GMG Green Thumb Club

Started by Mozart, August 21, 2009, 03:28:29 PM

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Szykneij

Another thing that's helpful, I found, is to have a fan blowing on the seedlings when they're inside. It helps avoid fungus and strengthens the stems.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Szykneij on March 12, 2021, 11:26:02 AM
Another thing that's helpful, I found, is to have a fan blowing on the seedlings when they're inside. It helps avoid fungus and strengthens the stems.
Yep!  Good point!  :)

Besides snow drops now being open, I went outside today to see my small (botanical) crocuses up and in bloom...yeah!  Need to start raking soon!

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Irons

Watching too many YT allotment channels but they are most informative and you can pick up some good ideas. The latest is line the inside of a cold frame with silver foil with the aim of making the maximum use of available light. Simple, costs next to nothing and works.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Irons on March 13, 2021, 07:04:15 AM
Watching too many YT allotment channels but they are most informative and you can pick up some good ideas. The latest is line the inside of a cold frame with silver foil with the aim of making the maximum use of available light. Simple, costs next to nothing and works.
Interesting.  Would you mind posting a link to one of those?  Curious as to what they are doing.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Irons

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on March 13, 2021, 01:54:52 PM
Interesting.  Would you mind posting a link to one of those?  Curious as to what they are doing.

PD

I think you will find this of interest, PD.

https://youtu.be/m_Sf1c3wg7o
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Herman

I am currently impatiently waiting for a rose bush to show signs of life.

My girlfriend saved this white rose from perdition, when her ex (divorced nine years ago) restructured his back yard last month. It was her favorite. So I offered to give it another lease on life and put it in a nice big terracotta container hoping it will be happy at my place.

Mandryka

#266
Quote from: Herman on March 14, 2021, 09:04:43 AM
I am currently impatiently waiting for a rose bush to show signs of life.

My girlfriend saved this white rose from perdition, when her ex (divorced nine years ago) restructured his back yard last month. It was her favorite. So I offered to give it another lease on life and put it in a nice big terracotta container hoping it will be happy at my place.

London must be warmer than Amsterdam, mine are full of shoots ready to burst forth. You know this poem, obvs. That force that Dylan Thomas talks about is exactly what you perceive, sense, when you see the shoots.

QuoteThe force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

The jobs are mostly cutting. I cut some Cotinus down to the ground today because it makes them produce giant foliage, and it left a sticky sap on my hands which smelt nice, but the smell was unwanted, and was hard to wash off. I knew it would do this but was too lazy to find gloves.

A cold snap, down to -3 or less, a few weeks ago ravaged some Teucrium and some Rosemary. Some leaves look alive and as they say, where there's green there's hope.

Thanks to a conversation here last year I'm going to try some bronze fennel in a huge container. I have the plants and they are happy.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Herman

#267
Quote from: Mandryka on March 14, 2021, 11:12:43 AM
London must be warmer than Amsterdam, mine are full of shoots ready to burst forth. You know this poem, obvs. That force that Dylan Thomas talks about is exactly what you perceive, sense, when you see the shoots.



The temperatures between London and The Hague are not that different. I see red shoots in lucky rose bushes, too. I think it's just that this rose bush we saved needs to pretty much to start from scratch, under and above ground.

If my girlfriend's white rose is dead, demised and has ceased to be, I'll get her another one.

Mandryka

#268
Quote from: Herman on March 15, 2021, 02:31:32 AM

If my girlfriend's white rose is dead, demised and has ceased to be, I'll get her another one.

Not Madame Hardy -- in case she knows this

QuoteO, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But, O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!




Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Szykneij

The weather was terrific today, so I took the opportunity to spread some topsoil and assess the rabbit damage that occurred over the winter. I never had a problem with rabbits before, so I didn't prepare properly and several small trees were completely girdled and will be lost. The creatures also did some interesting topiary work on a few of my evergreens by eating off all of the lower branches. This Norway Spruce should survive, but I'm not sure of what its eventual shape will be.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Szykneij on March 22, 2021, 11:09:45 AM
The weather was terrific today, so I took the opportunity to spread some topsoil and assess the rabbit damage that occurred over the winter. I never had a problem with rabbits before, so I didn't prepare properly and several small trees were completely girdled and will be lost. The creatures also did some interesting topiary work on a few of my evergreens by eating off all of the lower branches. This Norway Spruce should survive, but I'm not sure of what its eventual shape will be.
Oh dear!  So sorry to hear that!  Besides the one in your pot there, did you buy and plant the others?  That could smart moneybelt-wise.  :(  I wish that I had more space to plant tall-growing trees.  I like having a pretty sunny yard though, so there are compromises to be made.  I wonder if perhaps you were able to keep rabbits at bay for a while longer, whether or not lower branches might still grow?  Hard part though, I suspect that they won't catch up to the more mature branches above unless you did some pruning.  Even then....  :( Like you, wondering what it will look like in the end?  Depending upon where you wanted it to end up, you might want to start again?  Good question for a nursery!  Let us know how it goes too.  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Szykneij

On the weather thread, the subject of bees came up. Today, I saw our first bumblebee of the season and activity has started at the bug hotels.

Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Pohjolas Daughter

Question for gardeners having to deal with ticks.  Any favorite sprays, etc. that you like to apply to you and or your clothing to keep these nasty things off of you?  And any special tips/suggestions where to spray, etc.?

I was a bit surprised when I found one (an adult) on the outside of a long sleeved shirt after working outside for several hours.  Thankfully, I had on an old long-sleeved shirt which was light colored and it was over another long-sleeved shirt.  I quickly flicked it off.  Must admit, it still unnerved me though!  I've known several people who got Lyme disease from them (One, a close friend, who sadly wasn't diagnosed in time for some damage to already be done).

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Irons

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on April 20, 2021, 07:39:44 AM
Question for gardeners having to deal with ticks.  Any favorite sprays, etc. that you like to apply to you and or your clothing to keep these nasty things off of you?  And any special tips/suggestions where to spray, etc.?

I was a bit surprised when I found one (an adult) on the outside of a long sleeved shirt after working outside for several hours.  Thankfully, I had on an old long-sleeved shirt which was light colored and it was over another long-sleeved shirt.  I quickly flicked it off.  Must admit, it still unnerved me though!  I've known several people who got Lyme disease from them (One, a close friend, who sadly wasn't diagnosed in time for some damage to already be done).

PD

Try not to think about it. Sorry to hear of your friend, PD. Saw a very large rat at the allotment last year that freaked me out.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Irons on April 21, 2021, 12:14:02 AM
Try not to think about it. Sorry to hear of your friend, PD. Saw a very large rat at the allotment last year that freaked me out.
Thank you!  And rats:  shudder!

I did buy another can of this (should have sprayed myself with it the other day):  https://off.com/en/product/deep-woods/deep-woods-insect-repellent-v

PD

p.s.  I had been doing a lot of pulling up of tall grasses/weeds plus bending over picking up leaves and dumping them into trash barrels and then into a tarp.
Pohjolas Daughter

Szykneij

I don't have a good suggestion for humans, but for dogs, the Seresto collars are great. I just put new ones on our two pups.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Pohjolas Daughter

Has anyone here tried wearing clothing that has been treated with permethrin?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Irons

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on April 22, 2021, 04:47:59 AM
Has anyone here tried wearing clothing that has been treated with permethrin?

PD

If the bugs don't get you the chemicals will. :-\
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Irons on April 22, 2021, 07:09:07 AM
If the bugs don't get you the chemicals will. :-\
I know, I hate wearing 'stuff'; hard to figure out what to do.  I do know, however that there's been an uptick (forgive me!) in the amount and range of various tick species here in the US.  What about in the UK?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Stürmisch Bewegt

Permit me to say that I do HATE ticks.  I'll do anything, roaches (slept with them in college), spiders (biters or not, no prob), snakes (had a few dates with a woman who kept them as pets), rodents of every persuasion (no fears), mosquitoes (don't like them, but I have the impression they don't like vegetarians as well as carnivores) but I revile ticks and if they all burnt in hell I'd be a happy man. 

On a happier note, I have made much progress in removing from my herb garden the many varieties of mint I'd foolishly let rule the roost for years. (I'm sure they will spring back up again but I do have the situation in hand, literally).  Love them in my tea, but as they were intent on global domination I've consigned them to containers, as suggested by Monty Don, the amicable and accomplished host of the BBC's Gardeners' World
Leben heißt nicht zu warten, bis der Sturm vorbeizieht, sondern lernen, im Regen zu tanzen.