The gardening thread

[gentlegreen]

Somehow, amid the stress of bagging up nearly everything I own and sending it to landfill, I am trying to partly justify the money and time I wasted on gardening last year.
Nothing short of a miracle would see me out of here this year , and hopefully I will manage to enjoy the diversion from a truly horrible job ...

So I have sown some seeds - courgettes, kale and tomatoes for the back garden, various ornamentals for the front ...
I will plant French beans on my frame this year rather than runner ... no carrots, spuds, definitely no peas ... I will plant kale everywhere.

Having got used to low electricity usage, this year I will move the seedlings on quickly making use of natural light from the window and any artificial light I use will be on a timer...

porch

I hope this year I will actually manage a nasturtium cascade over the front porch - so I've sown a load of seeds direct as well as indoors - and this year I have the means to water them before they dry out ...
I've ordered fuchsia voodoo and fragrant double red begonia for the baskets ...

Wall / window plantings

As well as sowing Grandpa Ott morning glories indoors, I harvested loads of seeds off the plants themselves and have sown those direct.

Fate may be encouraging symmetry this year ...

I have a miscellaneous assortment of pink geraniums for the windowbox - albeit a bit sad-looking at the moment ... I resisted buying more - they would be teeny plants in any case ...

The three angelica gigas made it through so I've planted one in each planter out the front - plus I have a third in a pot.
I also have two pots of lobelia cardinalis and all three dahlia Bishop of Llandaff are sprouting.

I found a pot with a huge quantity of self-sown red amaranthus ...I only need two at the most ...

Last years ginormous brugmansias that I dug up and potted and kept indoors look fairly dead.
Luckily the two bits I accidentally snapped off and rooted, have survived and will in any case hopefully be more sensible in size - both pink...

It's sad the banana didn't make it, but I have sown ricinuses as usual ...

Not a single verbena bonariensis left standing, but I will be amazed if I don't find some seedlings.

And I have sown fragrant nicotiana ... and I ordered some giant oriental lilies to make up for the somewhat chewed up ones I already have.
I hope I get some of my crap collected so I can bring the bins in the house again - the green bin rental runs out in August and I don't plan to renew it.

 

[clicker]

Love this time of year ❤. Definitely didn't plant yellow tulips, so assume it was in amongst the Queen of the Nights that are slow appearing.
Perennial wallflower and black elder survived great.

Got about 50 cosmos, in the midst of being pricked out and potted on for another few weeks.
Chilli seeds sprouted, but only about an inch tall, so will do something with them when bigger. Just happy they grew.

Ah also about 20 sturdy African Marigolds seedlings that need potting on.
There'll be lots of late colour this year, if they don't all fry in the summer.
The aliums have definitely multiplied and are going to be gorgeous.

 

[sojourner]

I currently have 11 little Roxi chilli plants on the kitchen windowsill, all about 1.5" tall - gonna repot them this weekend. I also have multiple pots of pea shoots on every available windowsill I bloody love eating them, and they are THE easiest and fastest salad ingredient to grow.

I have 2 types of lettuce (salad bowl and lolla rossa) growing in the garage, on shelves of the old placcy greenhouse, along with untold numbers of rocket. They get a decent amount of daylight in there. Oh, also had the first of my garlic chives germinate too, yay.

Got coriander and basil coming up in pots on the bathroom windowsill. Had to re-sow oregano, thyme and parsley cos absolutely nowt happened after 4 weeks with the first sow

All my wildflowers are coming up too now, plus some mystery flowers.

 

[iona]

Parsley will just sit for weeks sometimes before it germinates, it's annoying Ike that.

 

[RubyToogood]

Parsley I think you need to break its dormancy by watering with hot water the first time.

I've been massively delayed in doing anything much by being ill but have at least washed enough pots for my courgettes and squashes now.

Can't decide whether to bother sowing runner beans in pots or just shove in the ground later. Either way the slugs eat them.

 

[campanula]

At the stage of pricking out where I still have many pots of eryngiums, talinum, penstemons, various grasses, many umbellifers (5 sorts) delphinium, ipomopsis ...plus the tomatoes, etc etc...and no space to put any of the little pots. And in an insane fit of madness, I have ordered 20+ new plants (I have not done this for many years). At the moment, everything is just about existing happily but O, there is trouble in store. Off to try to clear more space at the allotment and then, the part of gardening I hate the most - ascribing positions for things and planting them.

Although tbf, once they are out of sight from the greenhouse/home garden, they are pretty much out of mind, but I have spent 9 tortuous months watching, watering, waiting for these seedlings and now the moment is upon me, I always have a frantic few days. (empty pot syndrome). I do this every year but never at the insane level I have sown stuff this year.

 

[gentlegreen]

I just drowned this winter's huge crop of hanging basket vine weevil grubs - I stamped on the first handful.
A shame I can't rely on birds to do the nasty job.

Somehow one of my hanging basket begonias survived - though I will probably have a prod.
It may be the one that is far too big for the basket ...
This year's 3 corms should do the trick - double red and smelly ...

I suppose murdering vine weevil grubs at this point is to try to minimise next winter's carnage ..

Academic really as this absolutely has to be my last gardening year in this house and most of my efforts this year will be to whittle myself down to a very small van-load for storage, plus hand luggage...

 

[iona]

most of my efforts this year will be to whittle myself down to a very small van-load for storage, plus hand luggage...

Currently trying to do this in the space of about a week and I've just had the horrifying realising that I actually have more hoarded old plant pots than the 15 acre veg farm I'm moving to (I'll freecycle lots but the expensive 20L+ ones and the pack of 500 9cm square pots are absolutely going into storage so I can use them in future)

 

[two sheds]

I'm forking out the spanish bluebells fork has to go right in, lift the plant then loosen the earth and get fingers right underneath to get the bulb. I read half way through that you have to put the bulbs in black plastic bag and leave them for at least a year. Before that I was just throwing the forking things in the compost so I'll leave that for a year see how it goes.

 

[campanula]

Currently trying to do this in the space of about a week and I've just had the horrifying realising that I actually have more hoarded old plant pots than the 15 acre veg farm I'm moving to (I'll freecycle lots but the expensive 20L+ ones and the pack of 500 9cm square pots are absolutely going into storage so I can use them in future)

Exactly so. I bought 1000 9cm square pots a coupla years ago and have hung onto all the enormous 20litre+ pots (we found a load in a skip from a weed farm bust!). Everything else - binned.
Best of luck with the move (there must be something in the air because it seems like everybody I know is doing it this year

 

[iona]

Exactly so. I bought 1000 9cm square pots a coupla years ago and have hung onto all the enormous 20litre+ pots (we found a load in a skip from a weed farm bust!). Everything else - binned.
Best of luck with the move (there must be something in the air because it seems like everybody I know is doing it this year

Thanks I've worked out the best way to get stuff there is to post it to myself, now just trying to be really strict about I actually need to bring (my best watering can and spade and several metres of capillary matting have already made that list ) and what I need to store and just get rid of as much as possible.

If anyone's Brightonish way and wants some old plant pots and cell trays, let me know

 

[two sheds]

Cornwall there's load more, too. I feel guilty about throwing them but I doubt they'd recycle and would need cleaning before giving them away. I'll have a sort out at the end of the year, I think.

 

[iona]

We were talking about setting up a little propagation side business so maybe I should keep more just to be safe

Aaargghh

 

[sojourner]

Ooo exciting that you're moving to the farm iona ! The one you've just come back from?

Thanks for the advice on parsley too btw, and RubyToogood , will try that.

 

[iona]

Ooo exciting that you're moving to the farm @iona ! The one you've just come back from?

Yeah. Gonna start my own thread once I'm back up there because I'm aware it's probably really annoying that I'm currently taking over about twenty different threads with Orkney farm chat Doing it before that feels like asking for something to go wrong though!

Do you want another turmeric delivery in a week or two before I leave? I'm posting some to myself to try and grow indoors in pots too..

 

[gentlegreen]

So difficult to get shot of gardening stuff..
I have a stupidly large greenhouse among other things..
I ditched all the terracotta plastic pots in 2021, all my black pots will have to go by the end of this year - I'm not paying to store those and then ship to France...
I suppose I might have kept them if it was Swansea ...

 

[BoatieBird]

How exciting iona, best of luck with it all.

 

[cesare]

I'm also very excited for you, iona

 

[sojourner]

Yeah. Gonna start my own thread once I'm back up there because I'm aware it's probably really annoying that I'm currently taking over about twenty different threads with Orkney farm chat Doing it before that feels like asking for something to go wrong though!

Do you want another turmeric delivery in a week or two before I leave? I'm posting some to myself to try and grow indoors in pots too..

Oh fabulous!

It's deffo not annoying me. I think it's brilliant that you're just upping sticks to go and live there, I'm very envious.

That would be amazing if you can spare the time! You're an absolute star, thank you

 

[Ron Merlin]

Took three days for my toms to appear. So it begins...
View attachment 369514

A month later and they're doing well

 

[clicker]

So difficult to get shot of gardening stuff..
I have a stupidly large greenhouse among other things..
I ditched all the terracotta plastic pots in 2021, all my black pots will have to go by the end of this year - I'm not paying to store those and then ship to France...
I suppose I might have kept them if it was Swansea ...

I've walked past a few houses lately, where people have just put out boxes of old pots and a 'free' sign. It's that time of year I suppose when they have a clear out, but also when lots of us are pricking out. When you're ready to get shot of them I doubt they'd not be taken.

 

[heinous seamus]

New edging around the beds:

 

[Fairweather]

Put my main crop chitted potatoes in this morning and sowed some beetroot and carrots on the allotment. It actually felt like spring today in Sheffield after a cold and wet April.

 

[gentlegreen]

This looks a bit like a pendulous sedge -
I wonder if a bird pooped it.
It's sprung up from nothing in months,,,
It would be nice if it was somehow a crocosmia from years ago and actually flowers ...

 

[May Kasahara]

I have been putting some work into the garden over the last few months, and it is paying off Having said that, in all the pics I just took it still looks well messy and I'm annoyed that I didn't take any pics of the blossom on the fruit trees, because there was loads and it looked lovely.but still. Have weeded out the beds, cleared a load of dead or unwanted stuff, planted some new things, and am delighted that my plum, pear and blueberry are all still thriving after spending the winter in waterlogged pots.

 

[iona]

Looks really good May Kasahara, you can definitely see the work you've put in!

(There's a couple of things I'd suggest re ongoing care of the fruit trees and bushes but I don't want to be that pernickety wanker who pops up to tell you you're Doing It Wrong so I won't unless you ask)

 

[May Kasahara]

Oh no, please do - I've got absolutely no idea what I'm doing, just muddling along

 

[iona]

Oh no, please do - I've got absolutely no idea what I'm doing, just muddling along

Fair enough I'd stake the trees at least for the first couple of years unless your garden gets basically no wind ever, and permanently if they're on dwarfing rootstocks (they'll also appreciate a good watering can full with a bit of liquid feed mixed in every week unless it's been raining lots - don't worry over winter when they've dropped their leaves unless it's really dry for AGES - again for the first couple years at least but more permanently for dwarfing rootstocks)

Blueberries like acid soils, more than most plants, so you may need to add stuff to the soil around them to lower the ph or find they're happier in a really big pot with a special ericaceous (acid loving) potting mix.

Also if you just have one of each, have you checked the varieties you got are all either self-fertile or have pollination partners growing in other gardens nearby?

 

[two sheds]

This looks a bit like a pendulous sedge -
I wonder if a bird pooped it.
It's sprung up from nothing in months,,,
It would be nice if it was somehow a crocosmia from years ago and actually flowers ...

View attachment 373776

Hard to tell - a few things look like that as you'll know (better than I do). I had a pendulous sedge in the hedge opposite my house only I didn't know what it was and it seeded. Next year there were a good hundred seedlings come up in the field next to me. I asked permission and got in there and pulled all of them out. Next year there were fifty, and this year there was just one I might go get it for a photo. There's loads of them all over the valley at the back of me though.

 

[mrsfran]

One week's harvest! I really need to harvest twice a week, the growth rate is crazy.