The gardening thread

[cesare]

You could make your own - with concrete blocks and render

Exactly, I was thinking that for two sheds I don't have enough room in my own garden (well, from next week) I don't think but would love to do it.

 

[bimble]

I now have a beautiful display of.. diesel soaked bits of old tea towel fluttering in the breeze. Glorious.

 

[contadino]

I now have a beautiful display of.. diesel soaked bits of old tea towel fluttering in the breeze. Glorious.

I'd be interested to hear how that's the deer's doing... ;-)

 

[bimble]

They’re white so look like flags of surrender but they are not.

 

[Leafster]

I now have a beautiful display of.. diesel soaked bits of old tea towel fluttering in the breeze. Glorious.

I'm sure the perfume is wonderful!

 

[BristolEcho]

A bit of rain? I got drenched yesterday and my bog plant is flooded. Hope the rat tail maggots make it.

 

[bimble]

I'm sure the perfume is wonderful!

Heady.

 

[iona]

Cut huge bunches of ... ox-eye daisy though

I've been doing the same today, fucking things are up to shoulder height! Need a machete to walk through the wildflower "meadow" at the moment.

 

[two sheds]

Exactly, I was thinking that for two sheds I don't have enough room in my own garden (well, from next week) I don't think but would love to do it.

lovely idea I'll go off and have a think about it. I've planted a few of them round my plant pots so hopefully they'll grow ok and I can transplant them later.

 

[bimble]

Tried the radical idea of closing the front gate last night and no deer came. Possible these things are connected that would be good.

 

[gentlegreen]

Tried the radical idea of closing the front gate last night and no deer came. Possible these things are connected that would be good.

They relied on knowing they had an emergency exit ?

 

[StoneRoad]

still waging a minor war against grey squirrels & rabbits.

However, I remembered to close-up all the cold-frames / mini-greenhouses etc last night.
But forgot to leave the live mammal trap in the big greenhouse, but no visible damage [It's been catching field mice / voles quite often for the past three weeks - they get released the next morning].

If my bad back will co-operate, then this morning includes a round of watering [decent watering dump done the night before yesterday, and it was quite cool during the day, so nothing looks as if it might wilt anytime soon].

 

[clicker]

Different day, different poppy .

campanula why has my new rose thrown off the really thorny shoot on the right? It looks different to the others. Should I leave it or chop it? It's about 2ft long atm.

 

[Callie]

I'd say chop it! But I'm mean like that

 

[contadino]

Different day, different poppy .
View attachment 325984
campanula why has my new rose thrown off the really thorny shoot on the right? It looks different to the others. Should I leave it or chop it? It's about 2ft long atm.
View attachment 325985

Looks like rosette to me. Cut it out pronto, burn it, and anything that looks like red curly leaves.

ETA: Getting Rid of Rose Rosette Disease

Another edit: I used to see it a lot when I lived in the US, but this says it doesn't exist in the UK. New legislation to prevent harmful rose virus Maybe something else, but looks uncannily similar. As I have 30-odd varieties of roses, I'd hate to see it in the UK.

 

[gentlegreen]

I'd say chop it! But I'm mean like that

I reckon it looks pretty - I always planned to grow one of these one day :-

 

[gentlegreen]

Looks like rosette to me. Cut it out pronto, burn it, and anything that looks like red curly leaves.

ETA: Getting Rid of Rose Rosette Disease

campanula Is it not just the rootstock ?

 

[Leafster]

campanula Isn't it not just the rootstock ?

I thought it was probably the rootstock. It's got seven leaves when the main plant only has five per cluster and taken with the different stems suggested to me it was a sucker from below the graft.

 

[gentlegreen]

My final two packets of seeds have arrived and been sown - the most important of them being the fancy red amaranth which should still get to a decent size before the year is out. I'm still expecting to see some love-lies-bleeding seedlings appear in the front garden before too long - I made certain to scatter the seedheads everywhere .. not that I'm massively in need of them - assuming this new cultivar is anything like as vigorous in growth.

I also got some pinkish thunbergia seed and the packet said not to soak the seeds - which is possibly why my last batch are still struggling to get going ...

I sooo wish I'd seen Sarah Raven's video about antirrhinum "Apple Blossom" before ... but so few places stock it. I want some runner bean seeds too - but Chiltern charge a fortune for their Scarlet Emperor ....

I'm trying not to count what I've spent already this year ... I alternate between its being actual therapy, and wishing I was doing this in a new garden in France ... certainly I wish I had people in my life to share it with me ...

 

[TopCat]

Got a really nice big brolly thing for the garden.
Broad beans are over four feet high and are a mess of aphid and ladybirds. I’m leaving them to it. First crop spud plants are getting really big.

I planted loads of flower seeds without knowing what the young plants look like. It’s hard weeding at the moment.

I dug a load of perlite into beds which go concrete like.

Beer o clock.

 

[gentlegreen]

With a meal's worth of salad growing in my seedling area indoors, getting my hydro systems running is a priority, so I started work on the somewhat silly passive "tanks" destined for the front porch and I'm struggling for various reasons - so it may never get into serious production - but it's serving its purpose as a planter for nasturtiums and if I give up on the hydro salad, I could simply bung more ornamentals in it ...
It would be cool to at least have a curtain of watercress hanging down ...

So my attention has turned to the 10 foot flattened section of drain pipe with the square-section gutter inside.

Today I realised that siting it over the tomato growing area was never sensible - even though I liked the idea of converting raw sunlight into more salad than I could ever eat - but this section gets almost as much sun - certainly enough for greens.

So I'm moving it to the section of fence nearer the house which makes it easier for various reasons - not least running power to the pump.
The planned pergola had already lost its function as a framework for climbers - and the original section of fence will become something a lot prettier than just a food machine ...

 

[TopCat]

With a meal's worth of salad growing in my seedling area indoors, getting my hydro systems running is a priority, so I started work on the somewhat silly passive "tanks" destined for the front porch and I'm struggling for various reasons - so it may never get into serious production - but it's serving its purpose as a planter for nasturtiums and if I give up on the hydro salad, I could simply bung more ornamentals in it ...
It would be cool to at least have a curtain of watercress hanging down ...

So my attention has turned to the 10 foot flattened section of drain pipe with the square-section gutter inside.

Today I realised that siting it over the tomato growing area was never sensible - even though I liked the idea of converting raw sunlight into more salad than I could ever eat - but this section gets almost as much sun - certainly enough for greens.

So I'm moving it to the section of fence nearer the house which makes it easier for various reasons - not least running power to the pump.
The planned pergola had already lost its function as a framework for climbers - and the original section of fence will become something a lot prettier than just a food machine ...

View attachment 326048

View attachment 326040

When you get it all set up I would love to sit there in your garden, perhaps a bit stoned and merry and get you to give the full run down.
Good luck with it all anyway.

 

[Calamity1971]

When you get it all set up I would love to sit there in your garden, perhaps a bit stoned and merry and get you to give the full run down.
Good luck with it all anyway.

I want to go and have a.look at his levitating little gems.

 

[gentlegreen]

Just a shame I had to wait 38 years to do all this ...
This is only a practice run for France where my garden (or rather gardens) will be at least 20 times that size -
Perhaps I'll have a bamboo shoot patch

 

[iona]

Why hydroponic salad gentlegreen? It seems like a lot of faff compared to just sticking something in the ground. (Not criticising! Just trying to understand - we have very different approaches to things)

 

[gentlegreen]

The most efficient way to grow the maximum food in the least space in the least time - and no watering.

No faff - apart from the learning curve - drill holes in a bit of pipe, add nutes to water, switch on pump and there you are. I have seen no indication so far that I will need to adjust the PH ... the guy in the video below refuses to own PH or TDS meters.
My interest started because I wanted to grow watercress ... and even wasabi is a naturally quasi-hydroponic plant - but that will take a dedicated bit of greenhouse in a future garden ...

I see it as a bit like growing plants under lights.
Once you've tried it, you'll always want to do it at least some of the time ...

If this is a success I can see my BIL having a go - since he's a skilled tradesman and that aspect may appeal.
They have no garden to speak of and this makes use of vertical space and keeps plants away from pests and in their case, spaniels ...

 

[bimble]

Deer did not eat quite all of my poppies . Happy with this basket.

 

[gentlegreen]

I wonder if Youtube will block this video because of the music ...

10 days from teeny seedlings to this ...

 

[gentlegreen]

Deer did not eat quite all of my poppies . Happy with this basket.
View attachment 326093

Glad to see nasturtiums

 

[bimble]

Glad to see nasturtiums

I love them, such willing uncomplaining plants.