THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

mardatha

Definitely. I've been asking on a forum what to grow next to a 5ft tall leylandii - and they all keep telling me Mediterrenean plants. That might be ok in the south of England but it's no good up here. I can't keep Rosemary alive through a winter, and lavender gets very poor and scraggy. Anything at all delicate like basil is a no-chance. I need a book on Gardening in the Himalayas

pineapple

mardatha wrote: »

Definitely. I've been asking on a forum what to grow next to a 5ft tall leylandii - and they all keep telling me Mediterrenean plants. That might be ok in the south of England but it's no good up here. I can't keep Rosemary alive through a winter, and lavender gets very poor and scraggy. Anything at all delicate like basil is a no-chance. I need a book on Gardening in the Himalayas

Mardatha I'm in Cumbria just over the Scottish border. I have a v large potted Rosemary and it does very well. In fact it is in flower right now. But it gets lots of sun. Does your Leylandii cast shade? Don't laugh but I'm growing one as a specimen. It is over 5 foot and am waiting till it gets to 6, then I'll keep it that height and it will fill out.
But the problem with planting near Leylandii is their root system and the fact that they grab water and nutrients.
But there is plenty of online discussion about this such as here.
http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/t/5797.aspx
I actually have mine next to my veggie patch but it doesn't cast shade and I just grow salad things anyway.

mardatha

It's the height here I think, and the exposure to wind that ruins plants. We get a lot of snow every winter and it's been down to -19 before. I don't mind the hedge at all pineapple, it's to the east of me and only casts shade until about 11am/noon. But I do want to fill out that border with some colour in summer. TY for that link x

[Deleted User]

Another beautiful day, but I've been at work for most of it.

GreyQueen

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Another beautiful day, but I've been at work for most of it.

Ditto. By the time I was free to be on the allotment, it was distinctly chilly but I was still able to fit 1.5 hrs of cultivation in. Got home at 8.45 pm!

Karmakat, where you've opened up the light, expect a gadzillion weeds to germinate. I can see some bramble suckers popping up in the tater patch (short version is they leapfrogged over from Plot2 when it was under its previous management). I shall get rid of them this year or next at the latest.

I also have a goodish clump of bramble (about the size of a coffee table) on Plot2 which will require the mattock. I cut it down to ground level a few weeks ago but always knew that's just an incentive to a bramble and that Cold Steel would have to be involved eventually.

I shall wait until a day where I'm feeling particularly strong and/or stroppy, then just go for it.:rotfl:

Karmacat

Very true about the new weeds to be expected, GQ! My first task today is to get yesterday's detritus out to the bin, there's quite a lot of it! Then the washing can get hung out, and if there's any energy left over after that, there'll be more digging

Honestly, if I suddenly **needed** food from my garden, I'd be in a bit of trouble. But I'd be in a *lot* of trouble if I hadn't done what I've already done

Question people always used to talk about cutting back bulb foliage - I never have, but I'm starting to want to. I have bluebells that surround the compost bin. They're very nice, but they're over now (sorry Mar!) can I just cut them down, while leaving the bulbs in situ of course, and chuck the foliage in the compost bin? I can't reach the bin at all right now and when things are settled, I might well try to move it.

[Deleted User]

If we are collectively 'insane' then we're in good company of each other, I rather see it as being the few 'sighted' folk in the planet of the blind! I don't actually care what opinion others have of me, I hold dear the skills and attitude to modern life that I have and I hope I might have a slightly better chance of making it through difficult times should they occur and might just be able to get my nearest and dearest through them too. We're a living encyclopaedia of forgotten skills and methods we Preppers, I don't eschew the push button society but I don't find 99.9% of it of any use whatsoever and it's not part of how we live, I just find satisfaction in being able to do useful things from scratch to finish be that growing our food from seeds, being able to skin and process game etc., being able to knap flint, being able to forage and help feed and medicate us or any of the broad spectrum of knowledge based skills that are deemed obscelete and not needed in this instant fix society we live amongst. I'm a dinosaur but I'm a happy one!

[Deleted User]

Well, I'm off today, so enjoying the sunny weather. :cool:

On the down side, there's the two medical appointments I've had to attend.

ivyleaf

I hope they went all right, Bob.

We had to collect DGS from school because "someone pushed him into a fence" Hopefully just a one-off incident.

[Deleted User]

ivyleaf wrote: »

I hope they went all right, Bob.

Don't know yet.

First one was a blood test for kidney function, after they doubled the dose of my blood pressure medication.

Second one was an Ultrasound examination of my shoulder, which has found a small, partial thickness, tear of a tendon/ligament.