Gardening: Hints and Help!
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Just a heads up and I know Moulesy usually reminds us about this one. The Gardeners World magazine with the 2 for 1 garden entry card is due out now. I can't get this via my on line delivery order and I don't have a newsagent near me. But I've managed to order a single copy on line from their web site. In the hope that we might be able to use it at some point, something nice to hope about, visiting a garden somewhere.
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Finally got the compost I was waiting for today, so have been able to top up the beds. Sowed two rows of carrots and will be planting the broad beans and beetroot tomorrow 🙂
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My gardening is different - more like a sort of rewilding - I just look at it. My seat is at the bottom.The wild daffodils have faded and the bluebells are with us now.
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Oh please can we have some too? Our water butts are at least as low as JVB66?
I heard something on the conservatory roof, our new one sounds much more, that I didn't recognise. Checked it out, rain 😂. Had pleasant thoughts of rain overnight. Hmmmmm not enough to even dampen a tissue! In fact if I hadn't been in the kitchen at that time I would never had known there had been the odd spot 😢.
I have told my brother to remove his newly installed waterbutt 🤔 as he laughing said when he completed the task having concreted a base for it - 'that'll make the rain stop' 😤😤😤
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😁 You beat me too it HD. As a garden volunteer it was drilled (😂) into us about placing and storing tools carefully. Beds are looking good Freddy👍
Nice to have a more wild garden on here EuroT, and a Cornish one. Usually a few weeks ahead of us up here in Yorkshire. What elevation are you at by the way, does that make any difference?
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A good few years ago I entered a friendly online competition to grow the largest onion. I won it with this (5lb 5ozs)
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Planted out the peas and broad beans and transplanted the courgettes and squash , carrots and onion seed just poking through the soil ,and should be starting the cucumber seeds over the weekend , but I’ve been a bit distracted as I had a delivery of a new wood turning lathe yesterday!
Just hopping for some rain to fill up all the water butts
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We've not had any rain now since we came home from our Winter trip over 4 weeks ago, and looking at the forecast there's none on the horizon for us for another weekend so. The ground could really do with a good soaking, although the flowers in it are standing up well to the drought at the moment. The flowers on our oldest clematis have just start to open and the second one's should do the same over the weekend. Sorry but can't provide names of them.
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Small flowers? Pink or white? Might be a Montana, earliest out of spring flowering. I dropped on this afternoon, our Aldi had some Clematis outside. Lo and behold, one of my favourites........result!😁
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Thanks, Tda. Small pink flowers, so possibly a Montana. The other has larger white ones. I'll try for a photo tomorrow. We also got another from Aldi this year which is supposed to have deep red flowers, but doubt that we'll see them this year as the plant is only quite small.
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For growing ‘beans’, I can thoroughly recommend these root trainers. Compact and relatively durable too.
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Well they look nice and strong Freddy, we tend to use whatever is to hand. We had to use some very old bean seeds this year but they have grown ok. My plant seedling deliveries are due any minute, they are late, I suppose the orders have overwhelmed some places. OH has put some of the small chantenay carrot seedlings in a pot for me, haven't grown them before, we don't usually grow carrots but thought we'd try some. 🥕🥕
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Just a word of caution, carrots are said to not like transplanting. I can’t say as I’ve never tried it. The first time I grew carrots was quite a revelation, so sweet and nothing like regular shop bought, as long as you pick ‘em while still in growth.
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Nelliethehooker that certainly looks like Montana and it's going to be a picture 😀. Do you usually get to see it in its glory?
We lost ours, it climbed through the 'uninteresting' tree it didn't flower last year and it hasn't any leaves this year - been so dry for the last few years and just this winter was wet wet wet, we are desparate for rain now though 😯🤔.
Sadly the tree, named 'uninteresting' because it was there when we arrived, a salix of some sort probably wild, not pretty at any time of the year 😢 but it did serve a purpose for screening, seems dead. But my rambling rector makes good cover and is coming on strongly again this year 😀. Last year it was magnificent for 24 hours before heavy rain bashed it about 😢
My first walk round the garden this morning revealed my grass seed is growing 😀😀. Didn't notice it yesterday! Given me the inspiration to go and potter again.
I have some pots, plants from Avon Bulbs and a friend, that need to go in. The soil is very dry, I soaked the pots yesterday and they're still in the water - partly as I lost momentum and I've lots of forget me nots in they way and want to plant with little disturbance. They'll also need daily watering once they're in. But I will do them today, unless I put it off until tomorrow or the day after 😱.
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We lost a montana clematis this year, Warwickshire Rose, nice pink colour but it was spindly and didn't do very well. Looks like Nellie has the good old fashioned strong variety.
I'm a bit worried our garden is going to look too tidy this year, we don't usually have time to keep on top of everything but OH is out there every day. It's keeping him busy but I'll have to remind him about the paint he bought for the kitchen...
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That does look a nice healthy Montana Nellie👍 I pruned a monster back very hard last year, but it’s coming back fine thankfully. The one I bought in Aldi the other day is Montana Broughton Star, very nice semi double, not such a thug as the usual Montana’s, bit more controllable. Very nice, and good Aldi price as well £3.99 I think. Clematis can be expensive!😁
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That’s one bed full already. Planted out the sprouts today and broad beans yesterday. While I wait for the timber to arrive (for the netting frames) I’ve utilised some old pop bottles to give a bit of protection. In other news, the parsnips have started to emerge, so will have to be planted out in the next couple of days.
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Thanks for the info on the clematis. B2 we generally go off just as it is coming into flower so usually miss it at it's best, which we'll get to see this year. We took cutting off it and that's doing well too, growing over a juniper bush.
Tda, that one you got from Aldi looks a beauty. We noticed that they were sell them, with a 20% discount at our local store but didn't notice the variety. Perhaps they might still have them next week.
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Second order from Suttons arrived today, a few flowering plants for pots, battered and bruised, looking as though they'd been thrown up in the air (don't think Suttons intended them to arrived in poor condition) hope we've managed to save them minus a lot of leaves.
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brue I hope you've managed to save them, in fact I'm sure you have. I'd let Suttons know if for no other reason than they should be aware.
After my mum died a friend ordered a container of mixed pansies and violas from Waitrose for me. I was shocked at the condition they arrived in, knowing they wouldn't have been cheap. I fiddled about with them, after taking photos, including put one in the compost the right way up it was roots up and another side on. When I had finished the fiddling, neglected plants are a much milder form of child abuse in my mind and not to be tolerated! I then phoned Waitrose as I could see that the basket had literally been thrown together and no firming in or additional soil had happened. I knew, probably unlike Suttons, that it would have been completed by a 3rd party who would have been paid for doing a decent job. Upshot, would I like another basket? I declined as I'd sorted it although the only plant that had a bloom was the upside down on, needless to say it didn't look good 😢. They refunded the money to my friend, I had to text her quickly to put her in the picture. I nursed them through the winter in the conservatory and they are rewarding me well. I'm sure your will too 😀
Edit a swift change of posting equipment - tablet to phone, and a photo plus resize, ain't it easy on here?, and they now look as they did on the website 😃
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I had exactly the same from Sutton’s, years ago. Looked like my parcel had been used as a football either in the nursery, or in the post. I don’t order small plants now. I do however buy very cheap neglected plants from garden centres, B&Q and other places that don’t seem to understand that water is essential. It’s a chief garden delight of mine, knowing how little I paid for certain now wonderful specimens😂
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