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

debtfreewannabe321

KajiKita said:

@cherryfudge, have you seen this: 
https://www.jackwallington.com/how-to-remove-ground-elder-organically/

It looks like your approach is the right one and some elephants ears (Bergenia) would be worth considering.

KK

In his little score card it appears ground elder is the stronger competitor out of him vs the weed
I am continually pulling it out here too right down to the ground and my idea is to plant so many plants it has no light to grow. I might be here a while trying that one

We are preparing the base for my greenhouse! I am so excited, I have never had a greenhouse before I picked up some plants yesterday for a new bed I made and the lady had lots of tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes and other bits for sale so I said I would be back when the greenhouse is up! I have lots of seeds but I know it's too late this year to try so I will keep those until next year now.

IN sad news we say RIP to our bench we inherited with the house, DP sat on it yesterday and the wood finally gave way it has been threatening to do it since we found it buried under a bush...am wondering if I can buy new wood for it or if it is cheaper just to buy a new bench entirely (it has cast iron ends but I wonder if the wood is very expensive?)

greenbee

It's probably worth trying to restore the bench. While wood isn't cheap, neither are new benches (unless you buy something very cheap that may not last long).

I've made one more raised bed out of leftover bits, so just have one more box (2 kits for small beds which I think I'll actually make as small beds rather than combining them like I did with the last one) and then I'm done. Until I order more... I need to stay away from online shopping until all the stuff I've bought is in use! With the possible exception of more compost and some barrels to use for compost tea-making.

Cherryfudge

KajiKita said:

@cherryfudge, have you seen this: 
https://www.jackwallington.com/how-to-remove-ground-elder-organically/

It looks like your approach is the right one and some elephants ears (Bergenia) would be worth considering.

KK

Thank you! Always happy to have an excuse to buy more plants!  

kazwookie

DFW321  the metal ends of benches around here sell for about £40 - £60, restored with the metal ends sell for about £140 to £180!!. so restore it if you are able.  Measure the bench length and get your self down a wood / timber yard near you, with photos they will be able to tell you what you need.

Weeded along the hedge I planted 4 years ago, I still have gaps in it, annoying. 

Fruit trees planted earlier this year are all in flower, the plum one is so far behind the others, but it is getting there

redofromstart

Yes I saw (after I had given mine away) that the cast iron bench ends sell at a good price.

greenbee

Built my last two raised beds and am now shattered. Hoping I'll find a bit more energy later to maybe start putting the raspberry frames together or putting up vine eyes and wire on the fence. 

KajiKita

@debtfreewannabe321, we restored our bench this spring. Bought new timber (oak) from the local timber merchants (ask if they will plane it for you so you don’t have sharp edges) and left it unstained - it will weather down to a silver grey. Or you could get a softwood timber and commit to treating / painting it every year. We treated the cast iron ends with 🔨ite and it came up really well. I was expecting the oak to be expensive but it was only c. £80 or so 😊

KK

KajiKita

Today I have mostly been ….

…. pulling cleavers ….! 

I have also resown the courgettes to get a second plant! 🤞

KK

debtfreewannabe321

@KajiKita I make tea with cleavers. So Ieave patches to grow in my gardens.just wash it and put It in a tea pot with water. 


Here's the casualty. I'm not sure if it's good cast iron or not but it's certainly worth pricing up more wood I think to see if it's worth fixing. I've moved it to an area we don't have to look at it until we decide to fix or get rid 🤣. 

That's my new bed, hopefully it will bush out. I've a few more plants to put in there yet but will do it another day. When my back has recovered! 

Cheery_Daff

Nice bench @debtfreewannabe321 😊

I mowed the grass last night, and tonight I've been cooking outside so just spent 10 minutes weeding the front border while the food was cooking 😊 little steps 😊