Gardening Advice

I have some geraniums that survived the winter in my front window boxes. I gave them a bit of a trim up and repotted them and they are now blooming away. Also an aquilegia that has surfaced and flowered already that we wouldn’t usually see until late summer. Deffo something in this climate change malarkey. 

blackheathaddick said:

Raith_C_Chattonell said:

I planted a couple of climbers last year.  I put them at the end of the garden hoping they'd mingle with each other and do battle with the invasive creeper that comes in from the back.  I like the yellow and I like the white, but unfortunately the yellow blooms early, fades terribly and then looks a bit wishy-washy with the white - not the effect I was looking for.

Ah well nothing ventured ...



 

Super healthy though. I can recommend a couple of David Austin's that might hold their yellow longer. Mine are starting to come into bloom now. Buds everywhere as well.

Thanks Mr B but I won't change it now that they are becoming established.  I have now (belatedly) one tiny area where it's as I originally envisioned it, but the yellow will fade very quickly unfortunately. 

Look forward to seeing some pictures of your rose garden. 

What's the best thing to do when a plant has stopped flowering? Is it different for each species? Looked at advice for aquilegia for example.and it says chop it right down and it will be stronger next year.

Really pleased that our Verbena has come back, thought it had died off. Can't wait for the lupins to come out - something special about them

charltonkeston said:

moutuakilla said:

Can anyone offer some advice on the best way to deal with aphids? Is it just spraying soapy water? My lupins are being ruined by them at the moment - one of them had a high population of aphids on it last year but that was later on when it was mature - this year them seem to be getting to them early and they've gone to town over the last day or two.

Another one of the lupins started growing and then just stopped - no sign of any pests and seemingly something has got it from the roots?

Any advice most appreciated.

The slugs are out with force now too!

Slug problem, get yourself some frogs, toads and hedgehogs.

I don't really like using  too many chemicals in the garden as the above creatures and birds will also eat the the various chemicals in pesticides. I wouldn't have thought its healthy for them. But I do give my plants a once a year spray to keep the black fly down. A bit counter what I preach but I try to keep it to a minimum. 

And birds like slugs. If your veg is outside then why not put a bird table near them? 

clb74 said:

addix said:

clb74 said:

Getting fed up with cats keep sh!tting in my front garden any legal ideas

I use a cap gun to scare the sh1t out of them.  Works for squirrels too (and the neighbour if I don't notice her sat in her garden!)

Mines in the post cheers

so my missus decides she wants new garden furniture, we currently have a Ratan round dining table and 6 chairs...she sticks it on FB marketplace (dunno what that is) and sells it within the hour for half what we paid for it 6 years ago, good deal really as it's still in good nick (probably priced too cheaply on reflection).....being collected tomorrow !

she wants a corner sofa thingy with coffee table instead......and now realises that the delivery time frame is a few weeks (we'll be sitting on deckchairs in the meantime!)

I'm easy as to what we get, typical bloke kind of thing, just give her a rough budget.

she sits downstairs whilst I'm on a long conference call and purchases something (way over budget) and whatsapps me upstairs to tell me!!

On the plus side, only 2 weeks sitting on deckchairs

Recentlyish moved...Any suggestions on how to save this lawn? In some dire need of TLC!

T_C_E said:

Alwaysneil said:

I’m sure the gardens and owners would be delighted Ray. 

The old boy next door has a beautiful garden and our raised deck over looks it, everyday he tends to it and we swop pleasantries as I groom the dogs. He used to have Shepherds but now at 85 he couldn’t do it, but he’s often said he’d swop his garden to have his dogs again so we consider ourselves very lucky. 

Bloody hell. How big is his garden and how many sheep did he have? 

cafcpolo said:

Recentlyish moved...Any suggestions on how to save this lawn? In some dire need of TLC!

It needs proper aeration. I’d hire a hollow tine aerator to begin with, take up all the plugs and give it a really good soaking.

Then scarify the lot and give it another soaking.

Then use a boat load of seed (don’t listen to anyone that tells you it’s enough, it’s never enough!) and finish with the top soil mixed with fertiliser and sand.

That’ll be good to go next spring.

Show us the results.

All my aliums have gone over now. Any advice on what to do with the seeds? I'd like to get some more popping up next year from them

Ok, just about to pull the plug and buy an automatic watering system set up.

I've tested my water pressure/flow and its good enough (thank god!)

Has anyone had a go at doing this before?  It looks easy enough with the minimum of DIY skills required.
My only worry, what I can't see documented anywhere, is what the maximum length of hose is as presumably towards the end of a run of hose, the pressure would be less.  I watched a you tube video and they said the maximum was no longer than 50m.  Any advice?

(Christ, I'm in proper middle age now arent I?)

I need to put a new pond in as e current one is too close to the house after our extension. Was planning to use a raised pond but the ones I’ve looked at have been a bit too small for our fish, some of which are fairly large.

Anyone got any recommendations on places that sell then?

DaveMehmet said:

I need to put a new pond in as e current one is too close to the house after our extension. Was planning to use a raised pond but the ones I’ve looked at have been a bit too small for our fish, some of which are fairly large.

Anyone got any recommendations on places that sell then?

Better to make one yourself 
I made mine with two rows of Railway sleeper so its raised then you havent got to dig so deep😃also then you could have any size and depth you require