Gardening: Hints and Help!
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Anyone know why Delphinium droplets are so sparse . Instead of a full long bloom the flowers are only intermittent. Any help anyone .
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Can you post a photo HH? Mine have been lovely this year, very tall.
That’s a beautiful Dahlia Freddy, a true “hot border” plant. I love the “Bishop” group of Dahlia’s, with the dark foliage.
Apparently, King Charles has a black and white area in his garden at Highgrove, and Bishop Dahlia’s are grown there, but they remove the buds leaving the gorgeous “black” foliage. It’s a garden on my list to visit, featured in this month’s RHS magazine.
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Yes. We have driven past the estate lots of times, it’s on our route to SW, via Tetbury, but can’t get away at the moment anywhere. Some friends did the tour a good few years ago, and said how interesting a place it was. There are some lovely private gardens occasionally open round there.
Do you lift and store your Dahlias Freddy, or leave them in ground over Winter? I have lost a few this year, but Spring was very wet here in South Yorks.
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“Do you lift and store your Dahlias Freddy, or leave them in ground over Winter? I have lost a few this year, but Spring was very wet here in South Yorks.”
I used to lift and store TDA but I never had a lot of luck with cuttings. I don’t have a greenhouse now anyway. Subsequently I did leave them in the ground but this proved unreliable. They were either lost to the weather, or just lost their vigour. For best results I believe they’re best grown on from cuttings/rooted plants so I now just buy them in. Much more successful and a lot less fuss. Those 3 plants cost around £10 delivered, I think, which isn’t bad value given the show they put on 🙂
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We needed a little corner filling. It catches morning sunlight but it can get draughty and we never seemed to find anything suitable and small to fill it until we tried these Potentillas. Thy have kept producing flowers throughout July and continue to do so. Lovely little things, I suppose a bit like myself.🤣
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Lovely, nice and bright.
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DD needs garden help….all suggestions welcome!
She has, 2 years back, laid play bark over a weed suppressing membrane in the boys’ play area, but has huge numbers of mushrooms now growing in and on the bark. Where are they coming from? And how does she get rid of them?
Some bark was so infested with them that she has disposed of it, and much of the bottom layer of bark is rotting and some has the mycelium (?) all through it.
It is a large area so expensive to replace the bark, and, until she can be rid of the cause, could well be a waste of money.
How should she deal with this problem?
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I can help with this one K😁 Mulch, especially bark chippings are something that mushrooms like growing in. They won’t harm it, but obviously with little ones around, you will want to get rid. Vinegar, particularly white vinegar, will kill the spores, and keep them under control. Dilute it with water, use a watering can to vinegar rinse all the bark, leave it for a couple of days, and either wait for it to rain, or rinse the bark with water. If you can keep the boys off until rain is due, just leave it on a bit longer. Don’t get the vinegar onto or close to roots of any precious plants, it’s ascetic acid, so they won’t like it. Once treated, it might be an idea to lightly rake the bark every now and then (avoiding disturbing the membrane below), hopefully this will help keep fungi at bay as well.
Bark is expensive to buy, I supplement mine be keeping an eye out to see if any neighbours are having tree work done, then have a polite word with them, and ask if any chipped wood can be dropped off at home, giving the neighbours something in return. Tree fellers are usually pleased, as it saves them dumping it at end of the day. We usually have the wood as well, again compensating either neighbours or company doing work. It’s then cut to length, split, stored, dried for our stove!😁 We have a thriving barter and exchange economy on our little street🤣
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Half vinegar, half water by the way👍
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I've popped all my pots tgat need protection into the greenhouse ahead of the forecast cold snap.
Sadly I expect not had much time for gardening.... It's been so grey and damp here most of my cosmos turned black so have been pulled out to please the eye. However I have a couple of single ones that are still very beautiful. Actually now I've looked this mornibg they're not so good, but I'll still post the photo as my 1st attempt on this new system!
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That’s a beautiful pale pink. I still have Cosmos in flower, much brighter pink and a white one. Rather straggly now, and I have had no luck collecting Cosmos seeds this year, all too damp to use. Last hope is this current very dry spell, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Like you Bakers, I have had to put the garden on hold a bit for other priorities. Have got a really nice Ginko Biloba tree down bottom of garden, this is very pretty at the moment, glowing colours. Will try and get a photo later.
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My Black Eyed Susan(thumbergia) is still flowering but I expect it will sucumb to the cold weather this week. It has been beautiful and given me such a lot of pleasure. Lovely Cosmos @Bakers2 . Mine went black so I have pulled them out. I have not been very successful with them this year.
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Spotted this today and thought it most appropriate for all gardeners, especially @Takethedogalong
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@nelliethehooker thank you 🤣 Grubbing around in the earth has always been my happy place. I am going off ivy though😱
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@richardandros re your weeds. They are all quite common, I have all three in my garden, plus dreaded bindweed that migrates from next door. Dandelions, all you can do is dig them out, as they appear, and make sure that they don’t go to seed😱 The sticky weed, is also called “Cleaver” and wraps around anything if you let it roam. Again, dig it out while tiny, and don’t let it go to seed. Same with the little weed. Couch grass might be coming from your lawn, I know ours does. I dig as much as I can out, and will dig up plants and unwrap the couch grass from the roots if it’s really bad. Don’t let any of them go to seed or things will get worse.
Two options really, weeds thrive on bare ground, so you either remove as much as you can, and put down weed suppressant fibre round your plants, topping with a thick mulch and taking out anything that pops up, or as Bakers says, simply stuff your spaces with plants and starve the weeds out! You will need to keep an eye on both options, but getting the weeds out asap and not allowing anything to go to seed will help immensely. On hot dry days, the little weeds can be gently shallow hoed out and leave to crisp up in the sun. I have also wrapped some weeds up and stuffed into a plastic bag (while still growing) and then used a weed killer sprayed into the bag, you leave it to work and kill the roots, but be careful not to catch any of your plants. This year I have bought a weed burner to get in and zap things that pop up like dandelions, I am on a mission this year😁
Good luck with it. Lavenders look nice with roses, and don’t take much looking after, just a good haircut around September.
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This year I have bought a weed burner to get in and zap things that pop up like dandelions, I am on a mission this year😁 @Takethedogalong I've had one for 6 years,I use it on dandelion and other weeds in the borders,then return to dig it out, time permitting! We were left tremendous amounts of wood aven and Lords and ladies by the previous owners. Wood avens is a real terror for seeding and spreading even when you think you're on top of it the flowers are hardly noticeable and turn to seeds in hours!
I use mine on block paving, we have far more here than our last house and I don't use weedkiller. I find it quite therapeutic!
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@Wildwood I can help with that one😁 Roses sometimes do the same, different colours, or different shaped blooms. It’s called “sporting”, and is something to do with how the plant was cultivated, ie what it’s origins were, what crosses used to create a new cultivar. Some plants occasionally show up the cross. I think plant breeders look out for such things, perhaps cull anything unstable until they have a cross that produces time after time what they want. This becomes a new variety. You have an interesting rogue😁
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@Takethedogalong - Here are some photos of the garden. As you can see it isn't large - but that was an attractive feature when we bought the house! The view behind us is what we bought the house for😀 Up to a couple of years ago, I was able to blitz the borders after we got back from a trip - in a couple of hours - and it all looked neat and tidy - but I just find it too much now. The gardener has just weeded the back border - but, as I said, he only turns up once every Sheffield Flood! Any suggestions to make life easier would be gratefully received. I've even thought to reverting to the gravel garden and pots as we had at the last house. The garden faces North East and these pics were taken at 1330 this afternoon - so we do get the sun in it, even though it's facing that way.
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@richardandros That’s a lovely location, and good to keep the fence low, I would do the same. A sort of nearly blank canvas the bed underneath it. I love flowers, so would do with what I have done here, put a couple of climbers, not too vigorous at the back, keep them along top of fence, so they don’t ruin the view. 3 clematis, different flowering times, or a couple of climbing roses, trained horizontal. Then some tall perennials such as Hollyhocks, Delphiniums, Crocosmia Lucifer, etc…. at the back, mid height perennials such as Astrantia, Heleniums, smaller Crocosmia, Dahlias, etc, in front of tall stuff, then finish towards front with some slightly shorter stuff. You could under plant with some Spring bulbs, to get early colour before perennials come out. Pack things in, the rule is usually to plant in threes or fives of same plant. It will still need an Autumn tidy, cur back most things to ground to over Winter, but if you have a gardener, hopefully he/she could do this. Dig up alliums once they go over, and replant in different areas to spread them around a bit.
Alternatively, you could go for low maintenance shrubs, instead of the perennials, but keep the roses, spread the alliums more, and choose some colourful shrubs such as Hebes, Cytisus (Broom), etc…. I’m not very good on shrubs, as we don’t have a lot, but shrubberies can give a lot of colour. You could then put weed suppressant membrane down, plant through this and put a thick mulch on the top. It won’t be entirely weed free, but is bound to be easier to manage.
Hope this helps a bit👍😁
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@richardandros we have mainly shrubs in our garden to minimise work, they only need a trim back a couple of times a year. We wanted it to be as low maintenance as possible. We have Photinia Red Robin, which has a lovely red leaf when new, this can be left to grow tall, or cut to whatever size you like, they do make a good hedge. We also have a Ribes (flowering raspberry) that is also a good bush and has beautiful red blossoms this time of year. There is also Spirea, again a lovely white flowered shrub in Spring. We have a Cornus Alba Elengantissima this doesn’t flower (much) but has green and white leaves most of the year so contrasts well with all the green. We have underplanted with Brunnera, primulas and pulmonaria which are pretty with the daffodils just now. We don’t have your view as we have a 6ft fence and a large hawthorn hedge beyond that with oak trees so ours is not so light and open as yours but the Shrubs should survive anywhere. Personally, as good as your fence looks, I wouldn’t want it to be the main view, hence we have planted all the shrubs to hide ours.
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@richardandros the top picture shows the Photinia, the space in the middle is awaiting the growth of the Cornus Alba Elegantissima, it’s just in bud. The other one shows the Ribes and the green bush in front of that is the Spirea which is also awaiting its blooms. Another shrub we have is a Choisya which is another indestructible shrub! All these can be cut back to whatever size you wish. Please excuse the old green compost bin!! 🤦🏻♀️
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Some nice colourful shrubs there👍 We planted a stretch of beech saplings as a hedge a few years ago, green and the lovely bronze version, but I have just remembered something my gardening Grandad used in his beautiful garden…..conifers, dwarf ones and you can get quite a few colour variations. They look lovely shaped and underplanted with some seasonal bulbs. Mulched underneath as well. Photina Red Robin looks lovely👍
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Beautiful example of a conifer based garden…….. you could avoid the taller ones @richardandros and the Acers look lovely mixed in. Whatever you do, don’t plant Bamboo into the ground😱 Nightmare of a plant.
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GGood Suggsstions for plants and shrubs by takethedogalong and heddlo.
I do a mixture of both shrubs, bulbs - mainly spring, perennials and the odd annual dotted in if there's a space. I've got got this garden full yet - I'm working on it. (Or not at this time as I missed the opportune hour or 2 when it was pliable clay. It's current almost concrete)
My recommendations for good value shrubs - like as much all year interest as possible from a plant, especially now they are so costly. Brexit seems to have hit hard
Photantinia, as suggested by heddlo. I brought this variety, has heddlo's at our old house. Sadly the label is missing,as are others! But it has variegated leaves and red growth.
That's a penstemon in front, perennial.
Pittosporum, I have a dark leaf patio variety in one of the front beds, surrounded by bulbs, there's a hellebore nearby, forget me nots and pulmonaria, lungwort, more about that in a minute. And a light variegated one in a border at the back. It's in front of the fence and the border faces north.
I thinks there's self sown aquilegia, Granny's bonnets, in front.
Lungwort is a lovely, low growing perennial. Spotted leaves has pink flowers that turn blue when pollinated. Or the other way round still coming and was out with the snowdrops, so good for early insects too. Tiny chosia behind.
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Was editing previous post, somehow posted before I was ready! And managed to loose all the extra. Not risking it again so a new post.
Viburnum is an evergreen which has winter flowers. Mine is just going over. Not in the ground yet, it's sitting the the large membrane covered and barked area where I'm trying to kill 3 cornered leek. Non native invasive species we inherited. 2 years full cover and its still trying to escape 😡.
I would also suggest cornus, dogwood. There are at least 3 varieties,orange red and yellow. Grown for the winter colour of the stems. Coppice, cutback hard or to ground level in the spring to keep the colour.
Haven't run out of ideas 🤣 - but time to type!
You'll need bigger borders............
The sun, beautiful and bright, hasn't made best photos. Please don't examine too closely - I missed the opportune hour whien the soil wasn't for pot making and before it turned to concrete!
I'd also suggest philadelous, mock orange, wonderful scent.
All shrubs I've suggested can be trimmmed/pruned, best with scauteurs if they're large leafed - to not have odd shaped leaves 😉, to keep to the size you want. Don't block that view. It reminds me of my childhood home.
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I realised I lost other bits of the post 😡. Probably fat finger syndrome! But this forum acts immediately, not giving an opportunity to back out......
These are in pots from our last house, we've been here almost 3 years, and they still look good. They were in the same pots on our blockpaved front garden at our old house. Must have had 7 or 8 years plus in their plastic half barrels.....
Aleagnous, varieted in this case evergreen, tiny insignificant flowers with a wonderful perfume. Chosia, very bright in the spring, evergreen, tiny flowers that form a head. The dark one, coprosma, can be frost sensitive. Evergreen and retains its colour. Other colours available
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