Weekend jobs - Sunday 29.03.2015

Following from my previous post, on Sunday I continued to do some gardening jobs. The in-laws came over to visit and I asked my father-in-law about some bushes and plants that looked rather twiggy and dead. After helping me out and giving me some pointers, here is what I did.


I pruned this hardy fuchsia "annabelle". This and the plant underneath were already here when we moved in. *gasp* Weeds! Weeds! I know, I am aware. Let's embrace the weeds and move on. This bit of the garden will be tackled this week.

There was a cherry tree at the very back of the garden which fell down during a particularly windy week. Consequently, this suffered some damage. The landlord tidied it up a little but it still had broken branches, and twigs that were rubbing. To avoid wounds, I pruned the weaker branches, and cut back the bush by about 1/3 I would say; I tried to maintain the shape but there are chairs just in front of the plant so we don't want twigs poking out. This is a Lavatera maritima, if you're interested.

This area also benefited from some weeding. I had left some green plants as I wanted to verify if they were weeds or not; turns out they are so next weekend they will be coming out! If, like me, you are unsure as to whether a leafy being is a weed or not, you can always let it grown a little and if you see it popping up in random places chances are it's a weed. I think you can also google the image, but that is something I will try later on in the warmer weather with plants I do not recognise.

This fern and aster were on another bed (in the post about weeding), but I want to use the bed they were in for veg, so I moved them to another part of the garden. They look more at home where they are now, and I can plant around them as well.

Lastly, under the recommendation of my in-law gardener, I separated a fern from a rose. I was careful not to damage the rose, and it was hard to separate both plants so had to use some force. I am unsure as to why the landlord pruned most of the leaves, so I chopped all the leaves off and left the crown. I have moved the fern slightly to the right where it'll be shadier and where it will hopefully grow happier.

And to end the weekend, it's always nice to sit back and flick through your catalogues and see not only what you are going to buy next, but also what plants you would like in the future. Further on I will share my scrapbook on gardening. I am currently collecting clippings, etc and need to find an appropriate way of showcasing tips, images, etc. But in the meantime...