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IN OUR GARDENS 2026

Lemonella said:
I'm getting very close to doing some tidying and pruning, the wet weather was relentless wasn't it?
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I've been out today Lemonella, more to do a reccie of what needs to be done rather than physical gardening. Its so nice to see new shoots everywhere. Now planning all the wonderful things I'm going to do out there. But first job : move table and bench to position for maximum sun capture when I take out my morning cuppa !
 
Vivienne14 said:
I've been out today Lemonella, more to do a reccie of what needs to be done rather than physical gardening. Its so nice to see new shoots everywhere. Now planning all the wonderful things I'm going to do out there. But first job : move table and bench to position for maximum sun capture when I take out my morning cuppa !
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Sounds good Viv, it's exciting to see new shoots everywhere. Won't be long now until you can drink your morning cuppa in the sunshine!
 
I had a small leak in my summerhouse (less than a year old ) Phoned a local handyman offered him £200 to refelt it ( I had the materials ) he said he wasn`t interested. Is he just too lazy or got too much money? I would do it myself but at 83 i`m not allowed up the ladder after what happened last time. Maybe i didn`t offer enough money?
 
Smudger it seems really difficult to find anyone to do these ‘little’ jobs. I’ve often thought a ‘handyman’, perhaps newly retired could make a bit of money doing such, but they don’t seem to be about!

Another sign it’s Spring… ducks from a nearby stretch of water have started visiting our garden. It’s nice to see them … at first… but when you got out first thing in the morning and there’s half a dozen of them waiting with the birds to be fed, the novelty wears off haha!
 
I have a clump of flowering current shrubs which were here when I bought the house 40 odd years ago but over the years they have gradually deteriorated and last year just looked like a row of sticks with a few leaves and flowers attached. So last autumn I decided I would dig them up in the spring.
It seems though that the plants had a different idea and now they look like this
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I think some shrubs benefit from a harsh cut back every so often.
I had/have a spiraea grown from a cutting my Dad gave me from his shrub. Over the years it has got more woody. So last week I decided it was going. I went to dig it up and the largest bit snapped off at ground level (dead wood). Then I spotted a shoot. It had other ideas..
 

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I have been locked out or I would have been on the forum sooner. We have a rat problem can anyone advise please? We have removed most of well 99% of the food sources as we feed the birds just mealworms now, where we can see them eating it and they eat it all, We still leave water for foxes and hedgehogs at night. We have chickens in the next road which back on to our row. We have 7 neighbouring tom cats including 2 real toughies who we think helped rid us the last time we had them. I hate poison but I bought a box with it in. We had a rat on the fence looking in the kitchen window. He ran up our ivy and into next door where Barmy has a shed. (We had the grandchildren at easter.) I found droppings in amongst our herb pots which put us off using them. Barmy neighbour has piles of junk still loosely fenced off in his garden with rudimentary roofs here and there using the ugly fence he built which separates us. I thought they might be in a woodpile we left for the hedhehogs, in the winter. We saw a small rat taking a chunk of bread into our garage which is full of junk. But I am clearing it. It had gnawed a hole under the door which I have blocked and put wire wool in a big gap where our tree is pushing the garage wall in.
 
Smudger said:
I had a small leak in my summerhouse (less than a year old ) Phoned a local handyman offered him £200 to refelt it ( I had the materials ) he said he wasn`t interested. Is he just too lazy or got too much money? I would do it myself but at 83 i`m not allowed up the ladder after what happened last time. Maybe i didn`t offer enough money?
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We have green algae mainly caused by our unpleasant neighbour, over time, we can't find anyone to clean it with a soft brush, the roofer wouldn't do it but he said use a power washer. I struggle to Gert up the I can'r get done but I am going to have a go hopefully when\if Barmy neighbour goes away. We have had more words. I can't shout anyway and he shouted me down but I wouldn't let up, but he picked the wrong time, when we were eating, he has a ladder next to our window and looks in on his regular trips on to his roof. Sorry if I am off topic but it happened in the garden! It always doors.
 
I Am Nico said:
I have been locked out or I would have been on the forum sooner. We have a rat problem can anyone advise please? We have removed most of well 99% of the food sources as we feed the birds just mealworms now, where we can see them eating it and they eat it all, We still leave water for foxes and hedgehogs at night. We have chickens in the next road which back on to our row. We have 7 neighbouring tom cats including 2 real toughies who we think helped rid us the last time we had them. I hate poison but I bought a box with it in. We had a rat on the fence looking in the kitchen window. He ran up our ivy and into next door where Barmy has a shed. (We had the grandchildren at easter.) I found droppings in amongst our herb pots which put us off using them. Barmy neighbour has piles of junk still loosely fenced off in his garden with rudimentary roofs here and there using the ugly fence he built which separates us. I thought they might be in a woodpile we left for the hedhehogs, in the winter. We saw a small rat taking a chunk of bread into our garage which is full of junk. But I am clearing it. It had gnawed a hole under the door which I have blocked and put wire wool in a big gap where our tree is pushing the garage wall in.
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Nico, I hate killing anything, I'll even put a fly out of the window rather than swat it. but we have to be ruthless with rats because of problems in the past. I hate doing it, they're just trying to survive like any other creature but they go to such levels.... we've had them in the loft before now!
 
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