Anyone for Gardening?

Airwave!

I have been spending time in the garden, its just starting to overtake me, as it does every year! All the veg is planted, flowers in place and a new raised bed for more fruit is just about to be started (not all by me!).

We have loads of weeds, those horrible sticky green things want to take over, I have been clearing them away from the apple and pear trees.

I decided that the main job is to cut the grass (rather than have an attractive lawn) and brought a heavy duty hover mower which is a lot easier to use. The grandchildren have found that if they turn the pool over and trample in the mud its much more fun, will the grass ever recover???

Bonnielinda

I have always been more of a visual gardener myself. Admiring everyone else's. The few house plants that I have had just seem to perish. I guess I don't have a green thumb. I keep trying though. Any tips would be appreciated.

Currently, I have a tomato vine which is giving fruit. I have picked the ripe tomatoes. Anything else I should do to keep it healthy? A couple of orchids which seem to come back each year. To my total shock!! Been thinking about starting a small balcony garden. Any ideas on suitable plants for one. The plants have to be cat friendly too.

Airwave!

weeelll, give up the indoor plants and grow more in the garden! If you have ripe toms you can tell us what to do! Orchids-you have magic fingers.

As for the balcony, go for useful cooking stuff to start with, mint, parsley, chives etc they are quite hardy and will grow despite what you do, if that works try something else? Strawberries?

Airwave!

OK, I give in, where have all the gardeners gone?

We have been inundated with Himalayan bolsom, little pink flowers on a tall stem, an invasive foreign plant, OH is wondering why I'm doing weeding now?. Evereything is growing as it should (thats a bit strange to start with!!!) beans are quite a size now, peas eatable soon, radishes coming on, given up on feeding the slugs and snails with cabbage, marrows are going mad. Plums, pears and apples look as though we might have a bumper year, can't wait for the crumble! Even the grass is doing OK, I shall keep ignoring the dandelions, daisies etc, they add a bit of character.

Can't lift the hedge trimmer, I've broken all my ribs again so the laurel will get a damm good ignoring! My rhubarb is a failure, might get some new plants next year. Goosgogs are picking up a year after being planted, good oh.

Am I the only gardener left.......................

daffy2

Am I the only gardener left...

No -if they're like me they've probably all gone into reverse hibernation, outside doing it now the fine weather's here, rather than talking about it!
Problems with rhubarb may be a sign of the times. The plants need a decent spell of really cold weather during the winter(their Siberian origins die hard), and the non appearance of same this year coupled with generally milder winters overall is causing problems for commercial and garden growers alike.
Remember to thin the fruit if a lot has been set, especially plums which are prone to overloading themselves and then breaking branches.It seems counter-intuitive, but thinning improves the quality of the fruit and doesn't reduce the quantity overall, as fewer but better and bigger fruit result. It also helps to reduce the possibility of trees going into alternate year cycles(biennial cropping)
OOPs, sorry if that's teaching my granny to suck eggs...

LisaW

Some very helpful tips and advice on this thread. Not sure if I ever will have anything to contribute. I just grow herbs and a have a few house plants. My sunflower seedlings have sprouted and look well. Think the packet said it will take a number of weeks before it starts to flower. Lets hope they make it to that point. I have a very small garden which I've been meaning to do something with. Any thoughts? Or is it too late to do anything this year.

applerose

I'm here. Was just lost in my jungle but I made it out.

Blueberries are doing well although the plant is small. Lots of strawberries, just picked a dozen. About 3 cooking apples growing but no sign of any other apples. Raspberries are just about ready. I've got lots of yellow in the garden just now - irises everywhere, kerria and loosetrife which keeps trying to take over the garden. Sweet Williams looking good. I've left a couple of patches of grass to grow to flower/seed. I like grasses. Dandelions and buttercups are left till they start to seed, as are speedwells, clovers and recently some little violas. This afternoon, I gave my acer a haircut as it is starting to get to a height where I can't reach it. Lots of bumble bees , a couple of toads, a family of blackbirds and a family of dunnocks.

I like the balsam but it is very invasive, isn't it Airwave?

Good advice about the plums. I didn't know that thank you Daffy.

I forgot to sow my sunflowers Lisa. You could let us know how yours are doing.

Airwave!

Thanks D2, I cleared some big trees out over the last couple of years, we now get the morning sun as well as a few hours in the afternoon on the f4uit and it seems to be this that has kickstarted the plums, apples and pears, we'll see how we go with them.

I wondered if I am doing the wrong thing by grubbing up the balsom? By pulling it up and carrying it down the length of the garden (242feet) am I spreading the seeds?

applerose

I know that when the seed pods are ready, you hardly have to touch them and they spring out everywhere. It should be ok to move them before that.

daffy2

Or is it too late to do anything this year.

Not at all Lisa, in fact it's a good time to get planting if you want to grow tender things like hanging basket plants or tomato and pepper plants as the risk of frost is over(unless you're in some far flung corner of the north), and the garden centres are full of temptation now - instant garden if your bank balance can stand it, and you're up for the watering. Cut and come again salads in pots can be sown virtually any time, and some veg, such as oriental greens, do better after mid June, due to changes in day length.

am I spreading the seeds?

Quite probably Airwave, but even if you didn't the plants themselves are quite capable of spreading seed without your activities!

LisaW

Thanks for the advice Daffy. The cut and come again salads sound just like my kind of plant. Think I will have to trek over to my local garden centre and see what is on offer.

Applerose, the description of your garden in enviable. I love it! Plus, the fact that you are providing a home to toads, birds and bees Wonderful:)

toady

A quick revive to see how people's gardening year/summer season has gone, in your opinions, good bad or indifferent..

Never really got underway as intended myself, a few key things I wanted to grow didn't oblige, & it rather let my plans down. Had no luck at all with astrantia (which on reading up prefers autumn sowing, or at least need stratifying, so will have another shot & see if I get anywhere), also marshmallow for much the same reason, and scabious which again maybe my timing was wrong. Also disappointing was the 2 attempts I had at getting ranunculus bulbs to grow - both times they took off really well to start with (some in pots outside, some straight into beds) - then did less well, & seem to just dwindle on me. Not sure why. Hollyhocks weren't a roaring success either but I wasn't expecting much there. :?

So I largely ended up with a muddly herb bed, plus some lavender, lots of cerinthe which was a bit straggly (it got a bit leggy from the off & I probably didn't pinch it out properly, one of my across-the-board failings :roll: ) - ritwren was right about the amount of seeds! - have collected & stored lots for next year. Hoping my drumstick alliums will winter ok & eventually clump. Had a few veg but nothing very productive, & that's about me. Oh and snails wiped out my dwarf sunflowers :shock: Hope LisaW did better!

Now concentrating on spinach, lettuce, watercress & rocket &c as best use of space, having more or less decided carrots spring onions etc are maybe not my best option (in terms of scale-of-production for space & they aren't that expensive to buy). Next year I thought I would try dwarf runner beans, and maybe think about some blueberries.

Couple of best-of-a-bad-job pics below; some mixed lettuce, and my pot of thai basil that will hopefully look like the one I posted previously one day. Also a herby corner of one bed; at least the bees are liking the oregano flowers.



How have others got on?

tkachev

Not a lot has been happening in our garden apart from tons of apples and quite a few raspberries, although I think we still have September for further growth. It does look tidyish for a change, even the horrible,tatty concrete patio isn't covered in piles of rubbish. If I can keep it that way I may be able to get it redone.

The lawn took a battering so new grass was sown and now it is looking a lot better.

We sneakily cut some laurel down which is right next to our house but not quite on our land. It belongs to the landlord of the flats next to us but they live in nice, big, posh houses miles away so never bother with keeping it maintained.

My hollyhocks never grew to full height nor did they flower but I'm hoping they will next year.

Lovely pics Toady.

Elizabeth

applerose

Didn't sow any seeds this year and only bought 1 cherry tomato plant, 1 yellow pepper plant and 1 mini cucumber plant. Only had 2 tomatoes so far and 3 more almost ready, 2 peppers which are still green and 1 cucumber which was a small ball with a curly tail. Disaster. Got lots of yellow raspberries which are still producing, quite a few red ones which have now turned black for some reason, lots of strawberries which are still producing. Blueberries did fairly well but it's a small plant in a pot. I'll pot it up for next year. I got 4 apples, no pears, no plums and no cherries.

The shrubs in the garden grew huge after being cut down last year ready for a new fence. Been in the garden all day today cutting them back. I've totally cut down 2 buddleias but I know they'll be 6 feet high again next year. The loosestrife has been trying to take over the garden but now it's cut down, I'll have to stop it spreading any further next year. Found a blue geranium hidden in amongst it. Still got the other side of the garden to cut back and the pond to tidy up.

toady

Thanks TK, my own tatty concrete patio can be seen in pic and yes it is usually v untidy too with piles of clippings, so snap. Should get a brown recycling bin really.

Maybe there is hope for my hollyhocks next year then, that would be nice.

Glad you have had some success with your lawn and cutting back, & some fruit, must look into something, I always think raspberries will be hard.. maybe containers would be the way to go there too, seems like you can.. but whether they are happy, I'd have to read up further.


applerose the blue geranium sounds nice, did you know is was there at all? A disaster or two, oh dear, but again someone doing well with rasps. Blueberries do best with 2 or more varieties planted together I hear (separate pots but nearby grouped together sort of thing). The nuisance with shrubs near fences is not being able to get at the repainting isn't it, otherwise I do like things growing up them or in front of them. Awkward.

marrianne

Loads of apples Rubarb damsons ...getting tummy ache and fat with birds custard son has got Mole hills very small ones I say "LET THEM LIVE " he is soft hearted so I think they have a good home Marrianne xxx

applerose

Toady, I found the rasps very easy. I bought 1 red and 1 yellow from Ald*, planted them and by the second summer, they were growing like crazy. I've got quite a few now, even after cutting out last years canes. They are about 5 feet high.

Elizabeth, my concrete patio is the same. Always covered in things I haven't got round to clearing away. I've filled 4 grass bags. A few years ago, I found one of those dumpster bags (the huge ones gravel or builder's sand etc are delivered in). At this time, when I'm cutting everything hard back, I fill that too then transfer it in to the smaller bags once they are emptied. Just a half-hearted attempt to tidy up. If the laurel is overhanging your property, you have the right to cut it back. It grows really high and wide, doesn't it?

Marrianne, I can't grow rhubarb for love nor money. Always dies on me before it gets going. I'd have to let the moles stay too.

tkachev

The patio was covered in all-sorts, mostly bits of old scooter. I moaned about it because OH has a shed and garage for all this kid of stuff and one day, obviously fed up with my nagging he tidied it away.

Toady your patio is much prettier than mine.

We also have a blue geranium, which flourishes every year and honeysuckle and roses. the roses did well this year.

I did hope to have some poppies but OH mowed them down. I even went through the garden rubbish to find them and show him what they look like so he does not do it again.

The hollyhock leaves are big so I'm hopeful next year they will grow nice and tall and flower.

The laurel is partly over our property but we also want to cut the bit that's not. That way the leaves all bush out and give us privacy. We need to cut the crown off for that.

applerose

I had quite a few large poppies growing in the compost heap. That was a lovely surprise. Hope you manage to get some more Elizabeth.

Forgot to say Toady, I planted the blue geranium last year but the loosetrife grew up around it so I knew it was there but had forgotten about it.

Boomer13

Not a good year. I was miserable with something, flares, etc from Christmas - end of June, so very late start. A lot of winter damage killed bulbs and set back my Datura. Luckily it survived and is just now putting out buds on the patio. It's about 6' 6" high with 10 or so buds up high so if they mature and open it will be gorgeous. I didn't get it re-potted until the end of July so it must hurry if we are to see any flowers; frost is coming. Patio not cleaned up until mid-August :oops: After that we discovered it rotting away and desperately needs to be replaced . Next year's big project.

The veggie garden was good for garlic, leeks, and my brussels sprouts planted last year are just coming along now. We possibly have a good row of beets and some cabbages. Squash and leafy veggies did poorly because of an extended heat wave and lack of organics in the soil. We have limited water during dry spells, so the garden doesn't get very much watering except with what is saved in rain barrels. "We" (read OH) usually add a huge amount in the spring but couldn't this year. The raspberry bed was overwhelmed by some fast growing blackberry canes that almost overshadowed them completely, so not much fruit. Our apple tree is a success with 22 apples on a 7 year old tree. It's coming along well now after some neglect early in life. I had one 2' planter with annuals that was stunning but that was all I could manage. Mostly, I did some spectator gardening, the least satisfying kind but better than none! Luckily, OH is a gardener too but didn't get much done this year either with post-car accident injuries still dragging on. Next year, hopefully will be better. We have some stunning black hollyhocks flowering now, lovely! Best we've every had with no rust-- because of the heat? I guess. If I can muster the energy to figure out how to post pictures, I will add a few.

Inside, I have a new window shelf in a greenhouse window? (Not sure what those alcove windows are called...) with all my orchids happily repotted and doing well in there. Maybe there'll be a Christmas flower?

Happy gardening.....

tkachev

Good luck with the Datura Boomer.

I noticed some beautiful wine coloured hollyhocks up the road so I'm not sure why mine haven't flowered. I don't think OH puts any compost in that area so maybe that is the problem. I remember I also planted some delphiniums and they seem to have disappeared!

Elizabeth

Boomer13

My post should read: OH usually adds a huge amount of organics every spring, not rain .

toady

Boomer13 wrote:

My post should read: OH usually adds a huge amount of organics every spring, not rain .

That seems a creditable effort for not having felt at all the full ticket this year. Have had to google Datura - one of "a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants" - so then I had to google that, "a term used in the life sciences to indicate something of, relating to, or occurring in the evening". Have heard of vespers etc, all the same root, but not that - lovely word. They look very striking, anyway. Envy your black hollyhocks very much - mine were black or should have been - I will have to put more effort into finding out best cultivation for them.

The photo instruction thread may be having a re-work by the way, so hopefully it will have a few updates & tweaks, it may be worth hanging on for Thread #2.

TK there is plenty of non-garden all sorts on my patio too, a hot water tank, old garden gate, plenty of odd bricks, all out of view. I am quite pleased with my bench though; I had to completely redo the slats after I neglected them when it was new & didn't keep up oiling it etc, the wood went horrible and mouldy but I seem to have rescued it. I had some iceland poppies but they went in late & have not done anything this year.

I will look into raspberries applerose. My honeysuckle didn't get a single flower. Last year it got afflicted with something, this year fine, but no flowers, so obv not happy still.

Boomer13

Interesting, thanks Toady for the vespertine info. I learned something :idea: I really hope they bloom. The fragrance is amazing and the flowers are somewhere between peach and yellow and can be several inches across.

The black hollyhock success. We've successive years of failure with stunted plants covered in rust with a few measly blooms, just enough to get a few seeds and start over. This year, with no mulch and only occasional am waterings, in terrible soil and full sun, I resorted to pouring some liquid fertilizer on them every two weeks and they are the healthiest we've ever had with big leaves and blooms, though the plants aren't overly tall. Sometimes the gardener inadvertently gets it right .

I'm having trouble with my honeysuckle vine too. Stunted, and no blooms I actually think I'll see if OH will dig it up and put it in a pot so it can have some TLC and a new location for next year. I think it's going to just die, otherwise.

applerose

I saw pictures of datura a few years ago. They are striking. Hope you get some good flowers. It does sounds as if you've done a lot of work this year Boomer. Well done.

Toady, I only noticed flowers on my honeysuckle yesterday so maybe they are running a bit late this year.