The gardening thread
- Thread starter ringo
- Start date
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
I discovered that you can prevent mosquitoes from gathering on water by floating a thin film (it is only thin) of cooking oil on the top 
.This was my theory (cough) as a theory discovered by myself and checked on the web and it's a recognized thing for stopping mosquito larvae from hatching 
.This was my theory (cough) as a theory discovered by myself and checked on the web and it's a recognized thing for stopping mosquito larvae from hatching 
Tankus
Amused OAP
Glorious day today and no work, nice,
I've got this south facing awkward spot in which I had a Keiter storage bench, which I've now moved to West facing for the evening sun,...... it left a gap though.
Ive had this shower screen in the shed from my bathroom refurb, so popped down to B&Q for £40 worth of decking and 3 framing 2 by 3, 4 cans of Stella, a bottle of Rioca, and a nice couple of hours with tool at full blast in my headphones...
Now got a bodged cold frame, it won't win any awards and it needs treating, but Im happy with the result
I've got this south facing awkward spot in which I had a Keiter storage bench, which I've now moved to West facing for the evening sun,...... it left a gap though.
Ive had this shower screen in the shed from my bathroom refurb, so popped down to B&Q for £40 worth of decking and 3 framing 2 by 3, 4 cans of Stella, a bottle of Rioca, and a nice couple of hours with tool at full blast in my headphones...
Now got a bodged cold frame, it won't win any awards and it needs treating, but Im happy with the result
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Possibly a bit obvious. iona but, I have geranium 'Rozanne' in a tall terracotta pot, where it has lived for over a decade. It could probably do with hauling out and dividing up but my pot is one of those which narrows towards the top, so removing plants is a nightmare. However, I noticed the first incipient signs of buds - expect to wait till June, buit then it will thrash around, flailing flowery, perpetually extending stems, until November. And if you add in 3 or 4 upright annual euphorbia oblongata (teeny little footprint), the combination and colours (luminous greens and blues, with distinctive foliage), this might be a doer in your pots iona. Failing that, I find the shrubby salvias (s,greggii, microphylla, jamensis) are also fabulous pot dwellers (I have over a dozen, from wildly enthusiastic peachy s.jamensis 'Sierra San Antonio', to the neat and floriferous deep purple s,greggii "Nachtvlinder' and all colours inbetween except a clear yellow. All of these bloom for months on end, can be gifted or sold by the dozen because nothing is easier or speedier to propagate than a twiggy salvia. I can even do you some to order, if you like...My favourite is the more upright purple "Christine Yeo', followed by 'Stormy Pink'...but there are many, many to choose. I love them all, having slipped almost as far down the salvia rabbit hole than the yawning pit created by rose obsession.
Finally, a decent perennial wallflower (such as Bowle's Mauve', 'Winter Orchid', 'Apricot Twist' will look good in a pot for 8months of blooming (with judicious nipping out and a tiny bump of slow-realease fertiliser.
Finally, a decent perennial wallflower (such as Bowle's Mauve', 'Winter Orchid', 'Apricot Twist' will look good in a pot for 8months of blooming (with judicious nipping out and a tiny bump of slow-realease fertiliser.
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Ooh salvia microphylla is a good shout thanks campanula, I actually have one in my corner of Pots To Do Something With, Eventually. Think there's a hesperantha coccinea in there as well so might put that in the other pot, the salvia is quite a vivid red too iirc. (Already got a massive old wallflower that's started self-seeding all over the garden.) Cheers
Sorry I'm not fully recaffeinated yet and being dim
Are what ferns?
bimble
floofy
the ferny looking ones down the middle of your picture there ^ ?Sorry I'm not fully recaffeinated yet and being dim
Ah no, those are carrots
BoatieBird
Well-Known Member
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
How do I level ground for a lawn ?
Do I start by shovelling high spots into low spots ?
I won't need to seed / turf it until late next year at the earliest - not least because I still have plants in containers and will need to keep them off the patio - firstly while the house is being re-rendered and drainage fixed, and then when I have decking built ...
Thankfully I have light soil - apart from where I chucked on a load of 10-20mm pebbles 20 years ago for a "jungle" effect.
Do I start by shovelling high spots into low spots ?
I won't need to seed / turf it until late next year at the earliest - not least because I still have plants in containers and will need to keep them off the patio - firstly while the house is being re-rendered and drainage fixed, and then when I have decking built ...
Thankfully I have light soil - apart from where I chucked on a load of 10-20mm pebbles 20 years ago for a "jungle" effect.
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two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
oo I'll think about that - I've got four or five in pots by the house, hadn't thought of putting them round the garden.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Yesterday's "lovely" weather has knocked back my plans for today, as everything is now wringing wet ...
However, I have now acquired four different tomato plants - so that's a greenhouse job for after lunch.
And that reminds me,
i) I need new batts for the heater's wireless thermostat.
ii) I should think about a timer for the lights / wash the outside down
However, I have now acquired four different tomato plants - so that's a greenhouse job for after lunch.
And that reminds me,
i) I need new batts for the heater's wireless thermostat.
ii) I should think about a timer for the lights / wash the outside down
andysays
Love and solidarity
I was thinking of posting a photo of my greenhouse full of seedlings, but I'm now experiencing severe poly tunnel envy and don't think I'll bother
!
That's at the veg farm! The wind they get there keeps destroying polytunnels if that makes you feel any better - their neighbours lost a much bigger tunnel this year within about 24 hours of building it.I was thinking of posting a photo of my greenhouse full of seedlings, but I'm now experiencing severe poly tunnel envy and don't think I'll bother
At home I have a couple of rusty mini greenhouse frames with a load of bubblewrap taped over them
andysays
Love and solidarity
That looks good.That's at the veg farm! The wind they get there keeps destroying polytunnels if that makes you feel any better - their neighbours lost a much bigger tunnel this year within about 24 hours of building it.
At home I have a couple of rusty mini greenhouse frames with a load of bubblewrap taped over them
I'll post a green house photo later...
I'm expecting to get back and find it's collapsed in the wind again despite all the garden furniture I stacked up against it last night...
Leafster
.
In the meantime, here's my mini-greenhouse.
I don't have space for a proper greenhouse and I don't even use the mini-greenhouse to its fullest potential. The mini-greenhouse is just about a walk in one.
In the winter I store the slightly tender plants in pots in it - cannas etc.
There's a shed to the left of the photo with power so I have a heated mat and grow lamp on timers when I sow seeds in the spring. I move them onto the mini-greenhouse as the weather improves.
In the summer, I've used the mini-greenhouse for cucumbers and tomatoes.
ETA: I WILL eventually get around to building proper steps up to this level but, for some reason, I haven't managed it yet!
BoatieBird
Well-Known Member
My new greenhouse has space for a chair, this is the view from the chair
The structure in front is supporting my Aimee Vibert rose. It was climbing up the remains of a dead cherry tree that finally keeled over last year.
Mr B built the lovely new structure and she seems very happy there.
The structure in front is supporting my Aimee Vibert rose. It was climbing up the remains of a dead cherry tree that finally keeled over last year.
Mr B built the lovely new structure and she seems very happy there.
Not sure I can manage to do pics today (being as we are greenhouse boasting).Mine is huge,compared to my teeny garden. It takes up a third of the total space. Even so, I love it beyond all reason.
Aimee Vibert is a gorgeous rose, BoatieBird - one of my all-time favourites - those tiny red buds which open into white fragrant blooms - never seems possible that petals can be packed so tightly
Aimee Vibert is a gorgeous rose, BoatieBird - one of my all-time favourites - those tiny red buds which open into white fragrant blooms - never seems possible that petals can be packed so tightly
Ah, under pressure to get my camera out so I can post some pics of the lovely Kashmir rowan. Usually, we have the smaller sorbus trees for berries and autumn colour (although some have beautiful foliage too). However, although the porcelain berries of s.cashmeriana is a reason to grow this small wonder, the purest pink blossom rivals the finest cherries (to my mind) and when seen next to the glaucous, pinnate foliage, this little tree is a true delight.
If I had to choose a single genus of trees, the mountain ash would win hands down (even named my eldest Rowan). Anyone pondering the addition of a small garden tree couldn't do better than the sorbus family.
If I had to choose a single genus of trees, the mountain ash would win hands down (even named my eldest Rowan). Anyone pondering the addition of a small garden tree couldn't do better than the sorbus family.
BoatieBird
Well-Known Member
My Aimee was bought on your recommendation campanula. She's a beauty
We had to give her a brutal prune to disentangle her from the remains of the cherry tree, but it doesn't seem to have done any harm.
O hey, that's really nice to hear, @ BoatieBird. Drastic pruning is one of the ways an old gnarly rose can be rejuvenated...they are such a forgiving family. Should be better than ever. Stupidly, I dug mine up because it was blocking a path, and transplanted it to the woods, where it has limped along, missing the allotment sunshine. No roses do well when overshadowed by giant poplars...as I have sadly (and expensively) discovered after having a mad spree at Trevor Whites and Bierkreek. Not all lost though, since the little burnet roses have suckered along the edge of one of the ditches, (on the woodland edge), making a perfect pheasant hide.
O andysays- welcome to the world of the terminally confused. I would like to see your greenhouse so please persevere.
O andysays- welcome to the world of the terminally confused. I would like to see your greenhouse so please persevere.
Can you upload them elsewhere then link to them? I use postimages.org to post pics here coz it lets you resize stuff, when uploading directly to urban (before the last update at least, idk about now) you only get the choice of tiny thumbnail or fuck-off hugeI've taken photos of the contents of my greenhouse, but can't seem to upload them (which is strange, because it's been straightforward before).
andysays
Love and solidarity
I think it's an issue with my phone settings, rather than the Urban update.
I tried to a attach a photo to an email for work on Friday and that didn't work either.
I will persevere...
orient slacker
Active Member
I've recently swapped a small cottage garden in Kent for 3.5 acres in Pembrokeshire!
The place has basically been uninhabited for 5 years so it's a bit of a jungle of brambles and other undesirables, but prior to that was a well laid out formal garden (that visitors paid to see) set out on 5 levels with dry stone terracing marking out the border of each level as it gently sloped away.
There's over an acre of mature woodland that can look after itself beyond clearing paths and major debris, plus keeping a nervy eye on the Ash trees for dieback, and another south facing paddock that I'll turn into an allotment and (fenced) chicken run over winter.
This year will be mostly tidying and seeing what comes up. Been a lovely Spring show of daffs and bluebells, and there's a good mix of old shrubs and hedging that just need some hard pruning after years of neglect, but I suspect many border perennials will have been mostly squeezed out by the dominant weeds allowed to run riot.
Not too many nasties to deal with beyond the usual brambles, nettles, docks, bindweed and ivy runners. No knotweed, marestail or ground elder to grapple with. Someone liked bamboo that's now 20ft tall - as is the laurel - but luckily it's the clumping type. Pendulous sedge clumps and loads of giant hogsweed are the pains to deal with: the former just dug out of borders but allowed to stay in the woods, and the latter skin-burning horror being weakened off with repeat hoeing before being blitzed with glyphosphate mid-summer.
I've got my work cut out: luckily I'm retired already at 60, so I can put the hours in to get it back into shape. And I've been on a spending spree acquiring a sit on mower and a Stihl Kombi tool/chainsaw to help do the chores a bit quicker.
The place has basically been uninhabited for 5 years so it's a bit of a jungle of brambles and other undesirables, but prior to that was a well laid out formal garden (that visitors paid to see) set out on 5 levels with dry stone terracing marking out the border of each level as it gently sloped away.
There's over an acre of mature woodland that can look after itself beyond clearing paths and major debris, plus keeping a nervy eye on the Ash trees for dieback, and another south facing paddock that I'll turn into an allotment and (fenced) chicken run over winter.
This year will be mostly tidying and seeing what comes up. Been a lovely Spring show of daffs and bluebells, and there's a good mix of old shrubs and hedging that just need some hard pruning after years of neglect, but I suspect many border perennials will have been mostly squeezed out by the dominant weeds allowed to run riot.
Not too many nasties to deal with beyond the usual brambles, nettles, docks, bindweed and ivy runners. No knotweed, marestail or ground elder to grapple with. Someone liked bamboo that's now 20ft tall - as is the laurel - but luckily it's the clumping type. Pendulous sedge clumps and loads of giant hogsweed are the pains to deal with: the former just dug out of borders but allowed to stay in the woods, and the latter skin-burning horror being weakened off with repeat hoeing before being blitzed with glyphosphate mid-summer.
I've got my work cut out: luckily I'm retired already at 60, so I can put the hours in to get it back into shape. And I've been on a spending spree acquiring a sit on mower and a Stihl Kombi tool/chainsaw to help do the chores a bit quicker.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Might plant more courgettes as the ones in ground look a bit worse for wear.
Weeds have exploded to
Weeds have exploded to
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