Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

Another one who forgot to mention your pic, twopenny. What a lovely spot for a sitooterie.

Here’s my dodgy looking ivy - it’s intertwined with honeysuckle. I can’t do anything with it at the moment because I think I’ve got birds nesting in there...



On a happier note, I liked this wee trio I spotted when I was digging yesterday...

YoungBlueEyes

I don’t do the rottery (<— thank you daddy) either Farway. Himself is one of these that has the same numbers all the time, and buys extras when the mood strikes him. He bought one at the weekend and the bonus ball is 91!! I’m sure it only used to go up to 40. I don’t think people realise the mathematical significance of even one more number. I don’t do scratch cards or anything for the same reason. And have you seen the % they give away in that people’s postcode rottery thing? It’s a shame and disgrace. Anyway. 

I remember now that you’ve told me that before wort 🙄 Where you going sailing then? Presuming you don’t mean abroad I think the weather’s alright for Sat 🤞🏻

I’ve no further info on your rhubarb pp, there wasn’t a single loose auld fellah to be found in morries at all Pretty trio there, I like the little blue diddle whatever it is  

Farway

YoungBlueEyes said:

I don’t do the rottery (<— thank you daddy) either Farway. Himself is one of these that has the same numbers all the time, and buys extras when the mood strikes him. He bought one at the weekend and the bonus ball is 91!! I’m sure it only used to go up to 40. I don’t think people realise the mathematical significance of even one more number. I don’t do scratch cards or anything for the same reason. And have you seen the % they give away in that people’s postcode rottery thing? It’s a shame and disgrace. Anyway. 

I’ve no further info on your rhubarb pp, there wasn’t a single loose auld fellah to be found in morries at all Pretty trio there, I like the little blue diddle whatever it is  

I think it's a blue polyanthus, no connection to Norwegian parrots AFAIK.

% Chances is another reason I don't enter things, I've bored people solid by droning on about the only winning ticket I'd pull would be the one in the lifeboat, where they are deciding  who to chuck overboard fist

ArbitraryRandom

pink_poppy said:

Another one who forgot to mention your pic, twopenny. What a lovely spot for a sitooterie.

Here’s my dodgy looking ivy - it’s intertwined with honeysuckle. I can’t do anything with it at the moment because I think I’ve got birds nesting in there...

AFAIK, brown crispy leaves on Ivy are most likely either too much sun or too much water (not enough air to the roots)... and too much water could also explain a fungal problem with the Rhubarb? 

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

Dusty, keep on keeping on - you know you're in the right. When you have a minute, can you remind me what gardening gloves you get from Screwfix, please. Also, any weed suppressant recommendations - I seem to remember you mentioning one yonks ago but have long since forgotten what it was, sorry.

It's been quite a day today, but I'll leave that for later.   

The winter gardening gloves I use are these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/site-latex-builders-gloves-orange-yellow-medium/752fr

They're a copy of these :

https://www.screwfix.com/p/showa-310-original-builders-gloves-orange-large/42540

In Screwfix the Showas seem only to be in Large and my hands aren't! :/Anyway, the cheap ones seem fine.

It's some time ago now, but I saw gloves like the cheaper ones in Home Bargains at 99p. They were branded Spear & Jackson, but take that with a pinch of monosodium glutamate.

When it's warmer, like now, I switch to something like these:

https://www.toolstation.com/super-grip-gloves/p85720

For potting etc I'd never use gloves. I'm maybe kinky, but I like to feel the compost! ....and I'm kekky-handed enough already!

The heavy ground cover I've just bought was from a firm that's just closed.   By ground cover I mean polytunnel floor and outdoor walking areas.

However, for fair quality, I'd buy slightly lighter material from here:

https://www.harrodhorticultural.com/ground-cover-weed-control-fabric-100g-pid752

If you mean spun-bonded material to plant through, I'm not sure who does that in a stronger quality. 50g /m is 'normal.' It should last a couple of years and it's not for walking on.

twopenny

Went to get a windscreen wiper for£2 at the local diy shop......
Came back with that and a plastic half barrel !

I've always wanted a water Lilly.
No idea where to put the barrel. I don't have the room.
Hey ho.

-taff

@wort, I'm not sure what it is, I know it's stripey horizontally because I saw it in full flow, bu I got given a sheared version which has put out a few blades which arent stripey at all. Sounds like I should leave it for a bit to recover from being hoiked and plonked. And happy and peaceful seas sailing to you.

pp, what a great picture of all three flowers, weeds ARE petty

Dusty, I use nitrile gloves, still feel compost, avoid the eternal black nails, rough as whatevers skin on my thumbs and knuckles and ingrained dirt  on my fingertips..I didn't mind so much when I was younger but now it just itches when it's rough and no tube of hand cream makes a difference. Years of putting them on stands me in good stead for quick application and unapplication and they do last for days if you don't try anything rough with them.

2p, I did laugh at your half barrel purchase My water lillies are tiny, they're only a few inches, hoping they'll growth spurt or something. And my 'pond' is in an old tin bath I acquired from the tip when I was visiting my sister, so not huge. the lady I got the lillies off had a belfast sink pond and a smaller than half barrel pond, all sizes are welcome I still have the water tank pond but had to move it and when I did the plastic circles I'd siliconed on to prevent water leaking have come off. I need to put them back on and stick it somewhere else.

I did a bit of verge de=grassing today outside so it doesn't take over the pavement. I did put the spoil in my green bin but I've had a think and the next lot is going in an empty compost bag or two for next year. I do find my teeth clenching if I can;t find a use for things. Next thing to find a use for is the wood store [ made of old pallet and ex fence panel. I'm going to struggle with that one because the wood's so flimsy.

 

ArbitraryRandom

Around here they introduced a separate fee for garden waste that most people don't want to pay (£60 a year, but it's the principle). I signed up the first year and they delivered two 120L bins, which apparently I now own even though I'm not paying for the collection anymore..

So now I'm planning on using them for cuttings and clippings. 12 months in there in the dark and hopefully any traces of bind weed that sneaks in will be mulch so I can add them to the compost heap for another 12 months without risking reinfection. I know people say to not use anything which might have bind weed in at all, but if I do that then I can't use any green waste from the garden... and frankly my home compost would otherwise be 90% tea bags...  

-taff

I pay for my green bin, quite useful when there are things I can't compost, or when the tomatoes have blight. Are you going to drill holes at the bottom for the leachate? Can you get in to put a tap on it?

ArbitraryRandom

It could well prove to be as I plant more, but for now (without the giant hedges no longer there needing to be trimmed regularly) I can't see I'd fill the 2 bins in a year, and it's a flat rate subscription (you can't arrange a one off collection) so if there's ever a load of stuff that needs going (like blight) then a trip to the local tip is easy enough. 

The bins are big, so I could put a tap at the bottom (and I have a hole bit for my drill that I think is the right size) but I've not really worked it through yet, just thinking about where I'm going to put bins etc when I have the patio and what I can usefully use them for given they're just sitting in the garden  

The worst of the bind weed has been dealt with by the minidigger levelling everything and by putting in the beds with fresh/clean soil. But I don't want it to come back, so I'm thinking I could comfortably spend 12 months filling one of the bins, add water to drown anything, then leave it for 12 months - then put the solid matter in the compost bin and leave it another year before actually using it... I've got comfrey now planted around the compost bin, so any escaping bin tea goodness will be brought back into the cycle as I make leaf mold with them