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

Cherryfudge

Coo, I don't think anyone's ever channelled me before. I'm honoured . The idea with the copper wire is lovely, you should patent it.  Copper and terracotta should be beautiful.

@RosaBernicia, what a clever idea! Easy to pick the whole thing up too.

Floss

Well I've started the autumn tidy a bit early, but I was fed up of looking at leggy honeysuckle, big daisies that have gone over, mares tail and perennial geranium trying its best to take over! So lots cut back & taken to the tip out of the way. I've also scrabbled around in the potato bed & harvested about 10lb. I also emptied the hanging baskets & replanted 3 with pansies.

I also realised why the solar light net over the Kilmarnock willow was no longer lighting up - looks like the solar panel had been blown off its perch on the fence into next-door's garden and the cable had been cut when they have taken the shears to their overgrown lawn. It had then been thrown back over the fence and was under the willow branches 😡

Brie

KajiKita said:

Re the old terracotta pots and gluing them together again - I think you might get away with it for summer plantings but not winter or all year round, as I think the tension between the glued and unglued bits might not react well in cold temperatures. But I would be interested to see what others think. 😊

KK

terracotta being porous doesn't always do well in winter in any case.  Absorbs water, the water freezes and expands and that's when chunks of the pots fall off.  Or they get fragile and shatter when next bumped.  Apparently this is one of the reasons that houses, particularly in north america, are built with different materials in different areas.  Wood is fine if with freeze and thaw, brick less so.  And stone will do best in solid freeze areas - but depends on the type of stone.  I suspect the same differences are seen in the UK varying between Dorset, Yorkshire and the Hebrides.

greenbee

Didn't get the gardening done that I wanted to today as I spent this morning cooking (tomatoes and courgettes from the garden!) for friends who came for lunch. And the afternoon chatting and then clearing up! I did pick a LOT of stuff (toms - mostly black cherry, courgettes, strawberries, beans, and a few remaining peas) which now needs dealing with. Freezers are getting full... so I did send my mum home with lots of courgette and halloumi fritters to put in her freezer.

Cavolo Nero has germinated, but it looks like the slugs are having a go at it. Second sowing of broad beans is getting going. Tomorrow I plan to top up the last two beds and sow stuff in them (after covering them with mesh to stop them being used as cat loos). 

Tree surgeons have done some fairly drastic work at the front, so I need to go in and prune now, and then work out what to order to plant in the gaps left from taking out laurel and leylandii. 

redofromstart

Our outside pots get a light coating of PVA glue before they over winter outside (midlands). 

Cherryfudge

@Floss - what a pain about the wiring. Will it be possible to rewire?

@Brie, my SiL lives in Switzerland and gets six foot snow drifts so I was intrigued as to why their large terracotta pots remained intact. She said it's because they raise them off the ground. I keep intending to try it: maybe this will be the year.

Interesting you mention two areas where I've lived - when we moved to Yorkshire from Dorset, I wondered why people didn't overwinter pansies. After a few years I realised it's probably often too cold (far north of the county).

@redofromstart I'd not heard of that but it must work as you do it regularly! Does it help prevent water penetrating?

Cherryfudge

I took 50 plant pots to the recycling bin at the garden centre (*whispers* and only picked up one replacement). They now have a box for old compost bags to be recycled, too.

KajiKita

@Cherryfudge, the six foot snow will be acting as a natural insulator too. 

KK

Floss

@Cherryfudge no, the solar panel had been broken too, possibly when chucked back into my garden 🙄 Will have a look for a new one and will probably put it over a contorted hazel in the front garden.

Today is supposed to be dry again, so will carry on with tidying. I would like to get the back done and at least part of the front done, along with dragging the mower over the patches of weedy grass.

Cherryfudge

That's a shame about your lighting, @Floss. I hope you can find what you want for your hazel.

Today is supposed to be warm again and it might be time to mow the lawn. It's looking rather dry and tatty: I let leaves lie, and the grass clippings too (grass is gone by the next day if cut often but it's not really been growing much so it's not been mown recently). Fruit needs to be picked, the compost wants turning and watering, the search for plant pots will probably continue and general tidying... no dramas I hope.