orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Bloody hell, you're making me feel better. Only have couch grass, massive docks with roots the size of trees, and creeping buttercup. Nettles and thistles seem to be getting to know their place.
Gardening with Joey
- Thread starter Bungle
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In the UK - time to take spring cuttings of hardy perennials - plus check your garden for self seeded plants if they look good where they have germinated leave them be in situ ....
I'm similarly inclined not to spray poisonous chemicals all over the gaff. I kept on top off all kinds of weeds on my allotment (when I had it) and in the garden using the no dig method with plenty of wet cardboard, compost and mulching. Did an initial clear out of the bigger weeds and then deprived the rest of light. Loads easier and consistently improves the soil as the seasons go by. There's a load of good stuff all over the internet about it and I've gotta say it worked for me from the start.
There's always a few pop up every now and then but it's easy to keep on top of once you've done the initial graft.
EDIT - Though this method is less easy when you're not working on a relatively flat or easy layout such as an allotment.
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Yeah, no dig (till for the yanks) rocks if you get everything right. Was a dream at the last place, except mares tail, but struggling currently, think the municipal compost we bought to give us a first year push must be anaerobic and immature, plus slug pressure's crazy currently. Going to nematode their asses - although I'd ideally wait and let the microbiology naturally settle - I need some cropping this year...
Yeah we sometimes have a similar compost scheme with the local council but I'm not massively inclined to get some. If I did I'd compost it for another year at least before using it.
My approach is that if it works well enough then that'll do. Gardening's an ongoing thing for me with no fixed finishing post and everything you plant, cut down, dig up or move is just preparation for the following seasons. I put a rough structure in place then just nudge nature in the direction I'd like it to go - I don't have the patience for the perfectly manicured approach with pristine lines and not a rogue plant in sight.
Selling my old house and seeing the end of a 20+ year battle with mares-tail was the only good thing to come out of my divorce!
Current garden is a dream in comparison.
If you use heavy-duty ground master ground cover material covered with 1-2 inches of sea pearl gravel & plant perennials through it - thats as low maintenance you can do for a nice garden - just replant any that are unfortunate to die etc - & prune any dead flower heads
My front garden below -
My front garden below -
Few jobs done today.
Cleaned up and weeded the small border on the front drive. Mainly annuals in there last year so not much has survived winter. Bit of weeding and topping up with fresh compost. Just gonna sow some wild seed mix and stick a couple of plants from propagated cuttings in there this year. Only a small shallow space so keep it simple and cheap.
Borders in the back garden mainly tidying up and pruning and propagating some ratty looking Heucheras and moving a few self seeded foxgloves about. Couple of new ferns in the shadier spots. Got my Dahlia tubers started in containers on a warm shelf by the shed window - small shed but should be OK for getting them started and ready for planting in May.
Got some seed started off in one of those cheap crappy greenhouse things from B&M / Home Bargains. Would prefer a proper greenhouse but needs must and it does the job for getting stuff started while it's still a bit cool.
Cleaned up and weeded the small border on the front drive. Mainly annuals in there last year so not much has survived winter. Bit of weeding and topping up with fresh compost. Just gonna sow some wild seed mix and stick a couple of plants from propagated cuttings in there this year. Only a small shallow space so keep it simple and cheap.
Borders in the back garden mainly tidying up and pruning and propagating some ratty looking Heucheras and moving a few self seeded foxgloves about. Couple of new ferns in the shadier spots. Got my Dahlia tubers started in containers on a warm shelf by the shed window - small shed but should be OK for getting them started and ready for planting in May.
Got some seed started off in one of those cheap crappy greenhouse things from B&M / Home Bargains. Would prefer a proper greenhouse but needs must and it does the job for getting stuff started while it's still a bit cool.
Noisy noise annoys
Player Valuation: £70m
I have been making my wife a dipping pond like Frosty from Gardeners world.
Will look like this (apparently)
Will look like this (apparently)
Noisy noise annoys
Player Valuation: £70m
Actual thing, you can hardly see the difference
That tank would make a nice water feature of it was sunk 50% into the ground in well drained gravel as a foundation - then evergreen plants around it .....it would look more natural ......
Noisy noise annoys
Player Valuation: £70m
Yeh, I will make proper ponds, but this is a dipping pond. Basically a pretty water butt with Bullrushes and Iris etc. It is at waist height.
Edit, a bit like this after a spring/summer to get established
Just imagine in your mind if those tanks were 50% lower - how well the plants would blend in, plus you would see more water - p!us the water would be warmer for wildlife ......
Noisy noise annoys
Player Valuation: £70m
My Buddhist sensibilities doesn’t want anything living in this one as it would die when wifey water the garden with it. I can’t even burn logs without brushing them and throwing them on the floor to get all the insects off! Drives my wife mad
My last pond was a triumph and, when we have finished the work in this house I’ll build a whopper!
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