digression/ @Pangolin Guerre, the old Copperbelt in Zambia? That was the Wild West before independence. I'm from Zimbabwe but have many friends living and working in Zambia./
Who grows veg in your suburb or neighborhood? I'd ask around, and talk to local garden centres about what does best. In a gloomy urban corner, I found that if I grew vegetables in light containers, I could move them around to catch the sun through successive months.
Oh, and check the soil isn't too damp or heavy clay. It's all very well embracing your micro-climate, but you can always improve soil.
Oh, ML - Pardon me and my insomnia-wracked what-passes-for-a-brain. My uncle grew up in Chingola, but as a young man moved to what was then Salisbury.
Good advice about the soil, which was next on my check list. Until I come up with some suitable vegetables to plant, I won't bother about the soil. Once I do, then I'll address the soil. If I find nothing, the soil is a moot question, and I don't have the same motivation for flowers, although they're not out of the question. What is currently in the garden has been neglected for years, so its state says little about sun or soil.
I think I've just worked up to my first blisters of the year. Mainly haggling down chunks of pyrocanthus with secateurs that really need sharpening. But have put in magnolia, hebe, lavender and bamboo.
We have a couple of yellow buddleias in containers that are looking healthy @Boogie .
In our front garden we now have snowdrops, both yellow and purple crocuses and one daffodil blooming.
@Boogie buddleias grow pretty much where they want to - including guttering, gaps between bricks... they can be a bit of a (rather useful to butterflies) weed
Yes. They are what they call "vigorous" and you may or may not call "a pain in the neck." I don't know if they can break containers or sneak out the drainage holes, like bamboo do. Probably not, but you might look into it. Still, I love mine.
Yes. They are what they call "vigorous" and you may or may not call "a pain in the neck." I don't know if they can break containers or sneak out the drainage holes, like bamboo do. Probably not, but you might look into it. Still, I love mine.
Sounds perfect - I want them near the bird feeders for the sparrows to hide in 😀
Squirrels & cats will find it less easy to hide in buddlaea if it is pruned really, really hard each March. The new growth will be unable to hold their weight
@Boogie - a thought.... a well tended (which a potted one will need to be) buddleia will only provide cover and perching for a few months. How about a mahonia, which provides year-round shelter, precious nectar for bees in the winter, and berries in the spring for blackbirds?
I had quite a lot in our last garden. I enjoyed the cheerful yellow flowers in the spring, but it died down completely before the summer so I never considered it a nuisance.
In fact I deliberately brought a celandine with me when we moved, an orange-flowered one with purplish leaves, called "Copperknob"
Not as vigorous as the common yellow one, but it is establishing nicely
You could try a Hypericum such as "Hidcote" for something bushier than the Buddleia, that will stay a slightly more manageable size with less pruning? Our sparrows like our one - the main problem with the Buddleia is that it really needs to be hacked to the ground every year to stop it taking over, so it'll be scrawny for some months (we do ours in May so it flowers for late moths). Hidcote is also evergreen, so provides winter cover as well, and less good for cats.
I wouldn't worry about celandine - I have it on my allotment and it's carpet early on but by the time the veggies are going in and coming through, it's died back to nothing. It's really not a problem.
I wouldn't worry about celandine - I have it on my allotment and it's carpet early on but by the time the veggies are going in and coming through, it's died back to nothing. It's really not a problem.
Its nectar is an early food source for insects so it’s a great one to leave for as long as you can before cutting back. That’s the excuse I use for dandelions too. For the allotments’ entry this year’s town show I’m potting up various “weeds” to display with cut-outs of the insects etc that rely on each one for food - hopefully they’ll cope with being tamed.
Funny old week. I unwisely left the door flap open on my compost Dalek and an unwelcome visitor has taken the opportunity to take up residence. That's right, I have a rat. This is not going to be easy as it is basically living in rat gourmet heaven, with the occasional bucket of fresh gourmet treats from the kitchen compost bucket dropped in for its delectation. The likelihood of it hanging around long enough to take poison when faced with such riches is nil, and I'm not overly confident of luring it into a Little Nipper with chocolate, especially as I keep having to rescue the trap from where the extravagant stirring of the compost has taken it (think of it as a new extreme sport). The bugger is digging holes on a scale that suggests it may be an ROUS.
I'm still waiting for that last tree to be dealt with, though I suppose maybe it's a good thing that I didn't put a new fence up as Ciara and Dennis would probably have made off with it. On the other hand, its chums in the heap on the front drive are now slowly vanishing into the neighbour's van. This is a Good Thing. Quite when I'll get anything planted in the new back bed I don't know as the fence has to go up first, so I've potted on my two pyracanthas, and am suspiciously eyeing the buds on my obscene rose bush where I've heeled it in. I fear it may have a year in that spot.
I've also bought a Ficaria at an open garden last weekend which, to my amusement, turns out to be a celandine. Yes, I've bought a celandine, when I have an allotment knee deep in them (OK, actually it's mostly Thames water it's knee deep in at the mo, but you get the picture).
There is not a day on the weather app in next fortnight where the temperature even comes within spitting distance of double figures, and most mark generous promise of rain or sleet.
Planting or sowing still looks like an exercise in herbicide.
I'm swithering about when to start sewing grass seed and wildflower meadow mix. (The packets of the latter rather unhelpfully say 'Spring'). Temperature range for the next fortnight is forecast between 1° and 9° C.
Particularly on the site of the projected wildflower sowing, currently bare earth, I want to get it going before the buttercup, bindweed etc come roaring back. But does the fact that they're not as yet indicate it's too early?
Is the seed more or less native to your area? If so, it ought to be well able to handle winter temps without any special care. Possible exception--I'd plant it early enough that you don't get immediate germination (from being in a warm house plus a few unseasonably warm days outside) followed by sharp cold. Basically, if it's used to lying dormant all winter, do what you can to keep it from having a rude awakening. (Also note that some seed positively requires a cold period, which is why warmer-area gardeners get told to keep it in the fridge for a while to provide the chill)
On a recent visit to the allotment I was glad to see that the newly planted greengage (“Pixie”) survived Ciara and Dennis, but less glad that the shed did not - it (and 2 full water barrels) had been pushed over - those were mighty gusts! With the help of a neighbour the shed is now upright, and I’ll start filling those barrels again (ho hum - one is attached to the shed, the other I fill from that one with buckets - rather a wet process!). However, I now have a very tidy shed, 12 pairs of gloves (now washed) and 2 sun hats (also washed). I had no idea I’d collected so many!
In cultivation news, my spuds are chitting (actually, some of them began of their own accord) ready to be planted in a few weeks - as long as the sodden ground doesn’t freeze first! I still haven’t planned what seeds I need though.
Any suggestions on protecting allotment crops, not from birds or rabbits, but scrumpers? Already our plots have begun to be raided. I’m beginning to wonder whether planting anything is a good idea.
If the hungry gaps on the supermarket shelves aren't better filled, and people aren't working I can see allotments and gardens being stripped of anything edible as soon as it appears.
I only have the ragged remnants of last years chard in my garden currently, so not expecting many to be tempted by that, but I have fears for my freezer and the remains of my Brexit food stores, which are out in the garage.
We’ve already had reports of chard and rhubarb being scrumped. And with massively reduced income I envisage it happening more.
I’m probably going to do my usual fairly random layout - straight rows are too easily raided. I usually enclose crops with plastic mesh fencing (the worth that comes in rolls) so that should deter raiders.
Ah, forgot about the rhubarb - that's just about pickable size.
My chard is netted to keep the starlings and sparrows from shredding it, and it's a pain to remove. I net all my beds when they are planted, to keep the fox and cats from digging up the seedlings, so sneaking in for a quick bit of harvesting would not be an easy job.
The garden could be easily accessed from the small carpark next door, but there is a row of leylandii on the carpark side of the wall and the garden is not visible at a casual glance.
Plant things that grow underground (not so obvious what they are, see? or easy to grab and run) and plant the rest not in groups, but as individuals. It will look like hell (here a tomato, there a guava) but make it that much harder for people wanting to make off with a bunch of tomatoes, as they'll have to search all over the allotment. Of course, you will too...
Alternately, plant defensively (add thistle, poison ivy) and post your allotment accordingly. You will know where the nasties are, they won't. A "beware of dog" sign never hurts, even if there's no dog to be seen. Add a LARGE doghouse with a mat or pillow that looks used, and a waterdish, and watch them make off for your neighbor's allotment. Poor sods.
I have trouble lifting large heavy bags of potting soil sold by my local nursery, just found out that you can order on line a brand of light weight potting soil that expands once you wet it. Made by a company I have long used for other gardening needs so I think I can trust them So I am going to give it a try. Never thought I would be ordering, "dirt," in the mail.
I finally got round to un-netting and picking the regrowth of last year's swiss chard. It's a bit tatty, from slugs, sparrows pecking at it through the netting, and the beating from the two named storms a while back.
Once I had removed all the debris to the compost heap I harvested enough from 3/4 of the bed to feed the two of us for three meals, and to give some to a garden-less friend.
Saving the final 1/4 for next week, and with fine weather a second picking after that from the ones I dealt with yesterday
The seeds for this year's chard have already germinated, so I will have plants ready to go in once the current ones are finished.
Not a popular vegetable (goes limp quite quickly, so doesn't look very appetising on the supermarket shelves), but is great for filling the "hungry gap" of early spring.
I finally got round to un-netting and picking the regrowth of last year's swiss chard. It's a bit tatty, from slugs, sparrows pecking at it through the netting, and the beating from the two named storms a while back.
Once I had removed all the debris to the compost heap I harvested enough from 3/4 of the bed to feed the two of us for three meals, and to give some to a garden-less friend.
Saving the final 1/4 for next week, and with fine weather a second picking after that from the ones I dealt with yesterday
The seeds for this year's chard have already germinated, so I will have plants ready to go in once the current ones are finished.
Not a popular vegetable (goes limp quite quickly, so doesn't look very appetising on the supermarket shelves), but is great for filling the "hungry gap" of early spring.
Swiss chard is fantastic - it just gets on with growing and spawning. I love the colourful varieties - it adds some happiness when the days are dull.
Well, I am deeply grateful that I got one half of my plot dug before Christmas, as the other half has gone from being too wet to dig to having too hard a crust on top to dig! I've got about six hours in over the weekend, including planting a new asparagus bed, and you can hardly see where I've been. Well, Ok, it's not that bad, but it feels like it sometimes! My brassicas are over and I'm removing them piecemeal, I've got my spuds in, and some onions out too. Of course, it's about to turn cold, maybe a couple of frosts... ho hum!
Been good to potter at home as well, and sort stuff that doesn't normally get done at this time of year, as spring holiday is usually rapidly followed by the onset of the cricket season, both of which of have gone mammaries skyward, of course.
Oh, and I've even got the 1920s Atco lawnmower running.
After a month's rain, we are now in drought for a month, (London), we are going with spuds mainly this year, luckily having bought some before the lockdown. Of course, they love rain, ah well. The good king Henry is looking fabulous, however, but will we eat it?
Possibility of a frost tonight, even down here on the south coast, so I have put all the seedlings back into the grow-house, with a layer of horticultural fleece on them as additional protection.
One tomato plant is already looking a bit sickly, as it doesn't like temperatures below 10C, it has even produced a flower bud out of desperation to reproduce itself before it keels over.
I love Good King Henry - used to eat the leaves and tips as different veg, back when I actually grew my own veg. Although I do have a pepper plant on the kitchen windowsill producing another pepper now.
I love Good King Henry - used to eat the leaves and tips as different veg, back when I actually grew my own veg. Although I do have a pepper plant on the kitchen windowsill producing another pepper now.
Yes, it used to be called poor man's asparagus, but it's more bitter. But I like it as a plant, pretty little leaves, and it's romping away now.
My light weight potting soil has arrived in the mail. Indeed it was easy to lift and expanded when wet down. I spent yesterday dividing my porch plants and repotting in the new soil. Fingers crossed. Mr Image was very surprised when a box of dirt arrived in the mail.
I have decided, in conjunction with this virus thing, that it might not hurt to be able to grow some of our own food. I have been a gardener in the past, and happily so, but the pastime has passed away. But I am now building raised beds in the back 40, and am preparing to become a gardener once again. I'll probably come here for advice and encouragement, if that's okay.
I keep my seedlings in a cold frame, or grow-house, with additional night-time insulation.
I plant out (after 'hardening off') when there is a decent spell of mild weather - or when the seedlings get too big for their temporary home - and am ready to pile on the horticultural fleece when a frost is forecast, then spend those nights with every digit crossed.
Currently I have climbing beans that will soon be twining around each other, and a couple of tomatoes that have produced flower buds. Unfortunately I had got used to the early warm weather we have had in March/April in recent years, so am ahead of the season and have been taken unawares by the variable temperatures of late.
Those beans and tomatoes will have to go outside next week, whatever the conditions.
Made a massive cloche..... for the first time in over twenty years.
Was getting a little fraught at the idea of Little Seedlings.... Outside in the Soil ..... and likelihood or otherwise of Frost Tonight.
What do others do?
Wait to plant out until all danger is past?
Or risk it anyway and not even cover?
Cloche, cloche, cloche all the way. Except for the things which are still starting in pots in the greenhouse. One of today’s tasks will be cleaning the polythene sheet that makes my 3 metre hooped cloche, so I can start some peas and beans outside. But I live in the parts which get the snow when it is mentioned “on high ground” and where we remove 2 more degrees when overnight lows are forecast, as it will be colder than they say here.
Deluge of rain last night, after very dry weather. Spuds will love it. Too soon to plant out tomatoes and cavalo nero and courgettes, still the odd frost, (London). Broad beans, no, no, loathsome, (fava beans).
I’m very fond of broad beans, which is as well, as the bean crop never fails me. We have had no rain for most of April and there is none in the two week forecast either. Today there has not been a cloud in the sky from dawn onwards. (Cool North East breeze, though.) So there will be a frost again tonight.
Comments
Who grows veg in your suburb or neighborhood? I'd ask around, and talk to local garden centres about what does best. In a gloomy urban corner, I found that if I grew vegetables in light containers, I could move them around to catch the sun through successive months.
Oh, and check the soil isn't too damp or heavy clay. It's all very well embracing your micro-climate, but you can always improve soil.
Good advice about the soil, which was next on my check list. Until I come up with some suitable vegetables to plant, I won't bother about the soil. Once I do, then I'll address the soil. If I find nothing, the soil is a moot question, and I don't have the same motivation for flowers, although they're not out of the question. What is currently in the garden has been neglected for years, so its state says little about sun or soil.
I’m going to have a new raised bed and a new fish pond. The old fish pond will be converted to another raised bed.
I also want a big, container grown, bush in the corner near the bird feeders. Do buddleias do well in containers?
In our front garden we now have snowdrops, both yellow and purple crocuses and one daffodil blooming.
@Boogie buddleias grow pretty much where they want to - including guttering, gaps between bricks... they can be a bit of a (rather useful to butterflies) weed
Sounds perfect - I want them near the bird feeders for the sparrows to hide in 😀
Also squirrels, cats,...
But
We have celandine in this new garden. Everywhere.
Do I live with it?
Or
Remove it?
&
If remove, what time of year is best?
Many thanx!
In fact I deliberately brought a celandine with me when we moved, an orange-flowered one with purplish leaves, called "Copperknob"
Not as vigorous as the common yellow one, but it is establishing nicely
Copperknob
Seems to be working this time.
I wouldn't worry about celandine - I have it on my allotment and it's carpet early on but by the time the veggies are going in and coming through, it's died back to nothing. It's really not a problem.
Not wishing to make more work for myself than is necessary, it can All stay.....
I'm still waiting for that last tree to be dealt with, though I suppose maybe it's a good thing that I didn't put a new fence up as Ciara and Dennis would probably have made off with it. On the other hand, its chums in the heap on the front drive are now slowly vanishing into the neighbour's van. This is a Good Thing. Quite when I'll get anything planted in the new back bed I don't know as the fence has to go up first, so I've potted on my two pyracanthas, and am suspiciously eyeing the buds on my obscene rose bush where I've heeled it in. I fear it may have a year in that spot.
I've also bought a Ficaria at an open garden last weekend which, to my amusement, turns out to be a celandine. Yes, I've bought a celandine, when I have an allotment knee deep in them (OK, actually it's mostly Thames water it's knee deep in at the mo, but you get the picture).
Ah well, it's nearly March...
AG
Planting or sowing still looks like an exercise in herbicide.
As opposed to ending up trampled.
Particularly on the site of the projected wildflower sowing, currently bare earth, I want to get it going before the buttercup, bindweed etc come roaring back. But does the fact that they're not as yet indicate it's too early?
In cultivation news, my spuds are chitting (actually, some of them began of their own accord) ready to be planted in a few weeks - as long as the sodden ground doesn’t freeze first! I still haven’t planned what seeds I need though.
I only have the ragged remnants of last years chard in my garden currently, so not expecting many to be tempted by that, but I have fears for my freezer and the remains of my Brexit food stores, which are out in the garage.
I’m probably going to do my usual fairly random layout - straight rows are too easily raided. I usually enclose crops with plastic mesh fencing (the worth that comes in rolls) so that should deter raiders.
My chard is netted to keep the starlings and sparrows from shredding it, and it's a pain to remove. I net all my beds when they are planted, to keep the fox and cats from digging up the seedlings, so sneaking in for a quick bit of harvesting would not be an easy job.
The garden could be easily accessed from the small carpark next door, but there is a row of leylandii on the carpark side of the wall and the garden is not visible at a casual glance.
Alternately, plant defensively (add thistle, poison ivy) and post your allotment accordingly. You will know where the nasties are, they won't. A "beware of dog" sign never hurts, even if there's no dog to be seen. Add a LARGE doghouse with a mat or pillow that looks used, and a waterdish, and watch them make off for your neighbor's allotment. Poor sods.
Once I had removed all the debris to the compost heap I harvested enough from 3/4 of the bed to feed the two of us for three meals, and to give some to a garden-less friend.
Saving the final 1/4 for next week, and with fine weather a second picking after that from the ones I dealt with yesterday
The seeds for this year's chard have already germinated, so I will have plants ready to go in once the current ones are finished.
Not a popular vegetable (goes limp quite quickly, so doesn't look very appetising on the supermarket shelves), but is great for filling the "hungry gap" of early spring.
Still it will feel good to get out.
Been good to potter at home as well, and sort stuff that doesn't normally get done at this time of year, as spring holiday is usually rapidly followed by the onset of the cricket season, both of which of have gone mammaries skyward, of course.
Oh, and I've even got the 1920s Atco lawnmower running.
One tomato plant is already looking a bit sickly, as it doesn't like temperatures below 10C, it has even produced a flower bud out of desperation to reproduce itself before it keels over.
Yes, it used to be called poor man's asparagus, but it's more bitter. But I like it as a plant, pretty little leaves, and it's romping away now.
Was getting a little fraught at the idea of Little Seedlings.... Outside in the Soil ..... and likelihood or otherwise of Frost Tonight.
What do others do?
Wait to plant out until all danger is past?
Or risk it anyway and not even cover?
I plant out (after 'hardening off') when there is a decent spell of mild weather - or when the seedlings get too big for their temporary home - and am ready to pile on the horticultural fleece when a frost is forecast, then spend those nights with every digit crossed.
Currently I have climbing beans that will soon be twining around each other, and a couple of tomatoes that have produced flower buds. Unfortunately I had got used to the early warm weather we have had in March/April in recent years, so am ahead of the season and have been taken unawares by the variable temperatures of late.
Those beans and tomatoes will have to go outside next week, whatever the conditions.
Cloche, cloche, cloche all the way. Except for the things which are still starting in pots in the greenhouse. One of today’s tasks will be cleaning the polythene sheet that makes my 3 metre hooped cloche, so I can start some peas and beans outside. But I live in the parts which get the snow when it is mentioned “on high ground” and where we remove 2 more degrees when overnight lows are forecast, as it will be colder than they say here.
Lovely sunny day!