My attempt at gardening this week

Given this a like because I know you'll get it all done...
couch is the very devil and also sending sympathy re the hairy bittercress - I had an invasion of it a couple of years ago but this year its been mostly speedwell and willowherb.
I'd forgotten what Geum urbanum is so looked it up. Oh yes had that too but not seen it this year. Funny how things go in fits and starts isn't it? Very little Herb Robert this year too.

You do make lovely quilts - what will you do with this one?

oh yes very little herb Robert for me this year. I suspect as I have dug the soil it will reappear due to any buried seed. As will any other seed that has dropped to the floor. Lots of geum and as I had some named ones in there I didn't weed any out. the only ones that flowered were the weeds the named ones must have given up the ghost.
The biggest challenges are going to be lifting clumps of Phlox that are a good 2ft round. It will split apart when I start to pull the couch grass out. There are at least 5 Paeonies in there and then Lysimachia punctata but that is also destined for the compost bin. It was a mistake putting it in and not keeping an eye on it.

The quilt is for selling and then the money will go to charity.

What a lovely idea to sell the quilt for charity .
You look as if you have your work cut out removing the couch grass !
Marjorie.

Gosh that looks hard work Sbg don't over do it, I love the quilt make sure you have plenty of breaks to sit and enjoy your patch work ...

Another like for the beautiful quilt and the hard work, not for the couch grass, which really is a pain!

Love the Autumn leaf colours of that quilt. Raining here today and due to carry on all day tomorrow......I think we all will be turning into crafters of some sort once the darker nights come in - maybe not all of us as professionally sadly!

Thank you for all your positive comments. I did 2hrs sewing first thing then a bike ride out for lunch as it was dry and sunnyish. that changed on the way home though we knew it would. So a tad wet. Pottered about in the greenhouse, potting up lilies after checking them for pests.

Also found offshoots on a day lily with roots developing, on the spent flower stems, so they are also potted up.

You have quite a task ahead of you Eileen. A little at a time, don't over exert yourself. Love your latquilt. My 'like' is for the quilt. :)

I may garden on a balcony but I also know all about couch grass! I used to dig it out of our garden at home, more than 50 years ago! It was a bane on Gerry's allotments as well & I spent many, many hours trying to rid his beds of every last piece of root!

It was the same with Bindweed, I once took a photo of all the Bindweed roots I dug out of the compost (?) heap on my own half allotment & loaded into a wheelbarrow, if I can still find it I'll upload it to my photos page for you to see.

I had to get couch grass from my daylily a few years back thought i would have to throw it but managed to save some especially when I saw how much to buy again, it's a pain isn't it :-(

I've uploaded 3 pictures of all the bindweed & Couch grass roots I dug out of my allotment plot!

Beautiful colours on your quilt Eileen. Very fitting for the season.

I hope you can get rid of the couch grass, it spreads so fast. It won't grow so quickly in the winter so you could do a little bit at a time …
You have two interesting hobbies :)

It will be slowly done Hywel. although the sun is shining today the ground is too wet to do anything with it.

I like using a colour theme in quilts or a theme that is in the fabric. I have one that uses a fabric from a range called 'down by the riverside'. that has otters, herons ducks etc in the pattern.

Same here - sunny but the ground hasn't dried up, and it is too cold.

What a task you have on, Sbg. A bit at a time I find is the best policy. You will be there by the Spring! I was lucky when I came here, it was just a rough grassy area & took me fm Nov- end March to clear, but it wasn't couch grass, it was a wild grass whose roots only spread over the surface & didn't go down the way couch grass does. This made it easier to remove but I still had to pick out every little bit. Some Bluebells were worse & for a long time after their tiny little bulbils.
Love your quilt, lovely colour. I have made a rabbit,also for charity. Perhaps I should put a pic on?

yes that would be lovely to see Feverfew. Is the rabbit your own design?

That would be amazing theme - a rabbit theme. Or maybe something like Peter Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland!

you can buy fabric with the peter rabbit images on them. I made a quilt for my step great nephew last year. its very popular fabric over hear Paul.

i'm sure, but you are the quilt maker. I can't patch my blue jeans!

Some time ago now I posted about my then partner buying a property in the Cerdagne .... couch grass was the best growing plant in the garden, it was everywhere! I spent many an hour trying to dig it out but the ground was so arid and stony that I gave up and resorted to just removing what a hand fork and trowel would release, it was just enough to permit the planted plants to survive and look attractive. Bindweed had just found its way into my veg patch back then, here in the UK. In the intervening years we spent much of each summer in the Cerdagne and the bindweed took advantage of my absence ..... I have spent the last two summers in the UK and much of my gardening has been directed at controlling the bindweed, phew its hard work! I shall be thinking of you Sbg each time I weed bindweed, hopefully with perseverance we shall both win the battle! Loving your quilt too, beautiful :-)

Wow... well done on lots of hard work !

Sorry I missed this SBG. No idea how that happened. But blimey...that Couch grass! Isn't it dreadful stuff? I’ve had it grow through liner and that didn’t surprise me too much. But to see it growing right through the roots of other plants! It really makes me realise how vicious it is and how important it is to get i5 out. So good for you...its a big job to clear that whole bed. I hope you manage to get on top of it. I have some at the base of my apple trees and also my Viburnum bod. I’ve put weedkiller on it...the gel and also a spray. It does the job and doesn’t seem to affect the shrub. I don’t think i5 can penetrate the bark. But I do try to get it only on the grass. Of course, you can only do this where there is a good clump of the grass and its not mixed with the stems of other plants. A really awful weed!