The gardening thread

[two sheds]

Yes true.

 

[bimble]

lol at self. I've been nurturing a load of Verbena seedlings, all of them are still tiny apart from my prize specimen which has done so well, flourishing under my assiduous care to be 50 times taller and healthier than all the rest but erm, its actually a nettle isnt it.

 

[TopCat]

Rain is expected in london soon. I can’t recollect when it last pissed down.

Just had two tonne of gravel come. Wickes guy dropped it on the pavement so my mrs says. I asked her to barrow it through but got a pithy response. Got a load of timber as well. Got some plans.

 

[two sheds]

Garden's all lovely and wet here. Only a couple of millimetres but filled up the water butts a bit .

 

[andysays]

Still no sign of any rain in north Hackney

Six trees I planted on various sites earlier this year will need watering soon if we don't get some soon...

 

[two sheds]

The leaves on my disease-resistant elm have started to curl somewhat and it's been in the ground for a good 8-9 years I've watered it a couple of times but hopefully it'll be ok for a while now.

 

[han]

This is an avocado stone that took a YEAR to develop roots and a stalk in a dark cupboard. Now it's flourishing, and is very happy in the sunniest spot in the house. I love this plant dearly.

 

[two sheds]

Mine got eaten by aphids and slugs so I left it outside in winter and that's killed it I should have brought it inside because I've since read that the lower leaves do drop off so I could have just removed them.

I have two more smaller ones though, one of which is uneaten by slugs and is doing really well.

 

[han]

Mine got eaten by aphids and slugs so I left it outside in winter and that's killed it I should have brought it inside because I've since read that the lower leaves do drop off so I could have just removed them.

I have two more smaller ones though, one of which is uneaten by slugs and is doing really well.

Aww. Glad you've got one doing well at least. I do wonder if avocado plants should just be kept indoors all the time due their nativity (?!) to hot climes.

I think there's something really satisfying about growing plants from seeds/pips from things you've eaten. I've got this ace old Penguin paperback called The Pip Book and it tells you how to grow every kind of pip from food.

 

[two sheds]

ooo I've got that too somewhere

 

[iona]

Have you put it up yet?
My partner bought one and I could not be fucked to put it up till she started talking about getting someone in to do it.

Pretty much got it built that same day, only thing left is to felt the roof which I can do this Sunday. No big rush to finish painting it and building shelves etc after that coz I've left the old shed up next to it with all our crap in there for the time being.

Really want to get a little woodburner to stick in there. Community allotment near me in Brighton have one in their shed and it's fucking amazing in winter

 

[gentlegreen]

Lifting my bamboo clumps took me a week and I ended up buying a log splitting awl that was useless for the task.
But I was pleasantly surprised that I got the job done once I'd figured out how ...

So I turn to the miscanthus sacchariflorus that I had told people was a lot less of a beast than bamboo ...
I was glad I bought the log splitter...
So the cheap fork that lost one time on the bamboo now only has two and a smashed hadndgrip and the silly stainless steel fork I bent on the bamboo several years ago now has a snapped handle ..

Whereas the bamboo would peel off the soil with a lever, this thing went down deep ...

Hopefully the second clump that's only been in a few years will be less of a challenge.

I will still probably plant up two big planters (that's how I originally used it) so there's something to look at, but I'm loathe to give any away knowing what a beast it us ...... I reckon I could root up hundreds of bits of rhizome I smashed off ...

 

[TopCat]

I made progress on the pond and it’s full of water with a load of gravel added. I can’t finish the edge as there are bluebells abutting it and these are under a preservation order imposed by my partner.

It’s not neat enough for pics yet. It’s not my best work. I think.

 

[two sheds]

under a preservation order imposed by my partner.

❤

Having said that though I've just made a sortie into the garden pulling out spanish bluebells there are a surprising number of native species (I've put a few bulbs in over the years) although it's sometimes difficult to tell.

 

[The39thStep]

Aww. Glad you've got one doing well at least. I do wonder if avocado plants should just be kept indoors all the time due their nativity (?!) to hot climes.

I think there's something really satisfying about growing plants from seeds/pips from things you've eaten. I've got this ace old Penguin paperback called The Pip Book and it tells you how to grow every kind of pip from food.

I’ve grown avocado in the U.K. from seed . Had a plant for four years but it never produced fruits . Needs to be kept indoors .
What you could try is loquat. There’s loads here in Portugal even in the north which gets cold and a contact told me they survive frosts up to -5c . They will fruit in June/ July in England .

 

[Calamity1971]

❤

Having said that though I've just made a sortie into the garden pulling out spanish bluebells there are a surprising number of native species (I've put a few bulbs in over the years) although it's sometimes difficult to tell.

The leaves seem to be a lot broader on the Spanish variety. I did notice on earlier pic TopCat where you were going to put the pond what looked like Spanish bluebells. I didn't want to go horticulture headmistress on you tho

 

[Calamity1971]

I dug a pond today. More rubble at two feet down, this lot embedded in gooey clay.
A pond liner arrives tomorrow. Got to go buy a bag of sand.View attachment 264517

I'm undecided? The clump I have left is no were near flowering yet. But I am up north. Anyone else for a forensic eye over them?

 

[gentlegreen]

Not the sort of thing to plant if you're going to have to dig it out in your 60s ...
I;m finished for the day...
A good thing I'm doing it now as I will doubtless be digging out new shoots for some time to come.
The most recent clump was right up against the fence,,,

 

[teuchter]

I have been trying to grow Cistus corbariensis white Rock Rose in a container for several years now and every time something goes wrong. First it was some kind of thing that laid its larvae in cobwebby type stuff in the buds and then they would hatch and eat any flowers that were trying to come out. Then it was aphids. Mk1 Rock Rose died and I planted out a Mk2 Rock rose. Last year it got savaged by aphids again and barely managed to produce any flowers but did survive the summer.

This spring it seemed to be coming back to life nicely, putting out new growth and some flower buds. I spotted that aphids were starting to gather, and took action against them early enough to basically get rid of them. Then there were a couple of nights with a bit of a frost and since then it's just been looking limp with no signs of recovery. This is what it looks like now.



It's done for, right? I might as well pull it out and give up on growing Rock Rose in this location and try something else altogether?

 

[iona]

Helped my little assistant move her tomatoes into bigger pots outside today at work (they can go in the shed overnight till it warms up properly), so obviously it decided to start pelting down with hail immediately after

 

[Calamity1971]

Helped my little assistant move her tomatoes into bigger pots outside today at work (they can go in the shed overnight till it warms up properly), so obviously it decided to start pelting down with hail immediately after

Sun popped its head out , so I decided to have a run out to the garden nursery. Just about to turn into the entrance and it was torrential with rain and hail. Took cover in one of the poly tunnels and was told they were bringing all the cages in from outside so had to leave. Wanted to go today as bank holiday will be nuts.

 

[han]

I’ve grown avocado in the U.K. from seed . Had a plant for four years but it never produced fruits . Needs to be kept indoors .
What you could try is loquat. There’s loads here in Portugal even in the north which gets cold and a contact told me they survive frosts up to -5c . They will fruit in June/ July in England .

Ooh that's interesting! I've never even heard of that, will google it, thanks. My next project is a mango. I've got one that needs eating in the fruit bowl.

 

[han]

Ah. Apparently loquats will take about 10 years to grow fruit if you grow them from seed, so buying a seedling/young plant is better. Then fruit is likely to come in 3 years. Has anyone ever eaten a loquat? Apparently you eat the skin as well.

 

[The39thStep]

Ah. Apparently loquats will take about 10 years to grow fruit if you grow them from seed, so buying a seedling/young plant is better. Then fruit is likely to come in 3 years. Has anyone ever eaten a loquat? Apparently you eat the skin as well.

I bought a two year old plant and it fruited the first year. The fruits taste a bit apricoty,but they have to be fully ripe otherwise they are very acidic and sour.The best way to eat them is to nibble round the four brown seeds inside . They also make a jam out of them here which they serve with fresh goats milk. Worth having a go at.

 

[bimble]

teuchter i know very little but imagine it was the unusually late frost, only because that same droopy sadness did come over a few things here that were looking perky before.

 

[han]

I bought a two year old plant and it fruited the first year. The fruits taste a bit apricoty,but they have to be fully ripe otherwise they are very acidic and sour.The best way to eat them is to nibble round the four brown seeds inside . They also make a jam out of them here which they serve with fresh goats milk. Worth having a go at.

Awesome. You ate the skin as well? I guess you keep it outside.

 

[The39thStep]

Awesome. You ate the skin as well? I guess you keep it outside.

Yes eat the skin but they have to be very ripe. The fruits are about 1-2". Plant it outside , should survive the UK cold unless there is a very deep frost.

 

[TopCat]

I should of pressure washed the gravel I got before lobbing it in the pond. The whole thing has like a scabby barrow left out in the rain vibe going on.

 

[two sheds]

need to pull the plug out and start again

 

[TopCat]

I will brood on it today. I have my parents and sister and daughter in law coming soon. I have the right arse for some reason. Is it the pond?