The gardening thread

[contadino]

A bloke at the allotment put fenceposts in metposts on each corner of his polycarbonate greenhouse last autumn. Rock solid. When the winds picked up the frame was fine but he lost all the polycarbonate panes. When one goes they all go.

 

[StoneRoad]

Make sure they have foundations. The cheap ones usually blow away in the first storm. Need a good anchor point


I knocked up some decent ones from pallets and eBay covering but didn’t have the rabbit problem (the deer didn’t get in though)

Will be put up against a wall and ballasted with suitable weights [my gaff can get quite windswept at times and from certain directions] ...

I'm still designing the shed / greenhouse / store for across the width of my in-garden "allotment" - one purpose is to cut out the howling Northerly that the previous arrangement funnelled down into the allotment.

 

[TopCat]

I never liked greenhouses after stumbling a bit whilst pissed in a fellow allotmenteers glass and aluminium effort. I demolished most of it and got cut badly.

 

[TopCat]

On a happier note I am doing a deep watering of my vegetable beds. It’s taking hours and 1000’s of litres.

I hope to awaken the slugs and kill them.

 

[TopCat]

Did anyone get April showers?

 

[Leafster]

Did anyone get April showers?

According to my rain gauge records, we had 14mm for the whole of April here.

Most of that came in the first week.

 

[TopCat]

I got a really good no kink hose. Plus different auto gadgets for different effects. Lazy gardening.

 

[Leafster]

I got a really good no kink hose. Plus different auto gadgets for different effects. Lazy gardening.

When your garden is terraced like this, hoses aren't lazy gardening, they're essential!



The front is just the same!

 

[gentlegreen]

I hope at least some of this falls on Bristol ...
I have cleared the front garden and loosened the surface soil a bit in the hope of getting some amaranthus and verbena to sprout - there must be thousands of viable seeds out there ...

 

[StoneRoad]

Been dull, cool and cloudy here today ...

... with several heavy showers / longer spells of rain earlier this afternoon.

I am still waiting for me mini-green house to arrive and the tomato plants are currently in the main greenhouse.
Pleased that they picked up as well as they did after watering, the poor things were quite dry ...

one set is "gardener's delight" - technically suitable for outdoors, but they'll be in the mini-greenhouse.

 

[gentlegreen]

one set is "gardener's delight" - technically suitable for outdoors, but they'll be in the mini-greenhouse.

I have raised so many G DEL I'm going to plant loads in the ground as well as in big tubs - though I do still have a PVC cover from my previous mini greenhouse I could rig up if I felt the need ... I even sowed some pointy peppers ..

 

[smmudge]

This azalea came as a freebie with some hot lips and something else I've forgotten (because they've died) but it's very happy right now

 

[two sheds]

Raining here on Wednesday I hear

Must get out and fill watering cans from all of the water butts so they fill up again.

 

[contadino]

I watered at teatime and within 20 minutes it had started to rain. Just as well because I can't remember everywhere that I sowed seeds.

 

[two sheds]

I wrote all the places I sowed my wildflower and perennial seeds religiously on the back of my April todo list


then threw it in the bin and burned it

 

[gentlegreen]

I wrote all the places I sowed my wildflower and perennial seeds religiously on the back of my April todo list


then threw it in the bin and burned it

You will have the pleasure of identifying them

 

[two sheds]

expect photos in the "what is this plant?" soon

 

[gentlegreen]

The final seven kinds of seed arrived today...

I have datura seeds soaking and I hope they make up for the rather lacklustre generic brugmansias I finally got out into the sunshine and gave a good feed and water ... I should have invested in some better ones, but when I bought them in 2020 my original expectation was that I would be all boxed up and ready to move by now ...the other thing was being spoiled for choice thanks to joining a brug forum...
I miss the first white one I had for the distinctive scent, and the pink one that was sent to me by mistake that could stink out the whole street..

But scent-wise I hope to have sweet peas, lilies and nicotiana - as well as ipomoea "moonflower" assuming I manage to find space for them ...

I brought down my spider plant baskets, but it's time to start again as they're insanely potbound - even though I hope to have drip irrigation sorted for them this year...
Luckily my backup plants are in good nick.
So the old plants will get potted up and used elsewhere and I will put the hundreds of babies in water with a bubbler and give them away once rooted ...

 

[RubyToogood]

I wrote all the places I sowed my wildflower and perennial seeds religiously on the back of my April todo list


then threw it in the bin and burned it

I didn't label any of the 4 types of tomato and 4 types of courgette/squash I sowed. I knew when I was sowing them that I'd regret this, but still did nothing about it.

 

[contadino]

A friend of mine was really chuffed with her new reusable chalk plant labels until it rained last night.

 

[Leafster]

A friend of mine was really chuffed with her new reusable chalk plant labels until it rained last night.

I'm lefthanded so I use one of those Hitechpoint pens to write and didn't think twice when I started writing labels for the garden with it.

Within a month or two none of the labels were legible.

 

[two sheds]

I now use pencil after a hint from someone on here. Which reminds me I did put labels in on the seeds that I've destroyed the recording of.

Wednesday rain forecast with two fine weeks after that so I've been out watering the seeds that are out there this morning. I've got more plants to put out but I think it's going to be a bit dry for them.

 

[gentlegreen]

In terms of seeds, my species / cultivar count is up to 25 now and I haven't started on the veggies yet !
I suppose I could identify a fair few as seedlings, but likely find I've got a few of the colours in the wrong place...
... though colour-wise it may end up being a bit of a mess anyway because some of the seeds I've sown have mixed colours - albeit not wildly ... (my OCD may force me to relocate some when in flower ...)

With bigger plants where I have several varieties I will actually attach the label loosely to the stem - my brugs briefly had coloured cable ties ...

 

[TopCat]

The local squirrel colony has done well with young this year. We are overrun with bush tailed rodents digging up everything.

 

[BoatieBird]

The garden is looking lovely in the sun today

 

[gentlegreen]

It's a good job it's warmed up as my source of bottom heat for my seeding area (250 watt garage heater) packed up yesterday and took out the power to my router among other things and for some reason it took me ages to get my WIFI back on - though in the process I discovered my cable coax connection had worked loose - thus explaining months of terrible service ...

So in its place I will convert the shelf below it to start veggies and the 60 watts of heat from the LEDs will warm the remaining exotics above.
So many of the sub-tropicals had rock hard seeds and needed soaking - the smelly night time white ipomeoa took multiple attemps at soaking and sanding for the last 3 seeds to soften up - and the cobea was covered in gloop like linseed - but once done, they have been generally popping up like cress ...

And after I thought I was finishing with the second pricking out of the nicotianas where I even gave the dregs a chance, I spot another pot

I got the fuchsias into the hanging baskets as I was only going to kill them otherwise - they were not enjoying the heat in the mini greenhouse, and having them at head height beside the East-facing front door will hopefully ensure I keep an eye on them.

I murdered my first lilly beetle today

After the destruction wrought by vine weevils recently on my fuchsias and begonias I'm taking no prisoners...

 

[gentlegreen]

How many are determined to fit in sunflowers this year ?
I see there are some in the community garden in the park.
I have four that I've raised in smallish pots so probably won't be getting full size - but still an issue in my front garden because there isn't soil up to the house and I already have plants that are supposed to be the backdrop ...

In the back garden I have a notion of planting a row of them directly so they grow big and sending French beans and other climbers up them.

 

[contadino]

I have a dozen copper queens that are 10-15cm tall now, and a dozen velvet queens that are just popping their heads up.

From last year. I think this one was a velvet queen...

 

[gentlegreen]

I have a dozen copper queens that are 10-15cm tall now, and a dozen velvet queens that are just popping their heads up.

Those look amazing !

I will hopefully one day have a garden I can let them rip - I may also plant bamboo again !
I only bought my seeds on impulse so just the enormous Russian ones that apparently need serious feeding ...

 

[campanula]

I planted a coupla dozen Vanilla Ice in a customers garden. Also have 4000 zinnia seeds to sow.