Last Post 1148 days 17 hours ago
31 March 2010 19:13:29
Just back from Hospital after a hernia operation. I will have to concentrate on low profile gardening for some time.
28 March 2010 22:30:20
Nothing done in the garden to day, like a week ago, I simply relaxed this time in my own garden but strolled around it to see what I will do next. I see Forsythia showing its yellow flowers. Jacinta spoke of yellow in the Spring. The bullfinches I saw earlier dont seem to have done any damage to same. The birds, mainly robins and bluetits are feeding a lot from the box and at times the box has been turned over, maybe to remind me to fill it again. I noticed robins going around with twigs in mouth, obviously buinding a nest. To morrow I will probably get at the bedding plants. I have some like petunias and Nicotiana to pot up. Where will I get room for them all. Last year when I did same i had the geraniums out but no chance of doing this for some time.
27 March 2010 12:58:10
Passiflora
Pruned back the Passiflora. It looked bad but I think it is alive. In the afternoon I continued pruning Senecio. I did a little bit of shredding and potted up sone more bedding plants. i am looking forward to the clock going forward to night so that I can give more time to the garden. One can see that the foliage is not there in Passiflora but I am living in hope
26 March 2010 15:18:12
At about 2 p.m. I got at some more of the senecio greyi and gave it the works. There was good coming from the frosty weather as well as the bad. Plenty of ground is clear. The senecio should be ok. It will sprout again but there was too much area taken up by it. I also pruned some cistus, a little bit withered and some hypericum hidcote. Some daffodils had been removed from the public view and are visible again. Also some moss roses came into view. It also gave me the oppertunity of pruning away some blackthorns. At about 3.10 p.m. a shower drove me in but it was only a shower. I returned when the shower had cleared and raked the area I had cleared. Earlier in the day 10a.m. to 12 noon I was at the Country Market with some tomato plants and a few more. While the tomato plants were quite mature the demand wass not there probably due to people not ready.
25 March 2010 17:48:34
Aloe Vera
To day I was free for the garden at about 4 p.m. I brought out the long handle pruner and attacked some more of the senecio. The foliage looked bad. There was an area where it had overgrown in recent years. I would say that it will grow again. I started with a few cuttings in the late 1970's. Now one might say there is a ton of it in the front garden. Some of it was shelterred during the frost and is safe enough. After an hour and a half, the rain drove me in. The lawn is beginning to look good after spraying. One of the plants I have in the greenhouse is Aloe Vera, very good for cuts, scratches and burns. They grow very well. Often after my work in the garden such as pruning, I use it and the hands heal in little or no time.
24 March 2010 19:34:02
To day I spent some time to day pruning, shredding and spraying. After a good night's rain, the day turned out great with sunshine and warmth. I got my secateurs out and attacked some senecio which was doing very well for years but most of it now is a sorry sight. Most of it was put through the shredder. I also had some prunings taken in February which met the same death. The product went to the compost heap. My roses got a light pruning just here and there. I have seen in English books on gardening to prune the roses about now. However I took Gerry's advice a few years ago and the result has been earlier and better roses after pruning in January. I spent a while later in the afternoon, spraying some more of the lawn for moss. It is a slow process for me as I use a watering can. There was a time when I mixed the ferrous sulphate with the fertiliser but I find that dissilving it in water I get a better job done.
23 March 2010 17:04:33
Rose Beds in front of house
Potted up French Marigolds. Took Photos of front garden.
22 March 2010 18:06:06
Potted the rest of the tomatoes, now 72, all except the beafsteak. These were sown to day. Planted Gladioli, sprayed some more ferrous sulphate on the lawn. It is about half done now. For the first time I had more than one daffodil in bloom in the garden. In other years I might have thought of Wordsworth "Ten thousand saw I at a glance" well I did not have that many but had hundreds. Things were slow this year. I believe that about now in 1970, Dana sang about "Snowdrops and Daffodils" well the snowdrops are going off now and the daffodils coming on. Now I look forward to the butterflies and bees.
21 March 2010 20:41:59
Another lovely day. A day to be outside. I was down South in Myshall, near where Wellie lives. Wellie was there with a group of children. It is not too far from Co. Wexford including Bunclody and would you believe Carlow beat Wexford in the hurling, played in Carlow, so I missed the game. If I had not been in in Myshall I might have been in Altamount Gardens, not too far away. The greenhouse was given plenty of ventilation with the vents open and the heater blowing cold air. so the plants are doing well inside. The plants inside got a good hosing. How pleased I was to hear that we will get rain to night. It will help my lawn and probably at least some of the shrubs. The roses 100 of them are looking good. the pruning in January did no harm to them.
20 March 2010 23:11:06
Potted more tomato plants to day. I have about 50 in pots. I should have some for askea Country Market on Friday. I sprayed another part of the lawn for moss. It is a slow job but if I dont do this I would have a moss lawn. A few members of the Club said that it is not worth spraying for moss but i dont want a moss lawn.
19 March 2010 23:28:49
To day I spread some fertilizer on my lawn. I had just enough for the job 1/4 acre. Shortly afterwards the rain was about to come down. What good luck. Now with the mild weather, I can look forward to some grass coming up. I still have to treat much of the moss.
18 March 2010 12:24:51
March 18. Yesterday was a lovely day, St. Patrick's Day. Did no work in garden or greenhouse but enjoyed what was good. watched the All Ireland Club Finals. It was interesting that Shamrocks won the hurling. The only shamrocks I saw. Surely the frost and lack of rain. To day Deo Gratius the rain has come. My parsnips, beetroot, shallots and grass in the lawn will benefit. Took photos of tomatoes and bedding plants in greenhouse. I can also do a bit of housework which I neglected during the dry period. Daffodils are coming on. Perhaps they will be in bloom this week.
17 March 2010 12:36:08
Continued potting on the tomatoes 16 th. Sprayed some of the lawn with ferrous sulphate. What a change, no sign of shamrock. I always was anle to get it in the garden when digging in January, February and early March. Also no sign of my daffodils blooming. I had them late February last year. To day 17 th no danger of frost, more plants in the greenhouse.
13 March 2010 20:44:37
I dug some more of the garden. Beetroot is down. Almost all of the tomato plants are in the greenhouse now, about 60 due to no frost in the last few nights. 18 of these are potted on. Fertilizer was put on the rose beds. Daffodils are still far from blooming. I had them in bloom in late February last year (2009). Garden seat got a coat of varnish. I am looking forward to the mild weather over the next few days.
10 March 2010 23:10:55
My tomatoes (Alicante) are doing well. They are almost ready to pot on and I hope to do this in a few days time. Despite having a heater in the greenhouse, I am reluctant to put the tomato plants in as the temperature falls a lot at night. I potted up some antirrhinums (50) to day. I will continue with same work to morrow. I continued digging and should have onion sets and beetroot planted. Rhubarb is slow to make progress. I was using it in February last year. Early potatoes have been sprouting for the past month. I will plant them as soon as the weather gets mild. Parsnips and shallots are down at this stage. Begonias are covered in the greenhouse for sprouting. I added a few more to day. The lawn is looking very poor. There is no hope of mowing it for some time. I plan to give fertilizer to the roses within the next few days.
05 March 2010 20:34:11
January 2010: I pruned the roses, about 100. There happened to be a rise in temperature after the Arctic spell. The rose beds are now looking good. I noticed that many of my shrubs were affected adversely by the frost. I hope they will come back. I sowed tomato and antirrhinum seeds. The tomatoes are doing well.
February: Temperature well below normal but no ice on the roads. Planted some more seeds, potted up most of the tomatoes, sowed peppers, beginning to make progress. Crocuses and snowdrops doing very well. The vine is showing some life with the buds about to open. I put some hydrangeas which I slipped last summer into the greenhouse where the temperature is now rising. Succulent plants like aloe vera were not affected by the very cold weather as I have a heater in the greenhouse.
March: I removed the mopheads from the hydrangeas. The buds of same are opening. The lawn does not look good, no sign of growth yet. There is quite a lot of moss in the lawn. This happens every year. One of these days I will give it fertiliser and ferrous sulphate to kill the moss.