Humph's Happy Horti-cult: harvesting, preserving, mulching, leaf-gathering, bulb-dibbing, seed catalogue-surfing and hunkering down for winter

[Lexilicious]

Following on from the original March to August thread. For all - whether still gardening through the winter or planning to sweep the shed, hibernate, sharpen the tools and get started again in the spring.

Happy gardening again!

Can't help with the water butt Maud - we had a 'man' in to do ours. He just put in a new bit of drainpipe and ran it straight in the top. We (well he did) then daisy chained another butt in because that drainpipe takes just about all the water off our roof and it filled up too quickly, then the second one is linked back into the drain as an overflow. Do you want to borrow our 'man'. He's very useful.

Have today taken custody of a quince tree and a load of what I think are irises from my mother who's had a cull from her garden. I think we'll put the quince in a large pot for a year or so because it may need some love after the mis-handling it's just had. The irises I'll squeeze into the long bed somewhere.

Hi survivingwinter - welcome

does waterbut have a leaky bottom? or is it just not filling. I had two spring leaks last year ( both same design and under 6 months old- BAH, am hoping to get a 1m cube instead now, I have the space and the water for it. Otherwise I'll just have to make do with the 300l of butage I have currently. Just would be nice to have a larger but on teh house down pipe , as teh 200l is off teh greenhouse so takes longer to fill.

Hello- may i But in? was sort of invited after I waxed lyrical over hedgepigs on another thread. DO you like cake? if so do help yourself to some virtual cake

Hi Survivingwinter, Flybynight and UniS, lovely to see some more people

I'm in a bit of a state after doing my back in on Monday. Am necking Ibuprofen and resorted to codeine last night that I have for my gallbladder. But did manage to sit at the table and pot up tomatoes and chillis. My watermelon seedling is dying though and am not sure why.

Horrible weather here today, wish I had lots of water butts instead of one leaking one.

perennial deal on MSE be quick!!!

Planted lidl clematis (rubens a steal at 2.99 to clamber over the ceanothus) and a plum, apple, each at 1.99 irresistible.
Bought some phlox seed it turned out to be in seed tape not sure what to do with it- it looks a bit like loo paper
Also not sure whether to put all the gourd seeds in a single planter or spread them out a bit- any suggestions?
Such lovely gardening weather.

How lovely to see new people here, especially when they bring cake. Perhaps in the summer we should have a virtual home-grown feast with all our fruit and veg and Humph's piggies?

Nah, the butt itself is fine - I've part-filled it with the hose, while checking - there's something wrong with the way we've fitted the connector gizmo. I should have guessed that UniS (who, by the way everybody, Can Do Anything) would be an expert at butt assemblage. We've had heavy rain here too, so that's another gallon that could have gone into the butt but is instead swilling towards the Thames. Bah.

The T&M website seems to have crashed!

Ah, I bought some climber seeds from Lidl which are in seed tape. As I want to plant them in individual pots rather then straight into the ground, I'll be tearing the tape up. Hey-ho.

My plum tree came from Lidl last year and I have high hopes for it.

I have put one lot of phlox seed tape into the ground ( grand name for dabbing a bit of mud over the seed tape and hoping the loo paper doesn't show too badly) and another lot into a pot.
I have high hopes for the lidl fruit trees: the apple is simply called 'domestica' which I think is nice, not poncy, i'm hoping it might provide a cross fertiliser for the Cox which I already have. It looks just like a stick at the moment but thats OK I think I might train it to a fan shape against the wall just like Victorian kitchen gardens and that would make it easy to pick the fruit too. Assuming the stick is alive that is.
I have ordered 4x hosta for the shady spot www.jparkers.co.uk/plant-1006093-f-1/hosta-designer-hosta-collection/
And a lily tree.
I moved some more forgetmenots. I want lots and lots more different types of hellebores because the ones in flower in the garden are so beautiful and I urgently need to get a grip.

I sooo can NOT do "everything" just certain things, today I moved teh washing whirlygig. and cleaned a climbing frame. The climbing frame will be moving into our garden after the boy is asleep on friday night! for now its still in two doors up's garden. Boy will have a nice surprise on saturday..

We had originally thought about building a climbing structure and maybe having a pond and bog garden under a monkey rope bridge... but have done nought about it and 2 doors up want to shift their climbing frame now kid is a teen.

Washing whirlygig is now towering over sprouts and kale in the veg plot, hopefully I have kept it far enough away from the plum tree and runner bean poles.

I am a veg and fruit grower at heart but its a family garden so also has a patch of grass for footie, some flowers for DH and 3 woodsheds.

Well, it always seems to me, Unis, that you can do anything.

I have been thinking recently about laundry-drying. We have a whirligig we never use and I use folding airers in the garden, but should I get a proper washing line and posts? I thought I could disguise the posts by growing clematis up them.

Iused to have a line ( in a previous garden) but it has to be a VERY long line to cope with a family wash. SO a whirlygig suits better now.
My gran had a double decker long line on very tall poles with a pully system... my grandad thought he could do anything. It was OK, but so much line went through the pully system you could only hang washing on about half of each line when it was down at loading hight.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud - I've got a proper washing line and posts (with clematis growing up the posts!) but I don't like the look of it and it cuts my garden in half. It's also too close to my garden arch so keeps bashing all the flowers off my climbers when it's windy. Am getting a whirly thing for the summer this year and line will be coming down!

I need to move a couple of evergreen shrubs - is it still too early????

That's my dilemma, UniS. I would certainly get more footage from a whirligig but was thinking that perhaps the quicker drying time on a proper washing line would offset that. When we did have a line - before the tree supporting it fell down - things would dry in a nanosecond. But it would cost a lot to install a proper line now and then there's the aesthetics. So I'll probably dig the whirligig out of the cellar, but was interested in what others do.

I'd move shrubs now, but I am in inner London in an enclosed garden with its own microclimate.

Whirligig thingy here. The next door neighbour years ago gave us her tumble drier when she left as she said she felt sorry with all our washing always on the line so actually most of the washing dries in the airing cupboard now, with whirligig in the spring/summer/autumn when it is dry and there are no guests and because the children are grown up and gone away the washing is much less.

I finally gave away the sandpit last year. It was shaped like a boat with the sand in the bottom of the boat and bench seats either end for the children to sit on and you could move it about on the patio. DH made it before he walked off. It was nice because it was boat shaped and not square. Tomorrow I am going to paint the garden furniture with preservative if it doesn't rain. There are so many things in a garden.

That sandpit sounds magnificent, funnyperson! We had the ELC plastic table that has sand on one side and water on the other. It was hideous.

You're right. The garden is a vortex into which time gets sucked!

I've got a Tesco value whirligig thingy for the back garden and something called a Mrs Pegg's Handyline which goes under the carport. The carport was there when we moved in and it took me 9 years to realise it makes a good clothes drying area.

There's a plastic red sandpit in our garden that has been sitting there for years and really should go. DD mentioned growing rice though and she rarely shows an interest in growing anything so I did think we should try. Our climbing frame and swing aren't used much now but each time I mention getting rid DS gets attached to it and uses it. But really he gets more from climbing one of the trees, might stick a rope ladder there.

Hellebores are gorgeous and I want loads now I have one - can see they could get addictive. Am regretting not getting more snowdrops the other day, little garden centre had bunches for 75p and I want to introduce them into several different areas.

Noticed that my attempt at guerilla gardening on a piece of scrubby bank at top of driveway for the three houses where we are, is starting to take - the first primrose is out. Am going to chuck some wild flower seed someone gave me there and see if that takes.

There does seem like lots to do, most of our fences need painting and some garden furniture, plus the deck needs a good wash and varnish before it vanishes under a heap of roses and clematis ( I hope !)There's an apple tree and a cherry that DH got given for his 40th that are still in pots abs we need to find homes for. Was thinking of trying to fan train the cherry against a fence.

I have the same tension of family function vs growing things in my garden, but our secret weapon is the woods and park just over the back fence! I think we have enough space for games of catch and quoits, short egg and spoon races, perhaps miniature croquet and that sort of thing, but for anything football-like we'd go off to the park. We can fit a paddling pool (if it was ever warm enough!!) but I don't plan to introduce a sandpit, oh no.

Am going to move the whirligig this year to the edge of the lawn next to the deck, so that I can put things on the line without walking on the grass (e.g. if it has just stopped raining, or if I can't be bothered finding shoes).

I planted a couple of hellebores last year that a friend gave me. One is taller than I expected and has a lovely structural white flower now. The other doesn't have a flower head (well when I looked at the weekend it didn't) so perhaps it is too immature - my friend did say that they were divisions/self-seeded.

We have a grass verge out the front of our house that I'd like to strew with wildflowers but I would be worried the council will just come by and mow it. Wonder if I could obstruct it just enough to make it difficult to mow? It would definitely not be a safety issue to let it grow long - it is a verge between the parking layby and the pavement, not a direct roadside verge. Maybe I should ask more officially.

I'd happily move shrubs now - sheltered garden but not immune to frosts. Possibly give them a haircut and a root trim too - they'll sulk for a while but be stronger in the long term. Have a look on the RHS advice pages for the specific plant - might tell you exactly when to move it.

Lex- if your in a rural/ semi rural area, ask your parish council about that verge, it will have a cutting schedule. You may be able to ask for that schedule to be changed ( reduced) to allow flowers to bloom. The cub scout here planted daffs in a verge by the bus stop, so that verge has been taken off the early spring cut schedule.

Good point UniS - there is a parish council I think, and it's possible that they might let me 'guerilla garden' some verges at this end of the estate - it's one of only five entry points to about a square mile of housing/shops. Elsewhere on some verges particularly at corners of roads they have put stumps to stop parking, although people still sometimes drive on the pavement to park behind the stumps!!!

I was thinking about asking neighbours if they wanted to club together to spruce up the frontages but I am not sure it would be that warmly received. People might either take it as a slight or are council tenants and think it should be done for them. Not sure I can expect to get enough interest to be able to go for club bulk buying deals.

H-26hrs to GW2012!!

Hooray

I think a garden is also a vortex that sucks in money. DH spent £185 on mulch. It is LOVELY though. All brown and crumbly. He starts to spread it on the borders tomorrow.

I am very jealous of the time he gets to spend in the garden He spread the tree gum stuff around most of the trees in the orchard today as well as weeding the borders again.

We have lots of seedling hellebores, I gather they will not flower until about five years old.

I have neither washing line or sandpit in the garden. Washing gets hung on collapsible dryers and/or on my pulley rack thing to dry it up at ceiling height in the utility room and I have a hatred of sandpits so the DDs have never had one . We do have climbing frame, play house & trampoline though...

Can't believe I'm getting excited about GW.

Humph - loving the way you can justify £185 on mulch because of it being brown and crumbly! I think we're all slightly loopy you know

Planning some more seed planting this weekend and perhaps a trip to Wisley to inspect their spring bulbs if the weather's nice.

Now it's funny you should say that as I am planning to hit Wisley on Sunday ... My first use of my RHS membership! I have got to leave my wallet at home though. it could be dangerous.

I have some great seedlings coming up on windowsills but am fast getting to the point where I need to start finding outlets to sell them on... There's no way I have enough space to grow them all.

I'm not allowed to visit the shop when we go to Wisley. I'll smile at random women who may look like MNers while I'm there just in case it's you Lex. Although there is a chance of course that your DH and I may recognise each other from our lay-by rendezvous...