A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

[MaudantWit]

Join us for ongoing gardening chat in the MN potting shed. Blow the cobwebs off a deckchair, help yourself to a glass of elderberry champagne and tell us about your garden.

[traviata]

thanks geoff, I have no Sainsbos with garden section near me, which is probably fortunate.

[Bearleigh]

Starving your cherries may be edible: put a net on most of the tree if you can and test them when you see the birds eating the uncovered cherries. Birds know when things are fully ripe.

If they are sour never fear, they can be used in cooking or (my favourite) making cherry brandy.

Other than that I agree with Geoff - take it slowly, and enjoy discoveries.

[funnyperson]

Bought some Acanthus Mollis 'Rue Ledan' seedlings from Sarah Raven in the early hours of the morning. There was other stuff but my mind is a blank. Calendula officinalis seedlings at a bargain price I think .
This morning I sorted out the trug where the seeds are kept and took a look at the shelf where the plants to be planted out are kept and decided categorically not to buy any more plants.
The buddleia peacock is coming into flower which is very exciting. The tail is going to look stunning in purple, and the body and head as green foliage will set the whole thing off. In front is a mass of pink Valerian which glows in the sun, and some deep purple marooon Osteopermum .Behind is the variegated light leaved dogwood.
One advantage is that the flowers are a deeper purple than in previous years. Perhaps the pruned buddleia bush is better nourished.

[funnyperson]

In the autumn I will plant Gladioli Byzantium at the base of the peacock as the cerise pink will be very dramatic. Still looking for the best place to buy those bulbs from when the time comes.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Can anyone tell me how red field poppies have appeared in my border? I threw in some pink seeds i collected and I have ornamental poppies but I don't understand where field poppies have come from. Haven't added any soil other than my own compost and there are no wild field poppies in the vicinity at all.

Funny, can we see buddleia peacock pictures? Sounds wonderful.

[beccajoh]

What do you all do about weeds? Pull them up? Weed killer? We have a lot of very persistent weeds in our garden, mainly because we did bog all other than mow the lawn the first year we lived here, then last year we were building the garage and making a right old mess. This year we're laying the lawn and it suddenly looks like we will actually have to properly deal with all the weeds. We do pull them up occasionally, but there's lots of long stringy weeds that never seem to end.

[mousmous]

if the bees like them I leave them (at least untill the flowers are finished) or I pull them out.
I'm a bit afraid of weed killer aand have so far not used it.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

I would like to know what people do with weeds too! I pull up the ones on the raised bed which is easy enough. I spray weedkiller now and then on the ones that grow between paving slabs but mostly ignore them. The front garden looks a mess. I like short crawly weeds but don't like tall long ones.

We have mystery nasturtium all over a corner of the garden. They never grew when we tried to grow them. But here they are now, from goodness knows where. And they are so lovely.

[MaudantWit]

I pull/dig out as many weeds as I can, and use weedkiller on the rest. Apart from my famed Japanese knotweed problem, I have also noticed a lot of bindweed coming in from next door and will be using glyphosate on that.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Weeds are only plants you don't necessarily want in the places they appear. I pull up some, occasionally weed killer the gravel drive, and allow those I like a bit of time to do their thing. My lawn is really not composed of much grass but it is alive with bees and wildlife; well manicured grass lawns look lovely but are quite sterile environments.

I do not allow weeds in the veg plot. Only because generally they are not nice to eat.

I am embracing my ground elder because it has defeated me

Borage gets pulled like a weed in my garden once I have left enough to keep the bees happy.

[NotAnotherNewNappy]

Beccajoh - I used evergreen on the lawn and it has done wonders, no more dandelions. OTOH I spend days on my knees pulling out the bramble seedlings and suckers which creep into the borders from the wildlings' garden next door. I wish I could glysophate them, but they're too close to my flowers.

Sarah Raven evidently disagrees with my all purple garden as she claims to be out of stock of the pink/purple dahlias I ordered and instead has sent me her hot collection, con amore and happy single date (reds, purples and corals). I am a bit miffed that she didn't ask me first and I'm not sure they add up to my original order, but the colours are exciting. I have ordered far too many and am not sure I have enough sunny spots. How much sun do dahlias need?

What do you do with your sickly plants? I've got a tree peony which just doesn't look right. The leaves are blotchy (yellow, brown) but its still growing. Its only in its second summer, so no flowers yet. Should I put it out of it's misery?

Also i have some penstemon with brown spots on the leaves which aren't really growing. I know I should pull them out, but it feels so mean.

[MaudantWit]

I share your annoyance about substitutions, NANN. Last year (or maybe the year before, how time flies) I ordered a collection of black plants from Thompson and Morgan. As it was out of stock, they sent me a selection of the same plants in other colours. I would have thought it was obvious that a collection of black plants is all about the colour and buyers are unlikely to want them in random colours, but T&M did not contact me to ask if I wanted the alternative either. They did sweeten it by including a gift voucher but as there was nothing else I wanted that was pretty pointless and I never spent it.

The good news is that I will be getting a refund for the Nuits de Young rose that wasn't.

[Callmegeoff]

www.google.co.uk/search?q=herb+robert&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#facrc=_&imgrc=tYfy7h9I0wqKKM%253A%3Bundefined%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwildflowerfinder.org.uk%252FFlowers%252FH%252FHerbRobert%252FHerbRobert_2005_05_25_Brinnington_ReddishVale_TameValley_GuideBridge_069p8.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwildflowerfinder.org.uk%252FFlowers%252FH%252FHerbRobert%252FHerbRobert.htm%3B580%3B621
I've started leaving this is some places of my garden, it's quite pretty I even noticed Monty had some! Other weeds I hoe or pull. Bindweed is particularly irksome, but I'm not keen on weed killer .

[UptoapointLordCopper]

I've always fancied having lemon thyme as my weed-between-the-paving-slabs but not sure how you go about making it happen (and not sure I'm unlazy enough to do it...) I thought mexican fleabane would look lovely as weed-under-the-steps but they didn't want to grow there.

[MaudantWit]

I read once that one should sprinkle thyme seeds in the gaps between paving - have you tried that?

I have failed to get Mexican fleabane to take in this garden. I have got two more pots now, waiting to be planted, but I think my soil is too damp for it.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

I think I've got some thyme seeds sitting around somewhere. I'll give it a go. I don't think I've tried sprinkling it. I don't think I thought at all, just wished ...

[beccajoh]

Will google glycophate (am a bit of a gardening newbie!). Tbh if we kill off all the current plants it doesn't matter to much. The previous owners had an interesting approach to gardening (as they did with most of the property!) in that it was mostly a large hedge with the remaining space given over to their bunny rabbits. The few remaining plants are ugly spiky bushes, which I'm tempted to pull up. I'll have two toddlers next summer (mine are currently 23m and 4.5m) so could do without having anything spiky in the garden.

[mousmous]

spikey is good esp if you have areas where you don't want the dc to go.

[ppeatfruit]

OOH is it ok to join this lovely thread? I have an interesting garden which has stone walls and some caves (so great for rockeries!) in fact my beds are mostly rockeries! Which is difficult for bedding plants so I'm a" pots on terrace and perennials only" type!

Anyone know anything about dahlias? my nice neighbour gave me some dahlia bulbs that have been outside for (i don't know how long ,since last year?). I've put them in my compost and mole leavings soil and they're on the terrace in a sunny spot. Do they need feeding?

Oh i will add that we're in mid west France in between Tours and Poitiers.

[funnyperson]

Hello ppeatfruit welcome!
What have you got growing in your rockery?
Do you grow french roses?
A colleague feeds his dahlias and they grow enormous!

I pull up weeds which isn't always successful esp when considering brambles, but I don't like to use weedkiller due to surrounding plants and birds possibly being affected.

One of those tools recommended by ladygardenersquestiontime looked ideal for digging out weeds and I am seriously thinking of buying it.

I leave a patch of nettles for caterpillars and use the clippings for nettle quiche. The mint used to grow everywhere but is pulled up so often it is getting scarce in the garden. I suspect we have ground elder and bundweed ad all sorts but as I am hopeless at identification they all get pulled up unless they look like flowering when they get left till flowered.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

Caves!

The Kew gardens rockeries have mexican fleabanes. So pretty.

[funnyperson]

I cant work out how to use technology so as to take decent digital photos and upload them- sorry!
The Nokia Lumia mobile got lost recently and in any event the quality of photo wasnt great for garden purposes in spite of the much advertised Carl Zeiss lens. The Samsung and Canon digital cameras given to dc in past christmases are lying at home unused with flat batteries no memory cards and no cable to upload the photos which as I recall weren't great anyway- similar to an old polaroid.
Have been impressed with rhubarbs and mauds iphone set up esp as they are easily chargable but was put off in the shop as not many megapixels so again small flowers in the distance wont show up. A friend took an SLR set up tp Chelsea which seemed unduly cumbersome. So slightly stuck.

[funnyperson]

Is your house built into a cave peat?

[ppeatfruit]

Thanks funnyperson Well like you I've got plenty of weeds but I leave the ivy as ground cover to crowd out the worst. This morning I was out before the sun gets to my bed in front of the house (which notices so I pull and cut more out than elswhere) because I love the birds and butterflies which have definitely increased since we moved. (The french are a bit [sceptical] at weeds and organic 'curvy' gardens)!!

Weirdly things self seed like pretty valerian in two colours, and herbs like bay and rosemary love it, there is sage; I bought one from London and there are 3 more that have just arrived . Cerostigma grows and grows. I try with roses but they don't like the limey soil. The climbers are happier i don't know why!

Uptoapoint Yes they're fun and we have fantasies about winning the lottery and putting a natural pool and waterfall in one of them which is really big !! i do get worried when little dcs are about though. Ours are adult.

Could you post a pic of the fleabanes ? i haven't heard of them.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

Mexican fleabane.