Osteospermumsnet.com - flutter your foliage, pick your produce, shake your seed packets and bring your blooms to the Spring Show

[Lexilicious]

Welcome to the gardening quiche :)

Earlier malarkey was here

All welcome whether you are a Sackville-West or a Dimmock, an Oudolf or a Swift. Whether you dream of digging or dig for dreams.

Fair weather or foul, we've got disco lights in the potting shed and fairy lights on the terrace. Bring gin, wine just doesn't cut it round here.

No GW here (rugby again) and no iplayer (rubbish broadband) but still Friday has been garden day so I'm :)
Planted out the dahlias at last and had a massive sort out in the greenhouse. Emptied out a compost dalek and made a raised bed with the contents along one side of the green house and planted toms. Will be interested to see how they get on as the compost was made almost purely from kitchen waste, and jusging from the various bits of lego, glitter etc the contents of a few hoover bags. I did mix a bit of soil in too.

Aquilegias all out here and one or two alliums. Mostly the garden is looking bright green and ready to burst buds as soon as it gets warm enough. ie not yet.
DH has been giving away pea plants around the neighbourhood. Sugar snaps are on us this year.

I hope for some gardening time tomorrow. Chief problem will be fortifying the fence to keep the foxes out. My neighbour is getting understandably angsty about them getting under his deck, but I fear the problem isn't so much with the fence but with the deck, and he's going to have to retro-fit a side panel to the pillars supporting the deck, as othetwise theyre just going to keep making new tunnels to get underneath. Anyone have any similar experience?

Flowering in my garden are primroses, bluebells, rhoderdendron, weigeilia, tulips, petunia, euphorbia, choisya, roses, azaelia, alpine strawberry, apple blossom, currant, peas, forget me not and some white thing tumbling over the wall on the bank. First calendula flowering on allotment . Aubergine, strawberries, cucumber, tomato and French marigold flowering in the greenhouse.

Finally making progress on the allotment. I've cleared two of the quarters and in the other two have three rows of spuds in plus a couple of rows of raspberries. Plant sale up the road this afternoon and I need to catch up with Monty today on iplayer.

The greenhouse is doing well and I finally understand what I'm doing with the two hydroponic kits in there which have herbs and strawberries in. Vine crops are all in Autopots which is making life easy on the watering front. Aphids are my current problem, I need ladybirds.

Ah yes, I was forgetting that the Gloriana rose is flowering and so is one of last year's calendulas that forgot to die.

How do you find hydroponic growing? I always assumed that our local hydroponics shop was catering for the cannabis growers.

Maud, I have had recent rat trouble under my decking. Just as you need fuel, ignition and oxygen to start a fire, you need food, access and comfort to start a vermin problem.

Food first - as they don't really care what we think our boundaries are, it's the whole street's problem to remove food sources. You're quite urban as I recall so perhaps it's impractical to get everyone to not overfill their bins (making the lids useless) and for passers by not to drop food-based litter. In my area, I'm fairly sure that food left it for neighbourhood cats and dogs is the problem, plus bread for birds, and indeed the nice bird food and fat balls which I put out myself until I saw the light.

Access is what you're doing - ensuring fences and gates go right down to the ground, and If the ground is burrowable, put a barrier further down. My decking has panels on all sides which don't quite reach the ground (or they would rot). One side of my decking has a planted border flush with it - the rats actually undermined a rosemary bush so much that it died off. I've now got chicken wire fitted down the side so they can't burrow that way.

Finally 'comfort' which I mean as a catch all term for not having predators, having enough space to nest, and a reasonable level of dryness. Decking should always have gaps so that the planks can swell in wet weather. This also means it won't be dry underneath for animals to nest. The space beneath decking should also be filled as much as possible with ballast like rubble chunks - this is great for beneficial insect hibernation and nesting like beetles and spiders, and possibly solitary bees - but no good for rodents and foxes. In terms of predators, well, what can you do about the urban fox, they're almost untouchable! For rats I put down poison bait which worked but unless you also deal with access and food source some other wing of the family will just move in. I was hoping for the local owls to help me out and am still vaguely considering putting up a nest box in the trees close to my garden so that my rats are right in the food territory.

Unlikely to do much in the garden today - I am catching up with work because I am covering three jobs at the moment and mustn't drop the ball. My greenfingers order has arrived with the garden track so the boys may put it together later.

That's the essence of the problem. We have neighbours who feed the fixes by leaving out bags of rubbish continuing KFC remains. Boak. It's the access I'm trying to crack, but as its my neighbour's fence and his deck I need to convince him that he needs to act. Asking me to block up the holes the foxes have made because he can't reach the fence because of his immense deck doesn't really tackle the problem at source.

Can any of you clever ladies help me? I've seen a big shrub/ tree about here which is covered in very tiny blue flowers - so the whole bush looks blue. It's really pretty but I have no idea what it is. Any ideas?

This weekend was going to be a gardening one but I'm not well & can't do much. Am going to mow the lawn if nothing else. And maybe plant the rhubarb - does it want to be in the sun or is shade ok?

I don't know much about foxes except that they steal my chickens

Ceonothus? They are in bloom now and are a lovely shade of violetty blue? If not, maybe ceratostigma?

Can I put a question to the gardening gurus please? My DH (by agreement!) took out a low conifer hedge earlier this week and I am debating what to put there. I anticipate that the soil will be very poor. I have some bluebells where I want to plant out my beans and peas. Would they appreciate being replanted to where the hedge was or will they die in disgust?
Thank you!

Yes, ceanothus, thank you

Ooops

Ah well then. "Yes, I see that the problem is that you can't access your fence from your side. You're welcome to do the required work from my side. Oh, you don't want to? Of course why didn't you just say! I know of some good fencing contractors/odd job carpenters, here's their number, I'm happy to give them access too."

droitwich, a conifer hedge may have acidified the soil so maybe something like lilac or azalea? Or you could go for foliage / stem interest with black bamboo or one of the red/orange dogwoods.

Thanks Lexi. I feel a trip to the garden centre coming on

Foxes and squirrels seem to develop a 'path' a bit like badgers. Our path became apparent when pawmarks were seen on the snow and its still the same path because there is a muddy line in the lawn, with a burrow under the fence which is fox size.
Its annoying as its right under a nice bit of trellis in one of the few sunny spots in the garden where the clematis was going to go.
I have actually seen the squirrels dig under roots of freshly planted things. its because they think that any freshly dug earth might be their acorn stash the silly twits.

Has anyone experience of veg gardening in a trough like this?
www.recycleworks.co.uk/free-standing-manger-vegetable-and-flower-bed-pr-17103.html

The fox whose den is next door has a path through our hedge where our dog also escapes.We frequently have to repair it and replace the wire netting.I think our dog and the fox are friends as they seem quite unperturbed by each other and are very similar in size and colour.On another nature note my dc's have told me not to use slug pellets[as they poison hedgehogs].They have just had a visit from the hedgehog preservation society where they got to stroke a cute cuddly hedgehog.

Droitwichmummy i have bluebells in a similar position and they have thrived and selfseeded madly.However a trip to the garden centre is always a good idea.Adding to the list of plants in flower i have verbascum,scabious and semiaquilegias.Plus Dicentras[magically grown from J parkers roots on offer a while ago] and Solomans Seal.Also clematis alpina Frances Rivas is in flower along with the alliums that the dog hasn't squashed.Sadly in contrast most of the seeds i've sprinkled havn't germinated and the dahlias are doing nothing.I 'accidentally' dug one up only to find a cm size bud on it.

Thank you teta. I've dug the area over and given it a good water. I'll give it a go. If they don't like it, I have another clump anyway so all will not be lost.
Must go to garden centre anyway - stump killer and good coffee (+ plants!)
Many thanks gardening gurus

I have been looking at the concrete patio slabs which were put down by the previous owner. They a very boring grey shade. I am not thinking of replacing them with decking or, just yet, with fossil buff sandstone paving stones, but was wondering about stencilling some leaves on or will that look too much like a school playground? What have others done to make the patio look acceptable?

It's because my patio looks unacceptable that I'm about to get it done.

I have had some success before with blocking off the foxes' paths, but I do think that neighbour is in denial about what he needs to do (and he needs to do it soon because once my shed is installed the access will be a whole lot more difficult.

Anyway, have just spotted camassias in flower and the sole surviving stem of Solomon's seal. Have emptied two more pots of duff tulips and am about to plant my hanging basket of tomatoes. They'll have to manage outside with fleece - wish me and them luck.

I've got the first flowers (ever) on my yellow tree peony out! The white one's a bit later due to position. And the montana clematis smells lovely in the sun!

By coincidence, I've just been looking at tree peonies. When I bought mine, I was told it was Molly the Wtich, but I'm now sure it's delavayi var delavayi lutea. Anyway, it's worth having for the leaves alone?

Mistle - can I be nosy and ask how much your grass cutting man charges? My parents can't decide whether they've just been ripped off and nor can I.

I had two people look at it - the one we've not chosen (at the moment at least) charges £25 a month with 2 cuts per month. The one I've gone for is charging £16 for an hour - and we'll aim to have him once a week and get the bit of lawn that ds plays on cut every week and wait and see whether the whole of it needs cutting every week or we can get away with some of it only once a fortnight and that would allow some time for a bit of help with getting on top of the couch grass and forgetmenots.

www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3337738/Molly-the-witch.html

or
www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=78654

or
www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/l430/paeonia-delavayi-var.-lutea-hesperus.aspx

Well I caved in and did a bit of pottering around the garden this afternoon after all. There is an allium head opening, the iris I mentioned had four flowers on the spike, all showing a dark blue tip... these are on the rockery beside the pond, and in the pond I have another iris which is a stunner - delicate patterned blue if I remember right. I must look up its name.

How could I have forgotten that the hellebore is still going? And I have three Iberis 'snowball' which are a mass of pretty white flowers. Two types of vinca are in flower, buds are forming on my climbing rose 'open arms', three of my (seven) heucheras, and the aquilegia that has gatecrashed rather, but I think I quite like. I think the Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' is flowering somewhere inside those bracts, and the dicentra that I still haven't planted has lots of flowers. First strawberry flowers seen on the top tier of the stacked clover-leaf planter - not sure how well the lower ones are going to do, being out of direct sun.

Thank you, Mistle. I think (even allowing for the London differential) my parents were overcharged. Hmm.

Interesting peony articles. I'm convinced mine is the yellow delavayi.

I think my yellow one's that. The other is pale pink with dark pink blotches around a yellow centre. Much greyer foliage on that one too.

Maud... I think that rates are probably pretty different up here to London. And the £16 an hour rate was scoffed at by the £25 for two mows guy. Said that it was not enough because of all the kit you needed. However, he's a friend of a friend so worth giving a go and if it works out....