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A catalogue of trial, error and advice

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  • ArbitraryRandom
    ArbitraryRandom Posts: 2,718 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    Great, thanks. As long as they're feeding on the bind weed and staying away from strawberries I can cope with that :) 

    A quick google and a bit of a read means yarrow is being added to my list to attract ladybugs. I can't stand marigolds (they look silly...) but maybe sweet alyssum along the top of the wall in the front? 
    I'm not an early bird or a night owl; I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.
  • Farway
    Farway Posts: 14,667 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    edited 28 May 2023 at 10:49AM
    Great, thanks. As long as they're feeding on the bind weed and staying away from strawberries I can cope with that :) 

    A quick google and a bit of a read means yarrow is being added to my list to attract ladybugs. I can't stand marigolds (they look silly...) but maybe sweet alyssum along the top of the wall in the front? 

    Ideal, easy to grow and self seeds so once you have them you have them forever
    Check out aubretia while you are at it, old-fashioned maybe, but it just works forever. Not sure about attracting ladybirds, but plenty of hiding spaces for spiders and bees love it of course
    Eight out of ten owners who expressed a preference said their cats preferred other peoples gardens
  • ArbitraryRandom
    ArbitraryRandom Posts: 2,718 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    Lovely, thanks :)
    I'm not an early bird or a night owl; I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,345 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I've had a couple of water butts from them, they deliver very quickly and you don't need to worry about sealant around the taps, there are seals you just tighten against. They don't leak, or at least mine don't.
    To fit the drain pipe connector you basically get a fine ish saw, slice through the down pipe, push the water connecter onto the two parts, that's it.
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • ArbitraryRandom
    ArbitraryRandom Posts: 2,718 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    edited 4 June 2023 at 12:37PM
    Just been to the garden centre and (surprise!) bought a load of things... including lots of seeds.

    Nothing that needs planting this year (I checked BBE dates), and I'm hoping you kind people will tell me if any of them are a mistake/I should try and trade them for something easier/less likely to completely dominate the garden if left to it's own devices. 

    Basic aim is front garden decorative and to attract pollinators; will be ignored for most of the year. Back garden leaning towards edible for me or wildlife - but I'm still not aiming for self sufficiency or maximising anything, just a few bits for my efforts :) 

    (Ramsom seeds to be planted in random scruffy bits of local land so they don't take over my garden)

    Front:
    Aubretia large flowered mix (can sow outside now? Exp 24)
    Alyssum colourful mixed (Sow March-May - Exp 25)
    Scabious (tall double mixed) (Sow Mar-May - Exp 27)
    Nigella Persian Jewels (Sow Mar-May - Exp April 26)
    12 lavender plugs (absolutely tiny so will need a month or so before they can go out)
    12 aquilegia plugs (absolutely tiny so will need a month or so before they can go out)
    To be purchased in November(ish) - Laura crab apple 

    Back (in 'lawn'): 
    Purple lemon herb (bergamot?) (Exp Oct 24
    Lemon balm (Exp April 25)
    Crimson clover (Exp Feb 26)
    Red clover (Exp Jan 26)
    White clover (Exp Aug 25)
    6 white yarrow plugs (absolutely tiny so will need a month or so before they can go out)
    (To be purchased in November(ish) Conference pear, Stellar cherry, Limelight OR Grenadier apple - all on dwarf stock)
    (already have comfrey - though I know this is no longer considered an edible)
     
    Veg:
    Uchiki Kuri (as recommended on here) (Sow Mar-May Exp 25) 
    Harrier squash (the rest of the seeds I was given) (Exp 25)
    Rainbow chard (sow now? Exp 25)
    (already have chives, mint, nasturtiums, strawberries) 
    (to be purchased in November(ish) 2 x honeyberry and dwarf mulberry)


    From Thompson and Morgan I also bought (yet to be delivered):

    Tomato 'Balconi Red' (hoping to grow in large tub)
    Borage
    Courgette 'All Green Bush'
    Courgette 'Sure Thing'
    Cucamelon 'Melothria'
    Rhubarb 'Glaskin's Perpetual'
    Squash 'Baked Potatoes' (Winter)
    Squash 'Waltham Butternut' (Winter)

    Which... now that I come to look at it seems quite a lot. I would only be intending to grow one plant of each probably, and if the seeds have the same kind of life expectancy of 2026ish, then I expect I'd also only grow a couple a year. 

    The one outlier is rhubarb, which I know is a perennial so will need dedicated space in the garden... I very much like rhubarb but can't justify the price for a couple of sticks in the supermarket, so I'll want to find a place for it to be happy and productive.   

    As such, I think my amended plan is more like this with two raised beds (the path is still not fixed and the trees shouldn't get that wide if properly pruned, but if they do then they'll be spanning over the hedge rather than into my neighbours' gardens - and I've spoken to them and they like the idea of being able to scrump the odd bit of fruit...):




    I'm not an early bird or a night owl; I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,345 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I'd just like to point out for courgette plants you're looking at a good meter square of space for each when they are in full flow, and squash can be two to three meters square.
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 35,999 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 4 June 2023 at 3:31PM
    I’d be chucking some foxglove seeds around in the front bit as well. Mine merrily self seed all over the place, and good for bees. 
    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
  • ArbitraryRandom
    ArbitraryRandom Posts: 2,718 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    edited 4 June 2023 at 5:30PM
    -taff said:
    I'd just like to point out for courgette plants you're looking at a good meter square of space for each when they are in full flow, and squash can be two to three meters square.
    Yeah... I got a little over excited by the seeds :D  

    I've allocated a rough/arbitrary 8m2 for the raised beds, which I'm thinking would hold a rhubarb, a squash, a courgette and a tomato (giving each the equivalent of 2m2). The other fruit/veg will be in pots or in the grass rather than nice tidy rows. 

    I'm hoping the use by dates on the ones from T&M will be at least 2025 so I can practice with the two types I have already, and I'm (also) hoping that by then I'll be a little more confident with the idea of them climbing. 

    So far not a sniff of a shoot from the two harrier seeds I planted (a week ago?) but they're my trial run for this year.
    I'm not an early bird or a night owl; I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 18,219 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ArbitraryRandom said: To be purchased in November(ish) Conference pear, Stellar cherry,
    Pear is one of those fruit trees that does best if there is another one close by to cross pollinate.
    Her courage will change the world.

    Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
  • ArbitraryRandom
    ArbitraryRandom Posts: 2,718 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    edited 7 June 2023 at 12:27AM
    FreeBear said:
    ArbitraryRandom said: To be purchased in November(ish) Conference pear, Stellar cherry,
    Pear is one of those fruit trees that does best if there is another one close by to cross pollinate.
    Unfortunately I really don't have space for two.

    That's one of the reasons I decided on conference - from everything I've read it's one of the most self-fertile of varieties of pear trees and will produce a decent enough crop when grown on its own (and I might get lucky - there might be one in a surrounding garden somewhere within pollination range).

    Stella is also decently self fertile, and limelight would be pollinated by Laura in the front. 

    That's my logic anyway. 

    If it helps, I'm not expecting or really even wanting mountains of fruit; if there is a glut then I probably won't get around to picking or figuring out how to store/use it anyway. I used to have a blueberry bush in a planter while I was a student. It produced maybe 12 fruits for me in a good year and I was delighted by every one. 
    I'm not an early bird or a night owl; I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.
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