Anyone for Gardening?

pot80

We leave the bottom bit of the garden as uncut grass that has been a wonderful sight this year with a mass of daffodils, primroses,crocus,snowdrops,and now a few fritillaria. I feared last autumn that the grass was going into the winter too long and wished that I had had it strimmed, however we have ended up with the best spring show we have ever had. It is quite dazzling. Elsewhere the veg patch is under way My early potatoes are showing through. The broad beans which I start in pots are now planted out and going strongly, likewise the peas which I planted out yesterday.Crops that I am waiting to come through include carrots,mangetout peas,and spinach. I am also trying 'cut and come again' lettuce in the greenhouse for the first time.








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frogmorton

DD you must take a photo (probably next year now) of the snowdrops they sound so pretty

Your wildflower patch sounds lovely Pot80. You were brave not to cut the grass and it's paid off

I have started too (mostly inside), with seedlings growing on every available windowsill

Onions I planted last year are up and showing broad beans went straight outside so can't see mine yet Pot80. My tomato plants are strong and have already been potted on as have my geraniums, and lots of other flowers for summer.

I can't wait!!!


Toni xx

pot80

Toni
I would hate to deceive you that I was brave not to cut the grass last autumn it was actually idleness on my part in that I did not phone the
guy who cuts the grass for us !! After I got over the worst of the start to RA I hated sitting on the mower screwed up like a ball of paper so got someone in to cut the grass. In order to keep costs down a bit we let the lower part of the garden go semi wild. Having somebody in also meant that I did not have to worry each week as to
the weather and if it would be dry enough to cut. I planted my pea plants out this week - I use the old centres of loo rolls as root trainers and plant one pea per cardboard tube in the greenhouse. This way I know what I have got to plant out rather than find that the mice have eaten the seeds in the ground.

frogmorton

Hahaha!! Fair enough it's my opinion we should make our lives as easy as possible on ourselves

Great idea about the loo roll. I wish I'd thought of that as we have moles and I heard the mice and voles often use their runs to eat our veggies :?

Lovely day here now after rain this morning

dreamdaisy

Yesterday my grass had its second cut of the year and I dug out my wonderful purchase last year - an expandable hose pipe. It was terrific but, despite my taking good care of it, it is now leaking like billy-o at both ends and has to be replaced.

I am very tempted to try the same again but this time going for a branded version - we need a hose that is at least 100' feet long (preferably double that if possible) and these lightweight ones are so easy to lift and move, even when they are full (and leaking). A neighbour who helps me out from time to time is equally keen that I buy something on a reel which I either reel in myself or is automatic. The longest I have come across of that kind was either 50 feet or 50 metres (I can't recall which!) and was on a wheeled carrier BUT you remain tethered to the tap due to the short extension hose that links the carrier to the tap.

What do you use? What has worked best for you? What will you never use again? DD

daffy2

There are flat hoses that wind back onto a cassette type reel which can be fastened to a wall next to the tap - have no idea how good they are, but a friend thought his was excellent. In theory they should be light to pull out and reel in as the water is expelled, but the practice might be different. In the past I have always favoured having a shorter hose (preferably on a reel, otherwise looped up over a holder - although that option is less appealing now thanks to increased decrepitude) near the house for the more frequent use, and then an extension deposited somewhere further down the garden for use as and when. On my allotment which was very narrow but very long I put 3 lengths down the side of the path and joined them as neded - just had to be careful when grass cutting! My current garden is similar - 200' long by about 15' wide - so I will need to do something similar but this time I have fences I can hitch the hose to off the grass or beds I can run it along the back of. I am currently looking for a suitable hose reel for the house end as the narrowness of the plot means that leaving 50' of hose lying around by the back door isn't a sensible option here....

frogmorton

I have one of those hoses. ONLY one problem is that the wrinkly outer cover is cloth and can tear on rough surfaces so I put bin liners over walls/rocks. They are REALLY light; we have the longest one and I can lift it

It came with a jet-wash attachment which is really very good!

Love

Toni xxx

dreamdaisy

Thank you both for your input and wisdom, it's helped me come to a decision. I am opting for a branded expandable - H*z*l*ck - to be precise. It's 30 metres in length and easy for me to handle which, as I am the one who deals with the watering, is how things should be. A local independent hardware store is selling it for £44 which beats *m*z*n hands down! I'm off to buy it. DD

dreamdaisy

I'm hose-less. They do have it but 'off-site' so I couldn't buy it today. I'm using a two pint milk container which is a lengthy process but I'm telling myself that the exercise is good for me. :roll: DD

Airwave!

DD- just cut your hose where the leaks are and put a plastic joint in ( £1 each in pound shop), much easier. I had a fold flat hose and the inevitable happened, it lasted a year or two.

Everything went mad in our garden, even the rooks, the youngsters are crying out for attention. Oh is digging the veg patch (anything to get out of the housework!), I couldn't use the loppers so thats another job for 'er outdoors', next door has electric motorised ones but you still have to hold them, frustrating!

This is the first time for weeks that I've been able to sign in, perhaps the Russians are hacking me as well!

frogmorton

Poor you DD

I hope it's available soon?

Airwave there was work done on here which meant we most of us had to sign in again a week or so back it was discussed in this thread.
https://arthritiscareforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=47823

Is that what happened to you?

We are busy applying ant nematodes :roll:

dreamdaisy

I'm far from practical, Airwave, so opted to buy another hose. In fact I got a bigger yellow one for a few pounds extra from Homebase, this one expands up to 40 metres so comfortably covers the required areas and I find it easy to manage.

I have new tulips appearing, some are deep purple and others are a lovely pale pink and white which are somewhat frilly in the petal department - I don't remember them from last year and I certainly haven't planted them! DD

wazz42

I've been pouring nematodes too Toni, the slug type ones in the strawberry bed and the hosta's which are in pots on the patio.

I've just got my hanging baskets planted up now, they are in the greenhouse hopefully putting on plenty of growth ready to go out in half term :P

Has anyone grown courgettes? We've gone on the low carb diet. We have just built (I say 'we' in the Royal sense) a low raised bed and oh was looking forward to growing potatoes again - but we hardly eat them now, so I've been trying to think of veg we now eat that we can grow, any other ideas welcome

Take care
Wazz

daffy2

Courgettes are easy and prolific(hence the existence of a popular book about ways to use them!), and they should be easy to find as plants in garden centres now. It's possible to get different shapes and colours, and some of them are really nice eaten raw, and the flowers are also edible - use the male flowers if you don't want to sacrifice your crop. Outdoor cucumbers - you may see them called ridge type - are worth a go. Homegrown and picked small they are nothing like the streak of green water you buy in the shops.
It's too late for sowing broad beans and probably also peas, but French beans(dwarf and climbing) will do well now as will runner beans(also available as a dwarf), and you can dry the surplus at the end of the season to use in winter. Mixed salad leaves - lots to choose from - are quick and easy, although later in the summer they may do less well if it gets hot and dry. Many will do well through the winter as well with minimal protection, check the seed packets. Lots of different kinds of lettuce, some of which again will crop in winter, and then there's always the good old radish, small carrot sorts('Paris Market' is an old round one which has stood the test of time), turnips (something like 'Snowball' picked no bigger than a golf ball) and kohl rabi, and spring onions.
Depending on how much space you've got you could also consider winter squash( so-called to differentiate from summer squash, aka marrows/courgettes) to use from storage through the winter.
Joy Larkcom's books are some of the best for knowledgeable inspiration, and will give ideas as to to how to get the most from the space by inter-cropping etc. Charles Dowding is another I can recommend.

OutdoorMaz

Courgettes are very easy but do have a tendancy to think themselves a marrow if you turn your back!

Do you like spinach? It grows like a weed if you get the perpetual seeds and keep picking it. Beetroot is easy and agree that salad leaves, lettuce and rocket work well.

We grow all our own garlic. Put it in in the autumn and ignore it, then by summer it's easy to pull up as and when.

Definitely true that anything you grow yourself actually has a taste

wazz42

Greenhouse watered, it seems warmer even though it's raining and cloudy, I wonder if it's nearly summer?

Thanks for the courgette info. Also for the other veg info too. I'll definitely add spinach and salad veg, I've tried those before but I think I cared for them irregularly re water, thinning, feeding and such so it hasn't been a success up to now.

We are good at fruit, we have plun, Apple, pear, cherry and apricot trees though the plums don't look at all happy - I'm sort of thinking it could be the lack of rain, so hoping they will perk up now they are getting watered and rained on Then we have rhubarb (my grandad gave Mum and Dad some, they gave me some in 1980 ish when we got a house and garden. It's moved around with us since then. Then it's strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries!

Last year we added in some leeks and cauliflower- the cabbage met its end via the millions of caterpillars.

Wazz

Airwave!

We boosted our rhubarb plants with four extra ones, Mr Brock has been in and eaten them, ggrrrrrrr!

We put some beans in and the insects are enjoying them!

We might get some goosgogs this year if the badgers don't come back, whats the chances after they pinched last years?

I know, I'm all kindness to our wildlife......... or am I just feeding them up (play the Jaws music here!) before we feast.

Right, fish and chips it is then!

dreamdaisy

Well, at 9am I had lovely climbing roses (all firmly anchored to their walls) and some beautiful shrub roses: every plant was in full bloom with many buds appearing but, around 11am, a truly vicious thunderstorm struck.

We 'enjoyed' thirty minutes or so of very heavy rain, gusting wind, a spectacular hailstorm and terrific thunder (terrific if you like such a thing). The majority of my climbing roses are now flattened as their stays snapped under the strain of weight of flowers and the wind, the shrub roses are beautifully draped over the paths, patios and drive. I have just spent an hour deadheading in order to remove some weight to enable recovery - I hope it helps! DD

pot80

The garden is going well this year so far and we are now eating early potatoes.spinach,kale and a variety of lettuces. The peas,broad beans
and mangetout all growing well with the runner beans,climbing dwarf french and climbing borlotti beans going upwards apace. Visitors to the garden include a grass snake, a toad, and a fox but above all was the return of the 4 house martins on 18th Apr who are now occupying their nests of last year.

dreamdaisy

I have a white poppy. She is named 'The Beauty' and is truly stunning. There are two further buds, I hope they too will open in due course. DD

Airwave!

Our offspring are coming along nicely we put them in the garden about March time, put some good compost in their wellies and keep them well watered. Drainage is a problem with the youngest though but they all like the sunny nooks and cranies which brings out their colours which they then keep and the bloom goes on forever.

It is a lot of hard work but with no special growing conditions as long as they are well fed and not over stressed with overlong hours in the nursery. The new varieties have some rather elaborate names that reflect their linage. Gold Awards may be won in the future!


:bee:

frogmorton

wazz42 wrote:

I've been pouring nematodes too Toni, the slug type ones in the strawberry bed and the hosta's which are in pots on the patio.
.................

Take care
Wazz

I have used slug nematodes in the past too. Hard work getting rid of them if you want to be organic and kind to wildlife :roll: .

I have onions in popped in last year and broad beans as well as my tomatoes and cucumber. Had new potatoes for Christmas

My policy is only plant what you like to eat yourself!!!

I bet slugs like courgettes...though maybe not??? I have my cucumbers decimated overnight once by the little blighters

Aiwave what is growing in your wellies??? I can't find it?? :oops:

Pot80 fabulous having the house martins back it sounds as though all is growing well for you.

DD I love poppies just remember to cut off seed heads if you don't want a million next year

Love

Toni xx

pot80

We are indeed lucky to have the House Martins since there is not now a cow anywhere nearby with the attendant flies. Originally there were cattle close to either end of the garden but now long since gone. Magpies destroyed 5 nests one year and also killed the chicks. It was years till the House Martins returned.
On the subject of slugs I read a letter in the newspaper the other day about the use of garlic boiled in water and then diluted to the correct proportions that was used for slug control in hostas.
The strong winds recently lacerated the leaves on the climbing beans - dwarf French,and Runners otherwise we are having a good veg year.

applerose

I had 3 big pots each with 3 runner bean plants about 5 feet tall. Went in the garden yesterday and 2 lots had no leaves on and looked as if they were dead. The other pot is fine. Rhubarb is going crazy, had my first strawberry this afternoon, rasps and gooseberries doing well. Irises are almost finished but loosetrife is starting to flower so will soon be a mass of yellow. Poppies will be flowering soon. Lots of wild flowers around the garden and masses of bees.

frogmorton

gallium aparine, (goose grass), and ivy.

I am heartily sick of both

Just saying

Everyone is doing so well!! Pot80 I wish I could be a fly in your garden to see the house martins sorry about the magpies :x I haven't had much slug trouble here mostly the mice and rabbits.

Christine lots of fruit lovely What happened to your runners?? How odd. My poppies are the only thing which failed I might chuck a couple of extra seeds down (a couple of 50 more like!!).

So am I really my broad beans are flowering like there's no tomorrow and the tomatoes have gone haywire. As for the flower seeds I planted back in feb/march and April they are all out and doing me proud

Lovely

Toni xx

Cucumbers and tomatoes as well as herbs. I had a lot to do since moving here almost a year ago.