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The job I hate doing in my garden.

29 comments


Today I spent three hours scarifying my front lawns. I still have the two back ones to do. My front garden is on a slope and north facing so moss is a problem here in Glasgow. We also get a lot of rain. Scarifying the lawns after applying a weed and feed is a must but it takes the grass a few weeks to recover. It takes me a few weeks to recover too. I do this job twice a year……spring and autumn. What is the job you hate doing most in your garden?

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Comments

 

Oh that's back breaking Linda! well done you, would finish me off, if I had to do it!!
The job I dislike is tying in the new clematis shoots, we have a lot of clematis, and it's such a pain, trying not to break the new delicate shoots, and I always manage to forget some, then have to untangle a mass of unruly stems........

23 Apr, 2018

 

I hate weeding though I quite enjoy taking a light flame gun around. At the moment our terrace steps look a mess. OH usually keeps them looking immaculate but that sort of task is out of the question at the moment. It is frightening how quickly Nature starts taking over.

23 Apr, 2018

 

The one job I most dislike is spraying the roses every 2 weeks... We have 30+here,so it takes a while and the spray container is quite stubborn... Seems to become blocked frequently.

23 Apr, 2018

 

Fortunately that's not a job I have to do on our balcony! LOL! ??? The town council cuts the "lawn" every couple of weeks but they leave the grass cutting on the grass & when they start to dry out they get blown all over our balcony! Guess who has to clean them away! No prizes for the winner! ?

It is something I've done on other people's lawns & I even did it when I was still a "youngster" on my parents front lawn - back in the very early 70s! It was a very small lawn & I had the job of looking after it. ?

23 Apr, 2018

 

Probably weeding is near the top of the list (done two big barrowfuls so far with more to go)but when we get round to dredging the pond in the autumn that will likely be top.
Scrubbing our plant pots is not a favourite either.

23 Apr, 2018

 

A lot to do then Linda I know the feeling when I hada huge lawn poor you . I detest trying to pick thousand Sycamore seeds out my paths garden with my helping hand and hoe where I can't get to them all from next doors tree.

23 Apr, 2018

 

Gosh..reading through all the comments so far, I realise that there are some very onerous jobs we have to do regularly. Washing terra pots, scarifying, spraying roses. No, none of those are much fun. Its the autumn clear up that I find the worst. All that muck and rubbish to clear away and nothing afterwards but months of winter. Thank goodness its Spring! :)

23 Apr, 2018

 

I have a Clematis,DD, that just snaps if I touch it. It is very annoying to break off buds.
I have always fancied a flame thrower especially for weeds on the path, Eirlys. Weed killer isn't good on a slope.
My dad had a lot of roses ML. Spraying them was a sacred duty. ☺️
I hate it when lawn mowers don't have a pick up box, Balcony. It makes the lawn go yellow and it looks so untidy.

23 Apr, 2018

 

I did my least favourite job yesterday, weeding all the gaps in a serpentine brick path. It takes a couple of hours and the result is worthwhile, but it's a thankless monotonous task.

23 Apr, 2018

 

I hate 'being defeated' before I start! We have one flower bed which is filled with celandines and I just don't know where to start!
So, weeding, is probably the job I enjoy doing the least!

23 Apr, 2018

 

Oh I'm so glad I got rid of the lawns ! I never liked a lawn. I find them boring. Grass is meant for fields.
Everyone wouldn't agree but I'm entitled to my opinion :)

I don't think there's anything I hate doing in the garden, now that I haven't got lawns.

23 Apr, 2018

 

You are so lucky to be free of them, Hywel.

24 Apr, 2018

 

Can't think of anything that I dislike immensely, but agree with Hywel and keep nibbling away at the lawns as I would rather weed flower beds than cut lawns!

24 Apr, 2018

 

not sure I have a worst job. But OH scarified our grass [lawn is too fanciful a name] yesterday. He bought a petrol driven one a few years back but didn't buy the collection box [an extra £80] so he has to rake it all up or I have too. But as I was digging out the contents of an old compost bin I avoided that.

YES I do have a worst job, tidying up after OH has 'helped me' with one of mine. That sounds ungrateful I know but last year he removed the dead stems from Lilium pardalinum. When I was putting stuff in the compost bin I noticed at least 6 stems complete with their bulbs. needless to say they were rescued and potted up. He then 'sulked' because I'd found fault with what he'd done. Am I the only one with a beloved like this?

24 Apr, 2018

 

SBG...snap!

24 Apr, 2018

 

Ok.....weeding is up there at the top with scarifying. Cleaning pots? Yes it is up there too. I hate Barry helping me in the garden. Yes it is up there.
I spent two hours digging in Barbara and my new veg patch to take the green beans. I don't like heavy digging either. The potato patch took longer.
I am glad to say I love working in the garden so there must be lots of great things to do.

24 Apr, 2018

 

Hi Linda, I can't say I actually HATE any job in the garden, but I think trimming the privet hedge, would have to be my least favourite job, but I always wait until after they've flowered, that way I only have to do the job once a year, plus I like the scent of the flowers, Derek.

24 Apr, 2018

 

Oh, Derek I forgot about the hedge. Ours is extremely high at the back of the house and needs cutting at least once a month. I need an arm extension to reach the far side as the land is on a slope. We also have some Cotoneaster bushes rounded at the top. They are high too so I cut them back during the winter. Maybe I just need a bigger ladder.

25 Apr, 2018

 

Hi Linda, or a pole pruner / hedge trimmer, makes the job a bit easier, it's not so much the cutting, it's the cleaning up afterwards, even though I put a tarpaulin down, there's always quite a lot misses the tarp, and need sweeping up, Derek.

25 Apr, 2018

 

I was looking at one in Homebase last week. We have a hedge trimmer that extends but it is a bit heavy for me. I can change the angle too.

25 Apr, 2018

 

Hi Lina, I think g-tec do a battery operated pole pruner / hedge trimmer, but it seems a bit expensive to me, [can't remember the price, but I think all their stuff is expensive]
I have a fox garden commander with a strimmer, hedge trimmer, brush cutter and chain saw, very useful tool, I seem to remember I had to pay extra for the extra 1 metre extension, otherwise it just has one pole, which makes it about 5ft long, with whichever tool on the end, Derek.

26 Apr, 2018

 

I will take a look at g-tec, Brian. Fox looks good but the reviews are not so good.

28 Apr, 2018

 

Hi Linda, it must be the luck of the draw, the only trouble I've had with mine ,is the strimmer spool kept cutting the line, they sent me a new one, and no trouble since, Derek.

29 Apr, 2018

 

Glad that is your experience, Derek. Our Laurel bushes are a huge job, it takes us a week. The last three years my friend's son has cut them. His team of gardeners have them done in a couple of hours. He charges £30 an hour. Before that we were charged £100 a bush.

29 Apr, 2018

 

WOW, that is outrageous, you should be able to get a small tree cut down for that price, Derek. [the £100 per bush I mean}

29 Apr, 2018

 

Wildrose I am ashamed to say the only remedy for celandines is glyphosate, before they set seed.Otherwise the seeds explode all over the place and the tiny little corms (or whatever they are) break off and come back worse than ever. We have literally thousands of them.Its a heartbreaking job, partly because the flowers are so beautiful and partly because I feel guilty using glyphosate. If anybody else has a better remedy please do tell!

29 Apr, 2018

 

I had missed this Linda but my most hated job is trying to clear the driveway at the front, we've been here over 40 yrs and I've never yet managed to kill off the Mares Tail and Creeping Ground Elder, years ago I used to be able to get rid of it for the summer with weed killer, in recent years and the banning of so many products, nothing seems to work so I'm always out there tackling the darn stuff...

28 May, 2018

 

I have lots of things i find tedious.
1. cleaning up the mess after pruning, cutting, sawing etc.
2. spraying so Deer won't eat.
3. seeing Chipmunks at all, and eating all.
4. Heat and have to DO.

But I love my gardens and do all this stuff in spite of the
above, and feel it's just part of the plan.

6 Jan, 2019

 

Ground elder in Sweden is a nightmare.......so are dandelions, Linclass.
No pain no gain, Wells. :0)

6 Jan, 2019

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