Anyone for Gardening?

applerose

Looks like I might get about 10 cherry tomatoes altogether from the 6 plants. Managed to get a small bowlful of yellow rasps and brambles today. Lovely and sweet. Not much else happened this week.

frogmorton

I got loads of toms Christine, but need them to ripen off. Those raspberries sound lovely

I can hardly keep up with banking up the new spuds ATM :roll: Got some pretty violas for my pots over the winter and am also after some cyclamen, but they are a bit pricey.....

I bet it's might lighter in your garden now DD? Ours are being done soon week after next I think I think about 20ft coming off :shock:

They are a bit annoying aren't they Airwave - I would never choose to grow them myself they aren't my fist choice for screens ::)

applerose

I've got a leyandii hedge in the front garden which was there when I moved in. My son cut the tops off a while ago and between us we have kept it under control. I would never plant one now though. The previous owners also planted 4 in raised beds and another in the corner next to the pond. I didn't realise what they were at the time but took out the ones in the beds. My son has chopped the one next to the pond and it is now covered in ivy.

Not sure what to do with my glut of 10 tomatoes. Only 2 are big enough to pick at the moment. Not sure they'll get any bigger now though. I bought some violas and pansies. Hope slugs don't like them. Ald* has large flowered cyclamen in flower in pots this week. Can't remember the price - about £2.99 I think. You'd get more with bulbs though.

Airwave!

Oh is on the way to Aldi as we speak, her favourite flower. Ta.

Applerose, have you fed your toms? Makes all the difference.

We are in the middle of a pear fest, a tasty fruit we have cooked loads ready for winter Sunday meals the only day we have puds. Theres only so many you can eat, even grandson is eating two a day. Excuse me talking when I have a full mouth, apples will be here soon!

applerose

Hope your OH manages to get some cyclamen. Yes, I have fed my tomatoes. I really don't think I've watered them enough. There are a few more now. I think I'll pick most of them shortly though. I've just been out and picked all my apples as they have started to fall. I've got about 30 so they should last me a while. The yellow raspberry is still going strong and the bramble is giving me enough. One of my patio roses is covered in flower. That was a lovely surprise today.

Airwave!

During the hot weather we were watering every day, usually during the evening, often when I was passing I squirted the hose at the toms without turning the tap on (its 100 ft away and uphill), usually loads of water still in the hose. The greenhouse gets too hot with the door and window open 24/7, we could do with a cooler place for the toms? Saying that they're still growing down there but not ripening fully and haven't had any attention for 4/5 weeks now, the outdoor ones are still ok.

Growing envirament(can't spell today!), food, sun/heat, water......dunno!

What about green tomato chutney?

:cheers:
Next door has just mown all her cyclamen down, oh is in a fit!!!! Time to lower head and shoulders...........

applerose

Green tomato chutney? I'll only have at most a dozen very small cherry tomatoes. Think I'll just eat them as they are if they ripen. Oh your poor neighbour. Or did she do it deliberately? I planted very large flowered cyclamen and they have got smaller every year. They are tiny now but there are a lot of them and they look very pretty.

Airwave!

She doesn't know the difference, she has some very tall 6ft high weeds dropping seeds over our car park at the top. I usally spray weedkiller up there but musta missed them.

They're renting for a lotta money, we didn't think they'd stay, house is too small for them and they have to cut an awlful lot of grass, well, three times this year to please the landlord!

Neighbours eh!
:cheers:

dreamdaisy

Much bulb-planting took place on Friday, and there's more to be done. This Friday we will be dealing with the conifer bits that landed in my neighbour's garden, he's going to pass them back over the fence so we can hack them up and then we fancy a trip to the local nurseries to stock up on cyclamen, I want to line the drive on both sides with as many white ones that can fit. DD

applerose

I've got snowdrops to plant. Was thinking of doing it tomorrow. I forgot that it's the last garden waste collection tomorrow and I hadn't filled any bags so I cut the grass and cut down the loosetrife before tea. 3 bags full. There's more to be done but that will either go in the compost bin or normal bin.

DD, the white cyclamen will look beautiful along the drive.

tkachev

Seeing as the sun was shining the lawn got a haircut.

We bought some cyclamen and planted in an indoor decorative pot, they've been flowering all through the year.

The neighbour has had the very, very tall tree cut down so now we have extra light coming into the garden. sitting outside yesterday and it was a haven for birds and many of them go into the apple tree that fell down last Summer( but is still producing fruit) so I get to see them, and hear much more clearly.

Elizabeth

applerose

Aren't the leaves beautiful at the moment? This is in my garden. Hasn't quite caught the colours.

frogmorton

Nice to have extra light Elizabeth

I am posting this in here for gardeners to see



it's our conifers in the new house halfway through being 'topped'

the ladder show the new height!

Christine those leaves are a lovey colour. I am after getting some trees with pretty leaves for winter colour too.

Acers maybe small ones.

Off to watch Gardener's world now

Toni xx

dreamdaisy

There has been no gardening activity here whatsoever thanks to a month's-worth of invasive scaffolding and roofing activities. During this time all the birds disappeared too (I don't blame them, I would have done too if I could). Now, however, calm is restored, all the scaffolding has gone, the spare ladders, wheelbarrows, piles of tiles and bricks all used and the birds are returning, hurrah! I am watching three blackbirds enthusiastically pecking the red berries off some spiky wall climber, I presume they are eating them rather than just chucking them away. The very large American Oak which backs onto our house is busy shedding its amazing leaves so the lawn is beginning to resemble a bowl of cornflakes. :autumn-leaves:

I have a peris to plant, it's one of my favourite shrubs so I want it where I can see it which I guess means it has to go outside the kitchen as I spend most of my time in that room. DD

mig

I love the blackbirds and their song,we had to cut a shrub back that was taking over the garden we had someone in to do it as neither of us could cope with it,the birds used to live in it and only now are they coming back for food.
I brought a pot of peppers to grow on the window ledge ,cost a pound from wilko,we didn't have many peppers ,6 from 4 plants ,but we had so much enjoyment from watching them grow and eventually they went into a salad,the pots were about the same size as pot noodles.We are going to try the tomatoes next.

Airwave!

I have 100m of weed defying plastic to put down on the bottom of the garden then a whisper entered my thoughts, CATS!, they like to leave their calling cards on gravel, what size and type is best to lay down on the plastic? I have a rectangle of 50' x 30' + some pathways etc. I'm leaving an area for having bonfires and an area for general dumping soil etc. and of course the slopes can't be covered, still leaves lots of garden to keep the gc happy!

daffy2

The smaller the stones the better the cats will like it Airwave! Having said that, a feature left by the previous owners, which has nothing smaller than a bantam's egg, has not been immune from feline attentions, the difference being that it's easier to see on the bigger stones because any attempts at burying the evidence are more obvious. I have small gravel over membrane(again previous occupants) in my pocket handkerchief front garden and have to be very careful when moving the bins or doing anything else out there as it's much harder to see. And despite things I have seen written at various times, using sharp edged gravel doesn't deter.Often my nose will be the first indicator that there's a mess to deal with - not nice when it's so close to the front door!

Airwave!

I did buy some garlic scented cat deterrant to keep next doors cats away from where the gc play, I suppose something like that might be called for? Shall I nail a clove to the greenhouse door or perhaps the local coven could do something a bit more permanent? Or just buy a dog that wants to chase???

:autumn-sun:

dreamdaisy

It's been a while since I posted but our garden is suddenly erupting into life: we have crocuses, daffodils, mini irises and snowdrops here, there and everywhere. The tulips too are beginning to make their presence felt as their leaves burst through . . . . DD

Airwave!

We have had magnolia wanting to burst into bud but nothing has happened, a few daffs have made an appearance, oh and primroses have started but everything seems gripped by winter still?

The sparrows have been in the forsythia for ages and the crows are in pairs around last years nests but nothing else yet.

wazz42

Can't get into the garden today, it's far too wet, but I got out a couple of times in the week and wandered around looking at the flowers - the camellia is beautiful and the Spring bulbs too.

I've planted a few seeds with my little grand'dau spring onions, lettuce and thought I'd go through my seed packets for any flowers I could sow today!

Wazz

dreamdaisy

My star magnolia is out, the little irises are over, some snowdrops too but some tall snowdrops have flowered this week which I don't recall from last year . . . no great surprise there.

A very small robin was hopping around on our shaggy lawn, listening intently. He disappeared into one of the small dips on the surface where the grass grows very long and lush (I think we have springs under the lawn, there's evidence of a filled-in well and we used to be a coach house with stabling) and he disappeared from sight - I had to laugh!

Next week a friend is coming round to power-wash the many slabs and the metal garden furniture which is a fetching shade of green instead of grey-black! DD

daffy2

I think this is the year of the tall snowdrop DD. At work, where I am also part of the volunteer garden team, we were remarking on two patches which had appeared in the grounds alongside the ordinary ones but which hadn't been planted there, and a couple of the team said they had noticed similarly lanky ones in their own or other gardens.

applerose

I've been out for a wander a couple of times. Not seen any extra tall snowdrops but there were a few which have very fat leaves I've not noticed before. The others have very thin leaves. Grape hyacinths are out. Only 6 flowers from 50 daffodil bulbs. Just been out and pruned a couple of rose bushes. I don't think I normally cut them back enough so I was brave and cut more off this time. Fingers crossed it's not too much. Rhubarb coming up nicely. Kerria is looking good but the forsythia is long and leggy with only a few flowers on.

dreamdaisy

I took a closer look at the tall snowdrops edging the drive - each white petal has a little green dot at its pointed end, how wonderful! My white hyacinths are now in full bloom, they are very low to the ground but I've been assured they are fully-scented.

The grass has had its first cut of the year, the majority of the crocuses and tulips came to nowt, probably due to the height of the grass, so they were mown without a second thought. DD