Garden Fred 2010

[phoebejo]

Just spotted mention of this in RMF so here it is because I've got questions

 

 

All three passion flowers look dead, will they spring back to life soon once it warms up?

 

I bought some potatoes that were going cheap in B&Q last week with the intention of planting them in an old chicken feed sack. The sack is around 2ft high so how deep do I need to plant the potatoes?

 

Part of my garden is fenced off from dogs & chooks so I can grow grass and the kids have somewhere to play without a swarm of animals joining in. In this area we've planted some raspberry canes, rhubarb and we're waiting for some strawberry plants to be delivered I've got two apple trees to plant out there too. I've got a mini apple tree in a pot out the front but it's never had fruit on it so I'm hoping if I move it to the back with it's two new appley friends they'll all make babies together. The two new ones are compatible with each other but I haven't a clue what breed the mini one is so my fingers will be crossed. Our plum tree has grown like mad and is covered in blossom. The sound from the bees collecting pollen in it is deafening! They're really enjoying it but Emily is terrified of them

[yena]

Never grown pototoes, but I have heard, if you plant your seed pototoes in compost and each time the shoots appear but so more compost on top and continue to do this. You will get more potatoes.

 

 

[Karen]

Just spotted mention of this in RMF so here it is because I've got questions

 

 

All three passion flowers look dead, will they spring back to life soon once it warms up?

in it is deafening! They're really enjoying it but Emily is terrified of them

 

I can try answering this one....hopefully they will spring back into life and you will see green shoots along the stems soon. BUT if you had the minus 6 or 8 temperatures that we had during the winter, your passion flowers might sadly be no more. Some types are hardier than others, so I'd give them at least until the end of May before deciding that they are definitely dead.

 

I planted lots of hardy fuchsias last year and they flowered beautifully. I suspect that the cold has killed off most of them but I'm going to give them every chance before I dig them up.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Karen

[houndzrus]

 

 

I bought some potatoes that were going cheap in B&Q last week with the intention of planting them in an old chicken feed sack. The sack is around 2ft high so how deep do I need to plant the potatoes?

 

 

 

 

Put approx 6inches of compost in the bottom of the bag and plant the potatoes, pushing them into the compost. Cover with another couple of inches and then build up layers this way as the shoots show through the compost.

[phoebejo]

Thanks, I'll be doing that tomorrow

[celeste]

Apple trees will depend on what hybrid type they are, F1 and F2 will make babies, F2, F3 and F4 will make babies, F3, F4 and F5 will make babbies...you can see the pattern, it's all down to when they get blossom, if the one round the front gets blossom at the same time as the others there's a good chance you'll get apples.

 

I seem to have lost a few plants with the bad weather, my fabby Bears Britches amongst them , but oddly, the Sea Hollies seem to have come through unscathed.

[cycas]

They say those mini fruit trees are OK in pots, but I have me doubts. I've got a mini nectarine : it never did very well, except the last couple of years - I think it's put its roots down through the bottom of its barrel!

 

If you haven't fed it recently, that might give it a boost as well.

[Wendbert]

My Wisteria has survived the winter but the Passion Flower is looking rather sorry for itself. Hopefully it will come to life after I've cut it back

 

Its been interesting to see the difference from 2 years ago - when Sir H arrived the Hostas were about 5 or 6 inches tall but same day this year, they've only just come through. Clearly not impressed with the cold & snow over winter.

[greys mum]

The weeds are growing faster than any flowers in my patch at the mo. Blue has been landscaping!!

[safneo]

This week I have planted out my carrot, beetroot and some salad seedlings.

 

I have coriander, basil and tomatoes growing in a big tub. The celeriac and broccoli seeds are planted in starter pots, my patio pepper seeds have been planted in a pot but I think my various pepper seeds that I planted previously had frozen as they arent doing anything. I have lots more to plant but trying to stagger things this year.

 

I am also rather chuffed that my mushrooms have finally started growing. I had the first 3 off it this week and lots more are shooting up now.

[merledogs]

I have just been digging over the soil in the borders in the front garden. Where I had the crazy paving taken up last year there were all sorts of triffids growing and they are obviously still there under the garden, trying to come through, so I have dug the soil over in an effort to kill them off. I removed a rose bush from the front border, plus a Euonymous shrub which was neither use nor ornament. I want to replace them with some azaleas or rhododendrons so I have foliage all year round.

 

Either that, or I have got some Skimmia Japonica Rubella which I bought for a quid each in Morrisons cos they were nearly dead. I managed to revive them so might plant them out there, but can't decide whether I want them in pots instead. I would like to put them in the back garden, but they'd get killed off cos the dogs would pizz on them

[khanu]

We have a knackered garden. Stinging nettles are already starting to grow and will take over half the garden (and it isn't small) if I let it go like last year. Grass is lumpy bumpy making mowing pretty impossible.

 

What should I do? I want an easy to care for lawn area - I want to train agility and stuff so I need the grass space and frankly we aren't gardeners - we don't enjoy it and I can kill pretty much anything (except for stinging nettles it seems). We have a couple of hard standing areas that I'm going to demolish to make more grassy area - once I've demolished it what will I need to do to the ground to get it to a point where grass will grow?

 

I figure I need to rotivate or something to level it? When? How? We have cloggy urky clay soil, and a stream running at the bottom boundary the grass can get completely sodden very quickly in a downpour. Then once level what do we do to get grass back? I am willing to fence off grass area to prevent dogs getting on it - we have a big patio so they'll have enough room to lounge about and cause mayhem....

 

I would like to plant some trees - fruit or otherwise, fairly close (but not too close) to our neighbours boundary fence as I hope that it will help diffuse the view onto the green and thus help prevent the barking at people/dogs/car lights at night that currently goes on. Suggestions on trees what would take a non-gardener, won't grow massively huge, or hang to low and decapitate me while doing agility training and will grow in clay soil would be good. Or maybe bushes?

 

If anyone happens to know a landscape/gardener personage in around the surrey/sussex borders who wouldn't run in horror if they saw my garden that would be good too.

 

As you can tell I know bugger all - have a *bit* of enthusiasm to get it to how I need it to be, but I won't be willing to spend hours doing stuff to it once "done". I know I'm lazy but I've got other things I'd rather do...... I can manage mowing and simple hacking back and even a bit of weeding occasionally but beyond that I can't be arsed - although I am thinking about attempting to grow some veg again this year in pots. just as soon as I work out how I'm going to stop Syd eating it all before it's done growing.

[khanu]

Forgot to say: How do you kill off stinging nettles so they don't come back?! I've killed them with weed killer and pulled them up, let the winter kill them off and pulled them up and still they return. Why won't they die like everything else I've managed to kill accidentally

[blackmagic]

http://www.roundup-garden.com/which_roundup_product/roundup_xl_tough.aspx

[khanu]

http://www.roundup-g...p_xl_tough.aspx

 

I used Resolve or Resolva whatever it's called which claims to do the same thing.......maybe I'm destined to have stinging nettles forever - we do get a lot of butterflies...