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Gardening

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

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58
BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 25/12/2023 19:55

Bulbs (crocuses, tulip and dwarf daffodils) from work.

Assorted gloves (waterproof, thermal, thermal and waterproof).

A hori hori (canvas sheath), and 2 accompanying sickles - one ordinary and 1 serrated.

And a waxed cotton foraging pouch.

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 25/12/2023 19:56

And a set of Opinel garden knives.

All the sharp things.

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 25/12/2023 23:48

Another hori hori here. Although he bought it, MrGJAH looks rather scared of it.

Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · 26/12/2023 09:30

Hope everyone is having a peaceful Christmas 🌲

Lovely to hear that hori hori knives are being added to tool bags! They do look disconcerting but they're brilliant tools and I use mine far more than I imagined I would do.

MereDintofPandiculation · 26/12/2023 10:32

A metal watering can (fed up of plastic ones degrading in the sun), a clutch of named varieties of japanese anemones, from non-gardening DS which may have suffered between buying and receiving. A promise of a tour of local garden nurseries and a plant buying spree.

Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · 26/12/2023 10:48

That's a pretty good haul!

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 26/12/2023 10:57

Very glad to hear the endorsement of hori horis - it was this thread which convinced me to ask Father Christmas for one. I’m about to use it for planting the last few bulbs. I doubt I’ll venture off the patio as heavy rain yesterday has again made the garden a swamp.

Original poster
ThreeRingCircus · 26/12/2023 12:19

Happy Christmas everyone. A hori hori is definitely going on my list for next year.

OP posts:
daisychain01 · 26/12/2023 20:32

I've never heard of a hori hori before so I've learned something new today! @BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn I have an Opinel which is a much loved gift from DH that has served me well over the years.

What a wonderful array of gardening treasures you've all had!

@MereDintofPandiculation something nice to look forward to in Spring, I love a good splurge at the garden centre.

Re gloves - My belief is that you can't have too many different pairs of gardening gloves. I have more than Imelda Marcos has shoes 😄

Today was the calm before the storm. We were out there by 10am doing the final leaf raking effort and getting them onto the border that's sheltered from the elements and filled up the leaf mound net which is now at capacity. I uncovered the compost heaps, nice drop of rain needed as they look quite dry and I'd put some compost accelerator on them in Autumn which hasn't quite dissolved . Will recover them at the weekend.

The wind and rain can come tomorrow, I'm not stepping a foot out (unless the forecast is wrong, which I doubt!) Likely to be 50mph gusts. Stay safe all, don't get blown away.

Original poster
ThreeRingCircus · 28/12/2023 17:16

I had a nice hour or so in the garden today digging up some smaller plants and moving them round in my border as I don't think the balance was looking quite right. I think I need some more evergreen structure in there to be honest.

I've also ordered a bulk bag of bark chippings to mulch the borders with. I'd like to do that soon as the weather is so mild so I'll try to get it on there before the frosts come!

OP posts:
Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · 28/12/2023 17:31

ThreeRing, your post reminded me of something I saw a couple of weeks ago. In some areas, tree surgeons and landscapers offer free wood chip. You need to read the small print and be specific on where it can be put, but it does look useful if you need a large amount. It could be useful for an allotment site or a large garden.

https://freewoodchips.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions-about-wood-chip-deliveries/

https://freewoodchips.co.uk/#!/process

daisychain01 · 28/12/2023 21:16

Today's weather conditions where I live have been absolutely appalling. More of the same from yesterday and last night, lashing rain and wind.

I managed a walk around the area as I was feeling a bit stir crazy, and just managed to get back before it got bad. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a lot better so I can get out and tidy up!

to console myself I bought a large- handled garden sack thingie. Exciting! It's made of military tarpaulin so I figured it would be a lot stronger than the Wilko one that disintegrated in several places and the handles dropped off. I suppose you get what you pay for, so hopefully £24 for my new purchase buys me something better than the £7 one from Wilko!

that's really interesting re free wood chip, @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast what a great scheme.

seeyouinanotherlifewhenwearebothcats · 28/12/2023 22:24

Today I finally planted my spring bulbs 🙈 Had DC3 at beginning of November so only got round to it today, hopefully not too late. Daffodils, tulips, crocuses and muscari.

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 28/12/2023 23:04

Solidarity! I thought I’d done so well in planting my last few bulbs, until I was tidying up yesterday and found another hippeastrum and some narcissus. So that’s a job for tomorrow, weather permitting.

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 28/12/2023 23:06

An afterthought about hippeastrum … if last year’s bulbs haven’t sprouted yet, they’re not going to, are they? I fear the compost heap beckons.

daisychain01 · 28/12/2023 23:15

I wouldn't give up on them yet, @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde I planted 2 of them very late this year. I've normally planted them by end Nov so I'm a month behind. One of them isn't yet showing any sign of life, but the other one is starting to show green shoots. I soaked them both in cold chamomile tea which normally gives them a kick start.

if they feel firm to the touch, no soft squigginess , then you're more likely to have some joy with them. Otherwise I guess they'll add rotting matter to your compost heap!

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 28/12/2023 23:17

Ok, then, they get a temporary reprieve!

BestIsWest · 29/12/2023 00:21

I have some tulips left to plant! I brought some bulbs back from the Netherlands in Sept as gifts for people but DS has arrived home for Christmas and brought them back with him as apparently nowhere in Cardiff sells compost.

Blowing a gale here today or I would have gone out and used my new snips to deadhead the roses which are still trying to flower.

MereDintofPandiculation · 29/12/2023 11:20

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 28/12/2023 23:06

An afterthought about hippeastrum … if last year’s bulbs haven’t sprouted yet, they’re not going to, are they? I fear the compost heap beckons.

Feel them. If they’re still firm, they’re just being slow. If they’re seriously soft, and soggy inside, they’re ready for the heap

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 29/12/2023 11:24

They’re in good condition - they were inspected and prodded when I rearranged the indoor pots - but obstinately refusing to budge! I’m going to give them a drink of camomile tea. Meanwhile, the new bulbs are romping away.

InMySpareTime · 29/12/2023 12:41

Today I coppiced/pollarded my Hazel to harvest branches for hurdles, as my previous hurdles are becoming brittle.
Well, I supervised DH doing it, then went back indoors for a cuppa.
He's doing a good job though, taken out all the crossing branches and 1/3 of the old main branches, cut all the twigs off the cut branches and put the trimmed sticks into a pile ready for me to weave.

daisychain01 · 31/12/2023 08:39

MereDintofPandiculation · 29/12/2023 11:20

Feel them. If they’re still firm, they’re just being slow. If they’re seriously soft, and soggy inside, they’re ready for the heap

Show quote history

👍 softness is always my test! Good luck with yours @GertrudeJekyllAndHyde they can be quite sluggish to start with.

Amaryllis-Watch Update:

Just taken a quick peak at my 2 bulbs on the kitchen windowsill while the kettle was boiling.

No 1 was not a concern (double - Dancing Queen) as it has had a couple of nice chunky buds emerging since just before Christmas

No 2 (Red Lion) was a concern as it looked completely inactive, seems to have finally woken up and there's green tinge in the dead bits and one bit is now pushing up from the bulb centre. Not quite a bud but definitely good signs of life! Hoorah, Happy Dance!

daisychain01 · 31/12/2023 08:50

I've ear-marked tomorrow, New Year's Day as a gardening day. The weather looks reasonably calm and only a couple of showers likely.

I'm quite behind on jobs I had hoped to do over the Christmas break as I had the week off work, but it was wishful thinking with all the stormy weather we've had.

I need 2 consecutive dry days and I can drag everything out of the greenhouse and sanitise it inside and out with Jeys to get things ready for the Spring.

Happy Year of Gardening in 2024 my friends!

Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · 31/12/2023 09:43

Same here, daisychain, I cannot remember the last time we had a dry day. Last night I listened to the rain hammering down for hours so the ground is now more sodden than ever. I garden on clay so can't get onto the beds in that state. All this and there is so much to do!

GertrudeJekyllAndHyde · 31/12/2023 10:52

And same here too! I like to garden on New Year’s Day, but we’ve had apocalyptic rain for the last day so the garden will be even more of a swamp. I might at least get the last bulbs planted.

The two new amaryllis are soaring away - one has two flower stems - but the old bulbs are still sitting there stubbornly. There might be tiny signs of life on one, so the reprieve continues.