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2023 - the good, the not so good but hopefully not ugly of growing your own!

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  • ArbitraryRandom
    ArbitraryRandom Posts: 2,718 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    Yeah. I, as a rule, don't like the idea of weedkiller or blanketing an area, but I think there's a point where it's needed just to get things under control so a kinder approach can be taken to keeping on top of it. I had a friend spray about a third of the garden a few weeks ago that was shoulder high in brambles after being neglected completely for (I'm guessing) 6 or 7 years. Now I can just dig out the little shoots that are coming back up in that area and encourage the less spiky plants to come back over time. 

    The bind weed is the same - once it's not everywhere in the garden I can live with it in the hedges and just be on top of when it starts to encroach; but it's getting to that point that's the struggle!
    I'm not an early bird or a night owl; I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,330 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Mares tail needs to be bashed a bit if you're putting weedkiller on it because it has a hard exterior. Best thing to get rid of that I've found or at least limit it to the odd bit here and there is to shade it out. Cover it in cardboard or newspaper and dirt/earth/compost or a tarpaulin.
    Bindweed, the only way Ive got on top of that stuff was to dig the area over and remove all the roots I could find, then pul them up as and when they sprout before they get too many leaves.
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • carinjo
    carinjo Posts: 929 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    It will go under 2 tarpaulins and is next to veg, so super careful. Sorry to hear about the loss of apiary. I've stopped using bug spray for that reason, too scared for the ladybirds eating the aphids. 
    It's good for the soul to walk with your soles on the soil. 
  • alicef
    alicef Posts: 532 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Did a pop-up plant sale today for the village fund raiser.  These were the plants that were not ready for the earlier, beginning of May, sale - chillies/aubergines/peppers/tomatoes/cucumbers and a surprising best seller, which was the extra potted up asparagus seedlings.   I love growing the long form of peppers, rather than bell, but these were a bit of a hard sell - perhaps everyone's greenhouses are too full now.

    The grapes have started to bud so I have done a quick prune to take out the new growth.   
    Fashion on the Ration 2025  37/66   
  • carinjo
    carinjo Posts: 929 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Sounds like a good day @alicef
    Planted rest of serpentine squash and the courgettes. Netted one of the gooseberries, the rest will have to wait unfortunately. Tidied plot and hauled all the collected garbage and weedcollecting away. The new pressure sprayer worked very well for the weedkilling. Ended up having to do a lot less than thought, the tarpaulin done it's job, having been in place over 6months. 
    At home still need to pot up the cabbage and kale and plant the cucumbers.
    We away for 2 weeks from tomorrow (anyone near Hadrians Wall, give us a wave when we go past).
    Got a couple of neighbours that will water allotment and the veg at home and look after the fur babies. 

    It's good for the soul to walk with your soles on the soil. 
  • alicef
    alicef Posts: 532 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Thank you @carinjo - it was a great weekend!  Whilst I haven't done ANY planting out, because we had visitors camping in the orchard, the distraction was very welcome. Small people helping out at a plant sale is a great boon!  I didn't have time to check the scoville scale for the chillies, (I winged it on the day by the cultivar name - probably fatal approach), so I'm hoping that I didn't misrepresent the 'hotness'. 

    We all had a great time over the weekend, looking at damselflies, dragonflies, newt larvae, and other aquatic organisms. doing a BeeWalk and watching the bats flying around and spotting the constellations amongst lots of other outdoor stuff.  

    I do feel a bit behind on getting stuff planted out and hope to make a big push on it next week.





     
    Fashion on the Ration 2025  37/66   
  • Murphybear
    Murphybear Posts: 7,971 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    -taff said:
    Mares tail needs to be bashed a bit if you're putting weedkiller on it because it has a hard exterior. Best thing to get rid of that I've found or at least limit it to the odd bit here and there is to shade it out. Cover it in cardboard or newspaper and dirt/earth/compost or a tarpaulin.
    Bindweed, the only way Ive got on top of that stuff was to dig the area over and remove all the roots I could find, then pul them up as and when they sprout before they get too many leaves.
    We had a small front garden with gravel but no weed suppressant fabric.  It had mares tail.  It is one one of the most pernicious plants I’ve ever come across.  Apparently it’s a prehistoric plant with extensive roots.  We found no weedkiller worked and if you pull it up it grows back very quickly.  Someone offered to pull every piece up for a sum of money, he couldn’t understand why we laughed.  
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