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The gardening thread

Purdie said:
They're nothing to do with gardening really. They are an art form and a really old one for that. I would never buy a bonsai but would love to be able to grow one. It's really involved and takes years of work.
There is a Chinese doctor in A'dam whom has one in his shop and sometimes after he done me massage he will tend to it. It's an ugly thing tbh but still a work of art.
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I intellectually 'get' them, but emotionally don't like them iyswim
 
My house, good if you like Wysteria!

hvtoGFo.jpg
 
A lot of the plants we grow, however well, are only a pale shadow of the way they grow in their native environment.
Bonsai takes it a bit further.
I'll be root-pruning my brugmansias this autumn so I can keep tropical trees growing in the UK by taking them indoors for the winter.
They're mostly pollarded I suppose.
 
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Bloody slugs.
What is it about French marigolds that attracts them ?
I'll grab another half dozen if I spot any the right colour and hope to keep at least one large pot looking good - plus I'll definitely be trying vaseline.
 
I have to prick out my tobacco plants and love lies bleeding later - it's starting to look a bit like lettuce in there.

lettucesmall.jpg

And one of my yams is sprouting - I should have started much earlier ...
yamsproutsmall.jpg
 
Little purdie bought me an Echinops for mother's day and I bought myself a rhubarb. Sowed some sweet peas and they are starting to come out. Sunflowers are doing well too. Planted chervil, spinach and some spring onions. Carrot seeds need to go in and want to sow some coriander too. My jerusalem artichoke seem to have won the battle from the ground elder :D so am very pleased with that.
One bush I really want is Garrya Elliptica but can't seem to find one. Asked a grower and he reckons I might have to bring one back from the UK or venture into NL but the local garden centre just over the border gave me a blank stare too.
Picked up some ferns and heap phlox too but they still got to go in.
 
ok.. I got me a thyme plant, a mint plant and a rosemary plant. I already got a rosemary plant last year and planted it in a pot after many dire warnings that it would grow and grow and overtake the garden. It hasn't grown one iota, nor has it died.. it just sits there looking bored.

Anyway, I have a little triangular raised bed thing.. could I plant all three herbs in the same thing or will they fight?
 
gaijingirl Mint is better kept in a pot because it spreads. I would plant the rosemary and thyme in the raised bed and just give them a trim in the winter if they get too leggy.
 
boohoo said:
gaijingirl Mint is better kept in a pot because it spreads. I would plant the rosemary and thyme in the raised bed and just give them a trim in the winter if they get too leggy.
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ok... now I hear this.. and I will probably do what you say - but with the caveat that everything ever that "spreads", "takes over" .. "an idiot could grow".. either dies or just sits there laughing at me. Apart from one summer when I planted some tomato plants on the estate, forgot about them - went out one August day and there were shit loads of tomatoes there.

but yeah.. a pot. I have got pots - lots from last year's failures. I'll show you them (if you don't mind) and you can tell me if you reckon they'll work.
 
gaijingirl said:
ok... now I hear this.. and I will probably do what you say - but with the caveat that everything ever that "spreads", "takes over" .. "an idiot could grow".. either dies or just sits there laughing at me. Apart from one summer when I planted some tomato plants on the estate, forgot about them - went out one August day and there were shit loads of tomatoes there.

but yeah.. a pot. I have got pots - lots from last year's failures. I'll show you them (if you don't mind) and you can tell me if you reckon they'll work.
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I've grown rosemary - which got a bit leggy, sage and thyme which both did alright. Just water when the soil is dry mainly in the spring and summer unless it's a very hot autumn or winter. If the soil feels wet, don't water it.

Simple... :D I like to let plants do their thing while I do mine. Anyway, I'll take a look. I was lucky to do gardening in some lovely soil.
 
aaargh... why WHY? Why is it like this for everyone else but me. :mad:

Although I did grow some sage once that went a bit bonkers.

this year. THIS YEAR... will be my year...
 
I decided to plant my mint directly into the garden as, even if it took over, I would at least have something useful and green. The first plant died and the second one (in its second year) has three sprigs to it. Next year I might even be able to make a pot of tea. :(
 
boohoo said:
My parents had nasturtiums like that. If the door had been left open long enough, they would have been in the house.
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I got a flashback to 1967.
How could I have forgotten how delightfully rampant nasturtiums can be - and how sub-tropical looking.
Seeds added to the list - thanks :)
I'm hopeful that my trailing fuchsias will arrive at some point for my two baskets, but my begonias are struggling to get going.
I may however install more container(s) somewhere discreet and have two baskets of fuchsias and nasturtiums everywhere.

I love ochre. I've sown some rudbeckia "rustic dwarfs" for late summer / autumn.
 
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Check me out building a little polytunnel out of scrounged materials :D

poly.jpg

I have a small garden at home but this is the one I spend most of my waking days on....me plotment

IMAG5323[2].jpg

Tis all mine right up to my Pink shed which since I broke the Brown/Black shed rules has encouraged an influx of colour into our colony. This pics about 6 weeks ago and it's amazing how fast nature has turned brown into green.

Off down there for the day to get me leeks in and my beets.
 
andysays said:
Looks good. I've been thinking about doing something similar on my allotment - what are the black curved supports in that picture made from?
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They're some sort of cable boxing. I found them at work in one of our stores and the gaffer said they'd been there for about 10 years and no one knew what they were. That's when I thought "Hmm i wonder if they bend?" They're perfect, really strong (They have a curved edge and a double box sectioning). They gave me a headroom of 6'4" which is perfect for me at 6'. The rest is pallets and some fence posts I scrounged when the colony fence got trashed in the recent storms. So far I've spent about £6 on screws, nuts and bolts and eventually the cover will cost about £40.

I hear water pipe is the usual weapon of choice ;) I just got lucky finding this stuff at work.

ETA they're some sort of plastic.
 
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friedaweed said:
They're some sort of cable boxing. I found them at work in one of our stores and the gaffer said they'd been there for about 10 years and no one knew what they were. That's when I thought "Hmm i wonder if the bend?" They're perfect, really strong (They have a curved edge and a double box sectioning). They gave me a headroom of 6'4" which is perfect for me at 6'. The rest is pallets and some fence posts I scrounged when the colony fence got trashed in the recent storms. So far I've spent about £6 on screws, nuts and bolts and eventually the cover will cost about £40.

I hear water pipe is the usual weapon of choice ;) I just got lucky finding this stuff at work.

ETA they're some sort of plastic.
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Thanks for that.

I'm actually hoping to make some semi-permanent supports to go over raised beds, so that I can cover with polythene/fleece/netting as the situation requires, rather than a polytunnel big enough to stand up in.

The beds are about 4' wide and I'm looking to make a sort of semi circular shape. I'm sure I've seen something similar somewhere, but can't remember what they were made of. I don't think plastic pipe would bend enough, and copper pipe would cost a fortune (and probably be nicked). I'll look into the possibility of cable boxing or similar :)
 
friedaweed said:
Check me out building a little polytunnel out of scrounged materials :D

View attachment 53610

I have a small garden at home but this is the one I spend most of my waking days on....me plotment

View attachment 53611

Tis all mine right up to my Pink shed which since I broke the Brown/Black shed rules has encouraged an influx of colour into our colony. This pics about 6 weeks ago and it's amazing how fast nature has turned brown into green.

Off down there for the day to get me leeks in and my beets.
Click to expand...



WONDERFUL! Yeah freida! I am planning to build one too....after all the other things I have to do and the brick bbq. :hmm::facepalm::D
 
andysays said:
Thanks for that.

I'm actually hoping to make some semi-permanent supports to go over raised beds, so that I can cover with polythene/fleece/netting as the situation requires, rather than a polytunnel big enough to stand up in.

The beds are about 4' wide and I'm looking to make a sort of semi circular shape. I'm sure I've seen something similar somewhere, but can't remember what they were made of. I don't think plastic pipe would bend enough, and copper pipe would cost a fortune (and probably be nicked). I'll look into the possibility of cable boxing or similar :)
Click to expand...

I used hula hoops on my small beds and plastic water mains pipe on my larger beds. I got the hoola hoops for 10p each at the school jumble sale and the water pipe off a building site from some brickies who were sat in the tea hut one rainy morning ;)

I made mine to take off and on. Will get a pic if I remember when I finally get down the plot (Visitors :))



Rutita1 said:
WONDERFUL! Yeah freida! I am planning to build one too....after all the other things I have to do and the brick bbq. :hmm::facepalm::D
Click to expand...

Ta Ruti, It's been real fun skip dippin with Finn and pallet scrounging. Tons of How to do's on the net as well ;)
 
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