I seem to have been a little lax in the garden of late, the result of weather or other commitments rather than general sloth, but seem to have made up for it this week by ticking off many and varied jobs on my mental ‘to do’ list. Ridding the garden of excess ivy is not one of those and is unlikely ever to be so, but I was pleased to remove this admittedly very attractive arrangement of ivy from the wall near the bottom of the garden. It began as a single stem snaking its way vertically upwards before branching out over the years into this neat fan shape – a very satisfactory result if this was a fruit tree or other decorative shrub. Sadly, it isn’t, but I was pleasantly surprised that with a chisel and wooden mallet it came off the wall quite quickly in large pieces of matted root; even digging the main root out of the cutting bed wasn’t as onerous as it might have been, although there may still be small sections of root making their way across the bed out of sight.
This is not the only cutting bed to have been cleared, as all but a few underperforming zinnias (I am still hopeful of an odd bloom or two!) are left in the four main beds, although the dahlias are still going strong in the other two.
Whilst working at this end of the garden I spotted the bright ruby jewels of ripened raspberries in the fruit cage and picked all those that were currently ready, almost half a pound. Having picked a similar amount just a few days ago, it appears that cropping has been better this autumn than in all previous years, when autumn picking was limited to only an ounce or two at a time. With ‘double cropping’ my autumn fruiting raspberries, I have already had a good crop earlier in the year (over 20lbs), but have noticed that the berries on this later crop are bigger than those in the summer – a first, I am sure. Hard to tell if it is because the bushes are more mature, or if it is yet another weather-related incidence. Whatever it is, the boost in supply of breakfast raspberries is most welcome.
Work is currently at a standstill on the stream, because the system is still losing water – not from the replacement liner in the reservoir, but in the stream itself. For some reason, the pump seems to be pumping water at a faster rate than previously, creating a raging torrent rather than a babbling brook, thus generating a deeper water course and emptying the reservoir more quickly. I suspect it is the deeper water seeping into the banks that is the main culprit. Meanwhile, I asked the Golfer to cut some netting to place on top of the watercourse to keep out leaves and apples – not a pretty sight but it is only temporary and certainly does the trick, a trick which should have been employed many years ago.
Planting bulbs, a long outstanding task, was largely accomplished today, a great relief. Indoor bulbs are always planted at the kitchen table, so can be done whatever the weather, although today was overcast, bright dry and pleasant. There are a few outdoor ones still to plant, but all ‘little’ ones that don’t need to be planted very deeply, an otherwise offputting chore.
My sixth and final contribution to the Saturday meme hosted by Jim of Garden Ruminations is a wider picture of my Wordless Wednesday rhododendron, R ‘Cheers’, sometimes known as ‘Christmas Cheer’. Although seeing the first bloom took me by surprise, it was not a surprise to have it blooming in October – or any time between now and spring as it has its own calendar and has always picked and chosen when it wants to bloom. Especially lovely to see it in a fading autumn or stark winter garden of course.
Rambling in the Garden 
Those raspberries look delicious, I must check if there are one or two more on mine.
Sometimes the later ones can be almost tasteless, but these aren’t. Have to make sure I don’t pick them when they are wet, which has not been easy recently!
I love that rhododendron Christmas Cheer! It such a lovely, hardy plant and never lets you down! I must grow one in a big pot! I put them in customersā gardens for years and admired them there, but now Iāve cut back on work, I donāt get the chance to view them like I did. Nice to still have raspberries too Cathy. Iāve just collected another margarine tub full of them and Iāll put them in the freezer for winter cakes. Itās been a good year for fruit and flowers. Happy Saturday!
Do you feel better for reducing your workload, Karen? I hope so
Iām coming to terms with a lot of things and feeling a bit better. Thank you Cathy xx
That’s good to hear, Karen. I did wonder if the radio show would have come to an end as I heard something about a big reduction in regional radio…
Luckily, Iām hanging on by my fingertips! I think there are only three of us left doing local radio gardening. Itās so sad for locals who rely on the radio for company and local information.
Yes, I know there was a lot of opposition to reducing local content
Hmmm…I’m wondering how a calendar change will effect the name of plants.
Cutting ivy back on the house is a never ending job here, I must pull miles of it out each year! Raspberries look delicious and your rhododendron lives up to its name and looks very cheerful!
I really need to make checking ivy a regular task – monthly perhaps, to keep it in check. At least it’s not on the house!
Well done on prising off that ivy Cathy! Himself did a similar job recently with some ivy that was making a bid for world domination or to be more precise up one of the house walls. Your raspberries look delicious – which variety are they ? I still miss my autumn fruiting ‘Polka’ which I grew at the allotment.
the brick wall looks nice after the clean-up! and YUM on the raspberries!
Seems steange to have the bare wall again!
The raspberries look better than anything I buy at the market! I wish I could just manage the flow of ivy that crosses the property line, as well as the mass that covers our steep back slope (inherited with the garden) but the best I’ve ever managed is getting it cut back where it encroaches on other plants before the rain returns and sends it on its relentless effort to take over the world.
Yes, keeping on top of the ivy seems the best way to do it – if possible, that is!
The weather has certainly not been garden friendly lately. Well done for getting so much accomplished.
Thanks – i feel all the better for it, especially knowing there are plenty more autumnal tasks to do (like emptying the compost heap and leaf cage…)
You have been busy! Impressive clearance of the cutting beds and I am now hopeful about the removal of some ivy that I am trying to take out at the base of a fence! Those raspberries look great. You may have weighed half a pound, but how much did you collect? š
Thanks – I was really chuffed with all my jobs – but especially with the ivy! Plenty more to remove elsewhere too though š Perhaps bizarrely, I am ridiculously strict with myself about not nibbling any raspberries till they are weighed – except for the very first one (yes, just one!) of the year… š
Glad the ivy has been dispatched Cathy! And that empty cutting bed looks strangley satisfying too. š Did I tell you my rockery at the old house was just a tangle of ivy, several layers deep, when we first moved in, and clearing it was hard work to say the least! Bulb planting is almost complete here too and now we have had rain the last few should be easy to get in. Those raspberries look good. Do you preserve any or just eat them fresh?
The rasberries go straight in the freezer, Cathy, and I just take out a few days supply at a time when I need them (daily, for breakfast) – last year’s just about stretched out for the year along with my poor crop of blackberries. Well done for clearing the rockery of ivy at the old house š Here, I am still hoping to clear some from the floor if the woodland edge border before I throw on some compost and leaf mould. There’s always something…
English ivy climbs high onto the redwood trunks. I cut it at the base and pull most of it down. I try to get as much down without breaking the stems. What remains above where the stems break can linger for years before deteriorating completely. By that time, the ivy is back up in the same place. Ivy commonly climbs more than forty feet up, but sometimes climes twice as high, and has potential to climb even higher.
It certainly has the desire for domination!
I think we would all love to grow raspberries as good as those if we had the room! I do like those ‘bulb pans’ you are using. What a lovely shape and size. Are they recent? I have been on the look out for something like that and wonder who makes them.
I took out our loganberries in favour of more raspberries, Noelle – they always seem to do well and are easy to manage. The pots are made from really chunky terracotta and ironically they came from Poundland! Not surprisingly, at Ā£1 each, I snapped up as many as I could at the time, which was a few years ago, and I have never seen them in the shop again…
ps most of my other pots and pot saucers have come from Wilkos, one of the reasons I am so sorry about the closures…
There is no such thing as too many raspberries! I’m also happy to hear that there are some rhodos that bloom late and erratically, because it makes the behavior of some of the bushes here seem not so odd.
I agree about the raspberries, Angela!! I have had the occasional late bloom on some of my other rhodendrons this year, but none of them flowered at their usual time as it had been so dry last year – Cheers always blooms erratically and it’s fun to be taken by surprise by it!