improve my garden

Well, I am well on my way due to my first ever catalog ordering of plants, seeds, and even a seed starter kit. My house has a lot already, but it has some definite bare spots. I want more privacy from neighbors too so in come the grasses. I’m excited to see if I can really grow seeds. Fun!

I also pruned some shrubs – 4 bags of trimmings for the dump.

Progress – the climbing rose has grown up to the sun and is getting plenty of flowers on.
The sweet peas have grown halfway and are flowering
The agapanthus have done quite well tho the weather was too cold for them in July – they all flowered
The hosta has been amazing this year.

Action – the courgettes have been awful – I need to improve the soil or feed them.

Our tomato plants are some huge. They’re taller than me and covered in rippening tomatoes. We have three kinds – pink mortgage lifters (antique variety), red grape, and yellow pear. Our pepper plants are also producing – jalepenos, kung pao, and serrano. The herbs all al doing great and the first strawberry is ready to pick! Its been a REALLY wet spring here in central Texas, so I’m sure that’s had apositive effect. Even our fig tree’s branches are touching the ground because they’re so heavy with fruit. It’s crazy.

We dug up a huge fern and re-planted it at the hut.

I moved some tulips and grape hyacinths. Re-potted a fuchsia.

Ashley took composting stuff to dump (you’re not allowed to put organic waste in your bin)

We discovered that the rhubarb we’d planted at the hut had disappeared. Ashley dug it up and we’re giving it another chance in the garden here.

Ashley said the garden was looking nice yesterday. Am very encouraged.

Plus side: where the very ugly plants were I have planted an Acer tree with red, feathery leaves.

I planted two scabious plants and 2 drumstick primulas, both with lilac coloured flowers.

The climbing rose is beginning to reach the sunshine, which will encourage ito to grow more.

I have planted 2 tomato plants in the raised bed, as they were pretty good last year, and 4 courgette plants, which I hope will breed better this year. Depends on ratio of male female flowers.

I popped some scented sweet pea seeds straight into the ground. These are coming up.

I’ve re-potted some of the patio plants.

The ceanothus and the choisia are both blooming, the camelia is looking lovely, (rather hidden behind a laurel unfortunately) and the Magnolia tree has three more flowers on. This is its second year. It seems a bit confused.

Bad side: the pieris which I dumped in a pot last autumn did fine all winter, and now seems to be dying – nothing I can do except water it, but … seems doomed.

Got a lot of debris to take to a dump.

The patio needs sweeping.

to plant those sweet peas. Should I plant the seeds straight into the ground or grow them in pots?

I have a big rambly garden. It’s never going to be a perfect landscaped design garden, and that’s not what I want anyway – but I want to reduce the watering it needs through more efficient irrigation, better mulching, check out whether a bore would be a good idea, collect more rainwater, look into recycling grey water for the garden, and figure out how to combine all these measures into an integrated watering system… any tips or ideas anyone???
I have lots of fruit trees, a big circular vegetable and herb garden, lots of Australian natives, and some cottagey type flowers and ground covers. There’s a walkthrough fernery and a conservatory. Bougainvilleas and lots of hanging baskets full of flowers and ferns and fuschias. Wandering paths everywhere made of old red bricks. You can get lost in my garden.
There is one large corner of the garden that I havent made into a garden yet – I’d like it to be a Japanese-style meditation garden overlooking the vegetable circle. And I’d like to build a really nice-looking henhouse and yard and get some hens again to convert kitchen scraps into fresh organic eggs.

This is a good job for tomorrow.

I am very pleased with the tomatoes. I only planted 2 tomato plants and 2 courgette plants. The tomatoes have flourished becauses I forgot you are supposed o nip out the side shoots. Result: we have lovely bunches of cherry tomatoes dangling over the raised bed.

Split a clump of chives into four clumps.
I potted up the pieris, and two perennials which I might want to plant somewhere later.
I dug up the very ugly plants, and moved the lavender and campanula plants into more sunny spacious plots.
I dug out lots of clumps of dead looking grasses. I found small grass plants and put them in shady spots.
Still more to do but have done most of my twice a year gardening.