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2023 - the good, the not so good but hopefully not ugly of growing your own!
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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.3 -
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 culi4
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carinjo said:ArbitraryRandom said:carinjo said:@KajiKita i'm going to share advice @Suffolk_lass gave on here previously: guide the bindweed up a bamboo cane or similar and then spot treat it with your preferred weedkiller. (I hope i got it right!) I've got a small paintbrush and knot killer and started using that on the bindweed and marestail. Slow, painstaking work, but life is too short to dig out weeds if one works full time. Good luck!
I've got some roundup powder that I ended up not using on the brambles, and I don't want to go whole hog on the garden again but the bindweed is everywhere! Wondering if I can use it.
It's this stuff if it makes a difference: https://www.homebase.co.uk/roundup-tree-stump-rootkill-weedkiller-250ml/12809392.html
Up to this point i have only done the odd spray of weedol , but it got to the point where i was so discouraged, wanted to give up. So decided to try a more aggressive route this year. We'll see if it makes a difference.Save £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My new diary is here5 -
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.4
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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 37/664 -
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.3 -
It was non-stop bees yesterday (again!) and our garden is really suffering. I really hope DH can get the mower to run over what is left of the grass - it is full of moss! - along with clovers, marjoram and creeping thistle, nepeta, ajuga and buttercups. Anyway, we plan to scarify some and plant some wildflower seeds in the part where the fruit trees are, and a robust gras to reseed patches where the moss has taken over. None of that is edible, but the encouragement of wildflowers will increase pollinators and our other crops will benefit from these.
I'm in the midst of bread and tray-cake making so I'll keep this short. Have a good Sunday allSave £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My new diary is here5 -
Not much going on in my main veg plot today - all the seedlings big enough to plant out are done, and things haven't really taken off yet. Only needs consistent watering (and my waterbutts are empty
) and a little training of peas and beans. The tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse is not ready to pot up/plant out yet.
So I attacked the Raspberries, which are verdant and tangled. If I leave it too long the fruiting canes collapse across the path, taking the new stems (will fruit in the autumn) with them. I found 3 ripe raspberries on the shadded side of the garden, which is very odd. I don't think I've found them that early before (relative to the strawberries), and the sunny-side raspberries have always been first, as you'd expect. Most odd.
One of my waterbutts, I've finally taken the tap off and removed the little stone that was trapped in the tap. It's been anoying me for months - I was hoping that it might be something that would decompose and pop out of its own accord, but no such luck. The next issue (why are these things never easy?!) is the seal is so perished and will need replacing before I put the tap back.
Decluttering awards 2025: 🏅🏅⭐️ ⭐️, DH: ⭐️ and one for Mum: 🏅5 -
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 37/664 -
-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.2
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