Gardening thread 2022

[Ferris]

Those fuckers are going mad. I've replanted mine in the ground now and given them a fuckin huge dose of fertilizer so I have high hopes!

A few other bits and pieces of gardening done (including pulling a shitty tree out by the roots which looked dead impressive), but otherwise powder dry for next week or two.

[Buelligan]

Way beyond buds here.  Way.  Been training a holiday home's wisteria over an empty pergola they have (the owners of the house haven't been here since the covid hit).  Also training a rose which I planted coupla years ago up the front.

Fuck me, it looks like a film set from Elrond's garden.  Half the pergola is now ceilinged solidly with hanging flowers and the walls of the house, up to second floor windows, covered in roses.  The smell is amazing and the sight just looks like it must be made of plastic, there are too many flowers.  I bamlem the weather.

I hope they're not cross when they finally get back.  I've made their bald house flowery.  Slightly worried that they won't like the Sleeping Beauty thing I felt compelled to impose regardless of their wishes.  Ah well, you can't please everyone.

[Ferris]

I'm still sprouting stuff, we've only been frost-free for a week or so. Tulips are coming up well though!

[Buelligan]

You got those pumpkins in yet?

[Sherringford Hovis]

Can I just thank everyone that's posting in this thread?

Despite mixed successes and multiple failures over the years, I'm a keen gardener but have put the brakes on anything other than basic garden maintenance for the foreseeable because we've made the heart-breaking decision to sell what for the last dozen years we've thought of as likely our 'forever home' (yes, I hate that twee designation too, but I hate it more than you do, so I'm allowed to use it) because the formerly lovely village in which we live has totally gone to shit over the last few years (probably separate ranty thread at some point when I'm more able to be jocular about re-framing my self-reference as a NIMBY or something).

So I come to this thread to vicariously garden. Even if you've only got a windowsill, get some basil, chives and parsley sprouting on there - growing stuff is the best.

[Ferris]

You got those pumpkins in yet?

Got the pumpkin seeds, going to plant them this weekend. We have habaneros, yellow beans and broccoli in those peat pellet things and I'll transfer them outside a lot quicker this year because we have so much more space (the back yard was a bit of a disaster area last year - full of rubble and half a shed, which necessitated growing everything in pots but we got it sorted last august).

We'll also plant potatoes, carrots and cabbage (the boy insisted for some reason), cucumber, onions and garlic in the border which is now an allotment. I have to move and re-plant a rhododendron and a wild rose bush first (both too lovely to just dig up and get rid) but rest of the border is sparse and shit, so I'll rake it over with some fertilizer (the soil here needs it) then plant everything and see what survives.

I've found the key is to cast your net wide, plant hundreds of things and if only a dozen grow to fruition, it still feels like a success. Also did a bit more guerilla gardening with wildflower seeds on the verge on our street with Ferris Jr. Hopefully those get going.

It requires a lot of mental energy and planning which has been a struggle until the last few years but I think we'll get some proper enjoyment out of our outside space this year. I even got one of those wanky portable pizza ovens. Roll on summer 2022!

[Buelligan]

Sounds really exciting and wonderful, please, I know I don't because no camera, but please do photos, I'd really love to see how it goes.

I have to move and re-plant a rhododendron and a wild rose bush first (both too lovely to just dig up and get rid) but rest of the border is sparse and shit, so I'll rake it over with some fertilizer (the soil here needs it) then plant everything and see what survives.

Thought this might be helpful - https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/five-reasons-to-feed-your-soil/

[Ferris]

Invaluable advice as ever! I'd never heard of feeding soil and naively assumed "just add chemicals" was the easiest way to go. To my shame, I hadn't considered the carbon footprint either.

I was planning to rake the existing plants back into the soil, but I'll keep an eye out for some slow releasing stuff. I believe fish bone fertilizer is abundant here (my province is one giant fishery) so that's a far better solution in terms of carbon.

As soon as anything sprouts, I can assure you there will be photos. If I get a pumpkin and my hops survive, I'll be delighted. Looks like they sprouted late April last year so fingers crossed.

[Buelligan]

Too kind old sport!  Really looking forward to it.  On the raking back in, remember, if there are roots attached to perennial weeds or even on their own, hoik 'em out and destroy or throw them or they'll regrow. 

[MojoJojo]

I'm an erratic, inconsistent gardener. My current plan is grow some potatoes in the front garden to try and reduce the nutrients in the sole so wildflowers will do better against grass than they have for the last couple of years. So I'm not going to putting all the labour into maximising my potato crop and the potatoes are just a bonus.

[Buelligan]

If you want your wild flowers to thrive - obviously, right plant, right place is crucial. 

They're great and evolved for wherever they're native to, so think about shade, light, water, soil type.  And as you rightly say, denude (for most) the soil by repeatedly cutting and taking away grass (on say, a lawn) and other plants, so no nutrients return to rot down.  Also remove, root and branch, any really thuggish plants, like cooch grass or mint or bindweed, first.

[Buelligan]

Can I just thank everyone that's posting in this thread?

Despite mixed successes and multiple failures over the years, I'm a keen gardener but have put the brakes on anything other than basic garden maintenance for the foreseeable because we've made the heart-breaking decision to sell what for the last dozen years we've thought of as likely our 'forever home' (yes, I hate that twee designation too, but I hate it more than you do, so I'm allowed to use it) because the formerly lovely village in which we live has totally gone to shit over the last few years (probably separate ranty thread at some point when I'm more able to be jocular about re-framing my self-reference as a NIMBY or something).

So I come to this thread to vicariously garden. Even if you've only got a windowsill, get some basil, chives and parsley sprouting on there - growing stuff is the best.

Sorry, I missed this - I'm afraid the new posts thingy just ignored you, anyway, really sorry to hear that shitty news but don't give up, like you say, even a tiny bit of soil and green does the old heed a marvel. 

I murdered a rose (Crown Princess Margareta) I've loved for years over the last few days.  Been planning it for ages but felt so wrong.

Suddenly bit the bullet and did it.  Nearly killed myself in the fight, it was a big rose.  Felt terribly guilty for some time, still do a bit.  But now, I can plant the lovely Podranea ricasoliana I have been lusting over.  My new wife now.

Even adultery is healing when you do it out of doors.  :)

[Harry Badger]

Invaluable advice as ever! I'd never heard of feeding soil and naively assumed "just add chemicals" was the easiest way to go. To my shame, I hadn't considered the carbon footprint either.

I was planning to rake the existing plants back into the soil, but I'll keep an eye out for some slow releasing stuff. I believe fish bone fertilizer is abundant here (my province is one giant fishery) so that's a far better solution in terms of carbon.

As soon as anything sprouts, I can assure you there will be photos. If I get a pumpkin and my hops survive, I'll be delighted. Looks like they sprouted late April last year so fingers crossed.

I've only got a small garden so I have to pay a lot of attention to keeping the soil replenished with nutrients, particularly as for logistical reasons I tend to grow similar things in the same place (ie beans up against the wall). In my view, you have to treat it as a year-round job. Working from home has made this a bit easier. I don't have room for a compost heap so onto the veg patch goes coffee grounds, tea leaves, autumn leaves from the trees, wood/barbeque ash and then peeing on it every so often.  Then you need to give it some chicken manure pellets in the winter and the blood & bone in the spring. All the compost from the previous summer's pot plants go on there as well.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Somebody bought me a stocking filler for Christmas that's a pencil with a capsule containing plant seeds at one end. The idea is you use the pencil until it's really short, then plant the stumpy bit and wait for the plant to grow.

Thing is, I rarely use pencils that much anymore, so I'm just going to cut the end off and plant that. It doesn't specify what sort of plant or flower it is though, only to:

Plant it when it is shorten. Add water, sunshine and your love. You will have a greeny plant in 14-28 days!

[Brian Freeze]

Our pumpkin seeds haven't germinated, despite a propagator. Will have to try again and quick!

Also planted a couple of clematis- not had much success with them here but have high hopes for these.

[Ferris]

The habaneros are sprouting!

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Hosanna! Hopefully they'll keep going.

[confettiinmyhair]

I've only got a small garden so I have to pay a lot of attention to keeping the soil replenished with nutrients, particularly as for logistical reasons I tend to grow similar things in the same place (ie beans up against the wall). In my view, you have to treat it as a year-round job. Working from home has made this a bit easier. I don't have room for a compost heap so onto the veg patch goes coffee grounds, tea leaves, autumn leaves from the trees, wood/barbeque ash and then peeing on it every so often.  Then you need to give it some chicken manure pellets in the winter and the blood & bone in the spring. All the compost from the previous summer's pot plants go on there as well.

I'm a bit clueless about feeding the soil, but over the winter I went down to the coast and collected a few backs of sea weed. As well as that I've been using horse manure from a local paddock. I've just bunged it on the raised beds and as my son is into digging holes I just chuck in any worms I find. Presumably over time this will improve the soil?

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Next door has a horse chestnut tree that dispatches loads of conkers yearly onto our garden. Today I pulled up what I thought was a weed, but turned out to be a seedling, complete with conker at the base.

I planted it in a pot and I'm gonna try growing a bonsai tree out of it (so kawaii). Unfortunately though, it seems they don't produce tiny conkers in the Autumn, which would be funny as fuck.

[Ferris]

Well, it looks like neither of my hop plans survived a Canadian winter. Bastards.

Luckily, I planned for this eventuality and planted a new rhizome a few weeks ago which despite being the size of a biro has sprouted and LIVES.

[TommyTurnips]

Well, it looks like neither of my hop plans survived a Canadian winter. Bastards.

Luckily, I planned for this eventuality and planted a new rhizome a few weeks ago which despite being the size of a biro has sprouted and LIVES.

Sorry to hear about the death of your hops. I mourn their demise. Are hops even meant to grow outside all year round in Canada? I mean I know it's not all frozen tundra but I can't think of any Canadian hop varieties. I wonder what the solution is. Do Canadian hop growers keep them in pots and bring them indoors for the winter I wonder.

Mine are starting to go a bit crazy. No flowers or cones yet but they are making me hope that I bought big enough pots. From left to right there is Cascade, then the tiny Centennial plant, then the Mount Hood with the rhizome that looked like Mick Hucknall's dreadlocks.

[Ferris]

Yeah that monster rhizome was basically a second year plant in terms of existing rootstock so it was always gonna be a success.

Those look great - my understanding is that they keep growing in height until end of June (solstice) then switch all their energy to flowering so you still have 5-6 weeks of them getting taller.

Re: surviving in Canada - I've seen a few wild hop plants and I know friends who grow hops and leave them in the ground, so it happens. We live in the most temperate bit so if you can't grow stuff here, you can't really grow it anywhere. I left them in a pot over winter which I shouldn't have done because they get properly frozen solid. Would have been better to either plant the roots into the ground at the end of the season after cutting them down, or leaving them in the pot and bringing them inside.

They're fragile (sort of) the first year, and get a lot more robust year 2 or 3 if they live that long so if they survive the first winter I'm laughing.

[Brian Freeze]

We've got sprouted pumpkins putting out their first proper leaves and we have some nettle fertiliser bubbling away to feed them in a couple of weeks.

The venus fly trap that flowered wasn't having a last display of glory before death; it actually seems really happy! Lots of new growth on it and it has been catching its own dinner.

[DoesNotFollow]

RE: feeding the soil. Learning about soil and growing media is one of my favourite things about gardening. Think of the soil not as an inert material but a living ecosystem. You add organic matter to it and as it breaks down worms, insects and micro-organisms redistribute the nutrients it holds by eating, excreting and also dying within it. They also aerate the soil by moving through it. Tougher, woody bits take longer to break down but help provide drainage.

Obviously different plants prefer different qualities in the soil so it's good to do the research, but generally speaking a healthy soil will contain lots of life, both feeding off and contributing to its quality.

By contrast chemical fertilisers are absorbed very quickly and also drain away easily in wet conditions, contributing little to long-term quality of the soil.

[Ferris]

My hop plant has decided to die, which I'm slightly pissed off about. It was a tiddly rhizome and looks like it couldn't hack it.

The disappointment is tempered by the fucking MASSIVE raised beds I built and planted stuff in last weekend. Mostly veg but we also have blueberries and strawberries in hanging pots around them, and some pumpkins that I've decided are free range.

Managed to relocate the rhododendron which is a triumph, the wild rose has been cut back significantly but looks very healthy, and the tulips are going mad - I've had neighbours come over to admire them all which has never happened before.

Overall, looks like a good haul of gardening for the year!

[DoesNotFollow]

A couple of pics of garden splendour today:





Anyone know what this is that has self-seeded? We though it was a campion at first but apparently not:



I don't know what it is but the foxglove is looking absolutely hench:

[Ferris]

I found a plant identifier online which reckons its "tall fleabane" (or Erigeron elatior if you must)? Looks about right I think.

Looks great though, the trellis is the sign of a gardening pro.

[Attila]

I recently found out that you can freeze fresh woad leaves; it's a blue dye plant, and I was taught once you harvert the leaves, you have to get them into the dyepot, stat.

This is a game changer, because the more leaves you have, the better the dye. I've just ordered 3 more plugs, so I'll have six fresh plants this year. I've also bought fleece to keep the cabbage whites from destroying this year's crop like they did to me last year >:(

My madder has gone nuts, and spread throughout its bed; that means lots of roots. Roots is good, because that's where the dye is. They still have another two years at least before I can harvest any, tho.

I kept one madder from last year and let it bolt, so I'll have lots of seeds for next year. Meanwhile, I've put a tansy and a wormwood into the old woad bed. They are perinniels that make yellow dye, so they're with the dyers chamomile. Crap for tea, great for yellow dye.

Meanwhile, Mr Attila has let me reclaim another plot on his allotment, so the six woads will go on one end, and then I've got loads of flax seed to put on the other end.

Speaking of reclamation, last spring I weeded his strawberry bed in anger as a stress-buster. The handful of sad little strawberry plants from last year have spread like crazy,and they are loaded with berries this year. We've got them netted, and should have a small haul of them this weekend.

My current furious reclamation is an enormous stand of brambles; I've hacked out about 2/3 of them, because buried inside are several very sad little raspberries. I've liberated two of them, and I think there are two more canes in what's left of the bramble patch. Very satsifying going after the bramble fuckers with a hacksaw, knife, and my brother's Boy Scout hachet this afternoon. We need to dig out the bramble roots as much as poss, and I'd like to cover the ground around the raspberries with barky mulch/wood chips.

I'm not really a gardener, but I like growing dye plants, and the absolute destruction of hacking up these brambles is satisfying at a to-the-breaking-point stressful period.

No photos at the moment, but will take some later this weekend as I think we'll both be down there at some point this weekend.

[Dex Sawash]

Had a small group of hosta-like things pop up for first time this spring, then the leaf stalks fell over and shriveled followed by thick stalks with Bristol chart type 2 poo on the end.

[TommyTurnips]

My hop plant has decided to die, which I'm slightly pissed off about. It was a tiddly rhizome and looks like it couldn't hack it.

The disappointment is tempered by the fucking MASSIVE raised beds I built and planted stuff in last weekend. Mostly veg but we also have blueberries and strawberries in hanging pots around them, and some pumpkins that I've decided are free range.

Managed to relocate the rhododendron which is a triumph, the wild rose has been cut back significantly but looks very healthy, and the tulips are going mad - I've had neighbours come over to admire them all which has never happened before.

Overall, looks like a good haul of gardening for the year!

Sorry about your new hops. Two of my plants have got big shoots coming from the main bines which I think is the part that will flower and grow cones. The massive Mick Hucknall rhizome plant doesn't seem to be growing any shoots from the bines and seems to have some browning leaves like its been blighted by something, so i gave it some fertiliser. Should be alright though I hope. I was under the impression that hops are like weeds and are hardy perennials. As they say around here, I hope it pulls through.