Knockdene garden in 2021

  Sunrise     08:13     Sunset     16:59 Still cold this morning, but dry. The wind has dropped a good bit. Nice sunrise.

Sunrise     08:16     Sunset     16:55 A grey morning but dry. It has rained overnight. I got into the garden for a short time, but it was very cold. We measured the garage roof for a new cover, will sort that during next week. I did some sorting of the greenhouse parts, but it was too cold for much else. A wicked wind today.

Sunrise     08:18     Sunset     16:53 It has been very wet overnight. The rain has now stopped and the forecast is a little brighter. The rain has lingered longer than I expected, now 11:00 and still mizzling. Alison has bought some flowers, Tritelia Laxa, we will have to work out where to put these. Alison is going to put them in a pot and move them as she sees fit. After lunch I went up to Towerview and picked up grandson Jayden. I brought him down to the garden and he cut up the plastic wrapper that our storage box had come in. I intend to use this as a weed barrier in the veg garden, he has done a great job. When JJ was doing that, I finished off yesterdays job, moving the content of the current compost bin into another bin in the new position. When that was done JJ helped me move the bin into position beside the other two. Great job. When we finished that job we started on the new greenhouse. This is a greenhouse that started life here in Knockdene ma...

Sunrise     08:20     Sunset     16:51 A better day today, I hope to get more done in the garden.   When I got into the garden I decided to finish moving the compost bins. The two in the new place had space beside them so I cleared that, moving the soil into one of the raised veggie beds.  When that was finished I covered the cleared ground with a piece of corrugated iron. That left me ready to move the compost from the 3rd bin into the new position. Wheelbarrow got a good using today.  I got the bin ⅔ moved and decided to finish for the day. Have to leave something for tomorrow. 

Sunrise 08:21     Sunset     16:49 Still very cold,  although it is raining this morning, not heavy but raining. We were not able to get into the garden other than to feed the birds because of the weather. I did go into my potting shed about 15:00 and tidied up a bit, watering those plants that needed it. These are the chrysanthemum cuttings done a week or so ago.

Sunrise     08:23     Sunset     16:47 A bright and very cold start to the day. Looks as if we might get into the garden later. I moved another one of the compost bins across the garden to it's new place on the South side of the garden.

Sunrise      08:24     Sunset 16:45 We  awoke to a white out. Snow overnight. Cold outside.  I went out and refreshed the birdseed. I thought it would be good to have a couple of photos with the snow, it doesn't happen that often. Front Garden Back Garden Unable to get onto the garden properly I decided to plant some seeds. I planted a tray of Onion Ailsa Craig, spray watered them and set them up in the greenhouse under the grow lights. Will watch with interest. The grow lights are definitely helping the lettuce plants.

Sunrise 08:26     Sunset 16:43   A very frosty start to today, lots of lovely sunshine as well. We will start to build our new outside storage box, bought yesterday. I got some good advice from BBC Gardeners Corner this morning about growing my 2 Orange plants. I got a mention in about my Witch Hazel, see photo below. Now for a construction job. Alison and I started on the box, it was extremely cold. Half an hour at a time did us. We persevered through the cold and by 15.00 we were finished. It is a great job.  Alison decided we were going to get cabbage for one of our meals this weekend.

Sunrise 08:27     Sunset     16:42 A bright start to the day with bright sunshine. Frost overnight, cool outside. Before starting anything difficult I thought it might be nice to see what is shining out this morning in the sunshine. I found a few bright things to photograph.     I arranged for son Gary to come with his van and we picked up the storage unit from Homebase. It looks very good. We unpacked it and will construct it in the morning.

Sunrise 08:29     Sunset     16:39 A nice looking morning, but when I stuck my head outside to bring in the bin, it was baltic, really cold. I had a few errands to run today, so I started that this morning. I bought some seed trays and some Sweet Corn seed today, Swift F1. I am going to try Sweet corn this year, never had any luck before. I also bought some Chilli seeds, Prairie Fire, mostly because they were a bogof with the Sweet corn. I had a look at the plastic storage units and we decided when I came home to buy one. I got it click and collect from Homebase. I will pick it up tomorrow with Gary and his van. It is too big a parcel to get into the car. When I did get into the garden, Alison came with me and we finished off the bark laying on the paths in the veg garden. Alison weeded the bed we used last year for the Brussels sprouts, a little bit of work and we can plant it out. We now have 4 empty beds to plant up, one for the Strawberries is the only plan at th...

  Sunrise     08:30     Sunset     16:37 The rain has stopped thank goodness. I decided to finish the moving of the Pear tree. I dug a large hole at the top of the garden where I had strimmed on Monday. It took some doing, there were lots of roots in the ground, probably belonged to a Beech tree that was felled some years ago.  I cleared all the roots and had a good hole, big enough to take the root ball of the Pear.  I lined the hole with some garden compost and set in the Pear. I weeded the top of the roots and back filled the soils taken out earlier. A bit of straightening and firming in and job done. I have not staked it, the root ball is quite firm. I will watch it during big wind, if needed I will support. A good day in the garden after yesterday’s rained off day. 

Sunrise     08:31     Sunset     16:35 A wet start to the day with a wet forecast, Storm Christoph apparently. An extremely wet day, it never stopped. I got a couple of other bits removed from the shed, no real gardening.  

  Sunrise 08:32     Sunset  16:33 A dry morning I'm off this morning to get the car serviced, depends when I'm back what I get done today. Home about 11:00, to go back at 15:00. I went to Lidl and bought 3 Hellebores for £3.50 each, best value I have seen anywhere. I planted them in the front border, I hope they will do ok. I then went to the back and strimmed the area I am going to plant the Pear tree in, it should make it easier to do the job. We are getting a bad forecast for tomorrow, so I may leave the Pear until Wednesday. The Hellebores planted close to the others in the front bed. When I had the strimmer going I strimmed some longish grass around the Plum trees.

Sunrise      08:34     Sunset 16:32 A good looking morning. Should be able to get things done in the garden today. I started on the raised bed that grew the Kale last year. I put a good 100cm of my own compost on the top. It will be ready for whatever later in the year. There are still a couple of cauliflowers growing from last year. I weeded the Japanese Onions I planted last year, they are growing well alongside a row of Scallions. After a bit of a break doing other things, I decided now was the time to move the Pear tree. We have 2 Pear trees in the garden, one about 3 years old and bearing fruit, the other 7 years old and has never given fruit. I went up to the fruit bearing one to see about moving it. I cleaned up the Gooseberry patch, weeding and a small bit of pruning. Then I set about the Pear. I got it loosened with a good rot ball and I enlisted Alison's help to get it lifted and into the wheelbarrow. She was able to use the spade to help me with the l...

Sunrise 08:35     Sunset 16:30 A grey morning with a reasonable forecast. I got the rest of the stuff in the shed off loaded to it's new owner and 2 more bags of bark bought for the veg garden. Here are a couple of photos of the back garden, one is the back garden, the other is the South facing fence with the Peace tree still covered in plastic to prevent the Peach Leaf Curl fungus getting onto the tree.

  Sunrise 08:36     Sunset 16:28 A reasonable morning, after overnight rain, it is drying up. I spent the morning doing a bit of running around. I got some bark for doing my paths. I came home and put them onto the paths in the veg garden. The paths are looking good now. I bought some Gentiana Verna seeds recently, so I planted them in a seed tray and put them into the greenhouse. These are the normal Blue Gentian that are seen growing wild, especially in the Burren in Co. Clare. It will be interesting to see what I get. The rest of the day had dried up, but the forecast was for rain and wind overnight, by the time I was going in the wind  was rising.

 Sunrise 08:37         Sunset 16:26 A better morning this morning, the rain has just stopped with a forecast of it being a nice day. It is still a grey morning. I spent the morning in the potting shed getting the Alouise Pink chrysanthemum cuttings done. I potted individual cuttings into a large pot, the ones that turn out good I will pot on further to grow on, eventually planting them into the garden. The sun has come out at 1350, lit the garden up. I came out and decided that I should finish the bed I started at the Fig. The 4th side needs finished off and then top up the levels and plant something. I used what had been taken off the end closest to the fig to bring the level to the same as the rest of the bed. A bit of cutting and screwing did the job. When I finished the side, I topped cup the level, just above the level of the leeks planted in the Autumn and upgraded the soil with lime and some fertiliser. I then planted 50 red onion sets, "Re...

Sunrise 08:36     Sunset 16:25 Not a nice day,  rain when we got up and forecast to stay raining all day. Did a few things inside this morning, going out now, 14:30 to start on the chrysanthemums. I made up a new mix of compost, grit and vermiculite into which I can put my cuttings. Checked the greenhouse and rest of the garden and then went in. Not a good day in the garden today, it never stopped raining. Tomorrow is another day.

Sunrise  08:39       Sunset 16:23 Dry this morning, forecasting rain this evening. Alison decided we should do the Strawberry bed today. There were a few alpine  strawberries in there last year. We marked the real strawberries so we hope to have a better patch in 2021. We lifted all the strawberries and discarded the alpine ones. We top dressed the bed with some home made compost and will replant it between today and tomorrow. We have to go through what we lifted this morning and get the good plants ready for transplanting.

  Sunrise today at 08:40,  Sunset at 16:21 Not much sun to see today. It has rained overnight. I went into the greenhouse this morning to take photos of the Orange plants. I wanted to send them to David Maxwell for Gardeners Corner. To see if any of his experts could identify the little critters that are eating the leaves. When I set the plant up for photos I noticed something very small moving around the plants. The best photos I got are below. I have no idea what they are. I have sent them off to David, perhaps he can get an ID. The last three photos are of the plants, miniature oranges can bee seen in the 3rd from last. There are even flower buds showing on the plants. They are "Calamondin" orange plants, with scented flowers and small fruits. At 14.00 there appears to be a little mizzle coming down. I will plant up the figs that I got from yesterday's pruning.  I went out to the potting shed and sorted through the fig prunings. I had 5 that we...