Awful weather - typical Brits talk

pink_poppy

Aw, Dusty, I'm sorry your neighbour is being so aggressive - you really could do without that. Good thinking about phoning the EA - as taff said, what on earth is he thinking about when he's trying to sell. Honestly, some people...

Thank you for the gloves and weed suppressant info, btw. The weed suppressant will have to be fairly tough as we'll be walking on it, once it's covered in whatever cheap gravel I can find. It was supposed to be slate, but I think that's going to be too expensive now that I'm not working.

YBE, that's lovely that you're going to give your cousin some moral support - I'm sure it will be appreciated. We'll miss you on here though.

Another one thinking about a half barrel pond - I've seen them advertised here but always assumed they were for planting up. I've also seen the full barrels being advertised for making an ice bath. We do already have a pond, but it's a freestyle bodge job made by the previous owners. My poor DH has almost fallen into it a couple of times when he's been cutting the grass   

AR, we had frost here yesterday morning and the previous morning - quite nippy first thing but then beautiful warm sunshine for the rest of the day. I think you might be right with the ivy btw as it's quite congested on the fence with the honeysuckle mixed in with it. I'll give it a good haircut after the birds have finished with it.

taff - hope you find your mug of tea (sorry, that did make me laugh about the cat)   

Farway, I noticed Aldi had different coloured geraniums outside this morning. Hope your new plants turn up unscathed.

It's definitely a bit cooler today - I think that's our Scottish Summer over  

YoungBlueEyes

Thanks for the kind words re cousin folks. She had her diabetic and blind dog put to sleep and the whole thing was an absolute shipshow. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong and they left her with a £1600 bill for it. She’s pure destroyed so I said I’d go over. Sympathy is all well and good but sometimes you need empathy. 

That cat story made me laugh! See that’s why I’m a dog person - a cat would do that deliberately because they can whereas a dog would never put you through that! Fingers crossed your cuppa turns up 🤞🏻 😆

This is as close as I’ll get to gardening today - here’s Lovely Neighbour’s acers 

Farway

Nice neighbour acers YBE, and I spy a pond. 

Sorry to hear of the doggy news. Having had a couple over the decades, I understand how bad your cousin must be feeling, so hopefully you can help her a bit. Just keep out of garden centres, or you'll never get more plants back home.

Update from Yodel, my plants are in transit with a Saturday target

My mind wandered onto barrel ponds and the like, and then I realised I have a pond, it's a bit like PP freestyle bodge job by the sound of it. 

But worse because the long-lasting liner has a lasting leak so is really just a sludge hole, and never seen a tadpole or spawn in its life.

These days, it's way beyond my physical abilities to sort the leak out or replace the liner, so new light bulb moment, ping! [that's idea light going on ]. 

Super plan is getting a cheap inexpensive big tub, barrel, or trough and bung carefully place it in the shallow mud grave masquerading as a pond. 

If I was physically capable, an old bath would be ideal, but I'll have a lurk around the local Home Bargains, Morries etc and see what they have.

pink_poppy

I remember years ago I used a washing up bowl as a mini pond - it worked too. My Sister used her daughter's old plastic baby bath - filled with water and stones, with larger stones and plants around the border, it looked pretty good.

-taff

Oh dear Farway, I've just been looking at water loving plants that you could use to soak up your gunge...I've always wanted some gunnera even if it's a menace....:)

I'm sure someone on freecycle or fbmp would be giving away a bath at some point and probably wouldn't mind delivering it for petrol..

ArbitraryRandom

If you're doing that, then it's unlikely whatever it is will completely fill the hole... but I can see in my minds eye it looking really nice as a large vessel with marshy loving plants in the sludge around it? Mimicking a natural marsh or wetland... (and maybe plant some Corkscrew Rush - which is a wonderful plant I will never own as I don't like ponds). 

On my gardening front, I have just done a bit (and I admit I feel better for having been outside even for just half an hour). It's a bit impulsive, but I bought 50 red onion sets which were delivered today - some shooting, some a little shrivelled  looking... but I just spent a little while planting them in cardboard pots (still haven't sorted the soil level where I want them to go).

I read some Charles Dowden articles last night when I couldn't sleep - about multiple sowing, and he suggested onions did well with it. I didn't quite got for 4 to a pot, but I figured given a few looked a little past it that two wasn't taking much risk...  

Not actually exactly sure where they're going to go as my plan didn't account for 25 little pots of onion, but I do like onion (alliums in one form or another are probably the veg I eat most) and they say to grow what you'd eat... and most of the perennials I'm planting are on the small side for now  

twopenny

Re soggy pond. Couldn't you just get some liner, put across and fill with water so it sinks in place?
No need for all the fancy stuff.

I had frogs living in ex morries flower contains at £1 for 10 -  they filled with rainwater over winter and the frogs in residence for a few years.

I've used an ex washing up bowl to make a neat pond but they liked the pots better. It never get used by anything!

The plastic half barrel was £13, no holes.

Best wishes to Blueys cousin. That scenario stinks 
Once you've listened and got her through hopefully another dog. Even though she won't be happy at the thought the learning and adapting distracts and by the time you've done that you're (mostly sorted )
Voice of experience 

Hope this is readable, not got my glasses on. Bit of contact broke off and made me skew wiff 

broughton

I came on to the forum looking for some gardening advice. I sell plants for charitable causes, mostly cuttings, split perennials etc and as such get through quite a lot of bags of compost. I am staggered at the way compost has gone up in price but worse than that, most peat free bags I buy seem to be poorly composted council waste complete with stones and plastic and don’t get me started on fungus gnats. Today I bought several bags of Levington multipurpose. No better than the bags from Aldi. Wickes’ reviews and pictures look no better. I make my own compost but don’t even get enough to mulch my veg raised beds usually so that’s no good. Has anyone found anything that doesn’t cost the earth ( no pun intended- I don’t approve of peat depletion) that is of a reasonable quality this year??

greenbee

I've been happy with the bulk bags from Rolawn, which are cheaper than I've found elsewhere. 

LessImpecunious

broughton said:

I came on to the forum looking for some gardening advice... I am staggered at the way compost has gone up in price but worse than that, most peat free bags I buy seem to be poorly composted council waste complete with stones and plastic and don’t get me started on fungus gnats.

Not forgetting the cat poo that someone just admitted to putting in their green bin ... (naming no names but am sure they won't be the only ones doing it!). Sorry, can't help with the q as I v rarely buy compost, but it's been discussed recently, on this thread I think - hopefully several will chip in with helpful suggestions, though I think yours is a common experience.