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Gardening resources and tips, etc.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby KeenCook2 » Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:44 pm

:thumbsup :thumbsup

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Earthmaiden » Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:06 pm

Oooh! That's good!

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Pepper Pig » Fri Jul 17, 2020 3:58 pm

scullion wrote:i would consider planting it with a miniature climbing rose so you could train it up the s shape bit. it would stop cats attempting to go foraging for the birds - or with a small clematis which could also climb through the upright and soften its outline a bit.
if the birds don't use it you could always use it as a coffee cup stand next to your sun lounger.
the light is an interesting concept. i was unaware of the habit of nighttime bathing in birds.


The rose is a nice idea, thanks. Am not a sun worshipper or a coffee drinker sadly.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:04 pm

My sunlounger is always positioned in the shade ... and it doesn't have to be coffee ... tea will do ... G&T even better ;)

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Pepper Pig » Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:20 pm

I’m going to sound like such a miserable old cow but I never, ever sit outside. Don’t even have a sun lounger. I need to be indoors in the shade.

I love having a garden though. Just not to sit in . . . .

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:55 pm

Pepper Pig wrote:I’m going to sound like such a miserable old cow but I never, ever sit outside. Don’t even have a sun lounger. I need to be indoors in the shade.

I love having a garden though. Just not to sit in . . . .


:? Does not compute :? :lol:

What about the birdsong, the hum of the insects, the feel of the breeze on your skin ... for me a garden isn’t to look at, it’s a totally immersive experience ... and that’s even before you get to the soil under your nails and seeing the seeds you’ve sown growing and then going out and picking them to cook for the people you care about ... can’t be me without growing things. 8-)

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby ChinchillaLady » Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:09 pm

With you 100% on that one Suffs.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby scullion » Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:12 pm

and for getting your dose of vitamin d3.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Pepper Pig » Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:12 pm

I walk down and around the garden and go in and out of the back gate when I take the dog to the park. I admire the flowers, birds, bees and butterflies at that time because it is not hot. Any gardening that I need to do is done before 6am or late in the evening. I have a beautiful bird table which I can watch from my desk in the back room. It is rare to see or hear anything other than pigeons, magpies and parakeets although we do get the odd flurry of goldfinches.

Don’t grow much edible since Chris got ill other than herbs in tubs, and fruit bushes. Cannot be doing with soil under my fingernails for which I totally blame my mother who couldn’t bear to see me with anything other than pristine hands and was forever scrubbing them with carbolic. We don’t entertain at all these days so he’s the only one I cook for and there is an extremely narrow range of things he will eat. The apples on our Bramley tree and the rhubarb are about the sum of it.

But no, I have never liked sitting in the garden. I get bitten to death by anything that can possibly do so and I don’t like being hot. Have taken a Vitamin D supplement for years.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:34 pm

My parents had a really big garden with terrace
No outdoor furniture apart from 2 folding loungers that could be taken to the beach or used by me in the garden

I’d sit out more if I didn’t need to wear headphones, can’t read outside

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby jeral » Fri Jul 17, 2020 6:06 pm

Nemesia (carnival mixed) is great for compact displays with its profusion of flowers during summer months. Might be a bit late for your bird bath pot for this year, Pepper Pig, but see what the packet says? (I started my seedlings indoors with Suttons seed.)

Do birds land as low as one metre height and with an overhead that hinders instant escape if panicked? If not, a frivolous (small leaf) trailing fern ought to let the shape of the stand and the light shine through.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Jul 17, 2020 7:33 pm

When I want a nice break I sit the front garden, in the shade (because tropical sun burns!) and look out at the mountains. After about 5 minutes there are wrens, hummingbirds, tropical thrushes, mockingbirds, warblers and heaven knows what other varieties hopping around on the grass or poking around in the trees. Wonderfully relaxing!

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:29 pm

Do you remember my problems trying to grow garlic, but unable to split the cloves to plant them separately ? Noticing this morning that the tops had started to die off, I decided to dig the lot up and this is the result:

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Pepper Pig » Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:32 pm

Wow! :birthday-dancer

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:38 am

This morning, after they had dried a bit, I split the bulbs from the mass of roots. I now have lots of individual cloves too . Would these be a growing success if I planted them up ? If so, should I dry them out first (and wait until the colder weather ?), or simply bung them in now ?.


I also have a question about Coriander seedlings.

I acquired a few of these in exchange for a couple of excess tomato plants. These are growing strongly in a large tub and are now about 4-6 inches tall. Can I start picking single leaves now (like cut-and-come-again lettuce), or when the plants have grown taller (and thicker ) ?

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Badger's Mate » Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:42 am

Can I start picking single leaves now (like cut-and-come-again lettuce), or when the plants have grown taller (and thicker ) ?


I always feel that harvesting coriander is a race against time before it bolts. I'd get on with it if I were you. :D

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby PatsyMFagan » Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:44 am

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Suffs » Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:45 am

Badger's Mate wrote:
Can I start picking single leaves now (like cut-and-come-again lettuce), or when the plants have grown taller (and thicker ) ?


I always feel that harvesting coriander is a race against time before it bolts. I'd get on with it if I were you. :D


Snap! There is a variety called Calypso (I think) which is supposed to be more ‘cut and come again’ and less prone to bolting ... but I’ve not tried it.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby Earthmaiden » Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:49 am

At the back of my house is a narrow communal unmade path. It used to be used quite frequently by residents which kept the weeds down but fewer people use it regularly now.

I have always given my section a dose of weed killer at the start of the summer which has kept the weeds to a reasonable level. Since switching to a non-glysophate kind I've had much more of a job to keep them down. I really don't want to spend a lot of time or money on it but don't want to lose sight of the path. The soil is quite compact and it would be quite a job to dig it up and weed it. I know that a dose of Roundup would do the trick but would feel very guilty about using it.

Any thoughts/hints. There are several nice new cats in the neighbourhood so I wouldn't want anything harmful to them.

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Re: gardening resources and tips, etc.

Postby herbidacious » Mon Jul 20, 2020 11:11 am

Back to sitting out, my parents rarely did it, and nor does MIL. I had thought it was a bit of a northern thing (temperature etc.)

I am not one for eating outside. I like the idea, but never seem to do it (my putting trays of young plants on the table to keep them away from slugs doesn't help.)

I do sit out and read when it's hot, but not otherwise really. Vitamin D gained, and birdsong and lovely smells absorbed and appreciated while gardening. Maybe for me, it's more of a not being able to sit still and rest thing.

PP I hate getting my hands dirty, too. I have never liked it even as a toddler. I can remember being rather disgusted when encouraged to make 'mud pies' like my sister liked to do at the tender age of two. I don't like using gloves either but have made myself as I keep getting cuts and seem to have permanent little cracks on my fingers (experimenting with 'liquid skin' at the moment, but still need to use gloves of some description.)

Pat, my growing coriander attempts have been a complete failure. Failure to germinate and weedy seedlings regarding the ones that did germinate. I'd have thought you could cut some. Depends on how big they are.

In general my seedlings have been weedy. Only exception were tomatoes, my first lot of basil and the aubergines and peppers. What am I doing wrong? Too much heat?

Three of my basil seedlings died after transplant. All the same variety. That's just one of those things? (I have another 27 - 4 types... :o)

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