|
Post by questa on Mar 31, 2019 23:26:37 GMT
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 1, 2019 15:03:19 GMT
I like the idea of worshiping a leek.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Apr 2, 2019 0:09:25 GMT
A good, honest vegetable. No airs and graces like the artichoke or take time and fiddling like the aubergine. No hard peeling like root veg and lasts more than a day in the fridge. Cooked or in a salad gives flavour. Deserves to be honoured. Good call, Mick.
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 2, 2019 6:49:41 GMT
My vegetable gardening is pretty much restricted to containers due to my OH's obsession with paving slabs...it drives him mad every year that I clutter up the garden with plants. I wonder if I could grow leeks in a tub? I'm growing salad onions, beetroot, radish, gem lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, chilli, sweet red pepper, cucumber, peas, runner beans, edame beans, sweetcorn and rocket...I'd like to grow chanteray carrots as well but I need another tub first...they didnt do well last year as the tub wasnt deep enough.
I need a bigger garden...I've got swede, turnip and onion seeds but nowhere to grow them...
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 2, 2019 17:02:38 GMT
If you can grow corn in a tub, surely leeks could be grown that way as well. Can't some of the slabs be replaced with a nice raised bed for your swedes, turnips, & onions?
|
|
|
Post by casimira on Apr 5, 2019 14:43:47 GMT
My newly acquired "Spiny Balls" asclepias seeds have sprouted!!!
In the meantime I planted some tithonia seeds as they are a butterfly magnet and perform really well here. I do seem to recall that Bixa "turned me on" to these gems some 30 odd years ago!!!
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 5, 2019 16:13:34 GMT
My cucumbers have germinated, and the runner beans are just starting to show signs of germinating too. Today I've sown a couple of courgette seeds...a variety from T&M called midnight. It's supposed to do well in containers.
Did some pricking out...antirrhinum (a red one), tagettes starfire mix and cosmos sonata carmine. I've sown some sunflower seed too...giant ones because the bees love them. It's really cold today so everything is being protected by propagator lids..cant keep them in the conservatory really as they just don't get enough light.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 5, 2019 17:08:34 GMT
I went to the local nursery yesterday to buy a new cistus because I moved the other one at the wrong time of year and I thought it had died. It's a dark pink one.
But as I was cutting it back to plant a new one (lighter pink), I realized it wasn't dead. So now I'll have two in a place where nothing much grows.
I also bought some cosmos seeds but will throw them into the ground one of these days.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 6, 2019 10:37:21 GMT
Spreading manure over the veg garden this weekend and digging it in.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 13, 2019 16:45:50 GMT
Does anyone have advice about what to edge my flower beds with? I mean right now they run along the fence, although I don't want just a straight line, but where they meet the "lawn", there are constantly grass and weeds growing into them. I have tried that green plastic vertical edging, but it tends to break if stepped on or hit with the lawnmower.
Any ideas? The length is about 30 metres.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 13, 2019 16:50:52 GMT
Does anyone have advice about what to edge my flower beds with? I mean right now they run along the fence, although I don't want just a straight line, but where they meet the "lawn", there are constantly grass and weeds growing into them. I have tried that green plastic vertical edging, but it tends to break if stepped on or hit with the lawnmower. Any ideas? The length is about 30 metres. Picture?
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 13, 2019 16:54:31 GMT
Have to take one, but just imagine a long stretch of plants (lavender, various bushes, pentstemon, etc.) along a wooden fence. Then grass alongside.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 13, 2019 16:57:17 GMT
This was 2 years ago. It is much fuller now, but it gives you an idea.
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 13, 2019 18:16:45 GMT
That's a jolly nice fence bjd I know what m beloved would say Mick.... slabs. *sigh*
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 13, 2019 19:52:07 GMT
Timber planks sunk into the ground should do the job I would think.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 13, 2019 20:06:55 GMT
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 13, 2019 20:40:11 GMT
I wasn't thinking of log rolls actually.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 14, 2019 7:09:11 GMT
Thanks everyone. On the other side of the garden, there is original concrete edging set in vertically. It does help some since there are fewer weeds on that side. But it's just a straight line. I was hoping to put something rather more wavy so that it doesn't look so rigid.
Glad you like the fence. We put it in to replace the hedge we had removed (giant laurel bushes). In order to protect it a bit and to make it look nicer, I bought some paint. Having read some ideas about garden decor, I wanted to paint it darkish gray so that it would fade into the background. I had the paint mixed at the hardware store, assured that it was what I had chosen. When I brought it here and opened it, I discovered it was light blue! I only painted 5 of the panels, but eventually we painted a few more to use up the paint. It does protect the wood and after just two years it has already weathered some. Or maybe I just got used to seeing it.
Cheery, did you mention you like euphorbias? The fourth plant along in the photo is one, but now it is taller than I am! Just about everything that grows here, grows well.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 14, 2019 9:12:52 GMT
Thing is if you want a wavy line then you are rather stuck with plastic although maybe the log roll might work. I have never used it so can’t be sure.
|
|
|
Post by casimira on Apr 14, 2019 13:56:01 GMT
That is a gorgeous fence BJD. I've never seen one like it.
I loathe that green plastic edging you mentioned.
Have you considered using bricks placed in the ground vertically? Old bricks have a nice look and you can place them in wavy like as you expressed or in a straight line. I've had great success with them.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 14, 2019 14:44:09 GMT
I have that on a bed in my front garden. It’s a good idea although 30m would be a lot of bricks?
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 14, 2019 15:08:59 GMT
I do like euphorbias bjd not to the exclusion of other plants of course Today I popped into the greenhouse to find that my edamame beans have germinated...gosh. I haven't ever grown them before and don't really know what to do with them IF they produce anything. My beef tomatoes, runner beans, peas, sweetcorn, rocket and courgettes have all germinated too WOO HOO!
|
|
|
Post by casimira on Apr 14, 2019 15:47:07 GMT
I have that on a bed in my front garden. It’s a good idea although 30m would be a lot of bricks? Yes, it would be Mick. Fortunately, I have access to as many old bricks as I want. Largely due to some of my garden connections and the plethora of old bricks available from all of the houses that had to be demolished after Hurricane Katrina. So many that I could build a wishing well should I so desire or a wall but, that isn't going to happen. One of the projects on a very long list is putting in a labyrinth using old bricks back in a quiet secluded section of my garden that is currently a wildlife garden of sorts. I have put it off because it would entail having to deal with many, many tree roots from two very old massive Live Oaks back there. It's also an area that attracts an enormous number of migratory birds that pass through here in the Spring and Autumn. Ah, I do so admire BJD's wooden fence. I would put one in here but our wet and soggy conditions would not allow such a thing. The life span of it would be only five years or so. Anything wood never lasts very long here even if treated or made of teak. I can't begin to tell you how many teak benches, bird houses etc. have rotted after only a few years.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 14, 2019 16:21:48 GMT
I somehow got the idea that it was Mick asking the edging question instead of Bjd. Sorry!
If you click on the curbing link, you'll see that it's the perfect way to get exactly the wavy edging desired. And it won't have that cold gray look for long.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 14, 2019 17:58:19 GMT
Oh yes! That looks a good idea.
Sorry....,
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 14, 2019 18:47:15 GMT
Wonder if I can get that in the UK?
|
|
|
Post by questa on Apr 15, 2019 8:02:56 GMT
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Apr 15, 2019 8:48:54 GMT
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 18, 2019 15:54:04 GMT
I have been away for a few days, so sorry for not contributing.
Unfortunately, this is not a brick area at all. Houses here are built of concrete blocks and covered with stucco. I'll start with digging a small trench and then try to figure out a way of keeping the weeds back. I actually did use some of that plastic stuff in one area of the garden and it's not really visible, given the speed at which the grass grows.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 23, 2019 9:27:37 GMT
I'll go to the local garden centre this afternoon and see if I can find any suitable edging.
Speaking of gardens, my neighbour has a little fish pond in his garden. I get the impression that every spring they are trying to fix it because of leaks or something. Yesterday he told me that a heron had come from the nearby lake and eaten a lot of his goldfish, so he has had to put some netting on the water to protect what was left. An easy meal for a heron rather than having to fish in the lake.
And he had a pergola covered with a wisteria. We noticed on arrival that he had removed it and put an umbrella-type cover. He told me that the wisteria roots had spread under the fishpond and wrecked the lining, so the water was leaking out. That fishpond seems to be more trouble than it's worth.
|
|