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The gardening thread

gaijingirl said:
oh that's brilliant! i have plenty of those too... thanks - so I guess you just stick the other end into the earth and job done!
Click to expand...

It is good isn't it? I wish I could take credit for it. My bloke looks at a problem and sees a solution, I look at a problem and see a good excuse for yet another trip to the garden centre :oops:
 
BoatieBird said:
It is good isn't it? I wish I could take credit for it. My bloke looks at a problem and sees a solution, I look at a problem and see a good excuse for yet another trip to the garden centre :oops:
Click to expand...

yes.. me too. I dno't want to be like that though. I'm just wondering if i have something lying around i could turn into a planter? Although that flexible planter - green plastic bag thing - that can't be expensive right?

Am i right in thinking that pretty much anything could be a planter if it holds the earth and has holes in the bottom? So I could just find something big and wide and deep... although trying to think what? It's a bit tricky with two very young kids but wondering if I could look in some skips...
 
just been googling for ideas..:D

bra-planter-225x300.jpg
 
I will only use black plastic in my garden - 7.5 litre pots, 15 litre buckets and 70 litre builders' tubs.

I was even planning to have a black "granite" water feature at the end of the garden.

I need a trough for my windowsill and all I can get is dark green - still anything's preferable to "terracotta".
I was going to nail some planks together , but these ready-made troughs are almost the exact size I need.

I'm slightly disappointed that my salad system will be in blue mushroom trays.
 
Last edited:
Manter - wrong place for this but realised I have exactly the same plant as you, but in my back garden - the one you've only just told me the name of - that smells nice. It's right down the back so I hadn't noticed the lovely smell before!
 
gaijingirl said:
Manter - wrong place for this but realised I have exactly the same plant as you, but in my back garden - the one you've only just told me the name of - that smells nice. It's right down the back so I hadn't noticed the lovely smell before!
Click to expand...
Choisya? Lovely plant- grows really well round here so wouldn't be surprised! I have mine a very vicious haircut in September so it isn't flowering all that much ATM, but I need to give the others a chance to catch up ((baby hedge plants))
 
Manter said:
Choisya? Lovely plant- grows really well round here so wouldn't be surprised! I have mine a very vicious haircut in September so it isn't flowering all that much ATM, but I need to give the others a chance to catch up ((baby hedge plants))
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yes ditto on the haircut and sparsity of flowers... but I went up to have a little sniff. Lovely!
 
gaijingirl said:
yes ditto on the haircut and sparsity of flowers... but I went up to have a little sniff. Lovely!
Click to expand...
I like it by the path because you brush it on the way in and out :)

I went to this place today http://www.thesecretgardencentre.com it's fab. Some really unusual plants. And the owners, while wildly eccentric, really know their stuff. I put Mantito in a sling and filled the buggy with plants :D

Plus, it has this:
vedapuqu.jpg
 
Manter said:
I like it by the path because you brush it on the way in and out :)

I went to this place today http://www.thesecretgardencentre.com it's fab. Some really unusual plants. And the owners, while wildly eccentric, really know their stuff. I put Mantito in a sling and filled the buggy with plants :D

Plus, it has this:
vedapuqu.jpg
Click to expand...

yes.. it's a handy place that one.. there's a lovely playground in the park behind it too. :) Actually I might go there myself tomorrow now you come to remind me of it!
 
Oooh- and they have some lovely ceanothus, lots of different types. There is a talk thin one that would be great to give your front garden some structure. Go in, go right and up past the pots, it's on the right
 
Manter said:
Oooh- and they have some lovely ceanothus, lots of different types. There is a talk thin one that would be great to give your front garden some structure. Go in, go right and up past the pots, it's on the right
Click to expand...

oooh... you're naughty.. I have to go now! Where would you put it in my front garden? I hate my front garden. I did just buy a lavender plant that I was thinking of putting in front of the window. I don't like the bush that is there atm..
 
gaijingirl said:
oooh... you're naughty.. I have to go now! Where would you put it in my front garden? I hate my front garden. I did just buy a lavender plant that I was thinking of putting in front of the window. I don't like the bush that is there atm..
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IIWY I'd probably plant a variety of things mixed in with what you already have to make it more cottage-y... So you have that little path that meanders to your side gate, but all the rest is plants. Choose a limited colour palate, put gravel or bark down underneath to suppress weeds... The ceanothus could go front left as you look at the garden. And something like Lamium or Japanese painted fern in the shady corners- lovely silvery bluey purple to add some zing.
 
Manter said:
IIWY I'd probably plant a variety of things mixed in with what you already have to make it more cottage-y... So you have that little path that meanders to your side gate, but all the rest is plants. Choose a limited colour palate, put gravel or bark down underneath to suppress weeds... The ceanothus could go front left as you look at the garden. And something like Lamium or Japanese painted fern in the shady corners- lovely silvery bluey purple to add some zing.
Click to expand...

yes.. our neighbours' is beautifully cottagey.. I love their front garden. You must come over for tea sometime... :D *prepares plan of front garden and pencil* ;):D
 
The Daily Express is predicting a heatwave and my greenhouse door is never closed, so I reckon my brugmansias will have to come out this weekend.
I feel sure we're not going to get any more frosts in Bristol - I would have to drape curtains over them if we did.
Much longer and they'll be too big to get through the door unscathed.

And I need my greenhouse - tomatoes need planting in the border, I need to start processing my half hardy annuals, and get my salad project started.

And I must get my sweet peas organised - they appear to be sulking.

The organic pellets I've been using are too slow acting, so I'll have to put some balanced fertilizer in the watering trough.

And I disturbed a copulating couple of lily beetles and flicked off some eggs...
 
So i looked Manter because I'm about to head up to the secret garden centre..

we have 2 plants on the left. One is a bush that also had a very severe haircut but it grows like buggery - tends to reach out across the pavement and attack passers by. (it's on the left in this photo). Definitely has flowers of some sort. and next to it this other little one (everything got savagely chopped back before winter and a bit more a few weeks ago). i don't knwo what is is either but I could maybe remove it and put the ceanothus.

1619326_10152364215796131_5692188152987090345_n.jpg


Also.. everything is blooming now and the colour is basically red... massive red camelia bush, and various other red things. The only one I know is fuschias - which are lovely to be fair. Also some violet things too.

Anyway, maybe I should hold off on the ceanothus - will pm you seriously to see if you fancy giving me some tips. x
 
I was going to accuse gg of pruning off the flower buds, but it looks OK.
Perhaps time to bury some rusty nails near it - or was it water it with alum ...
 
My Chiltern Seeds order has arrived. I really must do something about that letterbox.

chilternseeds.jpg

Bronze fennel.
Ricinus communis 'Carmencita' (the most lethal plant I'm growing this year)
Squash Sweet Dumpling
Tropaeolum majus Tall mixed (nasturtiums)
Cheiranthus cheiri Fine Mixed (wallflowers)

The RHS order came yesterday with my runner beans, warty Italian courgette and mixed salads.

But now that I need marigold seeds, I still have an excuse to cycle into town and accidentally pick up something colourful.

I am also deficient in the spider plant department.
The last time I went to the garden centre they only had the wrong sort with the reversed variegation.


spiderplant.jpg

The one variegated plant I will have in my garden.
 
right well thanks for all the advice. i have planted the runner beans, a chilli plant, some chives and sown (just scattered on top of the soil) some rocket seeds. I also did some work on my window boxes. I ended up putting the runners into my regular flower borders because I couldn't find a bag planter large enough and all the solid planters were too expensive. I did build an 8ft wigwam though. I pulled up some bulbs to accomodate them which was a bit sad but I really enjoyed the actual earth digging bit. Even if this all goes tits up again, I do enjoy this.
 
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