2023 Gardening Thread

2 days into thr new season and no one has opened a thread 😱

Any gardening related discussion, photos, plans, failure and successes.

My own garden is about half an acre comprising of an Orchard, veg plot,polytunnel soft fruits and perennials.

It sits on a larger 4 1/2 site. 3.5 acres of that are used for silage.

.It's my 5th season and I've transitioned to no dig the last fee years.i also don't use any

Chemicals and as few fertilers as possible.

Nutrients have come from compost, manure and seaweed.

The garden is currently covered in black plastic. To kill off weeds and old vegetable matter. I've a few beds not done but will cover them as they come clear of veg.

Ordered my seeds from gardenseedsmarket.com on Saturday. They are shipped today by dpd

Never heard of them must give them a look. What are you planning to sow?

This was my order 😁

Bean "Erica" - for dried, extremely tasty seeds

Bio - Beetroot "Red Ball" - certified organic seeds - 500 seeds

BIO - Field pea "Progress 9" - certified organic seeds

Bio - Green basil - certified organic seeds - 650 seeds

BIO - Greenhouse tomato "Marzano 2" - certified organic seeds - 225 seeds

BIO - Radish "Saxa 2" - certified organic seeds - 425 seeds

Bio - Rocket - certified organic seeds - 800 seeds

Bio - Sugar snap pea - certified organic seeds

BIO - Zucchini - certified organic seeds

BIO Giant squash "Uchiki Kuri" - certified organic seeds

BIO Leaf lettuce "Red Salad Bowl" - certified organic seeds - 518 seeds

Bok choy "Pac-Choi Joi Choi"

Borage seeds - Borago officinalis - 120 seeds

Broad bean "Bolero" - early variety producing extra large seeds

Broad bean "Bonzo" - early variety, for accelerated culture

Broccoli Miranda seeds - Brassica oleracea - 300 seeds

Butternut squash "Waltham Butternut" - 27 seeds

Cape Gooseberry, Ground Cherry seeds - Physalis peruviana

Carrot 'Broker' - medium early variety

Carrot "Success" - late, storable variety - 4250 seeds

Cauliflower di Sicilia Violetto seeds - Brassica oleracea convar. botrytis var. botrytis - 54 seeds

Cellery "Zephyr" - valued for excellent taste and nutritional value - 900 seeds

Chicory Palla Rossa 3 seeds - Cichorium intybus - 360 seeds

Chinese Cabbage Bristol seeds - Brassica pekinensis - 430 seeds

Conehead Cabbage seeds - Brassica oleracea var. capitata - 210 seeds

Cucumber 'Hugon' - early, extremely productive variety for preserves

Courgette "Banana Song F1" - a variety producing yellow fruit; zucchini

Brillante F1 courgette, zucchini - dark green; for demanding growers

Dwarf bean 'Toska' - for dry seeds

Early Carrot First Harvest seeds - Daucus carota - 4250 seeds

Endive - variety mix

Green oak-leaved lettuce "Salad Bowl" - 945 seeds

Kale ‘Scarlet’ seeds- Brassica oleracea - 300 seeds

Kale "Nero di toscana" - Tuscan-type variety - 540 seeds

Kale Dwarf Green Curled seeds - Brassica oleracea - 300 seeds

Kohlrabi "Bohemia F1" - white, tender variety for spring and autumn cultivation - 130 seeds

Kohlrabi, Giant Kohlrabi seeds - Brassica oleracea convar. acephala alef. var. gongylodes - 520 seeds

Leaf endive "Bianca di Milano" - can be grown under covers all year long

Leek "Blauwegroene Winter Alaska" - late, winter variety for long-term storage - 320 seeds

Leek "Herbstriesen 2" - medium early variety - 320 seeds

Leek "October" - late variety for autumn and late autumn harvest - 320 seeds

Carrot "Amsterdam" - NANO-GRO - increase harvest volume by 30%

Mexican sour gherkin, Cucamelon, Mouse melon - 9 seeds

Seeding tray, multipot with a fold-out edge - extended capacity - 66 cells- 1 pc

Pepper 'Priscilla F1' - 100 seeds - professional seeds for everyone

Pepper "Aurora" - sweet - 65 seeds

Pot Marigold Apricot Beauty seeds - Calendula officinalis - 240 seeds

Purple Kohlrabi Alka seeds - Brassica oler convar. acephala var. gongylodes - 520 seeds

Red bean "Creation" - very productive variety

Red cabbage "Rufus" - for preserves or storing - 540 seeds

Root Parsley Berliner Halblange seeds - Petroselinum crispum - 4250 seeds

Cornsalad "Verte a coeur plein"; common cornsalad, lamb's lettuce, mâche, fetticus, feldsalat, nut lettuce, field salad, rapunzel

Melito F1 radish - large, red roots with a thin skin - professional seeds for everyone

Common salsify "Mammouth"; purple salsify, oyster plant, vegetable oyster, Jerusalem star, Jack go to bed, goatsbeard

Spinach Giant Winter seeds - Spinacia oleracea - 800 seeds

Squash Yellow Zeppelin seeds - Cucurbita pepo - 16 seeds

Tomatillo seeds - Physalis ixocarpa - 340 seeds

Tomato "Moneymaker" - tall variety for cultivation in the field and under covers - 180 seeds

Turnip Snowball seeds - Brassica rapa - 2500 seeds

Turnip, White turnip "Golden Ball" - 2500 seeds

White cabbage "First harvest" - 240 seeds

White cauliflower "Delta" - for spring, summer and autumn cultivation - 270 seeds

looksee

Dear lord! That's industrial scale sowing!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120087175#Comment_120087175

I've a quarter of an acre veg garden. These are the kind of quantities we used to see from premier seeds direct in the UK before Brexit.

Knowing me I'll probably not plant everything but they will keep till next year.

We are self sufficient on most of our veg. Tomatoes would be the exception but we got a tunnel last year.

I'm one of those who you see in the supermarket with no veg in the trolley.

That list cost me €130. Would have been a lot more buying here

Wow That’s ambitious! Do you normally sow that much?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120087430#Comment_120087430

Not normally but they have a nice catalogue. 🤣.

A lot of what I bought was early, mid season and late so I'll give it a go.

We also preserve a lot of veg so it won't go to waste.

Another shot of the garden. The plastic is down to kill off the weeds. The near sheet went down Saturday. The rest is there 3 months.

Woodchip on the edges holds it in place and stops the wind getting underneath

scarepanda

I've just sowed my first onion seeds of the year! Nice to have gotten started especially with the weather of late and the condition of the garden at the moment.

Where are you all getting seeds from this year? I was looking the other day and as with everything they seem more expensive this year so I'll probably shop around a bit more than usual.

This will be my second full season in this vegetable garden and all going well it'll be a lot cheaper this year! I have raised beds about 500mm deep so I had a lot of filling to do last year. They just need a top up this year.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120106878#Comment_120106878

Got mine this year from gardenseedsmarket.com.

Deub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120106878#Comment_120106878

I plan to start my onions in around 2 weeks. First time doing from seeds, so I will see how it goes.

scarepanda

Thanks southwesterly! I'll have a look at them. I used to always go to seedaholic but had a bad run of them in 2021 with a lot of stuff not germinating or germinating poorly so less inclined to put all my eggs in one basket again with them. What I got off them last year was ok, but still hesitant.

Deub, last year was my first year to grow from seed, only thing I noticed from them is that they take a long time to mature, longer than sets. I got some impressive sizes from globo. But I wasn't able to harvest them for storage, but that was completely my fault. I pulled them and left them dry in the greenhouse but got distracted with jobs in the house and forgot to get them into the shed once they dried and then the weather got bad and most of them had started to rot so I binned them. I did sets last year as well and they were ready about a month earlier than the seed onions. I'm doing all seeds this year, no sets.

My seeds arrived 😁

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120086474#Comment_120086474

How did you find ordering, the delivery and the packets you get look to get are the well packed. Our teenage daughter is thinking of getting this year flower seeds from them.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120109966#Comment_120109966

Ordered last Saturday. Despatched Sunday by DPD. Delivered Friday. All the journey could be tracked.

Ordered a few module trays as well.

Most of the instructions are in Polish but they have a clear chart for sowing, planting and harvesting.

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120109993#Comment_120109993

Thank you for the reply, are they well packed in paper or foil, we use to get the veg seed from England every two year and need to get this years supply and the flower seeds, what sort postage charges

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120110025#Comment_120110025

There is a Foil packet inside some of the packets . Can't fault the packaging

Tom_Tripland

These are beautiful photos! Keep on gardening.

MacDanger

Getting a few bare root hedging plants delivered this week - how quickly do I need to get them in the ground? The sooner the better I presume but how long could they be left without damaging their prospects of surviving?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120176650#Comment_120176650

Put them in water for a day before planting.

You would want to get them in fairly quickly.

You could dig a hole and just throw them all into it temporarily

RegisteredMice

Where are you guys getting your seed potatoes?

I'm looking for Accord (early variety) seed potatoes online and can only find them in the UK.

Any ideas?

MacDanger

Fruithill for me

blackbox

I had a casualty while I was away for Christmas. A banana plant in the (unheated) greenhouse was annihilated by the cold.

In a mad burst of enthusiasm I showed a few tomato seeds (only a month too early!) There were only 7 seeds in the packet of cherry tomatoes F1 hybrids - I sowed 3.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120195499#Comment_120195499

I buy from fruithillfarm.com it you could try patch potatoes in NI.

RegisteredMice

Cheers SouthWesterly, it seems it’s just that variety that’s hard to source here in Ireland… for whatever reason.

Thanks anyway.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120195547#Comment_120195547

I’m wondering how many casualties I’ll have this spring in the border. I didn’t mulch🙈. We were lucky /unlucky that we got snow. I think my plants are supposed to be hardy down to -5 and we didn’t get that here on the coast but the snow did freeze hard over them for a few days. There’ll be a lesson learnt from this later in the year me thinks 😅

On a more positive note I’ve started shopping for this year. I’ve managed to stumble across a beautiful dahlia Fairway Spur in my quest to add more colour to the garden other than purple! Just ordered from an Irish company Three Gates. Never heard of them before but apparently they show at Bloom. Delivery in May after frost.

scarepanda

3 of the 4 growing tips/crowns of my Cordyline are kaput. I was pretty certain they got caught in the frost before Christmas but the wind last week blew them off. I chopped off the top parts to below where it was soft yesterday. I left the height on them in the hope that they will resprout. I used to not like Cordylines until we moved to this house and they flowered and I realised I love the scent!

Normally I'd leave the tidying up of beds till March time. But I got caught up in a kitchen refit before Christmas so I didnt do anything major out in the garden since September so I've a tonne of weeding and mulching to do. Going through some of the jobs this week and all the dahlias in pots are dead. I thought the ground ones would be gone too between the frost and the heavy rain and subsequent flooding of the garden for a few days but I think at least some of them have survived surprisingly.

For colour in a full sun flowerbed, any suggestions on flowers, or seeds, for colour in April/may? The in between time between spring and summer flowers?

scarepanda

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120200299#Comment_120200299

That Dahlia is absolutely gorgeous! I must have a look at that site too, cheers!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120200041#Comment_120200041

I took I look in my local garden centre this morning. He had everything except them.

Got some onion sets

I like aquilegia ‘granny’s bonnet’ for April/ May they come in lots of different colours. The flowers don’t last very long but are beautiful for a short while. They self-seed easily too! I have the deep coloured ‘William Guinness’ version which contrasts well with the lighter catmint and alliums.

Edit: it might be Blue Barlow that I have

scarepanda

Oh thanks a million for that recommendation! I actually have those in the garden in a purple kind of colour. But some other colours would be perfect for the flower bed to bridge the seasons.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120201685#Comment_120201685

When would you sow aquilegia (and what part of Ireland?) Collected a few seeds (cough, nothing to see here) at a local garden last year... was wondering when to put them out. I guess March.

deisedude

Hi everyone, I'm looking to improve the state of the grass on my lawn. Lucky to have a good sized lawn but have struggled to get the grass looking lush since we moved in 3 years ago, there was big bare patches but finally have grass growing everywhere just not the healthiest looking. As you can see it's quite yellow probably because used too much fertiliser and clover and moss in patches.

Any advice appreciated?

looksee

Aquilegia do not always come true, but if nothing else you will get the purple ones, probably some other colours but eventually they all revert to purple/pink. They self seed so I have always just let them get on with it, they scatter their seeds in late summer/autumn, they are naturally scarified over winter and will grow (everywhere) the following year, though the best flowering is the year after. You could sow them now, they are very easy and will grow regardless of what you do.

I rather ruthlessly pulled up so many of them that now I don't have many at all, and I was just thinking I would put some in for this/next summer.

looksee

While you have children playing on it I would encourage the clover, even sow some more short, white clover seed, anything green, keep it mowed it will be fine. I have an area I sowed with clover (between widely spaced paving slabs) and it mows very well. I know this will not be a popular view 😀 When you do come to clear it and sow serious grass it will have improved the soil.

I got this from seedaholic

Sowing: Sow February to June or September to October.  

Seeds can either be sown directly where they are to flower or can be sown into pots and grown on, before transplanting. Avoid the hottest and coldest parts of the year and sow in early spring to early summer or sow in autumn. 

Sowing Direct: 

Find a cooler part of the garden that enjoys dappled shade. If you have plenty of seed start by sprinkling seeds straight onto the ground in late-summer. Rake so that the seeds are covered with a small amount of soil. The seeds will germinate by the following spring. 

Aquilegias will self-sow into choice plants, so only sprinkle the seeds where it will not matter.

Sowing Indoors: 

Sow seed on the surface of lightly firmed, seed compost in pots or trays. Cover seed with a light sprinkling of vermiculite. Stand the pot in water until the soil is moist and drain. Either use a plastic lid or seal container inside a polythene bag to keep the moisture in. Keep at 15 to 20°C (59 to 68°F).

After sowing, do not exclude light as this helps germination. Keep the surface of the compost moist but not waterlogged. Always stand the pots in water: never water on the top of seeds. 

Expect germination within 2 to 3 weeks. Overwinter September sowings in a cold frame and plant out the following spring. When large enough to handle, transplant seedlings into 7.5cm (3in) pots or trays. Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10 to 15 days before planting out after all risk of frost, 30cm (12in) apart.

macraignil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206125#Comment_120206125

I also think having some clover in a lawn is a good thing to keep the grass healthy as it has bacteria associated with the roots that fix nitrogen from the air to give your garden free fertiliser. Also like to see daisies there and find moss just goes away on its own once the grass starts growing more vigorously in the warmer parts of the year. Having a few flowers in the lawn is great for pollinator insects and to me looks nicer than a sterile mono-culture of grass only. To me the lawn photo above just looks like it has got some frost damage from being cut too short when there was some frost overnight and should recover to a better colour on its own once the soil warms up a bit more. Maybe raise the setting on the mower a bit higher.

Just posted a video of some of the new blooms in the garden here today.

Happy gardening!

looksee

I fully agree with the 'some flowers in the grass' policy. The absolute exception being creeping buttercup, as it does not stay in the grass and invades everywhere. However...some clover, daisies, self heal, medick, scarlet pimpernel, all pretty, green when mowed and flowery otherwise, and mowing does not reduce the flowers, it seems to encourage them - much more interesting for the kids playing rather than flat monoculture, you might as well put down syntho grass. Much as I like plantain 'flowers' and allow a few to flourish in splendid sculptural plants in odd corners, those and docs and dandelions I would be more inclined to weed out.

Deub

I finally pruned my blackcurrant and redcurrant bushes. Planted 10 cuttings of each to see if I could get an extra plant of each. The redcurrant just started to grow some leaves.

They were never pruned by the former owner so unfortunately I had to remove big branches which means I will get less fruits this year but it is the price to pay to have a lot of fruits and jam) for years to come.

MacDanger

Anyone receive their seed potato order from fruithill yet?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281222#Comment_120281222

They were expecting them end of February, early March.

I emailed this evening to ask

MacDanger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281252#Comment_120281252

FYI, got this from them yesterday (as part of an email about substituting part of my order):

"We're due to receive the remaining potatoes this week and will begin packing and shipping them soon"

Was out in the garden for the first time this year with the kids.

Prepped 3 beds for spuds.

deisedude

What would be good flowers for March to put in planters. I have two 4 foot planters for the front of the house.

Want some flowers that will be relatively low maintenence

looksee

March is too early for the showy summer annuals. Its getting towards the end of the season for the best of the pansy/violas and cyclamens and the bulbs should have been in since last autumn. So the choice is a bit limited for a couple of months. There will be new viola plants in which will be fine, just avoid the rather straggly looking old ones that are still around.

You could try some aubretia which is available now, is just beginning to flower and is perennial (it should come back next year, but planters are susceptible to drying out in the summer). They require no maintenance beyond watering, and are pretty tough. Plant along the front of the trough and when the summer plants are ready - not before mid May, even if they are in the shops - fill up with them.

Make sure there are drainage holes in the troughs, lift them off the ground a little bit to keep the drainage clear (a few bricks or tiles, or you can get little support things to lift them). Put some gravel or similar into the bottom of the trough and fill up - fill generously, it will settle - with John Innes compost as this contains soil which will help keep the compost moist. Water regularly. How much sun does the area get - which way does it face?

OscarMIlde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120315885#Comment_120315885

There's some nice heather at the moment. You could pair that with primroses in complementary colours. You could transplant the heather somewhere else come May and start adding showier summer plants. It's relatively cheap and looks really pretty.

deisedude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316075#Comment_120316075

Thanks for the advice. Front of the house is facing North East. Get more sun in the back garden than the front of the house where the planters are (I think so anyway!)

looksee

You are going to struggle to get flowers in a north-east facing area. My house front also faces north east and I am gradually establishing what will grow there.

Last year pansies (the small flowered ones) did extremely well for the summer, I fed them and mulched them and they seemed very happy. Heucheras will do pretty well, they are not showy flowers but the leaves make up for it in colour. I have some hellebores that are doing well and are in flower at the moment.

Pretty much everything else is climbers which are doing fine but would not be suitable for your planter. I had three roses that were supposed to be suitable for shade but one has been moved already, it really didn't like the aspect.

Ferns would be good. Berginia is good in shade but buy one in flower, some of the colours (shades of pink) can be very feeble. Sarcococca is a small glossy leaved shrub with scented winter flowers that does well in a container. You can get lily of the valley pips at the moment that would flower in shade in the summer - its suggested you plant them in pots and transplant in May to give them a chance to get started. Once established they are vigorous and spreading.

Don't waste money on things like petunias and other summer annuals, the area will not be sunny enough for them.

Don’t waste money on shade loving clematis either. I invested a fortune in large planters, soil, perlite, vermiculite, feed, irrigation systems to support 2 I have in north facing pots at my front door. They hardly ever flowered they just don’t seem to thrive in pots! I’ll be planting them out in a better location in garden this year.