Spent a lovely couple of hours in the garden 
Not in a tee shirt though Mags 
a light jumper.
Tidied up geraniums in the old greenhouse and got some weeding and hoeing done - not much though, 'cos my back was killing me.
Hubby had to saw off the padlock on the garden shed, mumbling and moaning about cheap **** I bought :-p. WD40 wouldn’t shift it!
So nice to see little daffodils and primroses in flower and all the new shoots on the roses and clematis.
New growth everywhere, including pansies and primulas that I grew from seed early autumn.
Spent the whole morning trying to do something with the soil in the garden, The incessant rain has panned it down to a slime covered hard crust. Managed to get it forked over and dug in 4 bags of Puckamuck, looks like I need 4 more.
I managed to get an hour in the garden yesterday and gave the back lawn a first high cut. I also tidied the troughs holding the new perpetual strawberries.
I was shocked to see that although I cut off some ivy with a hacksaw in the autumn separating the stem and roots from the top, the top has opened its leaves and appears to be still growing :shock: I guess it must have retained some nourishment and should now die back .
The garlic is doing really well.
The ivy is probably surviving on aerial roots Meg
We finished our lawn too. Doesn’t it make the garden look better? Just the edging to do tomorrow.
Our magnolia tree looks beautiful, this wet winter must have suited it.
I guessed it was something like that Janela
Yes the gardens do look better when the lawn has had a bit of a trim .
This may sound criminal to some, but I spent yesterday digging out huge old fuschia bushes which have grown like triffids. In this part of Ireland fuschia grows like weeds and tends to take over everything. Nice to have reclaimed the flowerbed! Bonfire time today
Nothing criminal in that but considering I’ve lost some this winter and all the cuttings I took :twisted:
Joking apart, it’s nice to clear away old stuff, have you any idea what you are going to plant?
Well I put in a small black elder and acer yesterday, and I left the very healthy bluebells which were there. That’s a start!
I’m trying sweet corn this year, after last years disaster with the runner beans, they are going in their place. I’m wondering if they need companion planting? Does anyone grow corn?
Had a lovely bonfire yesterday, and if I can repeat the performance today I’ll have done a good lot of clearing Even managed a first lawn cut too. I love spring!
Funny thing that we had the best crop ever for runner beans last year Jan using a variety call Moonlight, yet our sweetcorn crop was rubbish…
If you do decide to grow sweetcorn then plant them in blocks of around half a dozen or more about 15" apart so they will pollinate one another, and then pray for lots and lots of sunshine, without which they will not thrive … Well worth the effort though if conditions are right and you have the space, please let us know how you get on…
Thanks Barry, useful advice which we will follow.
Now the two conifers have gone, there is loads of light now coming from the west - so there will be sun all day on our little plot 
We are going to have a glorious summer!
I dug over the bean bed today. Last autumn I dug a trench at the bottom and filled it with rotted horse manure then put the soil back and black covering over the lot.
It has rotted down beautifully and I am expecting a good year for beans
I am going to grow Aintree runner beans again this year. They are not the heaviest of croppers but the flavour was very good. I have just eaten the last of the frozen beans and they were flavourful too.
I’ve now planted my first early spuds after chitting them for six weeks in the spare room, my shallots are now in and I have four different varieties of tomato seedlings potted up in the greenhouse. All systems go now, so I just hope there aren’t too many late frosts this year to spoil the party…
You have been busy Barry
We are still clearing a space for the base of the new greenhouse. I’m waiting to get the geraniums out and seeds started but can’t do much more.
The conifers that were in the way are down and cut, just some small branches to get rid of.
I’m trying not to be impatient :roll:
I’ve spent the last few dry days breaking down the old rockery which was completely overgrown and looked a mess ever since we moved here four years ago. The old rocks were a mish mash of different coloured stone. It has now been transformed into a slate scree area with just a few strategically placed slate rocks surrounded by slate chippings. Well that was the easy bit! (Liar!) all I have to do now is decide on the plants, and with so many to choose from and a wife with very firm views…
I’ve got the first Camelia blooms opening now - beautiful. A friend gave me a new one last year, forgotten the name, its a large snow white bloom with pink stripey markings, it really is lovely. I also have a sort of Cerise colour one with a 3 blooms open, and 2 more plants with buds almost splitting. Next it should be my two lovely Rhodenderons.
I absolutely love all this early colour, its a real joy.
I am thinking of getting a Camellia
My DIL gave me gardening vouchers for Christmas and I have yet to use them.
Mine are in pots and tubs Meg as its easier to make sure they stay in ericaceous compost that way. In winter I bubble wrap the tubs and put a deep mulch of bark chippings over the soil because alot of the roots are quite near the surface, same with the rhodenderons.
If you are thinking about one, I would have a look now, or over the next week or two anyway, so you will be able to see what the colour is like while they’re still in bloom.
Thanks Mups I was looking on line at the varieties available last night and I think they may all be too large for the space I have available.