coming in this week but bringing rain with it - think I prefer the frost!

Regards,

DD

Follow me on Twitter @daisydigga

Dorset Garden Diary - Out With the Old and In With the New

Hi everyone,

I didn't think there would be much to write about this week, but the garden has decided otherwise. It's been a chilly week but today the temperature has risen and although it's windy, it's much milder and the sun is shining.

During the week a kind farmer friend of mine dropped off some manure for the veg beds

I had planned to dig it in this weekend but I've run out of time so that's on my to do list during the week.

The fish have been enjoying the milder weather and nibbled at food but weren't really enthusiastic

they just preferred floating around.

I spent a couple of hours tidying up the garden (but making sure there was still shelter for the small animals in case we get another cold snap). I swept up the leaves and yes, yet again I chose the windiest day to do it! I've pruned some of the shrubs, cut back the dead stalks on the plants and also cut back one of the grasses - I've left parts of the stalks because the new ones are forming

The other grass I will leave until the spring when the new growth is well under way.

I picked the lemon today, it's small and not edible but it's perfectly formed

Whilst clearing the garden I came across new growth. The hellebores have buds on them

a potentilla is in flower

one of the daffs is close to opening

 

there are catkins on the hazelnut tree



 the cornus I planted a couple of years ago is now settled and happy

one of the azaleas has small buds on

the viburnum I pictured last week has more flowers on it now

I have no idea what this is but it looks pretty

as does the photinia (red robin)

Spring is on it's way...

Whilst I was raking up the leaves I found some empty peanut shells - obviously the squirrels, no idea where they got them from unless someone has put them out on a bird table and I also found half a walnut so I've planted it in a pot and we'll see what happens.

Well that's it for now, the weather for the week looks calm, staying mild and dry.

Regards,

DD

Follow me on Twitter @daisydigga

Dorset Garden Diary - Happy New Year 2019

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. Our Christmas was quiet then we travelled about visiting friends and family. We managed to get in some walking between the eating and drinking and went to a couple of pantomimes...we're still big kids!! The weather over Christmas was mild, murky and damp and not at all in the Christmas spirit and for a couple of weeks before that it was non-stop rain. But for the last few days it's been cold and sunny with frost at nights.

The fish have been enjoying a full pond and many of them have been near the surface but they are not really interested in eating, whereas the birds are voracious in their appetites and we are constantly topping up the feeders. A few days ago I was excited to see a blue tit going into the nesting box. It looked quite small so I don't know if it's one of the original tenants or a new one but I'm glad it's going to be occupied. We've also had big fat squirrels rummaging through the beds and pots so no doubt I will be finding more buried walnuts.

There have been carrot tops sprouting up so I pulled at a couple to see if there were any actual carrots and...yes there are, and they are edible.

I'm going to pull up the beetroot and fennel to see if they are edible as well. The garlic I planted in the autumn is growing well (next to the fennel)

as are the onions

We have a bit of colour in the garden, the primulas are starting to flower

winter flowering clematis on the left and viburnum bodnantense on the right

The winter jasmine is in flower but it's only patchy, not as prolific as last year.

In the greenhouse the citronella cutting is happy

and...to my surprise...we have a yellow lemon on the tree! I bought the plant cheap a few years ago as it was small and straggly and each year it's been gradually filling out. In the last couple of years we've had small green fruits on it so when they appeared this year I wasn't expecting this

Whatever I'm doing, it's obviously right. This is probably my success of 2018!

Overall, the garden has survived last year's wet winter, the continual below freezing temperatures from the 'beast from the east' cold snap in March, the summer drought and rain for most of December. I think it's amazing how resilient plants are. I wonder what 2019 has I store for it.

Well that's it for now, catch up soon.

Regards,

DD

Follow me on Twitter @DaisyDigga

Dorset Garden Diary - 2018 Draws to a Close

Hi everyone,

Ok...so where has this year gone? It's absolutely flown by and it's been a diverse one as far as the weather is concerned. The beast from the east in March that caught the garden unawares with the frogs laying their spawn just days before it hit yet the tadpoles survived despite being frozen for days and the dahlia that all the gardening books tell me to lift every autumn survived and is still in flower.

But what did have an impact was the early heavy rain followed by the unusually hot summer and near-drought conditions. The flowers and shrubs weren't affected so much (apart from the sweet peas that failed miserably) but it definitely had an impact on the vegetables, especially the root veg. We had a good crop of early Charlotte potatoes but the Pentland Javelin and King Edwards were a disappointment despite regular watering - just these from 6 plants...

Although the carrots fared slightly better they were also a diminished crop as were the beetroot and fennel. Even the radishes and spring onions struggled.

There were no pears at all this year. The first crop of plums wizened as they ripened due to no rain but towards the end of august we had some days of heavy rain and an abundant second crop appeared and they were fat and juicy.

The peas and French beans did well as did the spinach and lettuce crops which was surprising. But it was in the greenhouse where the magic happened. The tomatoes were bountiful as always but this year the cucumbers joined in. Last year three plants only produced five cucumbers, this year we had over a dozen. The razzmatazz and padron chillies thrived in the heat and...this is the first year I have successfully grown peppers.

The lemon tree has excelled itself this year with it's flowers and has even produced a couple of lemons. They have stayed green but at least they're there!

Over the past few weeks we've had abnormally high temperatures for the time of year, we've had below average temperatures for the time of year including frost and we've had high winds and torrential rain. The fish are happy as the water level in the pond is high and they are lazily swimming around, there's got to be over thirty in there now. Him indoors has given the lawn its last cut - it's  trying to recover from the summer but is still a bit bald in places. He's cut back the tall grass growing on the edge of the pond, scooped the fallen leaves out of the pond and pruned back the fir tree in the front garden. I've cut back some of the dying plants and shrubs but I've left most of then as food and cover for the birds and small animals over winter. The other job was to put the vulnerable plant pots in the greenhouse for the winter, although with some of the warm days we've been having the temperature in there has been up into the 70'sF (21+C).

But the saddest thing to happen this year was the loss of one of the  blue tits. They were fine early in the year. They inspected their home and began nesting. It's always been a pleasure to sit in the conservatory watching them go in and out. Then we had the big freeze. It was after that that I noticed the activity around the nesting box was sporadic. One blue tit would fly up, peer in but not actually go in. This kept happening then as the spring and summer progressed, all day every day it was calling from the trees and then it would fly down and flutter around the greenhouse, seemingly hitting it's head against glass. I didn't understand why it was doing this, and it was quite distressing to watch and not being able to do anything.

Last weekend, him indoors took the nesting box down to clean it out and inside were half a dozen tiny eggs nestling in the bedding. So sad. At least they hadn't hatched. No wonder the remaining blue tit was distraught. I hope he finds another mate this year and comes back as they give us so much pleasure to watch.

The garden is looking lovely and autumnal at the moment

 

The squirrel is already rooting around in the veg beds and the pots so no doubt there will be walnuts everywhere again. I hope it doesn't dig up the garlic and onion bulbs we planted a couple of weeks ago.

 

Well that's it for this year. The garden is slowly preparing itself for winter and there are plenty of bug hotels and hideaway places for the wildlife to keep cosy. Catch up in 2019.

 

Regards,

 

DD

 

Follow me on Twitter @daisydigga