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Another day off, another two and a half hours in the garden. Ow. But I've managed to get all the prep work for next weekend done. All I need now is the compost and such... oh, and the plants. Yeah, remember how I'd started a bunch of seeds way back in March? They're all dead. Every single one. I only had about nine of the little peat pots sprout, and now every single seedling is dead. Including my much-desired tomato plants. *sighs* No idea what went wrong. Probably it was keeping them in the bedroom that did it; there's likely not enough sun there. But they simply couldn't stay in the living room with all those children.
However, I have dug out every single weed I could find as best I could. Can I just say that burdocks are the most vile things ever? They're impossible to dig out once they've set roots. I would dig down by one, and dig, and dig... hit a rock... dig the rock out... keep digging for the root... it never ended! I swear, burdock roots go straight through the molten core of the planet and spawn other burdock plants on the other side.
And if anyone is ever looking for a foolproof way to keep cats out of the flower beds, here's my tip: bamboo kebob skewers. Plunk them in the soil, pointy end up, fairly close together. Cats can't get round them.
I'm also repurposing some old concrete blocks from Dad's old shop's foundation into planters. My cousin showed me photos via Facebook. You take three blocks, the sort that look like a blocky number 8, put two at right angles to each other and the third on top of the angle itself. It's actually reasonably attractive, especially once you get plants in. And unlike the wooden planters we've had for years, the concrete isn't going to rot. I need to level off the ground where I'm putting them, though, so they don't tip and injure a small child. The planters will be set up where the wooden ones are now, by the steps leading up to the sundeck, and should be fairly well out of the way there, so the kids won't stumble over them or crack their heads or anything.
I can say that right now, my daffodils and hyacinths are blooming and making the bees very happy. The tulips are slow to come on, but by the end of the month, they should be blooming too. I'm not holding out much hope for the bluebells, though. I've managed to spot only two plants coming up. I blame the rotten cats; I didn't realize the buggers were getting in under the viburnums and... well, using my bluebell bed as an outdoor privy. Had I, there'd have been a bamboo palisade there long since.
However, I have dug out every single weed I could find as best I could. Can I just say that burdocks are the most vile things ever? They're impossible to dig out once they've set roots. I would dig down by one, and dig, and dig... hit a rock... dig the rock out... keep digging for the root... it never ended! I swear, burdock roots go straight through the molten core of the planet and spawn other burdock plants on the other side.
And if anyone is ever looking for a foolproof way to keep cats out of the flower beds, here's my tip: bamboo kebob skewers. Plunk them in the soil, pointy end up, fairly close together. Cats can't get round them.
I'm also repurposing some old concrete blocks from Dad's old shop's foundation into planters. My cousin showed me photos via Facebook. You take three blocks, the sort that look like a blocky number 8, put two at right angles to each other and the third on top of the angle itself. It's actually reasonably attractive, especially once you get plants in. And unlike the wooden planters we've had for years, the concrete isn't going to rot. I need to level off the ground where I'm putting them, though, so they don't tip and injure a small child. The planters will be set up where the wooden ones are now, by the steps leading up to the sundeck, and should be fairly well out of the way there, so the kids won't stumble over them or crack their heads or anything.
I can say that right now, my daffodils and hyacinths are blooming and making the bees very happy. The tulips are slow to come on, but by the end of the month, they should be blooming too. I'm not holding out much hope for the bluebells, though. I've managed to spot only two plants coming up. I blame the rotten cats; I didn't realize the buggers were getting in under the viburnums and... well, using my bluebell bed as an outdoor privy. Had I, there'd have been a bamboo palisade there long since.
