Calling all AC Gardeners!

tillytop

Hello all you gardeners!

Spring is on the way (apparently ) so it's time to polish the mud off those tools and wash the pots and seed trays in readiness.

Thank you so much to Suncatcher and everyone else who posted kind words to say how much the gardening threads had been enjoyed. Thank you too to DD for letting me know about Suncatcher's thread and for replying on my behalf.

Although I am not posting much at the mo, I am looking in, and will look forward to reading about everyone's gardening "exploits" this year!

I feel like a proper grown up gardener now because I have my first ever batch of finished compost! My hubby emptied it out for me the other week and although there wasn't masses, there was enough for a good inch or so over half the raised bed Thanks to those who encouraged me to give it a go, despite my fear of unwanted "guests" in the heap (so far unfounded thank goodness)

Happy Gardening!

Tillyxxx

Airwave!

Standing by, fertiliser bagged, seeds brought, watering can frozen, fork at the ready, mam!

Tell me, why does my grass grow in the winter? and weeds...... our greens started growing again? and last summers flowers are still going?

gardenConfused.com

suzygirl

My bulbs are growing, and am looking forward to spring

frogmorton

Hello TILLY

and everyone else!

Like Suzy my bulbs are emerging. the snowdrops l planted over several weeks are flowering...

and yesterday

I booked my Gardnener's world tickets June this year and MontyDon will be there

Love

Toni xxx

Ps Tilly fabulous about your compost - lovely non-smelly stuff

julie47

Can any one tell me why and how to stop little minute flys appearing in my potted plants.

My oh has repotted, I have tried fly killer (hoping it didn't hurt the plant roots) only to find them re-appearing weeks later.

On a nice note....My bulbs are flowering too, a few crocus and tete a tetes so far

Tilly thankyou for starting this thread again

Love Juliepf x

tkachev

Well we have a lovely big shed going up this weekend! Now to choose some climbers to grow in front of it.

There's not a lot of colour in the garden at the moment but hopefully Spring is around the corner!!!!

Elizabeth

barbara12

Hi Tilly and thanks for starting this thread again
Spring is nearly here, cant wait to see everything come into colour..

bubbadog

I'm a gardening virgin! And this year we (my OH & I) are ready to start putting plants in our pots and on the ground, so you may be able to give us tips! My OH is going to start planting in the spring, so any advise will be appreciated.

Airwave!

Julie47,
You can get a wash from the garden centre, to get rid of the insects, take them outside, all if you can, spray the wash on, let it dry and then back inside, watch the cold though.

julie47

Thank you airwave will look out fo the wash and hope it works.

Julie x

lindalegs

Julie and Airwave, I heard that you can actually trap the little black fruit flies by leaving a small drop of wine in the bottom of the bottle. Apparently they're attracted by the smell, fly in and can't fly out again and end up drowning in the wine .................not a bad way to go IMO

Unfortunately someone has to drink the rest of the bottle of wine before you can leave the drop in the bottom of the bottle :roll: Any volunteers??

Luv,

frogmorton

Legs...




all done for you the bottle's....

well....

somewhere around...hic hic! :oops:

lindalegs

frogmorton wrote:

Legs...




all done for you the bottle's....

well....

somewhere around...hic hic! :oops:

Toni you didn't share it with me ..............better get another bottle

Love,

Airwave!

Like the style but giving wine to flys doesn't seem right though?

We also got white mites on the orchids and the wash kills them off as well. I collected loads of wild poppy seed heads(the large purple ones), dried them and saved all the seeds and OH blames me for her orchid problems. Anyhow now solved. When I spread the seeds the wild bird population is going to be well fed! What else could I do with all those wild poppy seeds.........????

lindalegs

Airwave! wrote:

What else could I do with all those wild poppy seeds.........????

Well I'm just wondering how green your fingers are Airwave cos that would sure take your mind off arthur pain


Now in December I bought a gardenia which had two flowers open and lots of buds. It's in our conservatory which is heated but does get cold at night. It is thriving except that the buds keep dropping off and since the first flowers died I can't seem to get anymore to open.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

Luv,

Colin1

Airwave grass never stops growing but it does grow very slowly during the winter just like your hedge row. If you get a good weed and feed it will get shut of your weeds but may take several goes if you have lots. Always read the labels and instructions.

Julie soapy water but read the following
Aphids - you may know them better as greenfly or blackfly fact is that this pest family is one of the biggest in your garden. there are over 500 aphid species in the UK they reproduce so quickly that a single aphid could produce millions in one summer so its not just the fly you need to get shut of its the eggs.
Soapy water sprayed on the plants works well and you need to do it weekly. If you don’t mind using chemicals there are many types if you try B&Q or one of the nurseries these have a longer lasting effect and no I do not want to discuss the environment and use of chemicals
I grow over a thousand flowers each year and ill do whatever it takes to get shut of pests.

LINDA
The most common problem with gardenias not blooming properly is low humidity..they need alot of humidity to bloom properly.. I take it its the creamy white flower they are so beautiful they look like they are porcelain. Its an evergreen native to china I think. It is not an easy to grow plant but once you get one or two blossoms your away. Gardenia jasminoides 'Fortuniana' is the most popular variety with the biggest and most fragrant flower. Mine has been outside all winter and looks in quite a sorry state I don’t expect it will flower this year but I love the glossy, rich green foliage.
Well done on this one Dell.

Compost can be made from all sorts of things if you use manure remember you will get seeds in the mixture, Whilst you can attract visitors to your compost remember many of them are good for your garden eating aphids. I love the net.

I tried planting early last year to get some blooms for show as I started selling some to help pay the cost of growing. Whilst I had some success with a light box this year I am going to start some at the end of February with a heated propagator and light.

The mild winter has left us many plants from last year nearly all my Geranium have survived but I expect the coming bad weather will put an end to that. My spring bulbs are also doing well with the mild start we had to the year and back end of last year.

MY tip What you should be doing this week from my personnel gardeners calendar. Stay in the warm and just plan until the cold bout is over. If you have problems breathing in the cold “ and yes trying to do stuff when in pain does not help the breathing” the cold air makes it worse. If you have to go out in your garden or the shops get down with the kids and get yourself a SNOOD.

Airwave!

Colin,
I did use the feed and weed stuff on the lawn....and the weeds came up more than ever. I let the grass grown longer and that seems to work but then this winter has been mild and its grown more, I have been giving it my best stare and waiting for it to respond but a cut is in the air and it'll just have to do. Cutting grass in February is weird. Long live decking!

I think.......the pampas is dead, advice from last year killed it and a kindly friend dug up the remains, it was huge, it now resides on my compost heap, dead, I hope!

Colin1

Hi Airwave you can weed and feed more than once a season i know some stuff is quite expensive but in the end its worth it if it gets shut of the weeds. There is a firm that do it for you but i cant remember what their called but i hear they are quite cheep.

Pampas what a bugger that stuff is to dig the roots out, took me a couple of years to get shut of one i had.
Take care
Colin

julie47

COLIN

Thank you for the advice of the little pests in the garden I will try that too
juliepf x

frogmorton

Julie

l got me some ladybirds and some ladybird larvae last year for my aphids

Mellman was taking the mick and asking me was l going to tie something to their legs to keep 'em in my garden

BUT l had so many aphids on my roses that they stayed (english 2 spots) and l LOVED watching the baby ones (who eat more than their parents) change into ladybirds.

I also bought a ladybird house and some are overwintering in there

Love

Toni xxx

julie47

frogmorton wrote:

Julie

l got me some ladybirds and some ladybird larvae last year for my aphids

Mellman was taking the mick and asking me was l going to tie something to their legs to keep 'em in my garden

BUT l had so many aphids on my roses that they stayed (english 2 spots) and l LOVED watching the baby ones (who eat more than their parents) change into ladybirds.

I also bought a ladybird house and some are overwintering in there

Love

Toni xxx

Just looked up for a ladybird house on a well known site and spotted one. I never knew you could buy them, I learn something every day
Thank you Toni,
Have a good week-end.

lindalegs

Thanks for the Gardenia advise. Have put a small bowl of water near it and will watch my watering. No buds opening yet.

Luv,

ritwren

Hi everyone, I've been lurking but would love to join in with your garden thread. :oops:
I've got loads of spring bulbs in bloom and loads of buds on others. This winter has been so mild and it does my heart good to see the little Iris and Snowdrops and Daffs blooming. I grow most of my bulbs except the Snowdrops in pots but have some in the garden too.
I went to the allotment the other week and dumped 3 bags of home made compost on the beds, best result I've had yet and I was delighted. There's nothing like making your own compost.
It'll soon be time to start sowing, or has anyone started anything off yet?
Rita.

Colin1

Hi Rita I had lots of stuff doing well from last year but this last couple of weeks of frost has put pay to that. Its mainly flower seeds i grow but lots of them. I have just finished building a large light boy and hope to get some seeds going at the end of this month. Problem is its taken it out of me a bit. took me about 3 weeks to build, would have done it in a few hours before Arthritis anbd this bloddy COPD still at least i done it. Cant waite for the warm weather.
Colin

ritwren

Well done Colin, your light box should give your seeds a good start. Do you have a heated mat in it? It's a shame that you've lost some things that you had over wintering, we've been lucky here this year although I lost a load of stuff last year.
I have a small propagator but don't really use it much as there's no regulator on it. I might treat myself to a new one this year.
We've not had the frost here that everyone else seems to be having although we have a lot of rain. I've planted out my autumn sown sweetpea in the sheltered place by the wall as I do every year. I still have more to plant at the allotment but I'll hold onto them for another while as it's quite open there and more windy and colder too.

Colin1

Hi Rita
Well its quite a big box lined with polystyrene and then aluminum foil
2 x 60w bulbs keep the inside temp around 70 / 80 deg F. I can keep water inside so it stays warm and the same with the seed compost. I also have a propagator that fits inside thats electric and keeps its temp quite well in the box. Going through a bad patch at the moment and planting seeds or tending them seems a log way off at the moment.
Colin