What's going on in your garden (2024)?

SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Last night a cold front swept through overnight and in the space of half an hour the constant temperature of 10°C dropped to 2°C. Today didn't get into double figures all day and tonight is already down at 3°C. There won't be much left alive in the garden or veg plot. Anything that over winters will be dormant now, except the lemon tree which seems to think winter is the ideal time to ripen all of those lemons.

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The spring greens & collard greens and such are however quite happy under the cover of the shading material protecting them from birds.

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I'm really sorry that almost all the plants have kicked the bucket. But that lemon tree is looking amazing!
 
We put this azalea in this pot temporarily until we could find an alternative place in the garden. Despite the soil being bad it is rather happy and flowering well, a bit rain battered but seems happy enough.

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I have this week off work, mainly so that I can get some stuff done in the garden. It’s wall-to-wall weeds right now.

We were at the cottage for the long weekend, I managed to get out to the garden centre and brought back some annuals for my shed window boxes and bike helmet hanging baskets. I also made up a hanging basket for the front of the garage (way cheaper to buy plants and stick em in a basket my parents already had than buy a pre-made one. My dad also gave me some wild ginger and geranium.

I’ve got my work cut out for me - here’s the “before” of the veggie garden:
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SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Mine was like that 6 years ago... we had to dig out the lawn to make the veg plot.
I still find that the grass grows better in the veg plot than in the lawn though.
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Mine also used to be part of the lawn, we dug it out several years ago. We always manage to get a lot of weeds there.

I also discovered that my daikon radish I let bolt last year seems to have self-seeded, which I was not expecting! Now I need to decide whether to pull it or leave it. I grew them because they’re supposed to be good in clay soil, but last year they were all leaf and no root.
 
Herbaceous said:
Mine also used to be part of the lawn, we dug it out several years ago. We always manage to get a lot of weeds there.

I also discovered that my daikon radish I let bolt last year seems to have self-seeded, which I was not expecting! Now I need to decide whether to pull it or leave it. I grew them because they’re supposed to be good in clay soil, but last year they were all leaf and no root.
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Plants grown from seeds generated in your own garden are better suited to your environment than plants grown from packet seeds. I'd give some of them a season and see what happens. Your description tells me that the original seeds were not happy in your garden, so you can't really make it any worse by leaving them and seeing what happens.

I typically let all of my herbs or greens self seed. I either collect them and dry them for next season, or transplant to where I actually want them growing. They seem to do much better.
 
Thanks SatNav - I think I will keep them, although I have removed a couple growing in spots where I plan to put other stuff. I also have some leeks I planted last year - they were super small last year, but overwintered nicely so maybe I’ll get a harvest this year.

Here’s 1 day of progress. Got maybe 1/3 done.

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Monday evening, was hoping to do some gardening before the rain returned, unfortunately didn't happen and we now have very heavy rain. My poor lawn/jungle :( I know gardeners are being discouraged from mowing but it really is getting out of hand and it makes it more difficult to find the poo when it is too long.
 
Lullabelle said:
Monday evening, was hoping to do some gardening before the rain returned, unfortunately didn't happen and we now have very heavy rain. My poor lawn/jungle :( I know gardeners are being discouraged from mowing but it really is getting out of hand and it makes it more difficult to find the poo when it is too long.
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We had very hot temps (for here) the last two days, no breeze and bright sun, but I knew today would be showers and possible severe storms (tonight), so I braved the heat and mowed yesterday.

I must say, it was so hot and bright, I finished around 2PM and felt horribly ill the rest of the day, nauseous and a bad headache, listless and very grumpy.

I knew if it didn’t get it mowed, though, I’d be looking at a couple of days of rain, a couple of days of drying out, and then the grass would have been calf-high, thick, and damp, so it had to be done.
 
Swung by the garden centre yesterday and picked up parsley, rosemary, and thyme (I already had sage) and now the song is stuck in my head:
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I also bought a couple cucumber plants, some brussels sprouts, and a wild columbine.
 
Finally done. This took me the better part of 3 days:
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My plan is to plant it up on Sunday, hopefully the weather holds up. I will be solarizing at least part of the soil but I have lotsa plants to go in the rest of the bed.

I also planted up my window boxes and hanging baskets, and potted up the parsley and moonflower. I’ll post photos once they’ve filled out a bit, they’re looking a little sad just now.
 
Herbaceous said:
Finally done. This took me the better part of 3 days:
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My plan is to plant it up on Sunday, hopefully the weather holds up. I will be solarizing at least part of the soil but I have lotsa plants to go in the rest of the bed.

I also planted up my window boxes and hanging baskets, and potted up the parsley and moonflower. I’ll post photos once they’ve filled out a bit, they’re looking a little sad just now.
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Presumably you don't get deer or rabbits or other animals in your garden?

Around these parts, my veg plot has to be fully enclosed because of the native wildlife. What kangaroos and wallabies don't eat, the wombats, cockatoos or rosellas will destroy.

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That's my veg plot under the shading material. I built it using 1¾ inch poly pipe attached to starpickets. The shading material is essential in summer and often winter as well, to protect the plants from the exceptionally high UV we get here because of the thinner ozone layer/ hole.
The structure to the right side is the water tank for the garden and fire service, with the concrete things being the lid to the septic tank. And that big tree to the right and back of the veg plot is a bay tree. No shortage of bay leaves in these parts.
 
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