Gardeners' Chat

[MmePoppySeedDefage]

Chat. For gardeners. About gardening, but we can go off piste and chat about things like non-gardening clothes, or food or whatever, without being told off

That’s beautiful @Kucinghitam The light was lovely this morning.

Enjoying the lovely garden photos.

Nettles indicate a higher nutrient area, so you will want to reduce nutrients. So don’t add any fertiliser, let plants keep using up nutrients. I would remove the nettles completely,including roots. There’s more than enough nettles in the country to support butterflies. Nettles are far more abundant and widespread now than 50 years ago, and butterflies, including the species that lay their eggs on nettles are far less abundant (and no, I don’t think that’s because the caterpillars used to keep the nettles in check) .If you keep your nettle strip, they will keep invading,that’s what they do.

Thistles are magnets for bees and butterflies, particularly creeping thistle. Personally I don’t find them attractive, but I quite like spear thistles.

Probably. It’s not been messed about with,it’s still got its full complement of nectar and pollen, and it is a UK native

The easiest solution would be to try to get it all into a lawn and just keep mowing, but I'm not a fan of mowing. It’s a myth that lawns are low maintenance. The need for regular mowing makes them high maintenance. Low maintenance requires that any necessary work isn’t time critical, eg pruning that can be done any time over the dormant season.

Thanks for all the suggestions, they've given me food for thought.

My mowing objections aren't really about the work - though I don't enjoy it much - but trying to boost diversity and insect life. I leave the front lawn unmown apart from at the end of summer, and it's developing quite a diverse range of species of wildflower, including a couple of types or orchid. A mown lawn would be more convenient, but less productive. Out the back, I have a bigger expanse of grass which is quite nettley and thistley, as well as having a lot of coarse hummocks. I mow that about every 3-4 weeks or it just becomes impenetrable. The tricky patch in question is at the side of this area. So if I leave it, like the front, it goes to nettle/thistle forest, not lovely meadow with flowers. I think I need to develop a good long term strategy and tackle a section at a time.

@Kucinghitam - ferns looking splendid, by the way! Your garden looks like a lovely little green oasis

Yes, gorgeous garden, Kuc!

Yesterday I went to Chartwell, Winston Churchill's old house. It is interesting and has a really lovely feel inside. Plus lovely gardens - it's almost worth the trip just for them, as they are beautifully planted and have stunning views.

I was struck by a border of various different 'golden' roses, which is just coming into flower. The photo in this link is how it will look in a week or so's time:

twitter.com/chartwellnt/status/1271355070202994689?s=61&t=kGVJW3nqB0HwN7e30O6LKw

Which orchids do you have? Bee and common spotted?

Bee and pyramidal. Not the rarest, I know, but I'm so proud!

I've had broad leaved hellebore popping up in my garden, I think it's known as the weed orchid! So I'm impressed with yours.

And I quite like my 'weeds'.

*helleborine, autocorrupt is a gardener now!?

I'm still pulling forget me nots! Hot and sweaty work today. I had to don my favourite, and deeply unflattering, straw hat. DH has started cutting the hedges too, some of which grow over our beds. I do forbid him from certain ones until later in the year, either if they gave nests, or the dropping stalks will destroy my flowers.

Hellebores don’t like my garden, never have, although I’ve wasted £100s (if not £1000s) on them over the years. However! I have a cream one and a purple one at the bottom of the garden that have been in flower for MONTHS, and the flowers look as perfect today as they did when they first appeared! So beautiful, they work as cut flowers too.

It's very annoying when things that should like your garden just don't like it. My garden is clay in mostly full sun... roses should be happy there but they just won't grow. It's very frustrating as I love roses.

Plants can be very specific in their tastes. In my previous house we grew roses prolifically by doing nothing at all, my next-door-but-one neighbour had carefully tended and show-worthy rosebushes. The house in between couldn't grow them at all - bought good quality plants, looked after then by the book, and every time they died within a year.

Hello. Not posted here before but saw you were chatting about Chelsea so thought I’d add my experience. We went last week and I’d concur with everything that’s been said on here.

Very, very frustrating and annoying that a few show gardens only work when viewed from the inside. Then how can they justify charging £££ for entry when you can’t see the gardens how they are intended? The Grand Pavilion is the only saving grace. And it was more stunning than ever this year, with wonderful people manning the stalls so generously sharing their knowledge.

We treated ourselves to a champagne and seafood lunch - £85pp. Except that no seafood included for that cost, that was £35pp supplement. So sea bass, cheese for pudding and a glass of fizz - £85. Righty Ho. In a dark, atmosphere free wedding/funeral type dining room. I noticed they were selling a crevette roll and glass of champagne takeaway near the bandstand for £45 and thought this was better value. A tiny bottle (half bottle max) of Pommery for sale in the chiller cabinets by the sarnies was £48.

Just greedy IMO.

So will try Hampton Court Flower Show next year and bin off Chelsea.

These shows are interesting but nothing beats the thrill of a Shelf of Doom bargain!

These shows are interesting but nothing beats the thrill of a Shelf of Doom bargain!”

This so true! I’m hoping for some after the Bank holiday scramble is over.

Depends where you are! We hardly see them up here,in fact I don’t think Ive seen them in the UK. But we do have the Northern Marsh Orchid. Nothing in my garden though.

I bet they don’t look exactly the same! If you looked at them at the beginning they’d have had lots of stamens at the centre, if you look at them now, they have 4 developing seed pods.

What looks like petals are in fact sepals, what are usually green bits surrounding the flowers in other plants. The petals have been transformed into nectaries. So when the flower is over, the big white or purple sepals are still there, giving the illusion of a flower that continues for months

@Furiously It’s many years (make that nearly half a century) since I’ve been to Chelsea. I belonged to RHS in the old days, when you had two tickets to Chelsea in your membership, one for you on members’ day, and one to give your head gardener on one of the public days. I resigned when they imposed a levy on all members to make up a funding shortfall - even in a good professional job,it amounted to 25% of my weekly salary. They clearly didn’t consider me as their core membership.

They’ve changed out of all recognition, but I’m still not totally convinced they see money in the same way as I do.

@MereDintofPandiculation one for you, one for your gardener. Very Downton Abbey.

@MereDintofPandiculation I loved the story behind the complimentary tickets.
@Furiously Ive paid for the lunch in the marquee a few years ago. I remember my brother commenting that it was the most expensive meal he’d ever eaten. I doubt if that was actually true, but certainly the most overpriced!

Hellebores lurve my garden. Started with four, now got hundreds. They just seed around. Never done anything with them. I actually cut them down to nothing every year in the winter, and they always come back. Lots of them have come back a sort of mid colour, but I do still have some pure white, and some dark purple. They like dark corners, and under shrubs best, also a bed that floods in winter. Weird.