Minnie's Gardeners' Question Time - help for the new gardeners

[Minnie_the_Minx]

But how do you know how big the bulbs have grown and how do you know if you leave them in that whatever you plant next won't get it's roots tangled up?

I have a load of tulips and irises planted around various pots but I believe they don't flower for long, so I'm not sure what to plant in the same pots, or do I have to take them all out before I can re-use the planter?

 

[trashpony]

You don't

What I do is plant my spring bulbs deep deep down. They come up, they flower, they have scraggly leaves. You wait until they go all yellowy and dry and then you plant annuals over the top. All plants happy

If you've planted your bulbs too high, wait till they've finished flowering and then just dig them up and put them back in deeper.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

You don't

What I do is plant my spring bulbs deep deep down. They come up, they flower, they have scraggly leaves. You wait until they go all yellowy and dry and then you plant annuals over the top. All plants happy

If you've planted your bulbs too high, wait till they've finished flowering and then just dig them up and put them back in deeper.

Ah, just put annuals on top eh?

*goes off to check what annuals I have*

 

[geminisnake]

You can put perenials over them too. I tend not to do annuals coz my garden is too big for that nonsense, and for your poppies you really need to just scatter some seed roughly where you want them to grow. Poppies really DON'T like being moved, they can sometimes be moved if they are about 3/4 inches and you get a clump of soil with the root. But best to just scatter the seed and leave.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Found this on tulips. Do all bulbs behave the same (including daffodils - for Edie)?

http://www.tulips.com/bulbs_life_of.cfm

 

[Greebo]

<snip>I have a load of tulips and irises planted around various pots but I believe they don't flower for long, so I'm not sure what to plant in the same pots, or do I have to take them all out before I can re-use the planter?

With bulbs in containers, I plant in layers - the biggest bulbs go right at the bottom, then the medium ones, then the smallest ones just about a thumb's depth down (if that much). Annuals (eg poppies) can just be sown on the surface. Then just give it water (with a bit of plant food if you think it's needed) and light, but otherwise leave it alone.

FWIW it helps if you think about when the different things will flower or be at their most interesting, so that you don't end up with a container which looks overdone for 3 weeks, nice enough for a month either side of that, and then boring the rest of the year.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

With bulbs in containers, I plant in layers - the biggest bulbs go right at the bottom, then the medium ones, then the smallest ones just about a thumb's depth down (if that much). Annuals (eg poppies) can just be sown on the surface. Then just give it water (with a bit of plant food if you think it's needed) and light, but otherwise leave it alone.

FWIW it helps if you think about when the different things will flower or be at their most interesting, so that you don't end up with a container which looks overdone for 3 weeks, nice enough for a month either side of that, and then boring the rest of the year.

This was keeping me awake last night, trying to figure out what to put where, considering the amount of sun I get in garden, meaning not enough space for things that like sun.

My cactus dahlia would be my biggest bulb, and that's wrapped up in a shoe box at the moment. Also, as gemini says, I can put perennials in as well, but I'm just trying to figure out what to put where and as for flowering periods, different sites say different things, and I've read some of my perennials may not even flower the first year.

The stupidest things keep me awake at night you know

I also wonder about poisonous plants and how near you should be in contact with them if sitting in garden. Can you inhale stuff if it's windy. Will I die?

 

[trashpony]

Most poisonous plants are only poisonous if you eat them. You won't die if you sit near them

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Most poisonous plants are only poisonous if you eat them. You won't die if you sit near them

Well I knew that really

More worried about skin irritation than anything as I never wear gloves

 

[trashpony]

Euphorbia is the only one that irritates that I know of but I've never had any problems with it even though I get eczema

 

[Perroquet]

Euphorbia is the only one that irritates that I know of but I've never had any problems with it even though I get eczema

i've got a 20 year old scar on my arm from giant hogweed, but unless your garden backs onto a waterway i wouldn't worry.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Euphorbia is the only one that irritates that I know of but I've never had any problems with it even though I get eczema

Well I realise it's probably like tablets and some plant sites list side-effects just to be on the safe side, but so far, of the ones I've got, the following are supposed to be skin irritants:

Iris
Gloriosa
Mirabilis
Nicotiana
Sunset Flower (Blood Flower)
Aquilegia
Anemone

May all just be mildly irritating (or not at all for some people) although the sap of the Sunset Flower's meant to be a bit dodgy. As I think all of those are ok in partial shade though, I might have a "dodgy to skin" plant corner and lump them all together. That way I may remember they're all dodgy and I may remember to wear gloves

I know I have sensitive skin 'cos I ended up with all these spots on my chest last year. Not sure what caused it but I brushed up against a few plants

 

[geminisnake]

Holly and St Johns wort bother me. Have to wear gloves and long sleeves to deal with holly, and I'm sure there was something else in the garden that I was sensitive to but I think it's all gone now. Some folk can be sensitvie to geranium too iirc.
Sure I posted this earlier!!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Holly and St Johns wort bother me. Have to wear gloves and long sleeves to deal with holly, and I'm sure there was something else in the garden that I was sensitive to but I think it's all gone now. Some folk can be sensitvie to geranium too iirc.
Sure I posted this earlier!!

I think you may have posted about the geranium last year when I came out in a rash. I suspected my Japanese Willow but someone said it could have been geraniums

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Oh, I've finally found something that gives me an idea of how many plants to plant in a container bearing in mind the plant's spread

http://www.gardeningdirect.co.uk/pot-hanging-basket/GD_HowManyPlants,default,pg.html

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

For Shakespeare. Coleus at the back. Unfortunately this one drowned as there were no holes in planter

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Another one (near back of fence with red and green leaves)

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Can't be arsed to find any more pictures. I'm cropping and cropping and cropping, and it's still saying files are too large

 

[shakespearegirl]

Oh nice. I managed to plant 3 clematis before it got dark

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Oh nice. I managed to plant 3 clematis before it got dark

Were they the plants you got up Lidl?

I'm going to find some screws and wire when it warms up a bit and attach them to the fence. Not sure whether to do clematis or passion flower. It's a pretty shaded area. There's sweetpea of course, but I'd have to make a teepee (I think), in which case I'd need to get some longer sticks or can that be trailed along a fence?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I bought some cinnamon powder today as a preventative for damping off. Going to try chamomile tea as well.

However, if a bulb already has had a problem with damping off, and it's not sprouted yet, will it ever grow if it's had the problem?

I transferred a trailing begonia the other day from a pot where the soil on top was starting to go grey and transferred it to a new pot with new soil, but the problem's recurring. Has the problem transferred from the bulb to the new pot and soil and is there any way of saving it? Or should I try repotting again and sprinkling some cinnamon over?

 

[trashpony]

I am going to kill my passion flowers. One of the keeps climbing up the dish and then up into the top gutter and there is another one that seems to have grown out of a drain

I bought seeds on strips from lidl today

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I am going to kill my passion flowers. One of the keeps climbing up the dish and then up into the top gutter and there is another one that seems to have grown out of a drain

I bought seeds on strips from lidl today

I don't have a dish so won't have that problem

Seeds on strips?

 

[trashpony]

Seeds stuck to bits of paper. So they're the right distance apart and you can just trail them across a bed. I need more annuals to fill gaps between my other plants and i (hope) this is fairly idiot-proof

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Seeds stuck to bits of paper. So they're the right distance apart and you can just trail them across a bed. I need more annuals to fill gaps between my other plants and i (hope) this is fairly idiot-proof

oh

 

[trashpony]

It's fucking genius

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

It's fucking genius

What do you get on the strip then? I take it the strips must be biodegradeable otherwise how does it work?

 

[trashpony]

What do you get on the strip then? I take it the strips must be biodegradeable otherwise how does it work?

You get seeds! Stuck on to paper. They had a load of different kinds - I chose one which was a mix of annuals with loads of cosmos in them. I bloody love cosmos

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

You get seeds! Stuck on to paper. They had a load of different kinds - I chose one which was a mix of annuals with loads of cosmos in them. I bloody love cosmos

I've just been googling them. They come on biodegradeable paper. Wonder how that could be adapted to sowing fine seedlings in cells

I'm already growing cosmos from seed. Not sure if they're going to survive transfer to a pot though considering how unwell most of my seedlings look

I've got Cosmos Sensation and giant Cosmos which I'd forgotten about 'til I found them this evening. May give them a go next

 

[Greebo]

<snip>Seeds on strips?

They're on a strip of paper or something, stuck at the right space apart. It rots away as the seedlings grow. If you wanted to start them in cells, you could probably get away with snipping an inch or so and laying it diagonally across each one.