Awful weather - typical Brits talk

greenbee

I'm still working on my 'no dig' veg plot. I have now used all my half-composted compost, most of my cardboard, two builders' bags of topsoil and I'm still going. My next door neighbours have been digging out a base for a greenhouse, so have donated the topsoil. It'll probably have weeds, but as the strawberries are going in a bed that is about 3.6m x 1.8m (with a 3.5m x 1.5m cage) and about 20-odd cm deep, it'll take a lot of filling!

If anyone is looking for bulk topsoil/compost, the stuff I've had from Rolawn has been really good. The delivery via Palletline less so... none of the deliveries have arrived when they have been scheduled, but now I know that it isn't a massive issue (although the last delivery had to be rescheduled after the driver decided to reverse into the drive - there's room for a MUCH bigger lorry to turn round in the drive - and ended up in the ditch in the lane which is narrower than my drive...). 

Greenhouse is now up and running with both veg (broadbeans have been planted out, climbing beans, peas, cucumber and courgettes are germinating, peppers and tomatoes are sulking) and annuals (cosmos have germinated, dierama and nicotiana are currently doing nothing). 

I have lots more seeds to sow - need to get the cowslips into the freezer. I'm planning a LOT of cosmos as I have a huge amount of space that needs to be filled temporarily while I work out the garden design. 

Dustyevsky

greenbee said:

I have lots more seeds to sow - need to get the cowslips into the freezer. I'm planning a LOT of cosmos as I have a huge amount of space that needs to be filled temporarily while I work out the garden design. 

Since we introduced cowslips here, they've spread far and wide. Like primroses, they seem to love the acid soil. As for Cosmos, packets go a long way. There were 700 seeds in mine, and most of them seem to germinate!

The fine weather yesterday turned cloudy, and it was far from a heatwave when we packed-up last night. The afternoon was spent taking-up the heavy-duty ground cover that used to be our 'flooring' in the old polytunnel and the nursery stock area in front of it. This was left down to keep the ground free from weeds, but soon there will be a digger and dumper driving over the area. Say no more!

kiss_me_now9

There were 3 (THREE!) on the tree this morning. I'm worried they're telling all their friends about the free buffet I'm putting on. I'm a vegetarian so will kindly decline the recipe ideas, but I must admit if they carry on I might have to lay my food based philosophies to one side on this occasion. 

Borage has popped up it's head this morning which is nice. Another decent day here I think so we'll go for a good long walk with the wee boy after his nap and perhaps end up in the pub...

greenbee

I hit a pigeon with the car this morning KMN - I thought you'd like to know Sadly I doubt it will be one of yours.

Dusty - the last couple of packets of cosmos only had a few seeds in them as they were the RHS member offer ones. So I ordered some of the ones with about 700 in which I've had before - and yes, they did all germinate last time (and the RHS ones have already germinated, so I'll get the other ones going too). I need to do my soil tests - there are camellias in the ground here which look reasonably healthy - neighbours say they need a bit of help, but are generally OK, so possibly the soil is only slightly acid. The garden (and several other properties) is on the site of what was a chicken factory in the 1970s, and the soil seems very variable (and neglected by the previous residents for the last 10 years, as they weren't gardeners). 

sammy_kaye18

Hello All
Do you mind if I squeeze in here and join you?
Busy fumbling round the garden at the minute. I thought living on a mountainside that the drainage would be pretty good but apparently not. 
Still I have spent the last few days laying down weed membrane and moving containers into a designated vegetable patch with a fence round it after my two sighthounds Angus and Hamish decided to take a liking to everything I was trying to grow. Now its protected. For now anyway and after a run in with said fence Hamish seems to have learnt his lesson. He is youngest idiot dog.Older idiot dog is just scared of everything. 
Have also got seeds in the greenhouse and made a bed for wildflowers to go in. 

Currently having a battle of wills though with JackDaws. I did see above that someone has a similar issue with pigeons. I have at least 4 on my shed roof each morning, one is particularly cheeky though and will stand his ground against the dogs - we have named him Gus. Also being joined lately by two pigeons. Never ending. Im yet to see a small bird in my garden but something decided to pull up all my sweet pea plants! 

ArbitraryRandom

Jackdaws are fairly intelligent (at least compared to pigeons!) 

I vaguely remember a thread from a while back where someone was looking for help because the jackdaws (or a similar corvid) were breaking their bird feeders and scaring away the smaller birds...  

I think they resolved it by making them a feeding spot in a different part of the garden and the birds ended up helping by chasing away cats etc - I wonder if you could try something similar... buy one of those bulk tubs of suet balls and train them to be an ally?

Or at least distract them around harvest time so you can get to the plants first  

-taff

Afternoon, morning, god knows...Busy again with the ex strawberry compost which is coir, but not too bad, there's about eight inches of soft stuff at either end of the bag so I used up seven bags to fill the bed a bit more, scraped the soft stuff on the top, salvaged ten plants that were sprouting to a big pot, employed the galvanised bath I acquired from the tip as a new pond, moved stones into it, filled it, stuck the plants in it and grudgingly put a few pond iris although I really don't like yellow flowers, I suppose some insects do. More sowing in a minute and hoiking the sage out of the seed bed, it's going to a local school next week I think along with some pots and other tiny tiny plants.

Now that we've had the massive tree taken down, the results are,, garden in full sunshine all day,  one dead bay tree, no pigeons carping al over the end and no magpies fighting the pigeons. They still do it, but just not in my garden...does that make me a nimby? I commiserate with thos eof you with agressive or stupid bird problems )

Dusty, that's a large bit of ground cover, what's going on there then?

greenbee, I put quite hefty logs, sticks, grass cuttings mixed with shredded paper and the ex strawberry compost to fill mine.. I should get away with putting just one bag of compost or two of top soil in it.

LessImpecunious

The answer to my flower quiz was, of course, gooseberry, as most of you no doubt guessed (I know some of you did!). A different, but more unusual, plant, though in a similar vein, flowering today, in sun, and managed, by grabbing hold of it and holding steady against slightly buffeting wind, to get a better photo than the last one - this one may be a slightly better challenge! BTW, don't think either of these featured in Alice on Wonderland!

greenbee

@-taff - I did that when I made deep raised beds in my last garden. This time it's only one board deep, so used the remains of the part-composted compost. I've covered it with next door's topsoil, the rest of the builders' bag of commercial topsoil, and am about to put a layer of commercial compost over it. It'll get as much as I can be bothered to barrow over! 

I've also got to work out a new location for my 6m raspberry bed. And what to fill it with - I do have some leaves and twigs that haven't yet been put in to the compost. I guess I should shove lots of stuff into the hotbin so that at least it's a bit more processed before I need it. 

And now I need to get back to barrowing compost... hopefully I can get it done in an hour and then give up for the day!

twopenny

Hello Sammy  never thought to give my problem crow a name. Perhaps it would help. 
I once put up a netting fence half way across the garden to keep my over enthusiastic hound safe and he belted round the corner and left a tom & jerry impression in it. It gave him a respect for it afterwards. Thied not to laugh cause it was awful really.

Les, excellent macro photography! Not a clue what it is but currant or goosegog?

Had sunny spells for most of 3 days! Even a tee shirt day  
Painted the compost house, sorted the shove it all in corner, weeded and cleared some beds, potted some geraniums, sat with my book, cheese wine and olives lunch and admired my garden looking like someone cared.
For the newbies, there was nothing in the plot 4yrs ago.

Unfortunately my muscles went and I had to stop which is annoying.

Kiss, borage has special happiness properties. I'll leave you to look that up. Suffice to say the youngsters were buying it up in the 80s.