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Today I did something in my Garden

blackbox

In the car maintenance forum there is a popular thread called "Today I did something to my car"

I'm proposing a similar thread for gardening that the mods might consider making a sticky! Please give a THANKS if you think this is a good idea.

I'll kick it of with:

Today I picked my redcurrants. They seem to have been early this year. They mostly ripen together but I will get a handful more over the next week. I have a small bush in a dodgy location but I got a couple of hundred grams that will make some nice jelly.

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looksee

New Home wrote: »

You could also rinse them in water and bicarbonate of soda, but don't let them soak too much. Incidentally, strawberries with balsamic vinegar (proper one) are delicious.

Yes I have heard that, though I haven't tried them, I didn't make the connection though, my brain was going the 'fish and chip' route.

I did on one occasion wash fruit (might have been grapes) in a mild Milton solution, then rinsed well. It didn't improve the fruit.

New Home

You could also rinse them in water and bicarbonate of soda, but don't let them soak too much. Incidentally, strawberries with balsamic vinegar (proper one) are delicious.

looksee

fryup wrote: »

there's greenfly on my strawberries, i sprayed it with greenfly killer ....how long should i wait before eating the strawberries?

One of the advantages of growing your own crops is that you decide whether you want a side order of pesticides. Its a bit late to say that it was probably not a good idea to spray and that a strongish jet of soapy water would have dealt with the greenfly. Also any purchased strawberries you have ever eaten probably had lots of pesticides, and you survived them.

It usually tells you on the bottle how long to wait before eating sprayed fruit and veg, but you can remove a lot of the residue by washing with cold water. Some people suggest vinegar in the water, but I reckon your strawberries might taste a bit pickled.

nigeldaniel

Today I put down a new row for potato as the last one was raided during the night by unknown intruders. No night cams in my garden to find the guilty suspect but it made a big mess so might have been a badger. Would not rule out hares or rabbits same things happened last year.

fryup

there's greenfly on my strawberries, i sprayed it with greenfly killer ....how long should i wait before eating the strawberries?

[Deleted User]

looksee wrote: »

You have a layer of mulch there, but I would suggest putting a few flat stones over the root area - they prefer to have their roots cool.

Thanks. I had actually added the stones after the photo was taken.

One is doing really well and has already started climbing, but the other one looks a bit weak.

[Deleted User]

looksee wrote: »

so you are not expecting any wind then?

There's a lot to be said for drunk gardening! :P

Normalcy/sobriety returned to the bed today: Attachment not found.

[Deleted User]

Bought a black elder today.

https://plantophiles.com/plant-care/black-tower-elderberry-care/

Out this evening and put down some dwarf beans

looksee

Deleted User wrote: »

Day off today so I finally got around to putting up trellis on a high wall and planting clematis.

Anyone have tips on looking after clematis? Planted them fairly deep, as recommended.

You have a layer of mulch there, but I would suggest putting a few flat stones over the root area - they prefer to have their roots cool.

looksee

MeepMeep2021 wrote: »

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so you are not expecting any wind then?

[Deleted User]

Assembled a wooden raised bed, filled bottom half with sticks, grass cuttings and left over soil from last season's pots... spread a handful of ammonium sulphate down in one half for plants that like that sort of thing. Filled top half w/ lovely wormy compost and peat. Planted sprouts, chard, spinach, turnips and more chard.

Then I got myself in a right mess thinking about birds and insects. Little fookers are everywhere. One of them (a bird, that is) shat on a cabbage leaf last week and I had to wash it. That is the level of depravity I am dealing with.

So I put up netting all round the bed to deter birds and some flying insects etc. Not bad, I thought to meself, but I better put up some fleece too, as it's a new bed and I want to keep it bug free.

So I put fleece up on three sides. Then I remembered that it's 30% light blocking, so I thought I'd be clever and on top and along one side, I put leftover polytunnel plastic.

So basically, I made a mess in the garden today, but I enjoyed every minute of it, got a bit sunbrunt and I have a bed that's always protected from insects, allows air flow and is part-polytunnel; i.e. a mess. :pac:

What I'm wondering now is, 1) why do I hate planning and 2) where have all my clothes pegs gone and 3) what are people's views on fleece at this time of year?

Would I be better off not having the fleece, let the veg enjoy the sun and just deal with any insects that fly in past the netting?

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Jim_Hodge

Deleted User wrote: »

Day off today so I finally got around to putting up trellis on a high wall and planting clematis.

Anyone have tips on looking after clematis? Planted them fairly deep, as recommended.

Nice job.

Keep them well watered. They don't like dry soil.

Look up the pruning requirements for the variety you have.

[Deleted User]

Day off today so I finally got around to putting up trellis on a high wall and planting clematis.

Anyone have tips on looking after clematis? Planted them fairly deep, as recommended.

GreeBo

Hocus Focus wrote: »

You don't need to use compostable bags for your garden compost, they are meant for the food waste that goes in the brown bin, so as to keep the bluebottles from laying eggs in it and causing maggots which make it stink.
Your fresh vegetable wast can just be kept in an unlined container to accumulate for a day or two, before being thrown on the compost heap.
TV chefs and other media people cause confusion when they refer to cooked food waste going "in the compost". Perhaps it does go in compost, but not the kind that you want near your house.

I'm not using them for the sake of the heap, its for the same of the brown bin in the kitchen

CelticRambler

Easing back into the gardening mentality after three week's of what my mother calls "proper work" :mad: - earthed up my potatoes (second time) and finally got my ride-on mower back into action after a six-month hiatus. Not a moment too soon - it's got too hot for strimming, and I need those grass clippings! Oh, and I also need the mower in tractor-and-trailer mode for the next stage of my ongoing re-landscaping work.

[Deleted User]

lrushe wrote: »

Finally got the supports up for my climbing rose. Took this as a cutting last year, no flowers last year but covered with buds this year, can't wait for it to bloom.

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Brilliant size for a cutting from last year!

Mimon

Realised my new apple tree was covered in aphids. Was hundreds of them. Went at them with diluted washing up liquid and then squished them, seem to have killed most of them. Will keep at them.

A lot of the new growth was curled up, with the aphids hiding out in there. Will the apple tree grow normally after this?

lrushe

Finally got the supports up for my climbing rose. Took this as a cutting last year, no flowers last year but covered with buds this year, can't wait for it to bloom.

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hirondelle

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Ok decision made to move the paving slab so I’ll be able to grow in the ground. Wifey would LOVE a rose so that could be an option if conditions suit...

Make sure to get a climbing rose and not a rambling rose- they latter are like the wild dog rose and you get one flush of flowers for a couple of weeks and then nothing. True climbers give you flowers over a couple of months. Yes, I did make the mistake.

CelticRambler

Is "Ozymandias" still on the Leaving Cert English syllabus? Coz I thought of him when I came back to my garden after three weeks' absence, looked on my work and despaired: waaaaaahhhhhh.

The kilo of just-ripe strawberries - 16€'s worth, going by the supermarket price for that variety - doesn't do an awful lot to mitigate the despair of seeing the amount of work I'll have to do to get on top of things again. The grass in the orchard is literally up to my elbows ; the pears and apples have been ravaged by caterpillars ; last year's leeks, looking "quite good" before I left, decided to bolt while I was away; and most of the self-seeded beetroot has also bolted, despite being little more than a leaf and a stem when I last saw it.

Sunflowers are doing really well; planted-out tomatoes are doing better than the ones I took with me to keep safe; all the lettuce has gone mad, but isn't bolting (yet); and the carrots - as much as I can see them in the weeds - are big and bushy. One recently transplanted rose that I thought had succumbed to the Feb-April drought is coming into leaf on one of its four stems, and the transplanted thyme and oregano look like they've been there forever.

paddylonglegs

Ok decision made to move the paving slab so I’ll be able to grow in the ground. Wifey would LOVE a rose so that could be an option if conditions suit...

[Deleted User]

Would you think about climbing annuals, they love the sun? I’ve had sweet peas and morning glory in pots, they do need consistent watering and feeding. I wouldn’t grow wisteria in a pot as it’s got very strong roots as looksee has mentioned.

I’ve tried climbing roses in pots too, the pots were designed and made especially for them to be large enough to deal with their root needs, and I spent a fortune on making sure their soil conditions were right but in the end of the day they failed due to inconsistent watering and feeding.

The lesson I’ve learnt the hard way is that climbers in pots need consistent watering and dedication and with a busy life that’s not always possible!

I’ll update later in the year how my honeysuckles and clematis faired in pots with the irrigation system...

looksee

You mentioned it was a sunny site, and if you planted a clematis in a pot it would be subject to a good deal of warmth in the summer (hopefully

). Clematis are happy to have their top growth in sunshine, but they really like their roots to be kept cool, even to the extent of placing a paving slab or similar over their roots. So maybe in your circumstances a clematis might not be the best solution.

Edit: Wisteria do eventually grow big roots and the Chinese wisteria can be very vigorous. Japanese Wisteria might be an option, though they are also slow to flower. Roses might be a good choice.

paddylonglegs

macraignil wrote: »

Not tried to grow a climber in a container myself but I have seen lots of comments from others insisting that climbers really don't do as well when the roots are restricted in a pot. Is there a chance you could take up one of the patio slabs where you want the climber to grow and allow it access to the soil? A climber to cover a pergola would likely be very big when it matures so I'm not sure that would be possible from a pot. The climbers I have seen grown from pots even comparatively big ones seem to remain small. As for plant choice I think wisteria can be spectacular when grown on a pergola but it would be worth investing in one that has already started to flower.

Ok, I could look at the idea of taking up a patio slab. If that was the case, would a clematis be the way to go? I do like wisteria bu to have heard the roots do get very big - I don’t want it disturbing other patio slabs and making it uneven.

Thanks for any direction.

[Deleted User]

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Folks, I want to climb/creep something up a pergola. However it will need to be in a pot as it’s a patio area. I can probably manage a decent sized pot.

hirondelle wrote: »

I have clematis in a large clay pot and to be honest, it struggles- I definitely need to feed it more and I wonder is water stress too much in a clay pot.

I have a similar situation with my clematis in pots, they’ve never been great at flowering! but I was watching Gardeners World tonight and had a clematis enthusiast on who said Group 1 clematis do well in pots. I’ve invested in a timed irrigation system this year for my pots, I’ve got honeysuckle in a pot too. So it’ll be interesting to see if it makes a difference.

looksee wrote: »

I saw an article about growing things in bottomless pots - use an anglegrinder to take a decent sized circle out of a clay pot, or a hole drill to take several 2 or 3 inch holes out of a plastic or similar pot, or make a baseless wooden container. Stand the pot directly onto open ground, doesn't really matter if its good soil, take up a single slab and put it on the sand/whatever soil is there. The compost/soil in the pot will nurture the plant till it gets going then the roots will find their own way down into the ground and the plant can be left indefinitely. That's the theory anyway.

Funny I was wondering about this exact same idea today for the agapanthus I bought. Cut the bottom off the pot and stick them in the boarder, so giving them the root restriction they like with the moisture and nutrients from the soil. I’d love a link to that article?

looksee

I saw an article about growing things in bottomless pots - use an anglegrinder to take a decent sized circle out of a clay pot, or a hole drill to take several 2 or 3 inch holes out of a plastic or similar pot, or make a baseless wooden container. Stand the pot directly onto open ground, doesn't really matter if its good soil, take up a single slab and put it on the sand/whatever soil is there. The compost/soil in the pot will nurture the plant till it gets going then the roots will find their own way down into the ground and the plant can be left indefinitely. That's the theory anyway.

Butterbeans

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Folks, I want to climb/creep something up a pergola. However it will need to be in a pot as it’s a patio area. I can probably manage a decent sized pot.

Any thoughts what would suit? It will be in a sunny position and I’d like if it flowered. It doesn’t need to be evergreen

I would agree with above comments re climber in a pot and that restricting size and reach of the climber as it matures.
I have a Solanum jasminoides (potato vine) in a large pot the last few years and it's doing very well - does best in full sun, semi-evergreen, needs good drainage too, lovely white flower. However it only has approx 7ft upwards to grow (more freedom either side), otherwise it's into the neighbours so I do have to regularly snip back straying shoots during the growing season - they can grow to 20ft.
The fact I have to keep it small will help with keeping it in a pot long term (hopefully).

CelticRambler

I have a passionflower in a temporary position since last year. Bought as a 50cm high plant, now straggling over about 2m (and flowered well, last year). Not entirely sure whether I potted it on or not after I bought it. I think I did, but whatever pot it's in is inside a square chimney pot "placeholder" about which I haven't made a final decision yet!

macraignil

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Folks, I want to climb/creep something up a pergola. However it will need to be in a pot as it’s a patio area. I can probably manage a decent sized pot.

Any thoughts what would suit? It will be in a sunny position and I’d like if it flowered. It doesn’t need to be evergreen

Not tried to grow a climber in a container myself but I have seen lots of comments from others insisting that climbers really don't do as well when the roots are restricted in a pot. Is there a chance you could take up one of the patio slabs where you want the climber to grow and allow it access to the soil? A climber to cover a pergola would likely be very big when it matures so I'm not sure that would be possible from a pot. The climbers I have seen grown from pots even comparatively big ones seem to remain small. As for plant choice I think wisteria can be spectacular when grown on a pergola but it would be worth investing in one that has already started to flower.

hirondelle

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Folks, I want to climb/creep something up a pergola. However it will need to be in a pot as it’s a patio area. I can probably manage a decent sized pot.

Any thoughts what would suit? It will be in a sunny position and I’d like if it flowered. It doesn’t need to be evergreen

I have clematis in a large clay pot and to be honest, it struggles- I definitely need to feed it more and I wonder is water stress too much in a clay pot. It does flower, but if you are plonking it in a patio area you will want something that looks well.