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The gardening thread

Are these direct sown, Artaxerxes? I always try to do some extra spinach, frenchies and such but also really struggle. Had a lucky break with dahlias, all making enough growth to outsrip the mollusc apocalypse. Better when we get to the last blast in late August for me (more spinach, mizuna etc. along with hardy annuals and transplanting the broccoli. Have taken to holding the leeks back until then as well, keeping them in large pots at home. and planting them at the same time as I would put the garlic in (if I could grow bulbing alliums, which I can't, so I don't).
 
campanula said:
. Have you thought what you want to grow?
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I need a sambucus black tower elderberry in my life only i didnt realise ..but yes your right at the moment want it all ,, no need to rush .Currently loving exploring through books garden centres etc for ideas ........god ive got old
 
campanula said:
Are these direct sown, Artaxerxes? I always try to do some extra spinach, frenchies and such but also really struggle. Had a lucky break with dahlias, all making enough growth to outsrip the mollusc apocalypse. Better when we get to the last blast in late August for me (more spinach, mizuna etc. along with hardy annuals and transplanting the broccoli. Have taken to holding the leeks back until then as well, keeping them in large pots at home. and planting them at the same time as I would put the garlic in (if I could grow bulbing alliums, which I can't, so I don't).
Click to expand...

No grown indoors, then planted out. Even the squashes that were getting true leaves got nobbled when put out.

The broccoli I put out earlier in the years doing ok at least. The slugs left those and cabbage alone and went for Pak Choi
 
Does anyone know off the top of their head how common St John's Wort is in garden centres? Quite fancy adding it to the garden as a 'medicinal' plant... Am I right in saying it's good for pollinators too?
 
Do house plants count as gardening?
If so, where is the best place to get house plants? Should I be growing my own from cuttings, or can I just buy a couple of big, easy to care for plants?
 
miss direct said:
Do house plants count as gardening?
If so, where is the best place to get house plants? Should I be growing my own from cuttings, or can I just buy a couple of big, easy to care for plants?
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Depends. Do you want to spend time taking cuttings and looking after them and potting them on, or do you just want a plant to fill a space, that's already big and that doesn't need much care beyond a bit of watering now and then?

Best place to buy them depends on what you're after and what's near you. I have a couple of specialist houseplant shops locally that are good for variety. Lots of people will recommend somewhere like that over buying something in a supermarket or garden centre or Homebase/B&Q type places but personally I've found pest-infested half-dead plants in specialist shops and perfectly healthy plants in Homebase (and vice versa too though).

If you do want to start things from cuttings you can often get them for free through freecycle etc. if you don't know anyone to get them from. I even have a few plants whose cuttings would survive in the post if you want.
 
I've bought houseplants from all manner of places, not just "garden centres" - even online for some over the past 18 mths.

If you want something east to care for - rubber or swiss cheese plants would fit the bill, variegated varieties do exist, but a ready grown big one won't be that cheap, unfortunately.
 
My side bit. Loads of pots and containers to hide ugly concrete. I seem to have gone a bit mad for geraniums but there's also miscanthus, agapanthus, a couple of young sunflowers and my veg: onions, carrots (not visible yet) and radishes on the table. Mint in the orange box at the top for pest control.
Side array 3 July 21 - Edited.jpg
 
Sansevieria and Zamioculcas are both easy houseplants too and will tolerate relatively low light levels. (I have some sansevieria that need dividing if anyone wants a bit when I eventually get round to it)
 
I thought this was good on taking softwood cuttings , including a short video which I don't normally look at but was very informative, and short which is my favourite kind. Eta: can do this with pelargoniums which shall try because they're lovely plants and do really well in the conservatory.
 
Calamity1971 said:
Morrisons is always healthy stock. I like plant of the week which is normally a quid.
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I think the health of many supermarket plants including Morrisons depends on the abilities of the staff in the shops. The health of the plants in and outside our local Morrisons is very variable. If you spot them soon after they've been delivered they're OK but after a while they start to suffer.
 
When I was going to Aldi it was noticeable that they never watered the plants - even sheltering them and let them dry out when it was raining :facepalm: I think their idea was that they sold them cheaply and relied on fast turnover so it wasn't worth having someone go round and watering them. Bloody silly though.
 
I'm another sucker for the last hopers !
Quite a few years ago, we bought a "Canary Bird" rose off a Last Hope shelf somewhere. It was in such a decrepit state we got it free and a big clay pot - with a tiny chip out of the base - for a quid as we were buying "a few" other things.

Lovely rose, it grew well enough for a few years after a soil change and a couple of repots. It was never going to be a huge plant, though, as the root stock was a bit on the thin and feeble side. If I remember correctly, an deer's excessive nibbling followed by an insanely cold winter killed it (despite wrapping it up and hiding it in the greenhouse).

I want another ...
 
iona said:
I'm a sucker for rescuing dying supermarket plants :oops: 50p aloe full of mealybugs and root rot on the Homebase last hope shelf, I'm all over that shit :facepalm:
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The mini B&Q on my way home from work now sells off all its dry and droopy plants. 20p for some dahlias! tbf they havent survived so well but also got a whole tray of red salvias which have perked up no end, a hanging basket for £1 which the basket alone will be worth that and the plants just needed a good soak. Also 50p cosmos (my seeds arent doing so great :( ) and I keep managing to get scabious plants for 50p-£1 which are easily revived and bees love em :)

I now specifically look to see if they have super reduced plants on the way home.
 
Another tip is to get to know the people in your local nursery or garden centre.

At various times, I've persuaded them to buy in different stock like when I wanted to plant up my lavender hedge and I needed about 30 of them but they only had them for £8 a large pot so they bought in some slightly smaller ones for £3.50 a pot.

Or, when I was buying bare root hedging and I mumbled something to the bloke about some of them being a lot shorter than I thought so he gave them to me for free. They've grown just fine. He also said that if any of them died he'd give me free replacements.

Also, getting a selection of Thymes from another local centre for 50p simply by saying they weren't as bushy as some of the others on display.

Or, when I wanted a single bushy yew to topiarise and the plant manager took me round to their stash of failed topiary experiments and got one bigger than I needed for half the price I expected as they got bored trying to train them.

Or freebie cuttings when I happened to be talking to someone who was tidying up some display plants.

This list is endless really, just chat to them when you're there and see what happens. :)
 
I didn't know elephant garlic grows little baby garlic tagnuts :D
IMG-20210704-144544.jpg
 
Leafster - that's a good idea. I might try and cultivate the guy who now owns a little plant nursery a few miles away, it's a pre-retirement project for the owning couple.
A better chance there than at either of the three sites run by much larger "chains" - especially as those places don't really have enough staff as it is and the commercial pressures are that much higher.
 
StoneRoad said:
Leafster - that's a good idea. I might try and cultivate the guy who now owns a little plant nursery a few miles away, it's a pre-retirement project for the owning couple.
A better chance there than at either of the three sites run by much larger "chains" - especially as those places don't really have enough staff as it is and the commercial pressures are that much higher.
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It's definitely easier with the independents. The two I frequent are a smaller family-run garden centre but big enough to have dedicated staff dealing with different sections and a plant-mad bloke who runs a haphazard nursery who has no sense of time *.

* I've been down there to pick up plants from him and he hasn't got his arse into gear and opened up. There is/was a note on the gate with a mobile number so I phoned that only to be told he'd overslept and he'd be there in twenty minutes! :D
 
The39thStep said:
You can regrow them , unfortunately Elephant garlic is nothing like garlic . Leeks sometimes do the same .
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Still nice though! I got a few cloves in a mixed pack of seed garlic, plenty of the regular stuff too. Pulled the first bulbs today along with a load of other bits (plus a few carrots after I took the pic) -
IMG-20210704-170651.jpg

Figured the diddy EG cloves would work as seed so I've shoved them into gaps all along the fence.
 
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