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The gardening thread

davesgcr said:
You mentioned some railway station planters - how did you get on ..

Locally got involved in a Thameslink project and we spent an enjoyable morning planting them out and they have survived well , we got decent coffee and buns for our efforts. Watering has never been a problem as there are enthusiastic local staff who keep an eye on them.
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We'd already planted the planters but we have permission to use this strip of land now too! Going to leave it fairly wild but I want to clear part of it to plant some fruit cordons since they're giving us some money to spend on it. Just need to do boring plan / budget / risk assessment stuff then we can get going. Someone's volunteered their greenhouse for seeds & cuttings and I need to look at sourcing trees and supports etc.

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There's another narrower strip along the car park on the other side that we'll mow and sow with wildflowers too. Found a good spot that side where we'll hopefully be allowed to put a water butt but lots of people live close enough that watering shouldn't be a massive issue. My mum's been doing the planters all year just with plastic milk bottles she fills at her house 2 minutes down the road.
 
I have only just cleared all the bin bags full of my stuff that have been littering the garden for weeks now.

Got that sorted and got busy with the pressure washer on the patio.

The grass is coming through nicely after feeding and watering.

Planting fruit bushes in the vegetable garden.
 
My brugmansias were getting a bit too shaded from the enormous self-sown amaranthus in the front garden so I hauled through some concrete blocks and raised them up.
It's so cold and grey in Bristol they're very slow flowering - which is no bad thing really as one bloom is all it takes for an evening's fragrance ...

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Idaho said:
Harvesting the apples. Probably rejecting 1 in 3 where the coddling moth have done too much damage. Got a new fruit press so it's all destined to be cider.
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We have an apple tree in our garden which produces lovely red eating apples.

We reject 99 out of 100 (ish!) due to worms.

I've tried spraying the tree with a small amount of detergent in water, and IIRC tying string round some of the branches so the worms don't get to the fruit - all to no avail (I know neither is probably very effective, but I'm no gardener).

Does anyone have any ideas? Next year I'd love to have a relatively worm-free crop.
 
oryx said:
We have an apple tree in our garden which produces lovely red eating apples.

We reject 99 out of 100 (ish!) due to worms.

I've tried spraying the tree with a small amount of detergent in water, and IIRC tying string round some of the branches so the worms don't get to the fruit - all to no avail (I know neither is probably very effective, but I'm no gardener).

Does anyone have any ideas? Next year I'd love to have a relatively worm-free crop.
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Someone on my allotment has a cherry tree which has been plagued by some sort of fly laying eggs in the young fruit and the larvae eating the cherries from the inside as they grow.

They've tried various things over the years, and have finally found something that works. They make a physical barrier with fine nets temporarily stapled together over at least some of the branches after the flowers have been pollinated, but before the flies have a chance to lay their eggs.

Is there any way you could do that or similar on your apple tree?
 
RubyToogood said:
You've got a practically blank canvas there really haven't you? If it was me, I would look to break up the straight line going straight to the back of the garden. So for instance, rather than putting in straight borders at the side I might well make them undulating and have a bit of an island coming out with something tallish in it to break up the vista.

Or break it up into two separate areas with a visual barrier halfway down. my own garden is very much a game of two halves. You sort of want to feel like there's more than you can see in one go.
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I love this, my parents have a long narrow garden (lucky tenants of a rural council house) but the line is broken up by non-straight borders, and there is a small willow about 2/3 of the way up the garden that separates off the end of the garden, so the route to get to the end is not straight and cannot be seen all in one go, the border kind of bulges out and points you in the right direction and then you go round the willow and there's an area you can't see from the house. Although it is all a bit scruffy and unkempt up the far end of the garden, there is a bench there and it feels a bit secret and exciting. And lots of blackberries at the far end to be picked in late summer, if you can get to them before the birds!
 
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My lawn is a quarter of an acre of coarse weedy grass, with dandelions, hawkbit, thistles and bristly ox-tongue. This year I embraced No-Mow May and the lawnmower broke in June before I’d taken the long growth off. My mower man works magic but can no longer get the spare part so I’m looking for another second hand Hayterette.
My neighbour is a dab hand with her huge scythe and makes it look like a graceful dance. I am not graceful and think a powered tool is needed. Petrol brush cutters are too heavy. Would a cordless strimmer cope with this long seedy grass and coarse weeds?
 
20Bees said:
My lawn is a quarter of an acre of coarse weedy grass, with dandelions, hawkbit, thistles and bristly ox-tongue. This year I embraced No-Mow May and the lawnmower broke in June before I’d taken the long growth off. My mower man works magic but can no longer get the spare part so I’m looking for another second hand Hayterette.
My neighbour is a dab hand with her huge scythe and makes it look like a graceful dance. I am not graceful and think a powered tool is needed. Petrol brush cutters are too heavy. Would a cordless strimmer cope with this long seedy grass and coarse weeds?
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I've got a bosch cordless which has plastic blades rather than plastic wire, last wire type one I had was a nightmare.

It works really well for everything up to (I think) year-old brambles when they've gone woody. I bought several blades because I'd heard they broke easily but apparently they changed the plastic and it's got a few chips in but still doing well after 2 years. Battery's standard across Bosch tools although I assume that's now generally true? It's a slowish motion so the motor keeps up to speed but I'm happy with it.
 
20Bees said:
My lawn is a quarter of an acre of coarse weedy grass, with dandelions, hawkbit, thistles and bristly ox-tongue. This year I embraced No-Mow May and the lawnmower broke in June before I’d taken the long growth off. My mower man works magic but can no longer get the spare part so I’m looking for another second hand Hayterette.
My neighbour is a dab hand with her huge scythe and makes it look like a graceful dance. I am not graceful and think a powered tool is needed. Petrol brush cutters are too heavy. Would a cordless strimmer cope with this long seedy grass and coarse weeds?
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Depends on the strimmer and your definition of "cope". One of the people I do garden maintenance for got a friend round to cut their wild flower meadow area last week. They brought a big heavy duty strimmer they'd borrowed from someone and it still took a good four hours to do a decent job of clearing an area that's only about 100 square metres iirc. (I would've borrowed a scythe if he'd asked me to do it, which doesn't help you. Without a scythe I'd try to borrow a few sheep before messing about with strimmers but that probably doesn't help either.)
 
20Bees said:
My lawn is a quarter of an acre of coarse weedy grass, with dandelions, hawkbit, thistles and bristly ox-tongue. This year I embraced No-Mow May and the lawnmower broke in June before I’d taken the long growth off. My mower man works magic but can no longer get the spare part so I’m looking for another second hand Hayterette.
My neighbour is a dab hand with her huge scythe and makes it look like a graceful dance. I am not graceful and think a powered tool is needed. Petrol brush cutters are too heavy. Would a cordless strimmer cope with this long seedy grass and coarse weeds?
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Maybe your neighbour would be willing to do their scythe dance in your garden.

Otherwise, a professional-rated strimmer might be your best option.

Stihl do a cordless version of the FS130 strimmer. I use a petrol version for grounds maintenance work.

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The photo shows a brushcutter head, but you can also get a strimmer head. Although it's quite heavy, it comes with a proper body harness, not just a strap.

If you've got a quarter of an acre of coarse weedy grass, with dandelions, hawkbit, thistles and bristly ox-tongue to cut, anything less powerful really isn't going to be adequete, IMO.

Or you could follow iona's suggestion, and go down the livestock route, with either sheep or goats
 
Yep fair enough, particularly if you want to cut it short. I'm largely giving the grass a trim to stop it getting out of control.
 
We have two bamboo plants that we've just bought. Anyone recommend a particular planter/pots they have found good? Hard to find ones that are ideal and have drainage.
 
andysays said:
Someone on my allotment has a cherry tree which has been plagued by some sort of fly laying eggs in the young fruit and the larvae eating the cherries from the inside as they grow.

They've tried various things over the years, and have finally found something that works. They make a physical barrier with fine nets temporarily stapled together over at least some of the branches after the flowers have been pollinated, but before the flies have a chance to lay their eggs.

Is there any way you could do that or similar on your apple tree?
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Callie said:
Apple moth? I think pheromone traps are suggested.
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Thanks a lot, both.
 
47D573F5-CB63-44DF-87CF-D77431261F79.jpegThanks for the suggestions re strimmers, I think it’s worth getting one to take the top off this while I’m looking for another mower. I’ll be cutting it with shears otherwise
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The old Hayterette’s a great little beast, I used it to top a paddock with the same poor grass and weeds, and I don’t think there’s another push mower with the same clever blade design.

My neighbours do have sheep but they prefer short grass to a long weedy mess!
 
20Bees said:
View attachment 286425Thanks for the suggestions re strimmers, I think it’s worth getting one to take the top off this while I’m looking for another mower. I’ll be cutting it with shears otherwise
View attachment 286429
The old Hayterette’s a great little beast, I used it to top a paddock with the same poor grass and weeds, and I don’t think there’s another push mower with the same clever blade design.

My neighbours do have sheep but they prefer short grass to a long weedy mess!
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Is there anything wrong with that as it is now? I see a glorious natural habitat that will presumably die down in a few weeks as the weather gets colder. I don't get the whole neat trimmed lawns thing.

You do have room for sheep or goats though by the look of it :D
 
Oh I’m definitely not of the ‘neat lawn’ persuasion, hence only ever cutting it on a very high setting and letting common lawn weeds thrive. My main gripes really when it’s this long are just that it’s thistly, prickly and uncomfortable to go through when my little grandson’s ball lands in it, and it’s hard to clear up after the dogs. There are nettles and brambles all around the garden but it’s nice if the boy can play outside without getting scratched or stung! It is teeming with insects, which is wonderful.
I had loads of chickens and ducks for many many years, and ponies in the meadow who grazed the garden occasionally, but they’re all gone and I don’t really want my own livestock now. There’s certainly room though and I’ll try to borrow a few sheep.
Epona said:
Is there anything wrong with that as it is now? I see a glorious natural habitat that will presumably die down in a few weeks as the weather gets colder. I don't get the whole neat trimmed lawns thing.

You do have room for sheep or goats though by the look of it :D
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I’m in the garden now and quite chilled. Cold beer and the bbq going for lamb chops.

I picked a kilo of blackberries and made jam.

The cleaning is done. I’m decorating and planting stuff now. Loads of bulbs going in on the left. Just going to grow fruit and perennial herbs at the end. image.jpg

Before picture just for contrast. 5847EAB1-C830-42D9-B4BC-429E9F53A9FA.jpeg
 
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