The gardening thread

[Artaxerxes]

This has been a hell of a year for the likes of Real Seeds. Covid had them sold out in Spring and since December the sites just been hammered with orders to the point they've had to choose random opening hours.

 

[two sheds]

Worst moment I had with one was squashing it and seeing it explode in a shower of blue slime that damn near hit me in the face.

The slug pellets, they do nothing.

Yes - when I do it I always look away and then snip

 

[campanula]

In a little raised bed, you could sow a couple of rows of spring onions, a handful of small carrots - 'Amsterdam Forcing' are designed to be grown and picked as fingerlings. You can grow cut and come again saladings, plus a few mesclun leaves. Tomatoes are always a pleasure and can be grown well in a good sized pot. If I had a tiny space, I would grow parsley, basil, a pot of mints, chives, oregano,sorrel and other potherbs which have a little footprint but can really elevate a meal. PM if you want some more suggestions including seed sources.

 

[iona]

I have an embarrassing amount of seeds and lots of stuff comes in massive packs so happy to send stuff to anyone who's having trouble buying seeds or just wants a small amount of something to try growing.

 

[iona]

Re. slugs, I use nematodes when I cba but I still swear by decoy pak choi as the best method for keeping them off everything else

 

[bimble]

I'm so excited for Year two of having a garden.

The world of roses is completely bewildering, there are a million types and i have a vague idea that roses are not easy to look after.
But I'd like to grow one rose bush (bush? climber?) against the wall next to the front door. I'd like it to have scent, and not die before it flowers. What should I get?

 

[BoatieBird]

I'm so excited for Year two of having a garden.

The world of roses is completely bewildering, there are a million types and i have a vague idea that roses are not easy to look after.
But I'd like to grow one rose bush (bush? climber?) against the wall next to the front door. I'd like it to have scent, and not die before it flowers. What should I get?

A rambler or climber is what you're after.
campanula is our resident rose expert.
They're not that difficult to look after ime, and a lovely addition to any garden.

You've reminded me that I need to move a (patio) rose from its current position in a flower bed, totally the wrong place for it as it gets swamped by other plants. Going to stick it in a pot on the patio instead.

 

[campanula]

Absolutely, BoatieBird. It is really annoying, how roses are seen as some sort of garden diva. when the majority are simply flowering shrubs with as much robust integrity as any other flowering plant. It's true that roses have been an enduring love for the last 3 decades (although I am now down to a mere 60 or so. The worst roses are those large flowered hybrid teas, which tend to suffer from blackspot. Since we no longer burn coal, realeasing sulphurous fumes into the air, blackspot has become much more prevalent than it was during most of the 20C (the heyday of the hybrid teas). Rose breeders have been slow to prioritise health over fragrance, colour and blossom size so roses did acquire an unfortunate reputation of being 'difficult'. Nowadays, nobody wants to embark on fortnightly spraying regimes so there has been something of a renaissance in rose breeding...as we rediscover some old, old roses (ramblers, species, musk). Rose breeders are also selecting for health and vigour, and finally, climate change has allowed us to grow the original, deeply romantic tea roses of old (a million miles away from the dwarfish, stiff hybrid tea).
Tell me what you are looking for,bimble (colour, size,flower type, bloom cycle,location and so on) and I will give you a list of healthy, beautiful roses...including where to buy them. You have until the end of March to choose (the bare-root season). Just to whet your appetite, take a look at the website of my all-time favourite rose grower - the inestimable Trevor White's Old Fashioned Roses (a member of a small, but select group of antique rose growers). It would be remiss of me to fail to mention the immense influence of David Austin and his 'English' roses. I have a handful but since I prefer the simpler blooms of species roses, I don't grow many Austins...but they deserve their place in rosy history, for promoting those old fashioned, blowsy, fragrant shrubs last seen at the end of the 19C (moss roses, gallicas, damasks, noisettes, bourbons and ramblers).

 

[bimble]

moss roses, gallicas, damasks, noisettes, bourbons and ramblers

Just the names themselves, so much poetry and romance!
Thank you campanula , exciting and encouraging.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Shoved some old rose bouquet stems in the ground the other day so we’ll see if any of those take

Planted some Lily of the Valley as well, bit late but we’ll see what happens

 

[campanula]

bimble. - I tend to grow single blooming ramblers but for a doorway rose, there are some considerations. Firstly, it is generally nicer to have a longer bloom cycle, with at least 2/3 flushes of bloom across the season Oddly, it is also worth considering how roses die. Do they hang on the canes, looking like soiled tissues or do they fall away, leaving a clean hip. You will be looking for limber canes, without brutal thorns and, as always, the healthiest variety.Which leaves us with colour, aspect and flower style to consider. Roses are sun lovers, needing at least 4 hours of sunlight a day (to bloom well)...but, as I say with tedious regularity, there is a rose for every situation, including tricky, north-facing walls.Have a think about the background colour (pale roses can vanish against a buff background, but some of the reds can equally look a bit harsh, especially against red brick). I am fond of the classic New Dawn and a noisette rose, Aimee Vibert...and if you enjoy many-petalled roses, there are some Austins which would do well for you. I am certain we can come up with the perfect rose for you.

 

[bimble]

The trevor white roses website is amazing. If you weren't here it would be overwhelming tbh, like standing in front of an array of 700 ice cream flavours and leaving the shop with nothing because its too much choice.
Here is the front door that requires a rose to climb next to or around it:

The door faces east, so that bit of trellis in the side of the porch thing faces south, sort of, which might please the rose.
Should i resist the temptation to try to find something that in time will grow all up and over the structure ? Its just too tall for me to take care of them up there.

If I did choose one with big aggressive thorns, would it make deer not eat it ?
(Deer are a thing here, not often but just very occasionally they'll wander in and I cant secure the garden against them).

I think bright red is just not my colour, though orangy reds maybe. White would be pretty but a bit too subtle, am not a fan of apricot for some reason. . which leaves yellow, purple & ten thousand shades of pink!
On the trevor white website, you can sort by types and heights - am i looking for a climber instead of a rambler?

eta New Dawn looks perfect. Out of stock though.

 

[campanula]

The majority of ramblers are once blooming bimble so I think you would get more value from a repeating climber. I suspect I will be enthusiastically posting like mad because the rose is a forbidden subject at home as my entire family (of gardeners) are categorically not fans -but this is my fault as both the garden and the allotment are stuffed with fecking enormous thorny roses (which are fertilised with tears and everyone's blood).Well over 100 but now down to a measly 60ish So any chance to opine...
So, the first couple which come to mind are fairly modern roses. I think any of the pinks would look tremendous.against the house. I have a lot of white roses, but pinks are my default choice. So I was looking on Peter Beales website to see what was available. 'Penny Lane,' an apricot shaded climber is local to you, bred down the road in Hitchin by Jack Harkness. A lovely, rose with a lot of grace.and mannerly growth. Nahema, a Delbard rose, renowned for fragrance) is a gorgeous rose but needed more support (such as a wall) than mine had, The blooms were gorgeous and they were fantastically fragrant.

Buying roses late in the season can often be frustrating but Peter Beales and other rose growers will also offer containerised roses so do check this option. I am pretty sure New Dawn can be found as it is a (deservedly) classic rose. I have bought roses from Style, Pococks, Austin (and loads from Europe...sigh). The British rose growing industry is still in rather good fettle. It is almost impossible to choose a favourite but my most beloved rose has been a 20 year constant - the gorgeous Mme Gregoire Staechelin (aka Spanish Beauty). It was the 2nd antique rose I bought (Zepherine Drouhin was my 1st) and is still in my garden. It is only once flowering - 6 weeks from Mid May and but has beautiful foliage and, as a bonus, has enormous, rusty scarlet heps (it looks somehow exotic all winter).
The best rose website is HelpMeFind (HMF) an ongoing database and he best source of all rose information on the web (O the hours and hours spent there - I indulged my addictive tendencies to the full with everything rose related.
Anyway, I am going to head over to the David Austin site (I resisted them for a long time because they were just so...ubiquitous, marketed, glossy (and massively popular) but nonetheless, I have half a dozen Austins which survived the wars of the roses (when I could only get to the shed on my knees and all the paths were...dangerous.

Tbc

 

[bimble]

ooh what about this one?

The Generous Gardener®

Buy The Generous Gardener from David Austin with a 5 year guarantee and expert aftercare.

www.davidaustinroses.co.uk

eta oh yes, your nahema is even lovelier, i think. Less blowsy.

 

[bimble]

Mexican evening primrose: I got one of these last summer and loved it, the delicate pink trailing flowers like little ballerinas.
It looks like the snow and frost has killed it, but internet says despite dainty appearance it’s a tough aggressive thing underneath.
Can I just cut all of the shrivelled dead looking growth and expect it to grow again from its roots?

 

[two sheds]

Well this was a bit of a pleasant surprise:

Experts identify 'super-plant' that absorbs roadside air pollution

Bushy variety of cotoneaster works best in areas of heavy traffic, say researchers, while other plants can cool buildings or reduce flooding

www.theguardian.com

Bushy, hairy-leafed cotoneaster is a “super plant” that can help soak up pollution on busy roads, horticultural experts have said.

Scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) looked at the effectiveness of hedges for soaking up air pollution, comparing different types of shrubs including cotoneaster, hawthorn and western red cedar.
...
On roads with heavy traffic, the denser, hairy-leaved Cotoneaster franchetii was at least 20% more effective at soaking up pollution compared with other shrubs, the researchers said, though it did not make a difference on quieter streets.
...
“We know that in just seven days a 1-metre length of well-managed dense hedge will mop up the same amount of pollution that a car emits over a 500-mile drive.”
...
“We’ve found, for example, that ivy wall cover excels at cooling buildings, and hawthorn and privet help ease intense summer rainfalls and reduce localised flooding. If planted in gardens and green spaces where these environmental issues are most prevalent, we could make a big difference in the fight against climate change.”

 

[campanula]

.interesting, two sheds. I am really fond of cotoneasters - another overlooked and underused plant which has great urban potential. There are some lovely specimens near me - a row of fantastically gnarly c.lacteus and some soft yellow berried c.exburiensis. I am desperately keen to introduce more berrying shrubs and trees in the wood...and if they are evergreen, even better.
I always knew of the role of London Plane trees, to absorb pollution (which is sloughed off via the beautifully coloured bark) so it isn't surprising that there are other plants which perform the same duties. A few years ago, I became fascinated by phyto-remediation - using plants to absorb pollutants such as heavy metals and even radiation waste - the most famous example being sunflowers grown around the site of Fukushima.

 

[andysays]

It's been known for a while that cotoneasters grow well in urban and industrial areas - I remember seeing them on a list of suitable plants about 20 years ago.

Didn't know they actually help to absorb and reduce pollution though.

 

[two sheds]

.interesting, two sheds. I am really fond of cotoneasters - another overlooked and underused plant which has great urban potential. There are some lovely specimens near me - a row of fantastically gnarly c.lacteus and some soft yellow berried c.exburiensis. I am desperately keen to introduce more berrying shrubs and trees in the wood...and if they are evergreen, even better.
I always knew of the role of London Plane trees, to absorb pollution (which is sloughed off via the beautifully coloured bark) so it isn't surprising that there are other plants which perform the same duties. A few years ago, I became fascinated by phyto-remediation - using plants to absorb pollutants such as heavy metals and even radiation waste - the most famous example being sunflowers grown around the site of Fukushima.

Yep and reed beds, I think there's some in the valley at the back of me for the heavy metals.

I've got some cotoneaster in the garden I'll have to check it for hairs - although it does say they're not as efficient if there's not a lot of pollution around.

There's some creeping cotoneaster in the valley and I've planted some seeds, will be interested to see whether they come up.

 

[Leafster]

You have to be a bit careful these days with cotoneasters. Some of them are now on Sch. 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. This means they can't be planted in the wild and you should do everything to ensure they do not escape your garden.

The cotoneasters on the list are:

C. horizontalis
C. integrifolius
C. simonsii
C. bullatus
and C. microphyllus

That said, they are a great family of plants which the birds love! I have several in my garden.

 

[two sheds]

You have to be a bit careful these days with cotoneasters. Some of them are now on Sch. 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. This means they can't be planted in the wild and you should do everything to ensure they do not escape your garden.

The cotoneasters on the list are:

C. horizontalis
C. integrifolius
C. simonsii
C. bullatus
and C. microphyllus

That said, they are a great family of plants which the birds love! I have several in my garden.

Oooh the horizontalis is what must be in the valley (SSSI) - tempting to say I'm following Sch. 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 by digging a couple up for the garden

 

[RubyToogood]

So glad I did the garden makeover last year, it's been brilliant.

I'd like to add a covered seat so I can sit out if it's raining, and my neighbour gave me some long, thin, curved branches that were shoots from his apple tree - they were meant for firewood but I'm wondering if I can build some kind of half bender/tipi type thing with them. But I'd want to cover the structure with something that would blend in, not tarp/plastic...

I probably shouldn't be thinking about this really as I have a load of dull, heavy jobs that need doing like clearing away rubbish and putting up wires for the climbing rose, not to mention getting some more plants in. Last year I just shoved a load of veg in because everything got so delayed.

 

[bimble]

This sort of thing is happening already

 

[moonsi til]

I have a new garden. Moved in about 6 weeks ago & today has been first weather for the garden. It has a decking area outside the kitchen & steps going down, to the right of the steps is some veg patches. Looking forward to see what comes up. I viewed in August & it looked lovely. They had a green house that they took with them.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Gardens on fire mate

 

[gentlegreen]

It's going to be an odd sort of gardening year for me as I need to get this place sorted for sale in a couple of years so I have to start on the back garden fairly early.
Greenhouse and knackered fence has to go and the whole plot flattened for a lawn.
I also have to demolish a concrete block "extension" I never finished so the whole back of the house can be rendered.
The front garden will have to serve as a buffer between skips.

Gawd help me, lawn and fencing.

 

[bimble]

I love it so much, the whole thing from the delicate gentle stuff of putting tiny seeds in miniature pots to the heavy duty grunt work of leaning all your weight into big heavy spades. Today was create a new bit of flowerbed, carving it out of the rocky steep lawn. Pulling out lumps of chalk the size of a chalky giants fist. All of it is good, playing in the dirt just sorts my head out better than anything I’ve found before.

 

[Leafster]

I love it so much, the whole thing from the delicate gentle stuff of putting tiny seeds in miniature pots to the heavy duty grunt work of leaning all your weight into big heavy spades. Today was create a new bit of flowerbed, carving it out of the rocky steep lawn. Pulling out lumps of chalk the size of a chalky giants fist. All of it is good, playing in the dirt just sorts my head out better than anything I’ve found before.

It's amazing how rewarding every little bit can be, isn't it? I spent a lot of time in the garden over the weekend. Mostly tidying up the fruit & veg beds but I've also extended one of them to make it more usable. I didn't even mind tidying up the garden shed as it meant I could get access to the grow light and heated pad to start off some seeds.

 

[two sheds]

Finishing off most of cutting the hedge today - really looking forward to next couple of weeks if BBC weather forecast is to be believed

 

[bimble]

New Dawn rose has been delivered ! It’s a sturdy looking stump. Am optimistic.