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

Now that the season for flower and garden shows is starting in the UK, is anyone going to any?
I am back from Keukenhof in Amsterdam after seeing magnificent tulips and next week to Chelsea.

I usually rotate going to at least one a year, this year I’m going to the one at Blenheim Palace, in June. I expect it to be smaller than the RHS ones, but I’m quite excited to see what’s there.
Enjoy Chelsea.

Blimey, Chelsea Chop time already? Definitely going to do it to my phlox, golden rod and filipendula this year, as they were all over and done with in a couple of weeks last year.

Forgot to say I also use coconut coir quite a bit for improving the consistency of my compost.

Today’s haul on the poorly plant table! (Not the bonsai, that was most definitely not 20p!)

Im not convinced I’ll be able to make the 5p French lavender look pretty again. They’re well and truly drowned, but for 5p I was willing to risk it!

Wow that’s truly impressive, hope they survive.

I tried growing some tomatoes and courgettes in pots a couple of years ago. It was at that point we discovered we had a family of groundhogs living under the garage and the buggers ate the lot. In our previous house, which was in the country, we had to fence the veggie plot in against deer as well as groundhogs. Didn't think we'd have groundhogs in the city though!

It was largely more of the same - most notably ten Lupins this time and five Erysimum Bowles Mauve. They obviously don't know what to do with them at the shop - looks rather like they've tried to jet wash them..

Thanks @Tricyrtis2022, that does look pretty good, although I'd still have to crawl around the lawn which my middle-aged knees, hips and back do not enjoy. That's why I wish there was a long-handled device.

I have those shears, I sit on the gardening stool/ kneeler and move myself round the edges 😂. Not very elegant, but the shears are great.

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn We had our drive done also on a slope 3 years ago with block paving and I also wanted something porous and the cost was astronomical, but we had to do it. The block pavings worked very well so far, except that because they are porous stuff (weeds) manage to grow in the joints etc, but I can live with that and manage it (not with pesticides). The resine stuff I thought it was completely non porous?
I did not want that from a perspective that the water would just wash away and is not very environmentally friendly.

Thank you Beebumble, enjoy your visit in June.

We have a local storm water fee that we pay quarterly to the city, but it's not affected by a patio laid on the ground. However they also have a lot coverage regulation which is also not affected by a patio but is by a deck. I would have thought a deck allows better penetration of water to the ground doesn't it? There was a deck on our house but when we got the planning permission and building permits for the work on our house (which all stayed within the original footprint of the house because the kitchen addition was built under a very large overhanging roof) we had to remove the deck, which the previous owners had built without a permit and exceeded the lot coverage. Building regs are bizarre sometimes.

Gardening chat! Up until recently I’ve been a bit of an haphazard gardener, fitting it round work and family etc but I’ve retired now and I’m spending more time out there and loving it.

Thanks @Redandblue11 . My understanding is that there are 2 ways to lay resin - porous and non-porous - but I don't really know how it works.

@Kucinghitam you can get horizontal long-handled shears (or you could 50 years ago - my dad had some). And the electric trimmer things come in long handled versions as well.

I really like the wool based compost, I use it to refresh the raised beds. But there are no stockists near me so I have to get it delivered, which costs a fortune. And not great for the planet. We should be using wool as much as possible though, it's just an unused by product now, as nobody wants it any more, so farmers get next to nothing for it. I hope wool loft insulation will become more popular (and cheaper).
I've got multiple compost bins now so I'm hoping to become self-sufficient asap. I even brought my banana skin home from work so that I can compost it.

Can't find a pic of the electric grass thingy. It's like the 2nd attachment for this, but on a long stick. www.argos.co.uk/product/1457834?clickSR=slp:term:garden%20edge%20trimmer:58:60:2

@Kucinghitam
www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-carbon-steel-telescopic-garden-lawn-shears/p/0461420

Oh brilliant, so they do exist... thank you!

Re: paving, what about gravel stabilisation grids? I've seen them in use at large venues and also there's a few driveways near us. I gather that they are permeable and made from recycled material. If we ever get to that stage in doing up our house, I was thinking of going for just such a system.

I honestly think those wouldn't work if you wanted a space where you could put a table and chairs.

Last year was a complete (expensive) failure using peat-free compost 🤬, so infuriating, not a single plant grew and survived. Germination was nearly zero.
This year I’m using a very old bale of peat-based and it’s been fine.

I’ve had good success with this Miracle grow peat free compost.

Re long handled shears, I have a horizontal pair and a vertical pair. I'm away from home at the moment and can't remember where I got them but will check when I get back.

Glad to see it's not just me who doesn't get on with peat free. Wondering whether the watering issues could be solved by mixing with water retention granules or perlite - has anyone tried this?

I'd pondered the honeycomb (table and chairs not a problem - it is purely a parking and walking driveway) but I think we'd still spend a lot of time sweeping gravel back up the hill. And picking stones out of the meadow next to it after the cats, badgers, foxes, squirrels and magpies had rummaged thoroughly for grubs and buried treasure.

So a list of things I have lost this year to the cold and wet: Penstomens, Hebe, French lavendar, Ornamental Banana, Agapanthus. The last three all in protected pots, and we are in the South East!

I do however have a lot of weeds and an explosion if forget me nots, and the detested Spanish Bluebells. I dig them up as much as I can every year, but they still come back in abundance.

I did clear one small bed over the winter, full of vinca ( never plant vinca), and spanish bluebells, and an old knarly fir tree. I dug it over several times, and hand pulled each and every time another bit came through. I have now planted it up with gigantic hostas and ferns, hellebores, brunerra, and a pink plant I can't remember the name of.

This Winter I will do the same to another bed, with the same issues!

I’m really interested in your chat about hard landscaping, especially (but soft landscaping too). Our garden is about 100 feet x 40 feet, and we have a large patio and quite a lot of beds. I’ve been quoted £100-150k + VAT to redo the entire garden. The hard landscaping is desperately needed, as there is pretty much no mortar left between the flagstones right now, but the planting is mature and full to the brim.

What do you think of the quote? We are in SE England.

I would absolutely love to have the garden redone, we as a family spend loads of time out there, like having people over etc. But it’s a lot of money.

I’ve just bought eight bags of the miracle gro peat free compost pictures upthread. I’ve used some of it to plant a load of dahlia tubers in pots, and it seems ok so far. It’s obvious that it’s missing the peat, but I think it’s something we just need to adjust to. All more trial and error!