GreenFly - A 'flylady style' gardening thread with weekly tasks to tame your garden

Brie

@Floss where on earth are you finding the macs?

Floss

My apples come from Asda - I buy whatever is in the value bag, last time it was Macs, the time before Braeburns, this week is is Red Prince from Belgium (and quite nice they are too)

SandyShores

Thank you for the apple advice.  I think mine must be an August cropper, they are looking pretty big and turning red in places.  I'm going to leave it for a couple of weeks and then try removing one gently.  More deadheading done, the roses have mostly disappeared but there are loads of buds waiting to come out.  My surviving clematis is covered in little black bugs so I'm going to give it a spray in a minute.  I don't like to get the bug spray out but its a weedy thing as it is so needs all the help it can.

redofromstart

A little bit of weeding and pruning done today, and a few cuttings of the winter honeysuckle attempted. 

I want some (many, lots!) bags of compost - has anyone seen any offers?  Not sure if HB still have it

KajiKita

Potted up a cotoneaster that was growing out of the garage downpipe for a local who posted on a FB page asking for plants for the local village hall garden. Even used an incompatible plastic pot that I had put in the potting shed bin, so I don’t even regret letting that go either. Kinda counts …? 🤷‍♀️🤔😊😉

KK

Cherryfudge

I'm another with a cotoneaster or several. There's one as part of the hedge at the back and I spent about fifteen minutes clipping bits off it today in the interests of neatness. For something that's supposed to spread horizontally, it makes a nice hedge and I think the birds like the shelter as well as the berries.

Cheery_Daff

Thanks for the weekend suggestion Redo! We are at the end of a lane down a long drive so nobody is driving past our house 🤭 but we DO have a public footpath through the garden so there are plenty of walkers,  who can set pretty much the whole garden from the path 🙈 

However, today my concern is not them,  but rather my friends, who are coming to stay tomorrow.  I have volunteered to do a treasure hunt for their small children so today's garden aim is to prepare! So:

* scything a couple of areas of long grass which have been flattened by the rain (and seemingly a cow, which must have sneaked in when we weren't looking 😂)

* mowing the shorter grass

* cutting nettles around the fruit bushes so they can do some picking

* getting the thistles out of the greenhouse - I might have to stage the teddy bears' picnic element of the treasure hunt in there given the rain forecast 🙄😂

That might be enough for today.  Weather is lovely - wish it was forecast to stay that way for tomorrow's visit but I'll just have to enjoy i it myself!

Natty68

Morning all, a lurker coming out of lurkdom 😁 I have been reading and keeping up to date with your posts etc. So lovely to see some Fly ladies here too.

I need help....in our new garden I've actually taken up gardening but I'm being beaten on my Brussels 😮 They are in a raised vegetable plot/cage that was already here when we moved in. They've grown really tall, almost 3ft now but I've noticed eggs on the leaves plus the snails and slugs are munching the bottom leaves.

What can I do to, naturally, to get rid of them - I've put crushed egg shells around them so am hoping that will stop the slugs and snails but the eggs are getting me. And don't ask me to sweep them off as the thought of touching them eww!!!!!  I have sprayed them with hot soapy water this morning, do you think that will help?

Any advice will be appreciated 👍

Farway

Natty68 said:

Morning all, a lurker coming out of lurkdom 😁 I have been reading and keeping up to date with your posts etc. So lovely to see some Fly ladies here too.

I need help....in our new garden I've actually taken up gardening but I'm being beaten on my Brussels 😮 They are in a raised vegetable plot/cage that was already here when we moved in. They've grown really tall, almost 3ft now but I've noticed eggs on the leaves plus the snails and slugs are munching the bottom leaves.

What can I do to, naturally, to get rid of them - I've put crushed egg shells around them so am hoping that will stop the slugs and snails but the eggs are getting me. And don't ask me to sweep them off as the thought of touching them eww!!!!!  I have sprayed them with hot soapy water this morning, do you think that will help?

Any advice will be appreciated 👍

The eggs are most likely cabbage of white butterflies. Soapy water is waste of time.

Put your big girls knickers on and squish them or tear off the bit with eggs & put in the bin, or live long & watch the caterpillars hatch & eat what you have left

You have choices, remove or no sprouts

Next year, drape insect [butterfly proof] netting over the plants to stop egg laying

Natty68

Farway said:

Natty68 said:

Morning all, a lurker coming out of lurkdom 😁 I have been reading and keeping up to date with your posts etc. So lovely to see some Fly ladies here too.

I need help....in our new garden I've actually taken up gardening but I'm being beaten on my Brussels 😮 They are in a raised vegetable plot/cage that was already here when we moved in. They've grown really tall, almost 3ft now but I've noticed eggs on the leaves plus the snails and slugs are munching the bottom leaves.

What can I do to, naturally, to get rid of them - I've put crushed egg shells around them so am hoping that will stop the slugs and snails but the eggs are getting me. And don't ask me to sweep them off as the thought of touching them eww!!!!!  I have sprayed them with hot soapy water this morning, do you think that will help?

Any advice will be appreciated 👍

The eggs are most likely cabbage of white butterflies. Soapy water is waste of time.

Put your big girls knickers on and squish them or tear off the bit with eggs & put in the bin, or live long & watch the caterpillars hatch & eat what you have left

You have choices, remove or no sprouts

Next year, drape insect [butterfly proof] netting over the plants to stop egg laying

Thank you Farway, darn that means I was out there looking like a right numpty..although at least the soapy water will get rid of the aphids on the roses, so not a wasted wander in the garden...lol

I think I'll send DH out there to do the egg duty, he can tear the leaves off. It'll give him something to do later 😄

Won't the nets get rather high when the Brussels stalks grow....? I don't why I didn't think of that this time...doh!!