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Post by tod2 on Mar 6, 2021 8:43:34 GMT
They were Wilkinson Sword and in the handles had other tools, a small saw and a couple of very sharp knives. We are suppliers of Fiskars scissors in my fabric shop - years ago used to be Wilkinson Sword. Mick I'm not sure if this applies to UK but from 2010 Fiskars no longer used the Wilkinson sword brand on their gardening tools and reverted back to the Parent companies name, Fiskars. These scissors and gardening tools are made in Finland but I'm sure they must have factories elsewhere now- may be not. Needless to say they are still the best buy for any dressmaker or gardener.
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Post by bjd on Mar 6, 2021 9:22:16 GMT
I have Fiskars scissors at home, as well as secateurs for the garden. They last for years, even though I am not very good about taking good care of them.
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Post by casimira on Mar 6, 2021 14:03:34 GMT
I refer to them as secateurs but, most of the time, people don't know what I'm referring to. Fiskars makes great scissors, Felco makes a superior set of secateurs and loppers.
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Post by bjd on Mar 6, 2021 16:24:07 GMT
A few years ago, I posted that I didn't know what to put along my flowerbeds to keep the grass and weeds from invading them. After several of you gave me advice, I realized my only option was green plastic, so that's what I put. Obviously it fades and breaks if anyone steps on it. I also wanted to make curves with it so that the garden wouldn't look so rigid.
Well, this week at the local supermarket that has odd weekly specials (gardening stuff, tools, clothes...), they had edging made of galvanized steel. I bought 12 sets of 4x1 metre. Just spent 2 hours putting in the first 4 metres. I wanted to enlarge the beds a bit too, so had to dig out the thick grass along the edge and make a new groove. It looks much more modern now and I guess the steel will last much longer than the plastic. And I saw that the garden has tons of earthworms -- going into a panic as I pulled out grass.
At this rate it will take quite a while to put it all in.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 16, 2021 16:23:32 GMT
Great news about the earthworms. I am often afraid that they are on the disappearance list, like sparrows.
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Post by bjd on Mar 16, 2021 19:28:38 GMT
Our garden is not that big but has areas with different soil conditions. The area where I started with the edging has good black soil and lots of earthworms. As I move toward the back of the yard, the soil is sandier and there are not many worms.
While I was digging out clumps of grass and weeds, a robin came right close to me and each time I dug out a white maggoty thing (don't know what they're called), the robin would quickly swallow it.
This morning I went to the local nursery and bought a couple of Fuschias (the Riccartoni ones that don't mind sun) and a caryopteris (a bush that blooms with blue flowers in the fall). I keep being tempted to enlarge the flower beds a bit more, but then I will have more work and have to buy more plants, not to mention having to move peonies that I put in last years.
re sparrows -- I was surprised to see recently that they are on the endangered list. We have lots here but I guess they have a hard time in cities.
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Post by lugg on Mar 16, 2021 20:36:05 GMT
Robins are so cheeky Bjd and learn so quickly which side of their bread is buttered.
I am thinking about getting a water feature for the bottom of my garden. it need to be solar powered but I want it to double up as a bird bath / bird drinker. Any suggestions ?
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 16, 2021 20:45:45 GMT
I looked at them lugg, but in Spain. The ones I saw were quite low powered and not very impressive. I wasn't looking for a geyser type action but they only worked when the sun was on them and little more than ejecting water six inches high or so. Maybe in the UK they are better.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 17, 2021 7:34:46 GMT
And I saw that the garden has tons of earthworms -- going into a panic as I pulled out grass. The discovery of earthworms in soil means one thing for sure - the soil is extremely healthy with composted vegetation. Adding more well mature compost to other areas will soon encourage the worms.
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Post by bjd on Mar 17, 2021 12:04:00 GMT
And I saw that the garden has tons of earthworms -- going into a panic as I pulled out grass. The discovery of earthworms in soil means one thing for sure - the soil is extremely healthy with composted vegetation. Adding more well mature compost to other areas will soon encourage the worms. For an unexplained reason, the soil toward the back of the garden is really sandy. I will add some compost but will also go and buy a couple of bags of soil.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 17, 2021 18:27:31 GMT
I've been getting into the garden at last, tidying the borders and GH. Today I have sown lots of flower seeds...French Marigolds (Strawberry Blond), Cobaea Scandens...an annual climber which has big, purple bell like flowers, Borage (for Pimms), Antirrhinum Sonett mixed (Burgundy, Carmine, Crimson and Scarlet-Orange), Cerinthe Major (Kiwi Blue), Gazania (Tiger Stripes mixed), Rudbeckia (Goldilocks) and the seeds that BJD sent me my sister is growing the sweet peas and I'm growing the stocks (Giroflee?). I'm also having another go at growing Kireneshoma Palmata from seed...having failed to germinate any about 5x in the past. These seeds are from a different supplier so it WILL work this time. I used some strange, exotic seed compost made from wool and bracken....peat free. It's a bit lumpy but I've gone off the John Innes No.1 that I usually use..sets like rock that does. Then I threw caution to the wind and ordered 6 big bags of multi purpose compost to be delivered next Tuesday from a local garden centre Him indoors will NOT go to a Garden Centre so it was my only option. I need to get my dahlia tubers potted up. Great stuff.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 17, 2021 18:55:56 GMT
Wow ~ it is going to be gorgeous (again) in your garden this year! I looked up the SB marigolds -- nice! Those colors will meld so much more effectively than the regular super-bright ones. Gawd, I hate that medium that sets up hard. I've had plants that either did nothing or died. When dumped out of their pots, it turned out their poor little roots were set like a gangster's feet in cement, with the hard medium in the same shape as the original pot.
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Post by bjd on Mar 17, 2021 19:11:39 GMT
Sounds good, Cheery. Glad to know that you can get back into the garden. I hope all your seeds germinate. Yes, stocks are giroflée. I like them a lot -- the coloured ones that smell so nice. Here there are perennial ones that tend to be yellow and brown and don't smell.
I have been digging and transplanting. This afternoon I had a chat with the neighbour and he said his garden has the same variations in soil. He put in lots of better soil where the sand is but said it ended up washing through the lighter soil.
Yesterday I bought a couple of bulbs of canna lillies. I never bought any before because I don't like yellows and oranges much, but decided that they would go behind some purple and blue sages.
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Post by lugg on Mar 17, 2021 19:29:42 GMT
all this activity reminds me I need to get some things in my large bald patch. looked at them lugg, but in Spain. The ones I saw were quite low powered and not very impressive. I wasn't looking for a geyser type action but they only worked when the sun was on them and little more than ejecting water six inches high or so. Maybe in the UK they are better. I am not looking for a fountain as such more either , more a gentle trickle but I do want it to work on cloudy days too. Will keep on with my research.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 18, 2021 6:20:17 GMT
Yesterday I bought a couple of bulbs of canna lillies. I don't know how you will do this bjd, and that is to stop them taking over a lot of space. Here they grow like weeds and the Canna patch steadily increases with each passing year. They are hungry feeders and wonderful for holding soil with their tubers. We get a striking bright pink one which I'm sure you would love!
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 18, 2021 6:35:12 GMT
I am not looking for a fountain as such more either , more a gentle trickle but I do want it to work on cloudy days too. Will keep on with my research. There are certainly plenty of them on the market. They clearly assume that everybody wants a little spray, but I'm sure that you can turn them down to a trickle. www.amazon.co.uk/solar-fountain/s?k=solar+fountain
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Post by bjd on Mar 18, 2021 7:26:15 GMT
Yesterday I bought a couple of bulbs of canna lillies. I don't know how you will do this bjd, and that is to stop them taking over a lot of space. Here they grow like weeds and the Canna patch steadily increases with each passing year. They are hungry feeders and wonderful for holding soil with their tubers. We get a striking bright pink one which I'm sure you would love! Over the years I realize my gardening develops in two different ways: either things I plant die or else they run rampant and overwhelm everthing. This has happened with periwinkles (vinca), cranesbill, gaura, Japanese anemones... The canna lillies may be part of the first group if you say they are "hungry feeders". I never add fertilizer to anything.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 18, 2021 7:32:07 GMT
Lugg - My two cents for what its worth: My bird bath is semi sheltered by shrubs and palm trees and is next to our swimming pool. From where I sit on the patio I can see it and any birds that come to drink or take a splatter. It used to be a fountain. After some years and all the trouble with the little pump mechanism I did away with it. So glad I did because I then realised the birds preferred the "pond" style of the water with no movement. I refill it with a nearby garden hose from time to time. Things to take into consideration when putting a bird bath in the garden: Don't make it too teeny. It must be fairly shallow - I also have one or two largish pebbles in it. Put it where you can see it easily. Birds like an escape hatch - You need a tree or shrubs they can fly to quickly. View from my patio Under the trees
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Post by lugg on Mar 18, 2021 10:41:46 GMT
Thanks Tod and K2
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 18, 2021 13:44:45 GMT
Manured and dug most of the onion bed.
This afternoon I’ll sow broad beans in pots, spring onions and carrots in containers and sweet peas all in the greenhouse for now.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 18, 2021 14:00:00 GMT
'So are you going to be a tad sore in the morning after all that hard graft?! I wish you good luck with the carrots Mick. We tipped out our last bucket of carrots today and what a hairy bunch! I cleaned them up best I could and we are having some with our duck dinner tonight. Potatoes too were a disappointment in the bucket containers. So few and it took so long. My green beans are the most rewarding. We plant "Bush" beans mostly but this last lot were the yellow and purple variety and I got my garden man to make a three bamboo cane teeppee around the young plants so they can climb if they want to.
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Post by casimira on Mar 18, 2021 14:11:02 GMT
I don't know much about solar powered water pumps/fountains. I have 3 water features in my garden and they are in constant use. One is a small electric powered pump in the goldfish pond and the other 2 are bird baths, one clay and the other copper. They are in constant use. The fountain in the pond attracts a variety of migratory birds that pass through here as we are situated in one of the major flyways of birds that pass through on their way to and from the long journey across the Gulf of Mexico. The sound of the water attracts them and currently I am seeing the usual seasonal visitors which delights me immensely. I would love to put another one in the front garden and a solar powered one would be ideal. That being said, you have inspired me to explore doing this. Please keep us posted on what you decide to go with. Thank you!
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 18, 2021 14:50:46 GMT
I generally only do half an hours digging at a time to start with.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 18, 2021 20:14:47 GMT
I would love to put another one in the front garden and a solar powered one would be ideal. That being said, you have inspired me to explore doing this. I'm curious to know what you find and also input from everyone. Except for hummingbirds, it is very rare for any bird to visit my yard. You all have seen pictures: long & narrow, half covered with an ugly metal carport, and one side in blazing sun half the day, alternating with other side the other half of the day due to the patio being on a south-north axis. Since it is walled on both sides, I think it feels too much like a trap for birds. I did put out a bird bath at one time. It was ignored.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 18, 2021 20:32:35 GMT
The reason it was ignored Bixa is a little known fact that where you live, there are mostly male birds. Males, especially teenage birds, don't like bathing. Hanging around in a miasma of funk is more their style. Nevertheless, bird baths are more popular amongst the Aves population in the UK as it is well known there that baths are more popular than showers. I suggest a bird 'shower' would be more appropriate as would be fitting in say, the majority of Europe. To attract female birds, if you wish to keep the bath, I believe studies have shown that to attract them to have one, mood lighting, fragrant candles, soothing muscle relaxing bubble bath and even a small glass of wine being supplied would assist.
Don't forget the heated towel rail and demisted mirror.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 18, 2021 20:54:19 GMT
You forgot the endless stream of Michael Bublé music. Otherwise, all good suggestions and I am even now gently heating small flat stones for that special spa experience.
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Post by casimira on Mar 19, 2021 14:51:27 GMT
Do you think it may have to do with the altitude Bixa? But, I do think think that the configuration of the the courtyard as noted may be the cause .I'm definitely going to explore the solar option and am excited about the prospect of having one in the front garden. TBC... (in the meantime, we have a thread in here dedicated to Water Features in the garden that I started and hasn't gotten any play). I attribute my love of them to you as I remember the one you so cleverly created from an old clawfoot bathtub when you lived on Joliet Street. I remember it vividly (circa 1978-79) and thought it to be the coolest thing I had ever seen. So, my gratitude to you for your inspiration for this along with so many other cool garden ideas and introduction to many, many plants.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 19, 2021 15:53:47 GMT
Mrs. Google tells me this:
I feel confident that Bixa could find a way to meet these conditions.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 19, 2021 16:20:08 GMT
Everyone of those suggestions I made was from my own experience which seems to tie up with the experts. My bird bath needs a strong spray of water and the lower bowls needs a clean which my gardener will do. Only needs it in the Summer when the weather is hot and the water gets a bit of algae.
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 19, 2021 16:42:52 GMT
We bought a new bird bath a few weeks back in place of the plastic saucer we had been using. As a result Mr and Mrs Blackbird visit daily for a very vigorous bath!
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