LUT Hive Garden Journal 2026 #2

I thought I'd start my LUT garden journal this month with something rather mundane but quite important for me. I cut my small patch of grass for the first time this year, and freshly cut grass smells soooo nice. After previous years disappointment, my lawn is looking quite lush. Little things in life like this can make me so happy.

Last year I planted 24 gladiolus in my planter. Not all flowered, but I still had a beautiful bloom. This year they've multiplied and there's lots of new small plants. I read it takes 2 or 3 years before they will flower. Watch this space 2028.

I've had my lemon verbena for three years and it's still alive but not as bushy as I would like. I cut it back every year but I don't know if I've cut it back too much or at the wrong time. I'll have to check after this growing season.

My fig tree is two years old. This year fruits started to appear before the leaves. Not sure if it's a good or bad sign. Nevertheless, a living plant is always good.

I'm making full use of my new greenhouse. I sowed a lot of seeds in the hope some if not all will be successful.

The four peas were sowed over a month ago and it took them three weeks to germinate. I got impatient waiting after two weeks and sowed more. This time I soaked them in water for a few hours first. Not sure if that helped or they germinated a week later because of the warmer weather. Seems like I'm going to be eating loads of peas this year.

The courgettes were sowed at the same time as the second batch of peas. Last year my single courgette plant did very well, I hope it will be equally successful this year. Since I took this photo yesterday, the leaves on the smaller plant was eaten by gnats overnight 😬

I love bak choi and they're fairly expensive. Sadly I don't have a lot of luck growing them, the slugs and bugs always get to them before me. I'm determined to keep trying and this year have sowed them as seed snails. So far so good. I want to grow more greens, the others are Chinese mustard.

This is a choyate plant, a type of squash the size of a big handfist. Not sure if you can see it's vine. My sister gave it to me, and I buried the vine by mistake for two weeks. I didn't realise that's where the leaves and fruit grows 😵‍💫. I hope it will survive its ordeal. If it does, it can produce loads of fruit. Last year my sister's plant produced over 100. They cost over £1 each to buy, that will potentially save a bit off my food bill.

And finally my radish. Last month I mentioned I needed some easy quick wins in my garden. Radish are perfect for this. The three rows on the left were planted in yesterday and are still adapting. The others have been in a few days. They should be ready for harvest in a month's time, then they can make room for my other seedlings.

Talking of making room in my raised bed, last year I had a big lavender plant in it taking up valuable growing space. The other week I've repotted it in the ground. Now it can grow as wild and big as it wants.

I hope in my next LUT garden report I will have more progress to show you all.