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 There were a few packets of flowers that were out of date so I've sprinkled them on the flower beds and we'll see if they grow.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

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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

 

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Dorset Garden Diary - Carrot-shaped Carrots and a Giant Radish

Hi everyone,

Greetings from sunny Dorset. It was a chilly 6C 43F this morning but it's quite warm now in the sun. We've had some spectacular sunrises and sunsets and it's been quite balmy during the day. The temperature has been steadily dropping during the nights which has led to some early morning low lying fog

Yesterday we had much needed rain. The garden is still looking good although autumn is creeping in and the leaves are falling. The grass is growing again from the summer drought but it's all patchy and the ground is now uneven so him indoors will be sorting that out in the spring.

I've been clearing the leaves from the pond (to help keep the water healthy) and I've left the netting cover off a few times during the day because there are a lot of (huge - 5-6 inches long) blue dragonflies hovering around trying to get to the water.

I pruned the goji berry and buddleia at the top right of the garden that had become entangled

it still looks a bit of a mess but at least it's a pruned mess! I've given the quince tree it's first pruning

and cleared away all the stinging nettles and brambles that were growing round the base. I was going to prune the hazelnut tree but there are some fruits on it so I'll have to do it in the winter.

Today I've picked the last of the tomatoes and cut down the plants. I was going to do the same with the cucumber plants but they are still producing as are the padron peppers. I've put the lemon tree in the greenhouse because of the chilly nights. Not sure if these will develop into actual lemons but it's looking healthy

I need to put next year's onion and garlic crop in this month so I started to empty and dig over the veg beds. The beetroot haven't been brilliant this year

There are still some carrots left (straight and carrot-shaped!)

I will dig up the rest next week. The radishes have sort of run away with me, the large one is around 9 inches long

but unfortunately too woody to eat.

This is the time of year that we are advised to lift dahlia tubers for over-wintering. I've never done that, yet despite the freezing snap in March mine has survived and the yellow flowers are striking against the chocolate leaves

 

We have other colour in the garden - the sunflowers are persevering

beautiful antirrhnums (snapdragons)

Russian sage

the geums are back in flower

and I've not seen the dwarf lilac this colour before, it's usually shed it's leaves while they're still green

Red berries on a shrub that's peeking through from next door

and the gentiana in the pond garden has come into flower again

There is plenty to do over the next couple of weeks. The shading cover needs to come off the top of the greenhouse; I need to clean and disinfect the greenhouse when the cucumbers and peppers have finished; dig up the rest of the carrots; dig compost into the veg beds and plant the onions and garlic; put the tender pot plants in the greenhouse once I've cleaned it; clean the pots and trays for next spring and, of course, tidy up the pottering shed...oops!

And this is the view down the garden from the kitchen

It's going to be another cold one tonight then it's going to warm up during the week with rain coming in towards the weekend. Happy gardening...

Regards,

DD

Follow me on Twitter @daisydigga