Nursery Visit

We visited an old favourite nursery today. PC & SL Simpson out at Fordham. We went looking for two items, firstly some Irish Yew trees (taxus baccata fastigiata aureomarginata) and secondly a Snowball Bush (viburnum opulus). They only had large specimins of the Yew and a £90 each they cost too much as we want quite a few of them. They had quite a few viburnum specimins and we came home with one.

I also picked up a few other plants; asparagus, aubergines, cucumbers, butternut squashes, and a couple of tomato plants.

Planted: Asparagus - Connovers Colossal

Only two of the asparagus plants that we planted earlier in the year have done anything. I noticed some plants of the same variety at the nursery today so I decided to buy a couple to replace the plants that did nothing.

Planted: Aubergine - Black Beauty

I picked up a couple of plants from the trip to the nursery today. They have been planted in the top vegetable patch infront of the pile of turf I am composting.

Planted: Drawf Beans.

Finally got around the plating them in the ground. They have got quite leggy, but fingers crossed that they will give us some beans to eat later on in the year.

No Rain - A Busy Day.

It's been a full day in the garden today. This is the first time for a couple of weeks and looking at the weather forecast it would seem that today was a short break in the almost daily rain we have had recently. Here is the list of things we got done today:

• Planted out the Fench beans in the top veg. patch.
• Weeded the main veg patch.
• Trimmed the back privet hedge.
• Trimmed the sorbus. Actually this was a good hack back so that it doesn't take over the ferns and the bamboo.
• Weeded around the damson tree and tided up the edge of the lawn between the kids play house and the small green shed.
• Mowed the lawn.
• Laid two more slabs to the left of the green shed. One more and it will link up with the path along the rear of the main veg. patch.
• M. did loads of weeding around the phormium. I now need to get around to re-edging the lawn.
  

New Patio Started

The builders are here to start laying the new patio. They have a smaller digger and a motorised wheelbarrow and have turned the area just outside the back of the house into a mud bath. The stone and edging sleepers should be arriving tomorrow from Bannolds.

Rain

We had constant heavy showers all weekend which prevented any work getting done in the garden. The little time we were in the garden was spent playing cricket with the older two kids.

It is a shame that the water butt I ordered on the 10th hasn't arrived yet. It's actually very annoying, because last week we got a letter confirming the order but in the letter was this little paragraph:

As I am sure you are aware due to continuing water shortages in certain areas there is unprecedented demand for our water saving products. Until June delivery times will be extended to between six and eight weeks of the date of this letter.

The letter was dated the 10th so it looks like we won't be getting the water butt until July! By which time the rain will have stopped and I will have an empty water butt just at the time I will need it the most. What is most annoying about this, is that there were no mentions of delay on the EvenGreener website where I placed my order.

Signs Of Life: Peppers

It looks like the peppers are starting to germinate. I was getting worried and had thought that it may not have been warm enough in the potting shed. Fingers crossed they will progress quickly now.

The Guttering Works!

We had a short shower today and when I got home the bucket under the guttering down pipe had quite a bit of water in it. An identical 'control' bucket, out in the open, had very little water in it. Now I just need a water butt, I hope it arrives soon.

Guttering On The Shed

Today I fitted guttering along one side the large shed. I had planned to get the guttering from our local builders merchants but they only stock Wavin Osma guttering and their mini-fit range only comes in grey or brown, we want black. B&Q do Marley Miniline guttering which comes in black but has the downside of only being in 2m lengths which means I have had to do two joins along the length of the shed.

Now all I need is some rain to test it out.

Sowing: Squash - F1 Cobnut

I thought I was buying butternut squash :-) The picture on the front looked liked butternut squashes to me as I quickly passed the seeds in B&Q today and the Sutton Seeds packet had Squash in large letters but Cobnut in small. Never mind I popped the 12 seeds into 3" pots and I will wait for them to germinate.

Mowed The Lawn

The forecast is for rain over the weekend so I got the grass in the back garden mowed this evening.

Runner Beans Go Into The Ground

Tonight I planted 24 out of the 30 runner bean plants I have. I built the frame that they will climb up out of newly purchased 8' canes. The lashing used is certainly not up to my Dads standard, hopefully the beans will grow quickly and cover my haphazard knots before he sees them.

I am not sure what I am going to do with the other 6 plants I have. I have enough canes but no space left. I don't have any space in the flower borders either.

Mowed The Lawn

I pulled my finger out this afternoon and mowed the back garden lawn while the little one had a nap.

150 gallon Water Butt

Today I ordered a 150 gallon water butt from Even Greener. The recently built platform will eventually hold two of these, but for the time being we can only afford one of them. Now I need to head off to our local builders merchants, Ridgeons to buy the guttering and down pipes.