quote:

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Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Rowboat harvesting here!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:
- and what surprises lurk beneath the soil.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

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Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Rowboat harvesting here!

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Ah yes. Are you doing rice again this year, or just going in for water chestnuts?

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quote:

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Chillies in the porch went well last time, I shall plant them earlier methinks, I kept lots of seeds.

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Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
Spuds in containers definitely have less slugs (and are easier to add slug control to!), but they will need plenty of water. I got lots of small tubers this year, obviously still need to throw more at them.

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Originally posted by daisydaisy:
Do they do armpit-length gardening gloves for gooseberry pruning?

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Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
Oh, I'd forgotten about the gooseberries!

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quote:

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quote:

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Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
Oh, I'd forgotten about the gooseberries!

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Done!

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Originally posted by daisydaisy:
Inspired by the BBC Great Gardeing revival I'm wondering about turning the quagmire that is my front garden into a herb garden - I'd need to dig a lot of gravel/stones into the soil to let it drain enough for herbs and get rid of something vaguely resembling a hedge, but I think there is potential there.

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Two words: raised beds.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Georgiaboy, I hope your lemon tree makes it! (What variety is it? I'm very surprised you have one growing there.)

Hopefully it will throw out new leaves in the Spring. My bit of advice...Do not try to prune or trim it until all danger of frost is over.

Also, the next time you have cold temps predicted, since you can't cover it, I recommend stringing mini Christmas lights all over it. Not LED, you need lights with a little heat. That will often keep trees from damage if the temps aren't too low.
 

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Posted by Siegfried (# 29) on :
 
We had a hard freeze here in north Florida last week--first in 2 years--and I'm waiting to see what permanent damage was done. I don't go in for tropicals, so there is nothing I'm certain is dead. Worst case, I have to replant a cluster of pentas that are borderline hardy in this area.
In about 3 weeks, I'll see where the squirrels have replanted my bulbs.
 

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Posted by georgiaboy (# 11294) on :
 
JJ -
My landlady, who gave me the tree, SAID it was a Meyer Lemon, but I don't think so; the fruit seems more like standard issue lemon. It's been in the ground through two winters, this year had only two lemons, but the previous year had 14!

I'm leaving it strictly alone until signs of life in the spring, when I'll prune judiciously. Thanks!
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
Here in Michigan January is basically a time to peruse garden catalogs (what I affectionately refer to as "seed porn"). It's great fun, although my ambition outpaces my ability.

Earlier this year I was all about landscaping the long, sunny side of our front garage, which we've been planting in annuals for the past few years...the more I think about it though, the more I'm thinking I should plant vegetables here, because it's easily the sunniest garden patch we have. The "real" vegetable garden, I'm considering saving for shade-tolerant veg and flowers.

Our patio-side perennials need some love this year...one problem I face is the fact that the roof drips rain heavily in to the beds, washing out plants and creating a trench all the way around. The original owners had this area all planted in white spirea, which was able to take the water...I think that's a little boring. I'm not sure how to fix the problem.

And all this is predicated on my physical ability to garden in a consistent manner, which my health has not allowed me to do in the past year. Feeling a little frustrated.
 

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Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :
 
Gardening season starts here on the Victoria Day Long Weekend, which is the Monday closest to Queen Victoria's birthday, May 24. Except last year, gardening season began in June because we still had snow until then. And ice on the lake. Gardening season ended about Aug 20 when it went to -4 for several days. So instead of our 100 days of summer, we got about 75. Suckage!

I'm feeling rather envious just now. You flower power people you You YOU! Ah, but what's summer anyway, but 3 months of bad skiing (tries to convince self....
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
LutheranChik, would there be any possibility of diverting the rain water through guttering or some such? It's hard to imagine anything but grass growing under rain drips like that! I'm impressed you have anything there!

[speelink]

[ 17. January 2014, 12:51: Message edited by: jedijudy ]
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
It's raining, it's pouring... and the hole I enthusiastically started to dig to sink the old water tank into as a watersaving device, until I hit the flint layer, is now full. It usually drains pretty quickly, but it hasn't had a chance since last night. Any idea when I should plant my watercress seeds? They did fairly well not in water a couple of years ago, but didn't come up last year. The hole is nicely near the back door (the puddle it replaced used to overflow as far as the back door - can't imagine why the previous owner did nothing about it) for me to pick it for salads. Better than buying it, as, like cucumber, it always goes off before I eat it all.
I rigged up a few lengths of guttering two years back, in the drought, to direct the water that fell down the side of the house into barrels. I just balanced them on this and that. I intend, at some time, to find a better structure for them. (The flat roof water runs down a central gulley to the end of the block and then to a soakaway.)

[ 17. January 2014, 13:50: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
The BBC weather web page is promising sunshine here tomorrow, so I really WILL get out and prune the gooseberries. Yes. I will.
 

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Posted by Hebdom (# 14685) on :
 
After four days in a row in excess of 41 degrees Celsius, time to reassess the garden. The hydrangeas didn't survive very well, one in particular has had most of its leaves severely burnt. The camellias and luculia have burnt leaf tips, but most of the rest of the garden has survived fairly well. New planting of gardenias, a pandorea and a mandevilla has survived.

I rather miss the early mornings on these blistering summer days, spent watering the garden to soak everything with sufficient water to last the day, but I'm certainly glad the cool change has come. Spent most of yesterday sheet mulching part of the garden that had gone feral.

As for tomatoes, the possums got to them. Beasts!
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
My gardener, Albert, looks like a homeless guy with a haircut instead of a corporate landscaper with a large pickup truck, trailer and four men: he rides a bicycle and parks his strimmer and rake in my garage in between tasks. His fees are about the price of three school lunches for a very complete job! He charges almost nothing to sort out the palm tree on the northern edge of my property: I tried to dig it up when it first appeared but learned to appreciate it when it failed to grow very tall...
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
The result of today's needle match:
Chamois 3, gooseberry bushes 1.
Time to uncork the Rioja!

 

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Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :
 
My long-term plan is to build an alpine rock garden in a shady corner of our garden, using a pile of old house bricks as the foundation. However, over time, the bricks were covered in ivy, which is threatening to take over the whole garden.

So far, I've cleared the ivy off the bricks and saved most of the old cement, which has been softened by the rain and has crumbled back into sand. This took about six hours and proved how unfit I am! When (if!) the weather gets warmer and less rainy, I hope to dry out the sand and sift out all the rubbish from it; the sand will then form part of the foundations, together with the bricks.

We had a tree cut down last October and the stump is still in the ground, so I'm planning to use this stump as a focal point of the rock garden and extend the bricks out from it.

In other news, I also hope to grow my own potatoes and mushrooms.
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
If you're using old mortar (=sand and ???), better do a soil test to be sure you aren't dealing with so much lime nothing you like will grow there.
 

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Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
My seed catalogs arrived this week, and it served as a nice reminder that it won't be below freezing forever. I'm planning on adding three more 4x4 raised beds, made from free heat treated pallets sourced from Craigslist, in the next month or two. I'm hoping to get some peas and greens in the bed I built last year by early April, and have one of the new ones ready for salad greens. The other new ones are going in front, for winter and summer squash and melons. My real goal is to be able to fill the beds for free or close to it, by finding free dirt, manure, and other compostables. (You wouldn't guess it from looking at me, but there is a dirty hippie screaming to break out of this clean-cut attorney shell.)
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "heat treated pallets" from craigslist. If it's baked to kill bugs that's fine. If it's wood that has been pressure treated to prevent rot, you need to be careful that it's not the older stuff that uses an arsenic compound to protect the wood. That is thoroughly nasty stuff if you cut or burn it or let pets munch on it and not wonderful to put next to plants you want to eat. The newer treated woods use a copper compound which is probably much less toxic.

The raised beds sound great. One handy free source for a compost amendment here is that places like Starbucks will often give you bags of coffee grounds.

[ 08. February 2014, 22:13: Message edited by: Palimpsest ]
 

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Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
Yes, heat treated as opposed to pressure treated. Everything I have read on the internet has made me very aware of the issues behind pressure treated pallets.

I'd heard about the Starbucks connection, and plan of hitting up my local location on a future Saturday.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
After 2 hours of removing dead leaves and general wind-blown debris, I found a garden under there! Still a little way to go before I find the rest of it though.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
Last night we had our first few inches of snow for the winter. The garden is buried and the seed catalogs are handy for dreaming.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
I went out today and bought a bag of compost for sowing seeds. In southern England it's still incredibly mild (we've only had a couple of frosts here all winter) and INCREDIBLY WET.

Can't plant any seeds yet - they would rot - but it's nice to be prepared.
 

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Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
The first of the pallet garden beds came together yesterday. The hardest part was pulling the pallets apart- nasty nails in there that are supposed to hold up to a lot of shipping-associated rattling. (That and working around the dog, who kept plopping down in my lap- not exactly conducive to using the electric jigsaw.) Now to fill it up- I have a good lead on free soil from a local master gardener, and I have a lot of leaves in my gutters that need to be cleaned out, which are pretty much leaf mold by this point. Then on to the second and third beds, which are going to be for squash and melons this year, so don't need to be in place until after the last frost.

Five or six weeks until the peas go in.
 

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Posted by FooloftheShip (# 15579) on :
 
I really want to (or I kind of really want to) get over my feeling of crippling awkwardness about gardening. All of mine is more or less in public, because I'm on the corner and live in flats, so there are people *everywhere*. I had a neighbour who has moved away since, who used to make sarcastic remarks whenever I tried to do anything. Coming from a family of gardeners doesn't help, since they are also of the gardening as an exercise in controlling nature school.

Bit of a cry from the heart really, and a statement of intent. Whether anything happens this year is yet to be seen......
 

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Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 
Gazing out my window at the two feet of snow in my yard. Spring seems so far away, planting even further. Sigh. Another "polar vortex" later this week with our "high" Thursday expected to be below zero F. At least I have my house plants.
 

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Posted by FooloftheShip (# 15579) on :
 
You seem to be getting our winter, Kyzyl. We've had an extended, wet autumn since about October.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Originally posted by FooloftheShip:

quote:

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I had a neighbour who has moved away since, who used to make sarcastic remarks whenever I tried to do anything.

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Good riddance! (hope I'm allowed to say that here in Heaven in the circumstances)

It's your garden, you can do what you like with it.

Go on, have some fun and don't pay any attention to the nay-sayers.
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Why not? You could keep it horticultural by telling him he should only grow headfirst in the ground, like a turnip.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
There was a big yellow thing in the sky today.

I did some more work on my rockery - having put two stones in last week in late afternoons. Last year a local builder was clearing away someone's water feature, and had some Kentish Rag (possibly) going spare, so he gave it to me. I am working on making it look like a natural outcrop, building it up on rubbish stuff - old flints and sand from under the flags I have lifted. They are quite big chunks, so I move them by rolling rather than lifting. Then I look at them from upstairs, and decide they don't look right so move them again! There's one waiting to be moved tomorrow.
After I had done enough stone heaving, I treated the parts of my new garden store on one side - the other sides to be done tomorrow or next sunny day. And then I can - after waiting since last autumn - fit it together, line it with insulation material which I have by me, and apply sealant to the joins. And then I can tidy away the stuff littering the garden and clear space in the garage.

[ 24. February 2014, 18:32: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
I'm winnowing down my seed wish list as ruthlessly as I can, knowing that my ambition to plant always outstrips my time, physical ability and garden space;-)...I'm like a child with a Christmas catalog when it comes to seed catalogs.

Because Grandchild #2 is due to arrive right about the time that tomato seeds get planted indoors in our area -- meaning we'll be gone for about two weeks -- I'm moving to Plan B as far as growing tomatoes this year; as much as I enjoy finding unique heirloom variety seeds, I am pretty sure I'll be dependent on local nursery tomato plants this year. There's one local outfit whose owner shares my fascination with heirlooms, plus our food coop, which grows and sells a limited number of heirloom veggies, so I'm counting on them to have some interesting tomatoes.

One wild hare that's been chasing me is sweet corn; we usually buy it from the neighbors so I don't NEED to grow it, but I keep reading about a dwarf OP variety developed for small gardens; apparently it can even grow in containers. I'm trying to tell myself that I don't have an optimal space for this, but...it sounds like a fun experiment.

There's also an heirloom pattypan squash called Patisson Panache Jaune et Vert that I'd love to try -- the squashes are like little striped spaceships, and seem to get good marks for flavor. This might work against our garage, where it can get lots more heat and light than in our veg garden proper.

BTW, I just got an idea for a trellis or fence in my Facebook feed: Install two posts in the ground and place a wooden pallet over them; screw the pallet to the posts if desired, to make the thing sturdier. I think even with my limited carpentry skills I could do this. I'm trying to decide if it looks too hillbilly for our yard, or if once it's covered in vines it will be fine.
 

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Posted by Ye Olde Motherboarde (# 54) on :
 
Happy Gardening to everyone!

Some of you know that I live in a desert, so its lacking in water here. I have to use my well, because we don't have city water, therefore, I watch my water and use it very carefully. Who knows if my underground spring will dry up?

I consider myself a hobby farmer and right now in my greenhouse, fruit and avocado trees are growing. I pre-start my garden indoors, with collards, tomatoes, onions, parsley, onions and basil. I have pumpkins and asparagus that I'm trying this year, also. I store water in barrels, if we have rain.

I try to get heritage seeds instead of seed you see in stores because the possibility of being radiated is higher and you only get one growing season. I have raised beds with a sprinkler system. I also have fruit trees (which bloom if we don't have late freezes).

I find growing brings you closer to God, and it's wonderful if I'd have rain, but it just doesn't happen here. Sometimes you have to just make the lemonade out of your lemons.

May all your seeds prosper this year!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I managed to buy some more stone for the rockery today, at a rock specialist associated with a garden centre. I was allowed to pick out a few pieces from their heap, which were assessed at a fraction of the ton they quoted as the minimum purchase on their website. 1 ton costs £109. My seven pieces cost just over £6. A bargain.

The stuff they had for sale was wonderful, monoliths of gneiss and other beautifully textured igneous and metamorphic rock, polished paving slabs, shaped balls of sandstone or limestone - I want a bigger garden.

One thing I would have wanted to know though - who had been involved in quarrying the Indian stuff. My Kentish Rag is local - I happen to feel that local stone is best for a feature that is supposed to look natural, but it also has fewest delivery miles, and is worked by professional quarrymen under good conditions. Leaving aside the transport costs of Indian rock, and what the quarries may be doing to the landscape out there (I have seen what quarrying is doing to Greece), I have seen reports that the working processes in India are as careful of the workers as in the clothing trade.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
It's been an incredibly mild winter and my grass is now growing again, but it's much too wet to mow so I spent yesterday afternoon doing some clearing up after the storms. Two panels in my fence came down in the gales and now all the other panels are following them. I'm breaking them up and putting them in sacks to carry through the house as I don't have outside access to my back garden.

Had a look at my veggie patch to see if it was warm enough to prepare a seedbed for parsnips, but I've decided to wait another couple of weeks.

Round here the blackthorn and the early ornamental plum trees are in blossom. My forsythia is showing hints of yellow at the tip of the buds. My primroses are fully out and the grape hyacinths are showing buds. Next door's daffodils are lovely. Spring is on the way!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I've been putting my rockery in, and drowning the grass I have had to tear out of the site. I'm hoping I have enough rock - I'm going to need some junk to put in underneath to raise it enough. I've bought 8 bags of top soil, but that's going on top.
I am lucky enough to have an access gate at the back, but it's tens of yards from anywhere I can put my car. When I moved in. I had a tonne of spent mushroom compost delivered, and it was a long operation moving it round. That was not going through the house. The rock has been moved that way. I sympathise, Chamois. How on earth are you going to get the replacement panels through?
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Thanks, Penny S. It can be done, but I'm thinking of having a wire mesh replacement fence. I'm growing a hedge along the back of the garden but it's not big enough yet and I need some sort of fence in the meantime.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I have to replace my fence with fence, to neighbourhood standards, so it's a good thing I have an access at the back.
Meanwhile, I have two sacks of pea-gravel for doing the under layer of my rockery, and they are much heavier than the same size sack of sand. (Which I don't understand. It's the same stuff, with more air spaces.) I just managed to get them into my bin cupboard by the front door. I do have an IKEA trolley which I have used to take compost bags and topsoil bags through the house, but I don't think it is up to these. I'm certainly not, without aids. And it is such a LONG way round to the back, and I don't think the collapsible wheelbarrow I used for the mushroom compost is up to it, either. I think it's going to have to be builder's buckets. (I wonder if one can still get yokes, or those thick bamboo poles they use in China.)
 

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Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
It was a lovely day for raking winter debris out of the yard, and for cleaning out the gutters. Most of the contents of the gutters were tree of heaven seeds, so I decided on second thought to not add them to the garden bed- I spend enough time pulling up those damned things. (You can actually find pictures of trees of heaven growing in Hiroshima before the war that are still standing today- tough buggers.)

I did discover that the soil under the weed cover in the area where I was going to build the front raised beds is actually quite lovely- rather than raking out the old bark mulch that was there years ago, they just covered it with the weed cover and fresher mulch, meaning that I now have some nice sheet compost to work with and may not even need to build a bed- it may be nice enough to just put squash and melon hills right in the ground.

And finally, we discovered that the dog cannot be left alone in the back yard for five minutes without digging a huge hole in the garden beds (and these things are still frozen solid below two inches). So my project for next weekend, assuming it isn't snowing, is to put together a permanent fence for the garden area of the yard. Based on some ideas I have found online, it should be another simple used pallet project. I'm planning on building some flower boxes to hang off of the fence, just to make it a little more pretty.
 

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Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
Kale and collard seeds going into starter pots this afternoon. Pea seeds and legume inoculant purchased for early April planting. Dog fence going up next weekend. This is real people, this is not a drill.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Today I have nearly finished the small larch lap cupboard, to a standard for which the word standard does not quite apply. Bits don't quite match up. The supplied felt tacks are too short for the final roof application, so I'll have to buy some more.
I planted out a shrub honeysuckle my sister gave me - its roots were really desperate to get out of the pot. And I put in another stone to the rockery. So far no plants. Last year I did a lot of seeds in my spare room, but it wasn't entirely successful. I think I'll wait until the outside is warm enough, and just go straight into the soil again.
I have two surrounds for raised beds, but can't do one of them until I've eaten the one cabbage in that space, or the other until I've dug the last of the roots.
I found a lot of snails in a plastic plant pot, and dumped them in a patch of privet by the front door. Homing instincts they may have, but any attempt to climb over the three storeys will make them rather obvious to predators, and I can't see them getting round the terrace, either. There's plenty of rotting foliage there for them, anyway.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
It's my day off today and I've just enjoyed a happy two hours weeding one of my borders. The primroses are in full bloom, the grape hyacinths are coming out and the plum blossom is starting.

I planted parsnip seeds at the weekend but I'm holding off on everything else for a while longer. Although the border soil felt lovely and warm this afternoon, so maybe I'll risk an early sowing of carrots this coming weekend.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I've finished the cupboard, lined it with insulation material I had by me (3 rolls for a reduced price, and much too much for the first job), fitted it with shelves and filled it with stuff lying loose round the garden, stuff I had in the utility room, and stuff I had in the garage. Which, being said, made me realise that I had an inverse Tardis - much smaller once I started putting things in than it looked back at the shop. Ive added a strip of skirting wood which I had by me above the door to stop water dripping in, and made two fasteners to hold the flimsy door tight shut, a matter the provided hasp and staple were unable to contrive. (Strips of wood with a screw in the centre to swivel round.) It needs a final coat of paint, and a sliver of something to close the gap at the top of the door.
Then I filled two bin bags with various gubbins from round the garden for collection tomorrow - though filled isn't quite right, since a lot of the stuff is hollow - brittle watering cans for example.
There are blue hyacinths out - I transplanted them from the last place I lived because my mother had given them to me at Christmases past. Crocuses which came with the garden but which I have moved from what is now my veggie patch, and daffodils, ditto. The legacy forsythia is blooming nicely, and the peach I bought with a birthday gift token is blossoming well - I'm going to have to nip round with a wisp of wool to pollinate it - it's too early to rely on bees, though I have seen a couple of bumbles. Last year I didn't have any fruit, following peach leaf curl. There are violets and primroses/primulas.
Everything has become very dry - the birdbath has dried completely. All the pots needed a good watering.

[ 19. March 2014, 17:50: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
I planted a winter garden thinking to use the winter rain. We are having our third year of very little rain. Low and behold the bit of water we did have seems to be enough. In my garden the onions are coming up, the peas are growing strong, and the greens are coming alive. Chives, mint, and holly hawks are standing tall. I am so excited as usually I plant nothing until the end of May, and then try and keep it alive though the summer heat. Hope to get a good harvest before the heat comes and dries it all up. Water shortage means I will have little to spare on a garden.
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
I reclaimed the raspberry bed a couple of weeks ago, and cut the canes back since they're autumn fruiters. They're already looking much happier. And at the same time, I weeded around my gooseberries, which are showing exciting signs of lots of leafy growth.

We're waiting for the College which owns our house to replace the various fence panels which got irreparably damaged in the bad weather a couple of months ago. They're delaying, so we've started to get quotes from local firms and will pass on the bill... Let's see if that lights a fire under them!

I desperately need to prune the rambling rector rose - trouble is, it's completely the wrong time of year now. But it's so old and so heavy that it's pulled over the arch on which it rambles, so is rather perilous now. Maybe I'll do a tentative prune now, and make sure I tackle it vigorously in the autumn.

And I'm in total denial about the veg and strawberry patches. Don't anyone mention them, please...
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Tough decision time: do I keep the wonderful emerald lawn and hope for continued moisture throughout the su**er or kill the moss that makes up at least 60% of lawn and have something that looks like a wallow-hole for hippos? And if I kill the moss, do I leave the weeds? Kill those as well and they'll be nothing...

I'm pondering astroturf...
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I am dithering about grass. When I moved in, most of the garden was flagged. I have lifted a lot of them to make borders, leaving only those under the circulation of the washing line - a six by six square with the corners removed. (Well, there's a few more to go when I feel up to it, but my will flags a bit.) But I have thought it might be good to replace all of the flags in that part of the garden (I'm leaving the patio nearer the house) with turves, assuming that I only need to put them on the existing sand substrate, rather than going to the bother of making a "proper" preparation. (And I would need to pretend that I don't know about the broken flags buried under the sand, which I have had to dig out while making the beds and the rockery.)(But I could make it round instead of the square with corners removed.) (And I would need to buy a mower.)

[ 25. March 2014, 16:06: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Penny S, it's the mowing that's critical I think. Unless you have a reasonable area of grass, is it going to be worth the bother?
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Its about the size my parents cut with shears when I was small! Diameter about three metres. A sensible size for an old fashioned hand operated designed in Stroud for finishing cloth rotary cylinder type.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Our back garden is approx 60ft wide, but only 18ft deep. One of the 60ft is to the east and is mostly bounded by our house, which means that our garden is in shadow in the morning. The other 60ft is bounded by a 3ft high wall,on the other side of which our neighbours have put up a 10ft high slatted wood fence. So it casts a shadow in the afternoon.

When we moved in, the previous owners had gone for minimum maintenance; mostly grass surrounded by mature shrubs, plus a 20ft high leylandii.

I wanted to grow veggies, and I wanted more space. So the leylandii was the first to go. (The stump and roots are still there) Then I took out three large rhodedendrons, and turned the area where they had been into a veg patch.

It's never been very successful. We have quite late frosts (we woke up to a light frost this morning), the ground is often very wet, and I think that the lack of light is a problem. We have great success with rhubarb and dandelions, and both cabbages and kale do reasonably well. Cauliflowers bolt before they form a head, and onion sets just seem to rot in the ground.

I have put in a green cone at opposite corners of the veg patch, which do seem to give the dandelions a boost, but nothing else.

Suggestions?
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I've put some mirrors surplus to requirements at the west side of mine, which reflects what light gets over the three floors of the townhouse row on to the veggie patch, and I have considered painting the fences to reflect more. But not done it yet. Chlorophyll uses blue and red wavelengths, so purple would be good! Except that I have things growing up the fences as well. On the northern side I grow beans and blackberries, which both do well.
 

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Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
Feeling a little stiff this morning, thanks to a weekend's worth of garden projects.

I had to move a garden box a foot and a half to the West to put in the garden fence. That involved shoveling about 15 cubic feet of planting soil onto a tarp, dragging the box over, cutting out the weed blocking fabric to allow worms into the box, and digging compost into the clay soil, which necessitated digging out a bunch of discarded bricks which someone nicely hid under the mulch and fabric.

The other bed was a little easier to get into place, since for some odd reason the soil a foot away from where I located the last bed changed from clay to sand. Maybe someone had a sand box there many years ago. Mixed in some compost, and will probably add some more with some top soil to get it full and ready for the salad garden in a few weeks.

After all that, the fence went in (a quick job involving some lattice, which will look much nicer than the earlier proposed recycled palate project), and I still had time to hand aerate the front yard. There is a reason someone invented a machine to do that for you, and I think next time I will be paying someone to do it for me.

First peas of the season go in after work tonight. Kale and collards in starting pots should be ready to transplant next weekend.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
I have a little tiny tree at my back, ( I feed the birds always there) and opposite me in the street are several big trees. There are very big birds in them and they whistle during the night and wake me up about 3am !

And when I go out of my home, they are usually whistling during the day, and I whistle to them too! I do not ever do that at night.
 

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Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
I am about to leave our home with very large lot, garden, lawn, and so on and so on garden wise. I am moving into a small mobile home in a retirement community. No problem there as home and yard are getting way to much work for me. My question is that I will have only a very small area to grow anything and the rules are anything you plant must be in containers and not in the ground. Has anyone ever grown a maple tree or a dwarf fruit tree in a container? I am very confident I can do a small container veggie garden but I would like a tree or two as well.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I haven't planted fruit trees in containers, although I have seen citrus sold here with the warning that it has to move indoors for the winter.
My favorite nursery sells "columnar apples" which it claims can be grown in whiskey barrels. They have apples going up a narrow trunk rather than a lot of branches.

I have grown bamboo in pots. Given water they're pretty hard to destroy. It does make a nice narrow hedge to block an unwanted view and sounds nice as well.

[ 10. April 2014, 04:15: Message edited by: Palimpsest ]
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I haven't planted fruit trees in containers, although I have seen citrus sold here with the warning that it has to move indoors for the winter.
My favorite nursery sells "columnar apples" which it claims can be grown in whiskey barrels. They have apples going up a narrow trunk rather than a lot of branches.

I have grown bamboo in pots. Given water they're pretty hard to destroy. It does make a nice narrow hedge to block an unwanted view and sounds nice as well.

---

Do a search on dwarf fruit trees. I have a kaffir lime bought recently on proper root stock. It grows to about 1.5 metres high. The root stock is important because some nurseries sell supposedly dwarf trees on normal stock. Doesn't work. As mentioned citrus and apples are good value.
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Just a warning on the bamboo. Don't get the running kind, even in a pot, unless you are going to place the pot on concrete or stone. Otherwise the roots will snake out the drainage holes, embed themselves in the ground or gravel, and the next thing you know, you've a lovely bamboo forest and the pandas are moving in. Seriously. Consider it mint on steroids.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I've seen Japanese maples in pots, and someone else on our estate has her entire garden, as far as I can see, a dense mass of pots, including trees such as horse chestnut, and asome sort of palm - but the roots have gone down into the soil.
I am growing a peach and a Victoria plum in half barrels. Not been doing it long enough to give a good account of how well they are going to do, though.
Don't try eucalyptus in a pot, either - another neighbour had one, and they had to get rid of it - it was out of the drainage hole and on its way to the water table (200 ft down!)

[ 10. April 2014, 15:58: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Lotus is nice in a half whiskey barrel. Very beautiful and only wants to be wheeled into a shed or something when the big freeze comes. But don't let its roots escape anywhere near a pond, or in three years you will see no pond at all--but you'll have a lovely lotus farm.
 

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Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
Thanks everyone good advice. Sounds like if you do plant a tree you want to put it on some kind of a stone base under the drain hole. I could use large stepping stones perhaps. The advice to make sure of base stock of fruit trees are something I need to check on as well.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
And opposite me, across the road is full of trees and I have to help put in pictures under them as I have been told. But the birds up there whistle at night and I get wakened about 3am ! When I walk out they are whistling and so I whistle to them too! They seem to enjoy that.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
I have officialy joined the gardening people! Over the past month or so I have been preparing an area for a vegetable garden in my back yard. It's a nice 14ft x 25ft area that I killed off all the grass inside of, covered with weed-block cloth, and framed in with landscape timbers. I then built two 4ft x 8ft x 10.5" raised beds that are connected by a 4ft x 4ft x 10.5" bed. Filled it all in with a soil/sand/compost mix about a week ago and put a nice hardwood bark mulch down around the boxes inside my landscape timber border.

I'm trying the "square foot" gardening method so I have lots of different things planted. A few from seedlings, but most I'm trying from seeds. they all went into the dirt on Saturday, so now I just wait and see.

If it works out I'll have various leafy lettuces, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, peas, sweet peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, turnips, kohlrabi, cabbage, watermelons, radishes, rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, dill, and leeks.

Wish me luck!
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Good luck, monkey lizard, may all your seeds sprout

(and even if they don't I'm sure you'll have a great time with the veggie plot)

All the best

Chamois
 

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Posted by Beethoven (# 114) on :
 
Our new fence is finally going in this week - and we're hoping that the blackcurrant and thornless blackberries don't get trampled in the process...! We've managed to do quite a bit of tidying up for the spring, even while being accompanied by a new puppy! Preparations for the fence have meant moving the old compost heap(!), so ideally when it's finished I'd like to put in some new compost bins to replace the ones that were originally there but which have rotted away. And I cleared out my greenhouse and laid new weed-proof liner - backbreakingly tiring, moving all the gravel out of the way and back again - but oh it looks lovely now! Two cucumbers and four tomatoes are already installed, along with a couple of other small things waiting their turn to be planted out.

The really good news is that each year we look at it and think we've made no progress, but each year the Big Spring Blitz is quicker and we get on to the next job or two on the list. Who knows, in a few more years' time we might be about there (as if there's such a thing in gardening!)
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Good news! i have a sprout from a watermelon seed! Or maybe it's a weed....can't tell yet.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Everything is sprouting but the carrots and the sweet peas. Here's hoping that the past 2 days of heavy rain paired with the next 3 days of sunshine will encourage them to do what they're supposed to do.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Spent the last 4 days weeding my way round the periphery of the garden. That leaves me with the bit - approximately 30ft x 15ft - which was the veggie patch. However, I think it's too late to plant it up this year. Given that couch grass has a pretty determined hold on much of it, I was thinking of giving in gracefully and just throwing more grass seed at it.

Unless anyone has a better idea?
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:

quote:

---

Originally posted by daisydaisy:
Inspired by the BBC Great Gardening revival I'm wondering about turning the quagmire that is my front garden into a herb garden - I'd need to dig a lot of gravel/stones into the soil to let it drain enough for herbs and get rid of something vaguely resembling a hedge, but I think there is potential there.

---

Two words: raised beds.

---

Finally I've got around to doing something about this - a hexagonal raised bed is awaiting construction having arrived a few days before a neighbour dug up his front garden at the start of a building project, so I also have buckets and buckets of his unwanted soil lined down the front path along with some lovely herb plants and bags and bags of slate chunks that I bought at half price from a local garden centre that is having a closing-down sale . None of this fits into any mental project plan that I might have had, so I am very focused on getting it done now. I've almost finished removing the weeds from the sodden area that pretended to be "lawn" and hope to get the structural work done by the end of the week when I can begin planting.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
Spent the last 4 days weeding my way round the periphery of the garden. That leaves me with the bit - approximately 30ft x 15ft - which was the veggie patch. However, I think it's too late to plant it up this year. Given that couch grass has a pretty determined hold on much of it, I was thinking of giving in gracefully and just throwing more grass seed at it.

Unless anyone has a better idea?

---

I think you might regret not getting rid of the roots now.
Couch grass and bindweed had pretty much taken over my allotment when I was given the plot. I decided how much I could tackle that year and covered the rest with old carpet to suppress their growth, and dug as much of the roots up as I could. The next year I dug over that bit again and removed the roots that were still there, and started on the next bit. In following years I carried on like this and now I think the couch grass & bindweed have pretty much got the idea that they aren't welcome. Yes, they are still there but in more manageable quantities.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
My allotment looks horrible. I lost three weeks of possible work on it recently due to family illness, having left it almost completely under control, and now it looks depressingly full of sprouting grass, bindweed and an uninteresting assortment of non-flowering wild plants. I've been round tonight for the third evening in succession but it feels like fire-fighting more than anything and it looks really scruffy.

I'm just going to have to cope with it a chunk at a time, I think, and massive doses of weedkiller on some of the rest.

Did put in some little French marigolds in the herb patch, though.
 

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Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
Couch grass is nasty, we hates its my preciousss. Last year the strawberry patch got swamped in couch grass, so Sandemaniac very kindly did the hard work of digging it out, then I put the strawberries back in. I've weeded out quite a bit more (including roots) since then. Tonight's plan includes more grass removal, then putting straw round the strawberries to (hopefully) keep the grass down a bit.
 

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Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :
 
Effing slugs and snails. Not content with eating everything new I plant, this year they have pretty much halted even the rhubarb in its tracks, the leaves are more holes than leaves.

Nothing seems to stop them: have tried nematodes and copper. Pick off and squidge when I can but I'm not here regularly enough. Am giving in and trying eco pellets.

[ 18. May 2014, 21:24: Message edited by: Yangtze ]
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Yangtze Try digging a moat - c6 inches deep and minimum 4 wide - around each rhubarb plant, half fill with gravel and top with a 2 inch layer of salt. Not sure fire but worked about 80% for me in the past. If you're worried about poisoning the soil for other things, dig the moat deeper and wider.

Spent 5 hours unearthing - literally - some paving slabs in front of the garden building, then laid the last 3 we never got around to about 10 years ago. Now have at least 3 loads to get to the local tip but worth it to have the incinerator, etc, on hardstanding and hidden from view.

On the plus side have been able to re-locate main compost bins so they're now out of sight from the house - result!
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I am slooowly making progress. I have defined, weeded and planted (well, optimistically thrown seeds at) an enlarged border - incorporating stuff like aquilegia and wild strawberries which looks reasonably attractive and flourishing.

The remaining tract I shall attempt to dig, weed and plant with grass, bit by bit. It could take the rest of the summer, given my very finite capacity for heavy work.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I don't have couch, but I have ground elder and vinca and creeping buttercup from next door. Next door is owned by a professional gardener who keeps his motorbike collection against the fence, so cannot reach the stuff. I have killed the ordinary grass on my going-to-be-a-rockery with glyphosate, and the dandelions, but the terrible three are responding v-e-r-y v-e-r-y slowly. Two goes so far, and no sign of any reaction.
I have filled the compost bin with forgetmenots which pop up in different places each year and I leave for the bees until they start to fade. I have various plants to put in - last year I started with seeds, bu they didn't do well, so I'm buying at the garden centres this year. Except peas and beans which grow well.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I went round this evening and found the grass had grown 3" and I have a fine crop of dandelions, nettles, thistles, bindweed and other symbols of uncultivated land.

I dug a smallish square, planted some beetroot seeds and went home feeling despondent about how much there remains to be done and whether I can find time for it all. I'm pretty sure that my half plot is actually a full plot. I'll need to measure it on my next visit. Either way, it's going to have to be nuked relentlessly with weedkiller over the coming days.

[ 19. May 2014, 18:57: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 

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Posted by Tree Bee (# 4033) on :
 
My sprout plants have arrived and I'm a sprout growing virgin. Any tips and tricks?
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Currently watching the TV coverage of Chelsea (Flower Show) and periodically going HA! - mixture of incredulity and envy at the universe-sized gap between the gardens on show and one's own post-Fall Eden.

Does anyone every see anything from Chelsea that you could actually do?
 

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Posted by Chocoholic (# 4655) on :
 
Does drinking pimms count? That I can do!

Choccie ( with tickets for Wednesday feeling sorry for mum though who is not well enough )
 

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Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
Does anyone every see anything from Chelsea that you could actually do?

---

I saw some florist chappy on yesterday's show strapping a bunch of carrots and a globe artichoke to a wicker box. Does that count?

It's fun to see the different styles of gardens, but all that effort and airfreighting and forklifting and hothousing seems like an awful lot of bother.

*whispers* In other news, we have pak choi and radish seedling springing up in the raised beds. Yeah! Quiet, slugs have ears...
 

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Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :
 
I'm watching Chelsea too. I'm sure that puts me at least halfway to being an expert gardener. Benedict Cumberbatch and his mum were a nice bonus.

I had an unsuccessful foray into vegetables last year (potatoes that didn't and tomatoes that rotted) but this year I'm trying again with potatoes in the ground rather than in a growing tub, purple sprouting broccoli donated by a friend, courgettes, and some outdoor cucumbers currently being brought on by a friend in his greenhouse. Also three tepees of sweet peas.

Nen - aspiring horticulturalist.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
Is there a homemade mixture I can use to prolong the life of cut flowers? My peonies and rhododendrons will produce huge numbers of flowers in the next week or two, and I want to cut some and bring them indoors.

Professional florists have those little packets of stuff they give you when you buy flowers. Does anyone know what is in them?

Moo
 

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Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moo:
Is there a homemade mixture I can use to prolong the life of cut flowers? My peonies and rhododendrons will produce huge numbers of flowers in the next week or two, and I want to cut some and bring them indoors.

Professional florists have those little packets of stuff they give you when you buy flowers. Does anyone know what is in them?

Moo

---

Moo, I've had good luck with just a lemon-lime full sugar soda (any brand, even generic house brands). Mix in about a quarter can to a quart of water. I think it is more than just the sugar as most sodas have quite a mix of stuff. I've also heard that stomach tablets work (not sure if I can name brands, but the ones that had a Speedy character as an advertisement) but I've not tried that.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Spring evenings - sitting on the grass in the sunshine, picking caterpillars off the gooseberry bushes.........


 

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Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 
We've had rain and cool temps for a few weeks now but today is promising 80F. My pots are ready for the herbs and tomatoes, I just need to buy the plants, probably today. I do everything in large containers, I have no room for an in ground garden. My dill experiment from last fall has worked, I have seedlings coming up in that container! I have a bumper crop of rhubarb, way too much for me so I've opened harvest to anyone in the neighborhood.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
OK. Black plastic sheeting to smother a rapidly growing area of weeds that I can't currently get around to, or garden fabric that lets the rain and air in?
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Eight to twelve layers of newspaper, weighted down (in an ideal world, by mulch or grass clippings, so as to look a bit better). Wet it down.

Why? a) kills the weeds and any grass REAL GOOD. b) lets rain through all right, but not sun to allow weed seeds to sprout. c) you don't have to pull it off again when you want to plant--just dig holes through the newspaper, whatever of it remains--it will decompose into the soil.

We did this in several large areas and it worked like a charm.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Or brown cardboard boxes can be used the same way.
 

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Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 
I've heard that you should only use the B&W sections of a newspaper, not any color pages, due to the content of the ink. If your paper uses soy-based inks this may not be an issue.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Well, I don't have any newspapers or cardboard boxes (which would get nibbled by creatures pretty quickly anyway), so I'll probably just go round to one of those shops with a gardening section and get some black plastic sheeting.
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
if you're really trying to get rid of weeds, don't get the breathable kind. Though the one time we tried plastic at all it did absolutely nothing to change matters underneath. Can't imagine why, weeds are tough little buggers I guess.

I've heard of something called "solarizing" the ground to kill off weeds/weed seeds, which uses clear plastic, but I haven't tried it personally and you'd need to google it if interested.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
If you are going down the newspaper route, I can't imagine that any of them still use old-fashioned inks, I'm sure they are all veg based these days. That's certainly the impression that the Centre for Alternative Technology give.

Personally, I went for black sheeting (helped by being available from the allotment society). It works like a dream for most things (including Satan's Own couch grass), but there are a few caveats.

Whatever you have around its edges will have roots underneath it, so when you take it off to dig a foot or eighteen inches round the edge is likely to be very hard. Unless you have rising ground water, the rest shouldn't be any wetter or dryer than when you put it down.

The edges are irresistible to toads, so take them up with care as you'll probably find a good collection of would-be princes under there - but they do eat slugs, which can't be bad.

Make sure you peg/weigh it down thoroughly, and get it as flat as possible before you do so. There's nothing worse than finding it's half way across the next county instead of doing its thang on your plot, or the light has got under an edge, [Yul Brynner]etc etc etc [/Yul Brynner].

It should kill everything else off (even the aforementioned couch) if you leave it long enough, but the deep perennial roots of thistles and bindweed will keep growing underneath it, and you may find huge piles of white bindweed when you lift it. On the other hand, if you are happy with/allowed chemicals, anything you put on it will splat it post-haste, and it's obvious where you have to go to dig it out.

I think that's it - when you've done, roll it up as there'll always be someone else grateful for it!

AG
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Fantastic. Black sheeting it will be, and I'll try to get some tonight before the yellow weather warning from the Met Office kicks in.

(Whatever yellow weather is like. I instinctively visualize dust storms, but perhaps that's unlikely.)
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Today. I have weeded. The path. The long border. The paving round the shed. A patch about the size of a single bed formerly the domain of couch grass, thistle, buttercup and various other tough-as-buggery weeds. I have fetched home bedding plants and trimmed the hedge and schlepped sacks of garden waste up flights of stairs. I have gone through 4 lots of gloves, I have a blister, sunburn and bruised and sandpapery fingers.

It is forecast to rain tomorrow and it had better.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I'm afraid I have slept through the opportunity to visit the garden centre for more little veggie plants. But it is now overcast, and cool, so I could decapitate last year's parsnips, which did nothing useful then but have now produced enormous angelica like growths. These must be cleared an the absence of sunlight and fully protected, as they can do the sort of thing that giant hogweed can. Who knew.* with the rain due, it probably is no good to respray the ground elder for the third time.
*On second thoughts, last night's lateness is still active, and I'm just not up to it. Or building the arch for the Albertine rose.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I managed to find enough energy to assemble parts of the arch - it's much bigger than I thought. I did it in my living room, in three bits, up, arch and down. My living room is on the first floor, but has, for some reason known only to the original much-lauded architects, a French window (with a grille across the bottom for safety). So I've let the bits down to the patio ready for full assembly when the storm is over.

One last problem is one nut and bolt assembly for fixing the base to the ground, where the nut will not do anything but get crossthreaded. I might have to get a replacement and use a hacksaw. Or fix it another way.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
It seems to be impossible to buy black plastic sheeting. I've settled for a green tarpaulin instead. No doubt in a few weeks the underside will be almost completely encrusted with snails, but let's hope it keeps the weeds down for a bit.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
I have fetched home bedding plants and trimmed the hedge and schlepped sacks of garden waste up flights of stairs. I have gone through 4 lots of gloves, I have a blister, sunburn and bruised and sandpapery fingers.

---

Yikes. A 4-gloves problem.

 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The gardener Bob Flowerdew uses old carpet. It doesn't look good, but does the job.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
1 month in and I think it's going well. A rabbit tried to eat a couple of my cabbages, but they seem to be recovering OK. I added netting to keep it and the birds out. So far I have harvested mesclun, spinach, arugula, a few radishes and a very little bit of baby kale and black-seeded simpson lettuce.

I'm trying to keep a good log of what I do and when I do it so I can do the right things again next year without making the same mistakes, like planting waaaaaay too many seeds of certain items. I'm probably not staggering my planting dates very well either, so I'll end up flush with certain crops all at once without many others. I'll work on that next year.


ETA: please don't look at the black weed-block sticking out around the edges. I haven't gotten around to burning that off yet.

[ 21. May 2014, 21:03: Message edited by: monkeylizard ]
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Penny S:
The gardener Bob Flowerdew uses old carpet. It doesn't look good, but does the job.

---

Just make sure if you do that it's hessian backed, not nylon, or you'll be picking up nylon strands for the next millennium. Been there, done that... and the miserable git didn't even do anything with the plot once we'd cleared her fecking old carpet off...

I've used old tarps myself, so I'm sure it'll do the job. Perhaps not quite as good as black plastic but a decent second. Think of all the bun you can have squashing snails with feeling, or maybe you can try escargot recipes?

Monkeylizard... I'm impressed!

AG

[ 21. May 2014, 21:17: Message edited by: Sandemaniac ]
 

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Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :
 
It looks amazing monkeylizard!
Cattyish, green fingered with envy.
 

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Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :
 
All this rain is doing wonders for my veggie patch.

Nen - dodging the showers.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The veggie patch is looking a bit better. After an abortive trip to a nearby garden centre, I've been able to establish a new raised bed. I had to pull up three salad onions which were in the area, and then fell a cluster of parsnips which had bolted. It was hard to believe that those measly roots that weren't worth harvesting could produce great trunks which resisted the long handled shears. The tops, and some similarly rubbish swedes, and the local bunch of creeping buttercup, and last weeks collection of forgetmenot, and a heap of variegated ivy leaves, and the contents of the disgusting kitchen waste bucket that sits outside the back door formed the base layer. Then there was a cardboard packing box left by the previous owner, and a topping of left over seed and potting compost and bagged topsoil. A good soaking, in case it doesn't rain soon. More topsoil tomorrow - I couldn't reach the rest of the bags because they are the other side of the car in the garage. It looks a lot neater up there.

I have another frame, but it's too big for the space. I don't want to saw it down, in case I want to use it as a higher level on today's bed.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to put in there. Not the carrots or the leeks. Not quite the right place for the legumes, but possible.

While sloshing water about I found a toad in a bucket. Very still looking, and an idiot to climb up there (though skillful to manage it) when there is a shallow tray full of water at ground level so that any amphibians avoid drowning. I slid it out into the London Pride. When I looked again, it had gone, so probably not dead.

The ground elder is also still alive.

There are peaches on the tree, despite the curl. No plums, though. No blossom. Strawberries are coming, and blackberries.

[ 23. May 2014, 19:16: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The toad is still alive. I disturbed it when putting the rose arch up. This is taller than I expected, and has flimsy fixings. I shall have to find a sturdier fastening at ground level. The rose is already long enough to reach the top, and smells delicious. I moved my tomato house and trimmed back the wilder reaches of the Virginia Creeper, the trimmings to be the base of the next bed. Put more soil in the raised bed, and will smooth it with a plank before putting in the veggies I bought yesterday.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
The flower garden is looking lovely at the moment, with roses, aquilegia, lupins and foxgloves in bloom. The hollyhocks are sprouting well and look good for July.

Down in the fruit-and-veg patch there's a good crop of gooseberries coming and the strawberries have set fruit. The autumn raspberries are growing well but will probably get knocked about by the local fox cubs before they fruit (Grrrrrr we hates foxes). The plum trees had a bad insect attack at the start of the season but seem to be recovering now, although I think I'm not going to get many fruit.

I don't know what's happened to the carrots. The seeds sprouted, but all sign of the plants has now been lost. Slugs? Pigeons? No idea what's gone on there. A gardening mystery.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Finally managed to get round to the allotment - it's been raining every day this week except today - and found half of it under water and the rest covered in weeds and grass.

I'm going to ask the council if they'll split the plot; it's too big for one person and I seem to spend almost all my time there hacking out weeds in a forlorn effort to try to keep some semblance of control over it and not getting time to plant anything. Someone else can have the waterlogged half with the bindweed (and the rhubarb, but I can always plant some more in the other half).

[ 30. May 2014, 19:17: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Chamois, I found a good anti-slug stuff last year, can't offhand remember the name, something like Slugstop. It is daggy bits of sheep's wool - and you wouldn't want it in the house, even neatly packaged - and they don't like crawling over it when you put it round your plants. Then it breaks down as compost.
Mind you, loads of my stuff disappeared last year, just pined away, dwined away, dwindled down and left me. (Kipling.) But what didn't had no damage. Sounds a bit illogical, but the fading stuff showed no signs of being eaten as the process happened.
 

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Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :
 
I've been using egg shell for two years against slugs and snails, and it's been working quite well. Saying that, a few small slugs made their way through the gaps to the ruccola; I discovered that today.

A week sick and then away in Italy in a rainy and then sunny time was excellent for the grass and weeds; a big part of my allotment is now longer than knee high. The allotment officials (the somewhat controversial allotment officials, accused of swearing at an allotment keeper and damaging someone's plants) were on the prowl today, and the word 'jungle' was hissed at me as they looked at the aforementioned grass/weeds.

Still, I'm the only one there who is there regularly while working and having a baby, and it'll get done.

Already ate radishes, spinach, ruccola and rhubarb this year. Just concerned that not a single flower has come from the seeds (borrage, aster, pink poppy, marigolds among others)and my plans to set off cauliflowers, broccoli, celeriac and leeks at home have left me with about five limp looking green things.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
I use eggshell too - it seems fine as long as there isn't a gap.

Today I went out with shopping list that said "sprout seedlings" and really, really meant to be good. But what can a gardener do when helping at the church plant sale full of tempting goodies So I now have rather a lot of planting to do.... the allotment is getting most of it - several unusual varieties of tomatoes and lots of perennial flowers. It seems sprouts are no longer available, so I've got cabbage seedlings instead.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
The council have agreed to let me split my allotment. I shall now have a quarter plot, which should be much more manageable.

I've already started transferring my plants over to the half I'm going to keep and feel a lot better about it.
 

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Posted by comet (# 10353) on :
 
rhododendron people? help!

I'm used to zone 1, so no rhody experience. I've moved back down to the "tropics" (2/3) and have been given a ginormous perennial garden to caretake for my mother. mostly, it's going well.

but! when she bought the house (13 year ago) there was a large rhododendron bush in the front yard (uphill, mostly shade, under a very mature western hemlock) that did well. years ago, a moose ate a bunch of it and trampled the rest. She thought it was dead, but transplanted to corpse to the back yard (downhill, partial sun, protected from wind) out of hope. after two years of being a large stick, it leafed out and put on new growth and yay all is well!

only - it's been in it's new spot for 5 or six years now, and while it greens up, it doesn't bloom and it's growth is extremely slow. It's obviously unhappy.

Should I move it back into the full shade? does it need some oomphing done to the soil? What can make this poor mistreated rhody get over it's PTSD and enjoy life again?

we are boreal rainforest with a healthy precip level and well-draining soil, though it's not terribly nutrient dense. the rhody gets regular compost tea, annual compost and seaweed mulch.
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
What color are the leaves--normal green or yellowy? And do you know if the soil in the new area is acid or alkaline?

[ 03. June 2014, 08:52: Message edited by: Lamb Chopped ]
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Tree Officer has just been to look at a very sickly Laurus nobilis (Bay Laurel) and has agreed that much is already dead and the rest dying so it can be taken down.

Feeling slightly guilty because its a tree I've never liked but in a small garden a multi-trunk (5) large evergreen tight to a wall and less than 3 feet from a building isn't a good idea.

Now all I need to decide is whether I do the work myself or get in a tree surgeon.
 

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Posted by comet (# 10353) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
What color are the leaves--normal green or yellowy? And do you know if the soil in the new area is acid or alkaline?

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quote:

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Only thing is now I have a bucket of soapy salty water full of dead slugs and snails. What should I do with it?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Firenze:
Sometimes potatoes flower, sometimes they don't. It doesn't seem, IME, to correlate to the amount of actual spudlet.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Penny S:
I've just bought an enormous tub of daggy wool pellets!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Penny S:
From the smell, and the colour, and the texture, I assume that the wool from which the pellets are derived have been sourced from the back end of the sheep, and contain faeces. Is that the correct derivation of daggy? (I just enjoy the word!) The garden currently does not smell of the roses and the philadelphus, but of a shearing shed.

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Exactly.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Very oddly, the word surfaced on Radio 4's Today programme this morning in a discussion on Australian slang. After it was dropped into a list of tinnies, eskies and so on, people obviously called in and they returned to it about an hour later with a description, and the information that it was originally an English word. I was quite unaware of the slang meaning when applied to people! Which would not have seemed appropriate for the stuff I've been scattering with abandon round the garden.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Harvested my first kohlrabi this week. Three actually. One for me, two to share. I haven't tried the leaves yet, but the bulb was tasty. Peeled and shredded it, mixed it with an egg and some flour, and fried up some kohlrabi fritters. I'll be planting more of those. Yummy!

Swiss chard is ready, loads of green tomoatoes, a few sweet pea pods have formed, and the cucumber, squash, and zucchini are going crazy. I'll have enough cucumber to feed the neighborhood. I think I see a few deliveries to the local food bank in my future, and that's after I seal and freeze as much as me and mine can possibly eat. I'm really looking forward to the watermelon in late summer.

I'm amazed at how much food a small plot can provide.

[ 13. June 2014, 16:25: Message edited by: monkeylizard ]
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Cabbage will not be making an encore appearance in my garden next year. I returned from vacation to find that the cutworms have returned. 1 cabbage was gooey and rotten down to the stem, so out it came. I pulled 4 more that were eat up with cutworms. I managed to get 1 grapefruit-sized cabbage that was not rotten/wormy so that got chopped up and eaten last night. I have 2 more that I need to examine, so I may pull them tonight. The cabbages spread out so much that they crowded out and have virtually killed my rosemary, thyme, dill, and leeks.

On a positive note, I harvested my first turnips, yellow squash, and black cherry tomatoes last night. The turnips and squash went into the wok with the cabbage and a kohlrabi for a terriyaki vegetable stir fry. Yum.

I was previously unaware that some kinds of tomato plants need to be pruned or they keep growing. Mine are that kind, so they had gotten a little unruly (about 2m high), but I think I have them under control for now.
 

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Posted by Pearl B4 Swine (# 11451) on :
 
Determinate and Indeterminate are the key words to look for when you chose tomatoes. They're two distinct 'natures'.

Determinate types only get so tall, and tend to be bushy; Indeterminate keep on vining until they die in the Fall. They also vary in their timetable of setting fruit and ripening.

Trimming back the indeterminate ones might cut off the flowers, and end fruit production. Experiment with a couple of plants. See what happens.

Cant wait til "real" tomatoes come in. Mmmmm.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Thanks Pearl. Mine are the indeterminate kind. I had to trim back some of the flowering stems, but most of the flowers are still there.

Are you saying that trimming any of the flowering stems will stop production in the whole plant?
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Hmmm....it looks like maybe I should have left them alone and folded the upper stems back over (they're still flexible) and redirected them downwards instead of cutting them. Oh well. This is my year for learning anyway.

The reason I can't let them keep going up is because I have bird netting over the whole garden to keep out birds and rabbits (and 'possums, skunks, and squirrels). The netting is about 6' high and the tomato plants were pushing against it and growing through it. I'll try to rework the netting to give them more space and set more stakes to tie the plants to redirect their growth.

[ 27. June 2014, 13:50: Message edited by: monkeylizard ]
 

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Posted by Pearl B4 Swine (# 11451) on :
 
Pruning tomatoes

This is good info, despite the annoying cartoon-like illustrations.

And yes, You can coil the long stem loosely around a stake or cage. No, you won't stop the plant from flowering. That bit was poorly written. Sorry.
Good bread, mayonnaise and thick slices of tomato. What bliss.

 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Thanks! That's helpful. I had read about removing the suckers, but now know that I can remove some of the extra flowering/fruiting stems too. They're getting unruly.

[ 27. June 2014, 18:27: Message edited by: monkeylizard ]
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
My tomato plants are getting unruly, too. Just when I think they're under control I find one of them has sprouted another side-shoot or two. The dratted things seem to appear overnight and grow to six or nine inches long before I spot them. However, can't complain, the plants are all setting fruit very well. We'll just have to see if the weather stays good enough to ripen it. I'm growing heritage tomatoes this year and I'm not sure how good they are about ripening in an English summer.

I picked the first lot of plums today. I've got 3 plum trees which ripen at different times. The first to be ready is the Czar which has big, purple, juicy cooking plums. Plum crumble for lunch - delicious!

I love the garden at this time of year.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Well, it's rained in the UK. Sorry, it's rained in the UK! Three days of thunderstorms, adding lots of nitrogen into the system, hopefully a few things will catch up that didn't get going soon enough owing to other stuff going on...

Adrain
XXXX
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
I had to wet all my things that are at the back of me. they did not seem to have anything wet and many died.
 

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Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :
 
Mosquitos are my bane. I have many bites on me. I planted some catnip and lemon balm, but it seems that I have to have the allotment full of it in order to deter any mossies.

What do you use?
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Long sleeves if I'm just going out to pick a few things. If I'm going to be a while, I'll spray exposed skin with All Terrain Herbal Armor. The citronella scent is strong in this one, so if you can't stand that, don't try it. If I get to my gardebn and realize I forgot to spray myself, I'll just rub my arms against my citronella plants. That seems to work pretty well. It doesn't last as long as the spray, but it works for a quick reprieve.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
With mosquitoes I find it depends on the person. There are some people they find extremely tasty and irresistible, other people who are less attractive and a few people they don't bite at all, ever. If you happen to be super-mosquito-attractive there's not a lot that sprays and repellants will do. Face veil and complete body armour, maybe, like a bee-keeper?

We're having lovely hot sunny days at the moment and my heritage tomatoes are beginning to ripen. Very exciting! I've got one stripy one which is almost ready for picking. Can't wait to find out what it tastes like!
 

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Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :
 
The research done in Canada shows that repellants containing DEET work, with concentrations up to 30% being increasingly effective, but no benefit with higher. These work for everyone, and we sometimes spray the dog as well.

The bane of our north. Here's a youtube which shows how bad they can get, at 51 sec you get the picture pretty well: Mosquito Swarms Ravage Arctic Wildlife. It is why we generally avoid going into the bush in July, the worst month, and also why some of us like it to frost overnight, which frequently happens in August.
 

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Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chamois:
With mosquitoes I find it depends on the person.

---

They bite everyone, but some people don't react and don't feel itchy.
 

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Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :
 
Have been pretty slack in the garden this year. But hallelujah some lettuce and radish seeds I planted a few days back have germinated (others didn't).

Now just to keep the bastard slugs and snails off 'em. My war on that front continues.

In other news, the unlabelled tomato plants I bought at a fair have turned out to be bush varieties. Which means I've planted them in a completely awkward position. Ah well.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
The cabbage worms and cutworms are under control. They did some damage, but I found that a mix of water and BT sprayed on the plants did remarkably well at killing them.

I have found stink bugs on my squash, brussel sprouts, and kale. Not too many. Removed and smashed and removed the eggs. Just need to keep an eye on them.

Now if I could just find a solution for this problem. Does anyone have a good recipe?

It chews holes in my netting and makes itself at home. I'm thinking of installing a nice picket fence around the garden and attaching metal mesh "contractor's cloth" to the inside of the fencing.

[ 25. July 2014, 15:10: Message edited by: monkeylizard ]
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
On a positive note, the cucumbers ahve been coming in well. Plenty to share with co-workers. I cut up and vacuum sealed some zucchini and squash last night and I'm eating black cherry tomatoes like candy...which is good because it keeps me from eating actual candy.

My black diamond and moon & stars heirloom watermelons are growing. I have 1 the size of a honeydew and several more ranging from golf ball to grapefruit sizes.

I'll be dehydrating a load of basil, rosemary, and oregano early next week.

This gardening stuff is fun!
 

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Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :
 
Ssshhhh, don't tell the slugs & snails but I have some salad leaves and radishes in that they don't seem to have spotted yet.

Also planted some runner beans a couple of weeks ago. Rather late but again, sssh, they seem to have survive and are now about 1/2 foot all so with any luck I may have beans in the autumn.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The Cabbage White butterflies have discovered a way in to my brassicas, which are covered in a tent of horticultural fleece. The intelligence in those tiny heads is amazing.
The year before last I watched as one wandered among the veggies, settling briefly on anything glaucous green, the peas and the leeks, before realising that they were not cabbages, and moving off. I didn't have any brassicas that year. Last year I used an old net curtain and some plastic domes. Still had a couple of the smaller species' caterpillars. I thought I had a good idea in planting mustard green manure around as a distractor, but they didn't go for that - not glaucous, and I assume that the mustardiness is a repellent.
Watching them sauntering around the tent and finding tiny crevices to crawl in through is amazing.
I think I will have to take the stuff off and resort to soap spraying or something.
 

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Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :
 
They must have moved on from my garden. The brassicas have been decimated, along with the peas. All the potato leaves have holes in them, like paper doilies.,
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I've got peas, but not many. The leaves have been attacked by lacemakers, but nothing visible. I planted more than last year, but still only have enough to titivate a salad with. I have hopes for the runner beans - they usually crop well.

I am giving away blackberries. The strain is a good one, sweet, and with flavour, unlike the supermarket stuff. It came from the communal garden in the flats I used to live in, where it sprang up from the fertiliser someone brought from the local sewage works. Along with huge quantities of fruit on not many canes, it produces two sorts of adventitious stems. Normal ones, and ones as thick as my thumb, which I am sure an observer could see growing if they waited through an afternoon. No need for stop motion photography. Vicious thorns, as well.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
Your blackberries sound like mine - large, delicious but oh so vicious and fast growing.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Can anyone tell me why my 'dwarf' runner beans have reached 6 foot?

No, they're not growing in a confined space with only overhead light, and I haven't given them a lot of fertiliser or feed.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Heat and light. Lots of both recently, more than they're used to.

Or else they put the wrong seed in the packet.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
There's a reason they're called Runner beans. Usain Bolt wouldn't be in it.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
The peas have nearly finished, but the courgette and bean glut is just getting under way. Heaven only knows what we'll find when we get back after three days away!

On the other hand the spuds are dying back nicely of their own accord, so I shouldn't have to worry about blight this year.

AG
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Since my last update, the cucumbers have succumbed to wilt spread by stupid cucumber beetles.

The cabbage worms and cutworms appear from time to time but are quickly handled by a spraying of B.T.

Squash bugs and stink bugs have been eating on the yellow squash and zucchini. So far, manually removing them and their egg clusters seems to be working. They haven't done any critical damage yet. I'm planning to dust them with some diatomaceous earth to finish them off. Right now I'm more concerned with the cucumber beetles and fear they may spread their wilt nastiness to my watermelons.

The black-cherry tomatoes are still coming in like crazy. I'll definitely be planting that variety again next year.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Originally posted by L'organist:

quote:

---

Can anyone tell me why my 'dwarf' runner beans have reached 6 foot?

---

quote:

---

Heat and light. Lots of both recently, more than they're used to.

Or else they put the wrong seed in the packet.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
Can anyone tell me why my 'dwarf' runner beans have reached 6 foot?

---

Lots of warmth and wetness?
Everything in my garden is super-sized this year. I have to fight my way through giant pumpkin & courgette leaves where they are growing across the paths, and some of the 'one person' sized pumpkins will feed a family of four.
I think six foot is fairly dwarf for a runner bean - I need a step-ladder to pick mine, even in a 'normal' year.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Aaaaaargh, the glut, the glut!

On Wednesday I clear-picked the beans and the courgettes. When we came back on Sunday, we picked a trug full of both. Thank goodness for willing victims for my horticultural efforts!

AG
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I've not been to my allotment in weeks now - just haven't had the time or energy to spend there. I'm thinking about giving it up. It's been fun, but such hard work - all I seem to have done is firefighting, trying to keep weeds and pests and slugs under control, that is, when it hasn't been flooded and a sea of mud.

I suppose that's what gardening is about, but it hasn't felt particularly rewarding this year.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I'm sorry to hear about the allotment. But gardening's like that. After the mammoth job of clearing up after our big gean fell a couple of years ago, I don't feel I can keep up with garden any more. The tree used to effectively dominate, and nothing got too rampant in its shade. But now there's too much needs active cultivation. I probably need to return a lot to grass. Even so, what are laughingly referred to as the borders are a lot more militant.
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:
The tree used to effectively dominate, and nothing got too rampant in its shade.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
I've not been to my allotment in weeks now - just haven't had the time or energy to spend there. I'm thinking about giving it up. It's been fun, but such hard work - all I seem to have done is firefighting, trying to keep weeds and pests and slugs under control, that is, when it hasn't been flooded and a sea of mud.

I suppose that's what gardening is about, but it hasn't felt particularly rewarding this year.

---

Allotments can be hard work and an estimate is an hour per week per rod. I don't think I spend the estimate, and I don't get as much harvest as my retired neighbours who are there for 8 hours a day but I get enough for me and some to give away, without having a glut.

There have been years like you have been having when I thought of tarmac-ing over my plot. Some management teams are stricter than others, which can be unhelpful - I know of one that gets tetchy if the path edges aren't perfect, but thankfully where I am is happy as long as our weeds are not out of control.

Would it help to try to focus on one small area of your plot and get that looking nice, and cover up anything so the weeds are suppressed so you can tackle a bit more next year? This approach worked for me in tricky years.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
That conversion site is amazing - I can now express the rod in megaparsecs should the fancy take me!

If it's allowed I'd second the suggestion that you do what you can and cover the rest. Depending on the landlord you might be able to rent as little as a quarter plot, which would be much more manageable.

AG
 

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Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :
 
I spoke too soon re the slug'n'snails. One bean has had it's lower leaves stripped and I don't think is going to survive.

Little blighters.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
If it's allowed I'd second the suggestion that you do what you can and cover the rest. Depending on the landlord you might be able to rent as little as a quarter plot, which would be much more manageable.

---

I do now have a quarter plot, most of which is covered with a tarpaulin. It's about finding a weekday evening when it's not raining, I'm not supposed to be somewhere else, and have the energy to go. It's a bit too late in the season to get anything started now, anyway. But I ought to make an effort at some point soon.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
At this time of year I find that harvesting and dealing with it takes more time than doing much else. My freezers are now full of (mainly) soft fruit, and yesterday I started off blackberry wine. Next is jelly and jam making - blackberry jelly to start with, then marrow (really large courgettes!) and ginger jam, and later on gooseberry (from the freezer) jam. But I still need to keep an eye on the weeds and general maintenance of the plot - who needs gym membership
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I think I'm going to have to go up the garden with a pair of disposable gloves and a bin bag, as I suspect that something I have vaguely labelled in mind as a generic weed may be a return of the very interesting plant I found on my first entering the garden when I moved in. Datura stramonium, aka Jimsonweed, aka thornapple. I just looked it up because of having mentioned it to a neighbour today, and thinking of an odd reference in Kipling*, and saw a picture of the leaves. When I moved in it was bigger, and in bud, and my brain instantly flagged it up as a problem. After rejecting the possibility of its being giant hogweed, it produced the right identification. The RHS produced the care with which it should be disposed of, and as our local council incinerates household waste, that's where it went. That was five years ago, and I didn't let its fruits mature.

*In the poem La Nuit Blanche about someone having a night of hallucinations, he writes "they said I had the "jims" on", and once, some time ago, I saw a suggestion that the expression derived from jimsonweed. All I can find now are references to "jimjams" as originally a description of the DTs. The described state could also be related to the states induced by the alkaloids of datura. If anyone out there has come across the reference, I'd like to know. It was in a book, as a footnote to the poem, and not findable by a search engine.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Two days of rain have made the runner beans go wild. I've just dug up the first carrot (it was going to be two carrots for supper, but the first one turned out to be enormous) and it tasted delicious!

The down side of the rain is that a lot of my remaining tomatoes have split. The small, cherry tomatoes are generally OK but some of the big yellow ones have split and so have most of the ones with red and orange stripes. Luckily the striped ones were almost finished.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Likewise the runners are going berserk - being on a floodplain by a river, we can get night mists at almost any time of year, and the runners love it, all that moisture really helps them set!

Lifted my spuds last night - one stub of Kestrel and one of International Kidney (which I should have eaten weeks ago...) suffering from tuber blight*, but what was really odd was that everything that wanted to munch my spuds had concentrated on the one row of Marfona! They were slugged to hell, and a mouse had made a nest under the first stub, and dined out as well. Just one other stub apart from the Marfona with any significant slug damage!

AG

*Helicon players should be unaffected, though.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
News from the allotment is mixed - all the heritage tomatoes that I planted at the allotment are fruiting well but unfortunately are blighted, however the ones at home seem to be fine.
Courgettes are still merrily setting and growing and I plan to try out some marrow wine with them.
One butternut squash has set, although I don't think there is time for it to become useful - this happened last year although they've been fine previously.
Raspberries are disappointing again - I'll have a hunt for some advice on how to get them happy once again.
The blackberries have been superb - really plump & juicy, and still fruiting - now the freezer is full I am jamming and wine-making, and enjoying them at every opportunity.
I'm looking forward to getting digging and cutting back - I love a good bonfire (and we are allowed these).
 

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Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :
 
We have had an amazing year for tomatoes, literally hundreds and hundreds of them. Jerusalem artichokes rather stunted this year, possibly not enough rain, or they are going into decline.
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
My runner beans were a bit slow to start, but in the past month have steadily provided enough for us & the next door neighbours, however, we've had several misty moisty mornings recently and they have gone berserk!

The neighburs are on holiday this week, so we've been beaned out. Fortunately the church craft group met this morning, so I got rid of a good basketful there.

The plants have grown way out of my reach, even standing on a stool, so it's out with the stepladder this afternoon to reach the topmost bunches. The resulting pickings will have to go out at the gate in the hope that someone will take them.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Half of my small crop of small tomatoes grew against the wall of the growhouse. I cannot describe how revolting it was to reach for what looked like a nice truss and get a handful of large slug. Every one they could get, they got.
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
I've had to fight the slugs for my tomatoes, too. Luckily I caught sight of a big brown slug disappearing under the fence next to them - HE won't be cold this winter!

The runner beans are in full production, the courgettes are doing well (the slugs got two of the plants in spite of pellets), the carrots are excellent and at the weekend I dug up several pounds of bonus potatoes. I didn't plant potatoes this year but I was evidently not too careful about harvesting them all last year and several plants came up.

My raspberries have been excellent. They are still fruiting but I'm no longer picking them because they've lost their flavour.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
One of mine has died and so I have to take it all out - it is one with red pictures and I don't know why it died.
I always feed the birds out there and there are many little ones as well as the very big ones. They enjoy the food and often sing. So I whistle to them as I put in the food as well as working about the ones that need tidied, at least not the red one.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
The watermelons were a bust. They never fully ripened before the cucumber beatles spread their filth and caused the vines to wilt. The squash and zucchini succumbed to the squash bugs, but I managed to get enough harvested from them that I'm not sorely disappointed. I was getting tired of zucchini.

Brussel sprouts are forming well. The weather is cooling so they should start coming along quickly.

I put out a fall crop of swiss chard, spinach, sweet peas, and a couple of lettuce varieties. They're sprouting now. I should have some lettuce in about a week with spinach to follow a week after.

Cherry tomatoes are still throwing off fruit like crazy.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Cross-gartered? And yellow and red? And smiling? Forsooth!

Thread closed

Ariel
Heaven Host
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
Er, anyone here? I've been hiding in my garden shed waiting for H&A Day to go by.

Is it safe to come out yet?
 

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Posted by Chamois (# 16204) on :
 
(Looks over shoulder nervously.... everything seems to be back to normal ....... let's give it a try.........)

During all the recent excitement on the ship I've been picking the last of my tomatoes. The 4th truss on Yellow Perfection wasn't ripening and neither were the 3rd and 4th trusses on Tigerella, although Gardener's Delight was still doing OK.

I've now got a big tray of green and greenish tomatoes in the kitchen. Any suggestions for speeding up the ripening process indoors?
 

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Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Chamois:
(Looks over shoulder nervously.... everything seems to be back to normal ....... let's give it a try.........)

During all the recent excitement on the ship I've been picking the last of my tomatoes. The 4th truss on Yellow Perfection wasn't ripening and neither were the 3rd and 4th trusses on Tigerella, although Gardener's Delight was still doing OK.

I've now got a big tray of green and greenish tomatoes in the kitchen. Any suggestions for speeding up the ripening process indoors?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ferijen:
I've got some tomatoes ripening <snip>without getting blight.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
I have 2 large spaghetti squash waiting to be cooked.

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Make that 4

 

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Posted by georgiaboy (# 11294) on :
 
And there's always that southern USA delicacy for this time of year: Fried Green Tomatoes!

Prep is very simple:
slice the green tomatoes (not too thinly)
dredge in corn-meal (do you Brits call this 'maize meal'?)
fry until just browning in hot fat (should really be lard or bacon drippings, but you can't have everything!)

In October you will likely find this in every family-style restaurant and/or diner south of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Over winter we plan to completely redesign our back garden, with a view to digging everything up ready to make a fresh start in spring.

Up to now, we have just been tinkering with the garden which was there when we moved in, making small tweaks. Now we want to give up and start from scratch.

There are quite a few softwear garden design packages, some free. Can anyone recommend one? It's quite a small garden, so we're going to have to put quite a bit of thought into making the most of it.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
I'm still cropping runner beans - so far have frozen c10kilos. I'm beginning to wish they'd come to an end - and the sweetpeas, come to that - because I want to clear the ground and plant something else..
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
We have a gardener: his fees fit within our budget: he strims the front garden which is mostly granite, mows the lawn in the back and trims the palm trees. He had no car and no phone and no watch: he just shows up twice a month! He even prunes the palm tree!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I've been away during the most prolific week for beans - a neighbour was watering and had one crop - I'm working on the last couple of picks.
I looked out this morning and saw that the brassicas were not as leafy as they were last time I looked, and found three clutches of Large Cabbage White caterpillars of different ages, one of Small Cabbage White, and huge quantities of frass. After squirting them with soap I remembered I had some safe for veggies spray and used that. This afternoon I went out after the rain with the hose and washed the cadavers off onto the ground so the birds didn't eat them. Hopefully they will survive. The cabbages, not the caterpillars.I have two small cauliflowers that I won't be able to eat for a week, but I think I'll take them in and wash them daily to avoid anything nasty happening to them - I didn't spray them. I think the damaged ones are brussels sprouts. The caterpillars didn't get at the kale, the savoy cabbage or the caulis very much. I'm going to need much more effective netting next year. Those butterflies are too clever by half. Got me softened up by pollinating the beans...

[ 04. October 2014, 19:38: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
I'm afraid anyone who sees my allotment will realise very quickly that it's not been planned by software but by bunging stuff into whichever space there is! Sorry, NEQ.

However, I've had a thoroughly decent day's work out there. I didn't get as much digging done as I'd intended as stuff is still going - the runners are almost finished, thank goodness - but I've cleared out my compost bin and got loads of lovely well-rotted rich chocolate cake coloured and textured compost stacked up ready to go - I needed to get it done now, or things would start to nest in it. I don't mind them overwintering in the fresh stuff but I need to dig the rest in! I've also propped up the compost bin - considering I built it out of old pallets and bits of wood the best part of ten years ago, it hasn't done badly! On top of all that, I've burnt all the stuff that was too dry to rot down - again, before anything needed to be cleared out of it. I love a good bonfire!

There's even been a minor blessing in my dismal failure with sweetcorn this year - someone just across the path had their entire crop pushed over, broken off at ground level, and the cobs stripped. We can only guess that it was muntjac or maybe badgers. Mine was crap, so I've only lost about two cobs.

After all that I've gone home, had my supper, had a long relaxing bath, and I'm just about to have a well-deserved fermented beverage!

AG
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
My only edibles are sapotes that are growing and hopefully won't be eaten by the squirrels. There are a few that are low enough that I will hopefully be able to enjoy them!

My non-edibles are making me very happy! My cattleya which usually has twins, now has a triple bud! One of the phalaenopsis has a flower spike and one of the dendrobiums (which I received as a gift in 2002) just finished blooming and has put out two more flower spikes. But, the one I'm most excited about is a dendrobium that I adopted, and which almost died last year, has its first blooms!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Had a cucumber that swelled up this week for tea.
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
Harvested some of the last of the tomatoes this week. I have one for my lunch today. I'll probably manage one or two more regular ones and a dozen or so cherry toms before they're done for the season.

My August plantings of leaf lettuce and swiss chard are doing well. The spinach, not so much. Sweet peas are growing. We'll see if they produce or not. Cauliflower and Brussel Sprout plants have really grown a lot now that the weather is cooler. No curd yet on the cauliflower, but I expect it any day now. Small brussel sprouts all along the stalk. but it has had those for a while now. I don't yet know when/if they'll produce.

Lessons learned from my first season of vegetable gardening:

• Buy all of my seeds in spring, even if they won't be planted until fall.
• Cabbage takes up way too much room.
• Rabbits like lettuce, spinach, & kale. Oddly, they don't like my carrots or much of anything else.
• Watermelons do not do well in my region.
• Don't bother with bird netting after the seedling phase. It gets in my way, is easily defeated by rabbits, and birds don't care much for cucumbers after all.
• Organic gardening is hard. It's tempting to go get nuclear pesticides and take care of squash bugs and cucumber beetles once and for all.
• Herb plants produce a lot. Keep that dehydrator working.
• There's little more satisfying than sitting down to a meal made with things grown in my own garden.

 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I have cut down a dead cotoneaster from one corner of my garden and have discovered a tall (5ft) but very spindly holly amongst it. It hasn't got any branches, just the central stem. Nice glossy green leaves though. I'd quite like a holly bush there. If I leave it, will it bulk up? It was being supported by the dead cotoneaster, and needs staked to remain upright. Now the cotoneaster's gone, it will get more light, but not much more.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
If my experience is anything to go by, cutting it to the ground will guarantee a vigorous shrub in no time.

But generally, nipping out the growing point on a stem is supposed to encourage side shoots.
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
I've cut several other things to the ground, so I hope they don't resurge too quickly!

We've looked at several of the "free" garden design softwear available online, only to discover most of them are adverts encouraging you to use certain products.

I also got a book from the library which cheerfully remarks "Of all the garden shapes, wide, shallow plots can be the most demanding to design."

Our back garden is 18m 70cm wide, but only 5m 80 cm deep. Redesigning from scratch is going to be interesting.
 

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Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :
 
The best layout we've found was to make each bed as long as the soaker hoses we have for watering it. In your case, NEQ, we would decide whether to water from one side (a few long hoses) or from the back (more shorter hoses connected to a distribution pipe along the back, possibly with a shutoff for each bed.)

Once the watering system is figured out, that will define the beds.

At the old house, with most of a hectare to work with, we had a number of narrow 50 foot beds, each with one or two hoses running the length. That makes it easy to reach all the plants. Note, however, that as you make the hoses longer the plants nearest to the source will get more water. One way around this is to connect two hoses end-to-end (or use a single hose for a shorter bed) and double it up so each part of the bed gets watered by two places along the hose.

From year to year we simply moved the crops to a different bed for rotation. For example, the garlic got planted into the bed where we had just dug the potatoes because it was empty at the right time and the dirt was well-worked.

Beans, peas, cucumbers and other climbers went in a section with a trellis - usually some wire mesh supported by fence posts. Two such sections spaced about 16" ( 40cm ) make a "tomato hedge" that lets the plants grow upwards while we can reach through the mesh to pick the fruit. This also kept the plants up off the ground, and allowed plenty of air flow to reduce problems with mildew. (Plants were about 30cm / 12" apart inside the hedge.) As our garden shrunk we would use the same frame for everything.

At least, that is what worked well for us when we had a large garden. Now we're down to a single raised bed, which is a lot less work!
 

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Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
I have a japanese Acer on my patio in a pot. It has now dropped all its leaves for the winter. I really want to re-pot it, would now be a good time to do it? Or if not, when?
 

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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Sounds like a good time, since they always tell you to move trees when they're dormant for the winter. I wouldn't do anything like adding major fertilizer to the new pot, though.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
It is cold now for what we have in our gardens, and quite often lots of rain. I have had to get out the ones who died and make it look better - and some just fall down out! I just have a few flowers to look at and enjoy!
 

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Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :
 
We've had a few cold nights with light frost here in Nashville. I'm getting tired of covering the whole garden each night that frost threatens. We have a cold spell coming up where I'll have to do it for 4 or 5 nights in a row and even that may not be enough. Lows will be in the 20's F. I think the cauliflower and brussel sprouts will just have to fend for themselves. Both are large healthy plants, but neither is producing anything. Seeing as how I'd probably have to maintain them for at least 2 or 3 weeks after they begin to show signs of producing (which they are not), I just don't see a harvest coming from them this year.

My snap peas, chard, and lettuces are easier to cover, so I'll try to keep them going through the coming weather.
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
Yesterday I spent a while to remove all the white ones fallen down from green ones when they were a long time. And it will be none eventually this future.
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
Argh, buttercups! At long last I've shifted most of the little sods from one end of one plot... but they'll be back! Meanwhile, I await the floods...

AG
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
Yesterday I almost finished removing the worse of the weeds from my plot. The soil was pretty claggy and so that'll be the last time this season that I'll be trampling on it, I hope. The rest of the work is to cut fruit bushes back, and have a bonfire, so hopefully it'll all be done by the end of the year.
I'm looking forward to browsing the seed catalogue over Christmas.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Amazingly my little quarter plot is clear, after months of it having been left to, er, be fallow. I haven't even started to think about what to actually do with it. I want some rhubarb but I'm told if I put that in, it will be 2 years before I can start using it.
 

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