Gardening: Hints and Help!
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we had an email saying our garden waste bin collection start date has been put back a month.
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We signed up, and paid (a not unreasonable amount) for garden waste collection last year. It has meant we get a monthly collection through the Winter months, and keep our fortnightly Summer collections. It’s made a big difference to be honest, although I actually need more collections in Winter months when doing the big tidy. Hope all refuse collections continue, they are another set of key workers.👍
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You could make cores from newspaper if that’s a better source. Find something cylindrical, desired diameter, wind paper round, slide off mould and use same as loo roll cores! Thick enough to form, thin enough to rot down👍
Hoping to clean up pond a bit today, but the frogspawn is an issue. My new fountain to go in hopefully. More plant splitting, replanting. Might do patio as well with jet wash. Old clothes, today could be a damp one😁
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Of course frogspawn is an issue. It's how we get baby frogs ...
Steve
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Pretty much finished clearing the area. I have the feeling though that a much loved Sambucus might have to go to make room ☹️ Yesterday I tried to add to my order of timber from B&Q a quantity of compost. They are inundated with orders at the moment, which is probably why they still haven’t called back to confirm and take payment. In truth I don’t have much faith that they’ll be in touch, so I’ve ordered some compost from a garden centre who are still offering deliveries. 12x50L bags for £48, which isn’t bad compared to some of the vastly inflated prices I’ve seen (Amazon - £20 for 10L
). My ‘root trainers’ should be turning up tomorrow, so I’ll be able to sow my broad beans. Today I sowed me sprouts innit 
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When I was nobbut a youth, I remember sowing my wild oats at night; and praying for crop failure in the morning ...
Steve
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Another good day here, very warm, in sheltered spot hit 23c! Next door neighbour sat out sunbathing, in a bikini top!
Not for me.......project pond had to be slightly altered. We had planned to carefully lift the frogspawn, but.....it’s now tiny tadpoles🐸 So, we just put the solar fountain in instead. Works a treat, my birthday present.
More edging of a pathway, some more tubers potted, get an early start, couple of small pot bound trees repotted, a pitcher plant sorted out (just seen weather forecast, that will have to go back into greenhouse 🙄).
I had a great result from our local nursery. Pay over phone, they drop off, so got some compost, and they are doing veg, fruit, eggs and milk! Made sure neighbours aware.
Finally, I was given a Membership to Butterfly Society for my birthday, and they are running a Garden Survey. We are already getting butterflies visiting, so I signed up today. Anyone else interested, details are here: https://www.gardenbutterflysurvey.org/?utm_source=Dotmailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11411139_Update%20to%20members%20and%20supporters%20-%2018%2F03%2F20&utm_content=GBS&dm_i=DGT,6SKW3,1G5E07,R6QJG,1
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Thanks for the link TDA, I intended to join up for the survey last year but will definitely join this year. Seeing lots of butterflies already.
This is a bit of a mouthful but amongst other things today I sowed a narrow border along part of our veg patch with this Phacella Tanacetifolia. I got the idea from NT Barrington Court last year. They sow it in their walled veg garden, it's a actually a green manure but has lots of mauve flowers that attract insects and looks good as an edging flower. The seeds I used came from Johnsons (another place to look on line.) I presume it can be dug in at the end of the season. 🌺🌺
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Going to look that up, thanks brue. We want to visit Barrington Court again soon, beautiful gardens.
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Yes. Park staff were out cutting grass today in our local park, in fact I said hello to one I know quite well (at a distance). He was mowing bowling greens, they definitely aren’t in use. But it is a lovely park, some great ornamental beds and lovely specimen trees. Magnificent Magnolia in full bloom at the moment. I don’t think our Stellata is very well, ought to be flowering now, but it’s hardly showing buds😢
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“Finally, I was given a Membership to Butterfly Society for my birthday, and they are running a Garden Survey. We are already getting butterflies visiting, so I signed up today. Anyone else interested”
The only butterflies I’m interested in, are the cabbage white, and keepin’ them out!
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“slugs eat the pellets and get poisoned,”
Not quite sure the current pellets actually work that way? Anyway, I’ll look into it 👍
Sowed some beetroot and spring onions into modules today, in hopeful anticipation of the timber turning up, which I’m assured it will. Yesterday I sowed the broad beans (32), into root trainers. Sweet Peas are up
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Put a saucer of beer in the planted area. The slugs will drown, but in a happy state of drunkeness [ some even get out to empty their bladders, half way through before climbing back in again...].
And the butterflies thrive ... until the fallen fruit tempts them to get absolutely blootered on the fermenting apples and peaches
Steve
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Had a phone all from son in the NE, a sudden interest in gardening began last year when a neighbour offered him some plants. I have to say when Mum and Dad previously offered the same the poor old plants withered in a forgotten corner.
The phone call was a hopeful one about seeds, had we got any? We didn't have the ones he wanted so I directed him to a few places. I had another search on line myself and found Marshalls had quite a few things so I got some small squash seeds called Festival and they still had some plug plants available. 🌱0 -
Not much to report. Yesterday I ordered up some ‘Enviromesh’ (crop protection). Today ordered more seed. Looking around, it seems the seed companies are snowed under with orders, one or two not even taking orders! I don’t expect to get said seed for 3-4 weeks, but that’s ok. My timber is supposed to be coming tomorrow 🤞
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My plants are coming on nicely in greenhouse, flowers though, not veg.
Decided to have a burn up today. Lots of old wood and hedging to burn, nice and dry, so spent three hours carefully checking it for wildlife, and then a controlled burn in incinerator. Only found one frog hiding, which I put in pond. Cleared quite a lot. It’s the last area to be sorted, a former veg patch cum compost patch. Hoping to rake it flattish, membrane down and then bark over, and put some shrubs for colour in. At least I was warm. Last weeks warmth is a distant memory at the moment. Not complaining though. It’s been a month since we had rain now. Thankfully lawns are drying out finally.
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Don’t say that please😱
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With us, we can say that it's been almost an afternoon since we last had rain. The rice crop is doing really well and we're developing ebbed feet and trench foot
Steve
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We had bits of rain/sleet/snow/hail on Sunday and again yesterday but it amount to very little.
I spend Sunday and the 8 previous days on my hands and knees with a handfork digging between through our flower beds. It had to have a real concentrated effort on it because we're on Essex clay. We've had the wettest time I can recall, and I've lived a few summers! Too begin with I couldn't walk on the grass, in fact the stepping stones were puddles 😲.
The first 4 days were great easy turning lots of worms, day 5 hurt my hand arm and neck crusty and hard and not a worm in sight, so I watered 😲😲 in the afternoon despite forecast frost. Days 6-9 were easier but transplanting had to be watered every day! It looks lovely now and I await germination of scattered seeds and the energy to plant up what I have in pots.
I'm totally saddened by the news that nursery growers are going to have to destroy their plants and stock and possibly loose their businesses 😢😢. It seems ironic that the year many of us tourers and non-tourers will have the time to lavish on their garden not to mention enjoy their efforts at leisure!
Stay safe and keep gardening 😃
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Yes I saw that Bakers, although they don’t have to destroy them, they could simply be given away if they don’t want to tend them. Obviously not annuals. Won’t help their businesses of course, but better than destroying.
Our local Nursery is doing veg/fruit, milk and eggs. If you have one of these delivered, they are happy to put gardening supplies on order as well, but not without. Delivery driver said their orders are booming. They are working with local farms, well organised, thinking outside of the box. It will be the Garden Centres, heavily reliant upon cafes, gifts and footfall that struggle.
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Avon Bulbs are a well known nursery in our area, they were due to exhibit at Chelsea and locals were invited to visit and purchase their surplus stock because Chelsea was cancelled but it looks like everything is on line now. Not cheap but some unusual plants. There are still a lot of nurseries on line but it's sad for those who were supply chain only.
I'm waiting for various on line orders to arrive, most will come when it's a bit warmer but the seed packets will be here soon I hope...my excuse to keep out of the greenhouse until "someone" gives it a tidy up!!
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I will take a look brue. We need more bulbs in garden now. Thanks.
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