Gardening

[Blodyn]

You have been a 'busy, busy bee' haven't you?

 

Nemesis, the allotment is much nearer sea level than is my garden.  It was an inability to grow rhubarb up here which prompted me to get an allotment.  Looking at the price of rhubarb in the shops, my rhubarb crop alone pays the allotment fees. 

Thank you all for your good wishes for my crops.  There are some very good growers on the allotments who are always ready to offer advice, so I hope to keep improving.

[hollins]

The star turns in the garden this week are the late flowering daffs, just coming out, and a lovely delicate white flowering camellia.
We have not seen this flower before because it was a very leggy shrub when we arrived here. My husband cut it back heavily as we had seen them do at Bodnant and this year it is just starting to flower and looks healthy again.

[Yorkie]

Do you open your garden to the public, Hollins?   

[hollins]

No! Would be happy to show any interested forum members round though!

[Hugo]

Rowen's Open Garden Day is on Sunday May 20th 2012 and 20 of the best gardens will be open to visitors then. Tickets cost £5.00 per adult and £1.00 per child.
Let's hope that the weather will be good so everyone can enjoy the day,
My favourite gardens two years ago were at the Treetops and the Mill but they were all nice and had made a great effort.

[Hugo]

The Rhododendrons and azaleas are out in bloom at the moment.  The smaller one on the left is the variety called Linda and the taller one is called Cynthia but I haven't a clue about the others.

[Michael]

Well Hugo you did the trick wishing a week ago for nice weather today. Carry on doing that for every weekend for the rest of he summer!! Mike

[Hugo]

It was a lovely day today but I didn't go to the Rowen Open Day after all.   It was our dogs 3rd birthday so we took him to the Dog Show at the RSPCA in Bryn Y Maen instead.
Hope that you had a great day on the course today and topped up that tan of yours.  I've just gone like a Lobster after a few hours in the Sun at Bryn Y Maen!

[craigollerton]

Finally we have some warmer weather. I have got myself plenty of potatoes in the ground in the back garden. Swift first earlies and Jersey Royals to follow. Anyone growing their own food besides flowers? If anyone needs any help re growing fruit/veg, I can offer some help with your questions.

[hollins]

Thanks for the offer of help.
We have some fruit bushes. The biggest problem we have is trying to get to the fruit before either birds, squirrels or rabbits do. We have netting over but they still seem to find a way in.
Any solutions for that one?
By the way, Blodyn is growing a lot of produce on her allotment. See post 280 on this thread.

[Merddin Emrys]

We bought some brussel sprout plants and two cherry tomato plants at the boot sale last Sunday, sadly nothing to eat yet!    We will see how they do!

[craigollerton]

Thanks for the offer of help.
We have some fruit bushes. The biggest problem we have is trying to get to the fruit before either birds, squirrels or rabbits do. We have netting over but they still seem to find a way in.
Any solutions for that one?
By the way, Blodyn is growing a lot of produce on her allotment. See post 280 on this thread.

Hi Hollins, only too happy to help. I'll do my best to be your gardening guru, i'm much better with fruit and veg than flowers though mind.

There is little to my knowledge by way of stopping squirrels, they are very clever and thrifty creatures. Rabbits, you really need to review the preventative measures you have in place, walls/fences that kind of thing.

As for birds, this might sound counterintuitive but if you do not already done so, assemble a bird feeding station topped up with plenty of nuts and fatballs. This should prove a great distraction and they will be less likely to target your fruit. Typically anything red in colour is a prime target, cherries rarely make it to your mouth. If you grow your own strawberries, naturalise the patch and let grass grow as a companion weed, this makes it harder for the berries to be spotted but make sure you sprinkle plenty of slug pellets to keep them at bay.

You could also try purchasing an imitation bird of prey and purch it in the vicinity of your fruit patch to deter opportunist thieves such as minor birds, just remember to keep moving the imitation bird of prey as they soon become used to it.

Let me know what you think of my suggestions,

All the best, Craig.

[craigollerton]

I mentioned my allotment under the wildlife thread (I have a large resident population of snails) and Hollins asked what I grow, so I thought that I'd answer the question here.

I'm just starting my third year on the allotment, which was fairly overgrown so this will be the first year that I'm cropping all of it. 

There were already blackberries, raspberries and rhubarb on the allotment and I've put in a damson, which I'm planning to fan train.  So far I'm growing only things which can be planted / sown directly, rather than being started under cover.  At the moment I have: onions (autumn and spring planted sets), elephant garlic, broad beans (autumn and spring sown), peas, kale, chard, perpetual spinach, beetroot, raddishes, first and second early potatoes.  Still to be planted / sown are: runner beans, French beans, more peas, asparagus peas, slasify, scorzonrea and main crop potatoes (three cultivars). 

I've also got a few herbs and some nasturtiums (which I grew in my first year and which have been merrily self-seeding since then) - good flowers for bumblebees.  I'm planning to grow some more flowers for the bees this year.  At the moment, last year's kale is in flower and is feeding a range of bumblebees and solitary bees.

Hi Blodyn, sounds like you are having a lot of fun on your plot. Have you ever considered setting up a blog for your own plot to record your plot through the seasons. Feel free to visit my plot at www.dykesedge.blogspot.com , apologies some of the pics are down presently I have changed service provider and am relinking these in time. 'Growing my own' is a particular interest of mine amongst other things, once the pics are up again you will be able to see how I turned an unruly plot into a pleasant little allotment garden. Having tasted allotment life last year, this year I will be focusing on the 'kitchen garden'. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

[DaveR]

I walked along the Prom today and the gardens along there are less than impressive, it looks like nobody could care less about them. Practically the only flowers visible in the half a mile stretch I walked were these ones, can anyone tell me what they are?

[craigollerton]

I'm terrible with flowers Dave, sorry I'm sure one of the ladies here can help you.