Our Gardens

Birds nest in ivy rather than the tree proper? You learn something new every day lol. I'll leave it for now then - but I'm leaving everything "for now" because I'm knackered lol. Four days of that is quite enough for any man, I've swept down the paving stones in the actual "garden" bit and it turns out there's more of them than I thought. What are the chances of something nesting in that trainwreck of a shed? I'd like to pull it down at some point but if something's gonna be living in amongst the junk is it worth it? I felt bad enough pulling out the old logs and it's not like there was even anything in those.
 
Old sheds are a big favourite of blackbirds, robins and wrens 😊 We have a wren that nests under the summerhouse eves every year and sometimes a blackbird too. Are you planning on Grass seeding your soil to make a lawn?
 
Bill & Ted said:
Old sheds are a big favourite of blackbirds, robins and wrens 😊 We have a wren that nests under the summerhouse eves every year and sometimes a blackbird too. Are you planning on Grass seeding your soil to make a lawn?
Click to expand...

That's my hope! But I need to get the rest of the debris off the ground first. The dirt/soil is odd, I'm guessing because nothing's been near it for so long. Some parts are just normal soil/dirt, some parts are a very light tan (I don't know how to explain it. At least some of it came from rotten logs I'd chucked there when I was behind the shed, not sure about the other patches) and some of it is almost like coal dust. Colour wise anyway, not necessarily texture. But that sort of grey-ish black that I remember from coal.

Half the trouble was until the ground was clearer the shed was practically inaccessible. As soon as I could get up close enough to the shed I realised just how bad of a mess it was, which is why I removed the washing line. It was an accident waiting to happen. Got a whirligig coming by Thursday hopefully, so I'm gonna stick that up probably on the left side. The ivy and the shed both need to go at some point but I'm torn about the back. There was clearly some sort of rockery at some point and it runs behind the shed over to where the currant is. But a good chunk of the stones are unstable and there's a lot of soil missing near the base of the currant. But do I get extra soil to fill it out or do I use what's on the lawn area (which isn't a lawn but you get the idea) and move it into there instead? I have no idea. This is my first garden. I have no idea what I'm doing lol.
 
I would just dig over the soil and level it if you can, then once it’s rained sew some grass seed. leave the shed, although it’s seen better days it’s kind of nice for nature. You can get a climber maybe to grow up it, Willko’s has many plants for £2 including clematis which would happily grown up an old shed 😊
 
If I take it down entirely I'd be replacing it with something else, but as it is right now it's in an awkward place for reaching behind the pink thing. Might be easier if/when the barbecue goes though, but right now I have to climb into the area left of the tree and walk round the back. There's still some thorns needing fully dug out and a bunch of old rubbish needing cleared and if the shed goes that gives me an area I could plant in, the rockery (for lack of a better word) runs all along the fence.

And honestly it's a death trap. Two walls half missing, one of those has chunks of board peeling at the slightest touch, the door is twisted on its hinges and the final wall is intact but badly buckled. It looks like it's on flags though which I didn't realise til yesterday so that's a plus, I thought there was only a single line making a path.

Some of the brickwork and capping stones need either to be put back in their place or removed entirely. Whole chunks of the wall, really. Around the currant is fine but the weather and the shed have taken their toll. But straight up removing them entirely would maybe be too extreme an option. Without pulling out the shed I can't really see the full extent of the damage.
 
A small portion of my garden this morning….
They said it might snow, I thought no it won’t, never does snow here when they say it will…..well, it is! Doesn’t look like it will hang around, luckily, but it is snowing really quite a lot for now. Just hope my plants won’t suffer too much with the cold.
 

Attachments

  • D3276C70-EBEF-4549-9BA8-9CA9C601B92A.webp
    D3276C70-EBEF-4549-9BA8-9CA9C601B92A.webp
    141.2 KB · Views: 11
Lorcan said:
If I take it down entirely I'd be replacing it with something else, but as it is right now it's in an awkward place for reaching behind the pink thing. Might be easier if/when the barbecue goes though, but right now I have to climb into the area left of the tree and walk round the back. There's still some thorns needing fully dug out and a bunch of old rubbish needing cleared and if the shed goes that gives me an area I could plant in, the rockery (for lack of a better word) runs all along the fence.

And honestly it's a death trap. Two walls half missing, one of those has chunks of board peeling at the slightest touch, the door is twisted on its hinges and the final wall is intact but badly buckled. It looks like it's on flags though which I didn't realise til yesterday so that's a plus, I thought there was only a single line making a path.

Some of the brickwork and capping stones need either to be put back in their place or removed entirely. Whole chunks of the wall, really. Around the currant is fine but the weather and the shed have taken their toll. But straight up removing them entirely would maybe be too extreme an option. Without pulling out the shed I can't really see the full extent of the damage.
Click to expand...
Lots to consider then 😁
 
Piggies&buns said:
A small portion of my garden this morning….
They said it might snow, I thought no it won’t, never does snow here when they say it will…..well, it is! Doesn’t look like it will hang around, luckily, but it is snowing really quite a lot for now. Just hope my plants won’t suffer too much with the cold.
Click to expand...
Gosh it looks cold in your part of the woods! Blue skies down here in Cornwall although a little chilly. Don’t the plants look lovely with a shimmer of snow though 🥶
 
Bill & Ted said:
Gosh it looks cold in your part of the woods! Blue skies down here in Cornwall although a little chilly. Don’t the plants look lovely with a shimmer of snow though 🥶
Click to expand...

The sun is trying to come out and the covering of snow is starting to melt but it is absolutely freezing - max of 6 degrees this afternoon but the wind chill is making it feel like 0. Possibility of more snow later.

They do! Luckily it wasn’t a lot so things haven’t been flattened!
Big change to last week’s 19 degrees when we were sat outside having lunch, spent two hours gardening, started planning the allotment, piggies had a bit of lawn time!
 
Blur skies but very cold here. I covered all the seedlings that had come up in the greenhouse last night. I've borrowed some of the plastic drawers from the freezer as extra covers!
 
I swear it was daylight at 8am, but I rolled back over to sleep so I can't be sure. Was snowing by 10am, and it's bright blue skies and sunshine again now. Hopefully stays that way too, I've a washing line to put up :))
 
There was snow trying to fall when I took my son to college at 8:30am, but not enough to settle. There's some blue sky now but quite a stiff breeze so lots of windchill 🥶

I'm currently on the train taking Squeaks to the Cat & Rabbit Clinic, I've put 2 snugglesafes in the case to try to keep them warm as it's definitely not piggy-comfy weather outside today!
 
We've had blue skies, sunshine, hail, sleet and snow today. A very cold wind as well. I'd just got to the end of the road on my quest to find piggy veg (no lettuce of peppers in local shops, had to go further afield today) when it started to snow, luckily OH was on the ball and grabbed the washing in off the line.
 
Piggies&buns said:
The sun is trying to come out and the covering of snow is starting to melt but it is absolutely freezing - max of 6 degrees this afternoon but the wind chill is making it feel like 0. Possibility of more snow later.

They do! Luckily it wasn’t a lot so things haven’t been flattened!
Big change to last week’s 19 degrees when we were sat outside having lunch, spent two hours gardening, started planning the allotment, piggies had a bit of lawn time!
Click to expand...
It has become extremely cold here too now, don’t think we’ll get snow but a very cold wind 🥶
 
I about had a heart attack at 6 because the sun was strong enough the temp in the piggy room was reading at 28.1C. But the minute I go to put the washing out again you know what'll happen. I think at some stage I'll need to get some sand to set the whirligig properly, unless anyone else has an idea? Concrete's out if only because the letting agent would probably pitch a fit and I don't need another excuse for an incident with them, heh.

Kitty was back too, was very confused by the whirligig. Mr Squirrel was also back, probably paranoid I'd dug up his stash.
 
Its been very cold with a "lazy wind" (goes straight though you instead of going round) today. We have had a few snow flakes but not many. Mainly its been dry and sunny here.
 
The sun came out late morning but the wind has been absolutely bitter. It has also tried to snow five further times today, not lasting for more than 10 minutes each time so fortunately nothing has come of it.
 
I bought flower seeds! Which means I have a question. If I were to clear out the rest of the "flower beds" ie the bit between the small wall and fence, right side of the garden, would I need to buy soil or can I use what's there? Same goes for the left side of the path (or lawn, whichever).
 
Lorcan said:
I bought flower seeds! Which means I have a question. If I were to clear out the rest of the "flower beds" ie the bit between the small wall and fence, right side of the garden, would I need to buy soil or can I use what's there? Same goes for the left side of the path (or lawn, whichever).
Click to expand...

What seeds have you bought?

it depends on the quality of what is there. i think I would dig it over and dig some compost into it to improve quality and drainage if it is compacted
 
Piggies&buns said:
What seeds have you bought?

it depends on the quality of what is there. i think I would dig it over and dig some compost into it to improve quality and drainage if it is compacted
Click to expand...

These, these and these because I am incredibly indecisive and I didn't have to pay as much for ordering them, heh. I'm not looking for "orderly" and I'm all for bringing more bees in. I think what I'm gonna do is order some soil, dig out any remaining thorns that might be in the (tiny) bed between the wall and the fence on the right, then sow. And then give the "lawn" area on the opposite side a rake over, add some soil if needs be although it's not too bad if my experience with the whirligig is any indication, then sow some in there too.
 
You can be a bit less precise with this kind of thing which is good!
Now I see what you have. I would agree that no serious digging is really needed just make sure the are no rocks, large lumps of soil etc, rake it over so it is relatively fine soil and then just broadcast sow them. Then rake them over.
 
Last edited:
Yeah I don't know that I'd get any serious planting done this year. That shed would need out, and some of the rockery walls either pulled down or repaired. I'll be happy getting some flowers in this year and if they're on that side of the path it means I can still walk over the other side to access the other beds and the shed.
 
Lorcan said:
The weather genuinely has it in for me today. Just had it the washing out for half an hour and the hail turned up, lol.

View attachment 199378


It's stopped again now but I think I'll be using the airer tonight all the same.
Click to expand...
I hadn't seen your posts on this thread. What a great job you are doing of tidying up the garden. If you need any grass seed give me a shout, we have loads as Allan grows trays of grass for the piggies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top