Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

The first rule of potting shed is YOU ALWAYS talk about potting shed. The thread continues.

879 replies

echt · 16/03/2017 20:44

Here goes, and feeling bit cheeky as I didn't post much on the last one.

A fine autumn day here, with much seasonal clearing done. Now I come to think of it, is there ever a non-clearing season? :o

OP posts:
Thread gallery
68
AstrantiaMajor · 13/04/2017 14:33

I bought Caraway plants, Bergamont, Bronze Fennel, ginger mint and lemon mint. They were from a company I haven't used before callled Victorian Nursery. Only £2.25 each and they look really good.

I should have remembered as I only ordered them 2 days ago. Mind you this morning I boiled the kettle, took a teabag fro the cupboard, then put the tea bag in the bin. Avoiding completely the mug of boiling water. I even stirred it before I realised what I had done.

AstrantiaMajor · 13/04/2017 14:34

SeaRabbit I do that with biscuits. Eat one forget I have had it then eat another one. That's my excuse anyway.

AstrantiaMajor · 13/04/2017 14:40

I finally gave up with the Lilac today. I have dug it up and put it on FreelyWheely.

I moved a rose which was struggling into its place and put a honeysuckle that got lost behind the Acers into the rose space. I also moved some of the Acers around a bit as they have grown incredibly well since they came out of their pots and into the garden.

The first rule of potting shed is YOU ALWAYS talk about potting shed. The thread continues.
picklemepopcorn · 13/04/2017 20:12

That looks lovely! So structured and calm.

Anyone know about raspberry canes? I have an Autumn variety. I usually cut most of the canes done after they fruit, but leave a couple. The ones I leave give me earlyish raspberries, then the rest come in Autumn as expected. They don't stay put though, the canes come up all over the shop. Are they supposed to?

bookbook · 13/04/2017 20:38

yes pickle - they are thugs, and they would take over the world if they could. They can turn into a right thicket. I just yank them out where I don't want them .

picklemepopcorn · 13/04/2017 20:46

Ok! That's good to know. Can I split them off and put them in someone else's garden?! I've people I could share with.

bookbook · 13/04/2017 21:20

definitely - try to give them a bit with some roots on , not just the woody bit. They don't need much encouragement :)

picklemepopcorn · 13/04/2017 21:31

Cool!

SeaRabbit · 13/04/2017 22:39

Absolutely agree about thuggish nature of Autumn rasps. Mine are moving themselves into the sun,

Your garden is lovely Astrantia.

I have no idea where some bulbs in the garden came from. I've checked and they weren't in my triple bulb order. I have discovered some white muscari, and the most exquisite delicate narcissus. And I have lots of single tulips - does anyone else find that except with species tulips, only one bulb of a pack of 10 tulips flowers in subsequent years?

Original poster
echt · 14/04/2017 05:36

Lovely pic, Astrantia. The asymmetry and the acers remind me of Japanese gardens.

OP posts:
GinAndOnIt · 14/04/2017 08:02

This thread seems to have dropped off my 'I'm on' threads, so I'm just catching up!

Astrantia your garden is looking really lovely. Thanks also for mentioning FreelyWheely - I'd not heard of it before, but will be keeping an eye on it if there will be others giving away free plants too!

I'm desperate for DP to finish digging up the old roots in the garden so I can start to make it into a big border. I'm very impatient!

AstrantiaMajor · 14/04/2017 08:02

Thank you echt. There is a lovely calm peacefulness to the new garden. The grasses are just getting tall enough now to move and rustle. I love sitting out there and you get such different perpesctives from different seating places. From the house the taller Acers are at the front so it looks like the garden is falling away. But when you sit by the garage you feel like you are in a secret garden because the taller stuff is at the back. It feels like a great adventure with so much new stuff planted at once. When the Acers first emerged they were all shades of caramel, toffee and pink. And now the greens and pinky apricot shades are emerging. 4 of them are new this year so I am eagerly anticipating their evelution.

MrsBertBibby · 14/04/2017 08:07

Beautiful, Astrantia.

I also have tulip envy. I only have a few. Which kinds are reliable returners?

AstrantiaMajor · 14/04/2017 08:39

I have only had a few bulbs this year but they have been stunning. They were less than £10 from Aldi. The daffs 12 of them started to come out in late February and are still going on with later ones emerging in March. I bought Queen of the Night and Pink tulips which have stood up well and lasted ages too.

I have never Been able to get tulips flowering well in the second year.

MrsBertBibby · 14/04/2017 10:52

See that's what I worry about. At least the ones I inherited here seem to just pop up and do their thing each year.

AstrantiaMajor · 14/04/2017 11:30

I did hear that to get them to,flower again they need to be buried deeply. I always put mine in pots so probably won't work . Although I do have some terracotta tong toms so I might give it ago. I wonder if any one knows how deep to plant them.

MrsBertBibby · 14/04/2017 15:48

Well my reliable tulips are certainly planted deep, I couldn't get them up when I was digging out the overgrown borders they are in. Couldn't reach them with the fork.

picklemepopcorn · 14/04/2017 16:25

I thought the rule was to plant them the same depth below as their height. So if you stood a bulb on top of the one you planted, it would touch the surface.

MrsBertBibby · 14/04/2017 17:00

Sarah Raven says 20cms deep, and explains why with Science!

www.sarahraven.com/articles/planting_tulips.htm

bookbook · 14/04/2017 17:13

Most of my tulips come up each year. I buy new for spring pots each year, then they get moved into the garden. I must admit I have two clumps of red tulips that seem to get bigger every year, and they are he ones that have been established for years.
I tend to plant at least twice the depth of the bulb pickle - i. e. the bulb size of 4 cms = 8cm of soil on top of the bulb, and so on. ( and I do that for every bulb, not just tulips.
Its cold today, but the cherry blossom is looking lovely - thats usually a cue for wind....:)

SeaRabbit · 15/04/2017 06:32

I read once that tulips burrow down even deeper every year.

I have a clump of red ones under an Apple tree that come back every year, and also some Carneval de Nice, but otherwise it's just the odd ones that return.

Has anyone had any especially lovely bulbs flowering this year? I really really love the Doll's Minuet tulips, and Tulipa humilis Persian Pearl that I planted last year.

picklemepopcorn · 15/04/2017 08:19

So those bulb planting gadgets are a bit pointless then!

JT05 · 16/04/2017 20:30

Easter weathers been very mixed. What has everyone been doing in the garden?
I spent Saturday in the holiday house shrubbery cutting back, the result 8 bags of cutting to the tip.
Today rain stopped play!

AstrantiaMajor · 16/04/2017 20:45

I had a massive tidy up yesterday. My lovely SIL is visiting today and he is a Britain I. bloom loom Judge. I had his approval. phew😓

GinAndOnIt · 16/04/2017 21:22

We've been working on the vegetables mostly this weekend, but DP did give the grass some much needed attention today, so that's had seed and fertiliser put down. He was most unimpressed that the lack of rain meant he had to go and water it all!