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Post by 4pygmies on Dec 30, 2006 13:16:03 GMT
Hello all - so nice to be back on the board again after all the hectic activity - plans for the summer? Oo! Lots and lots:
REALLY try and finish my path in the flower garden and get it weeded ready for the "prairie" planting I want in there (got the seeds ready to sow - Coo!)
OH has finally dismantled the last old compost bin where the rats were living so, in theory, I am reasonably rat free at the moment (HA!) - so I want to tidy that all out, build my new cold frame there (donated patio door waiting...), get a new path laid along it and generally make it look like someone is a gardener here
Get some more chickens as I only have my last 2 old ladies left - I want Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons and Welsummers, maybe two of each. I keep saying I mustn't keep animals because of the rats but I LOVE my chooks and just cannot see the point in having a big garden without chickens roaming around it! I am my own worst enemy.......
Hope everyone gets their plans to fruition!
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Post by Chuckles on Dec 30, 2006 13:50:38 GMT
Have you been rooting yet sweetleaf. My idea failed miserably, I was going to try and do a ball basket with variegated Ivy, unfortunately I've not got enough. I had about 16 in small pots that I'd grown on from the gdn but could only find 4, then remembered I gave the others to a friend  . I'd thought about filling both baskets in the normal way, not on the top obviously. Then sitting them in a large pot. To join them together I was going to put a circle of cardboard over the compo to hold it in while I tipped it onto the other basket, the cardboard could stay there as it would rot or you could use a bit of board and slide it out. Once wired together I was going to weave or wire the stray stems of Ivy to the basket. I use inside out compo bags to line the baskets so would have made a watering hole at the top once finished. Would have just used the normal clip on chain to hang it. Do you think it would work ;D |
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Post by Cheerypeabrain on Dec 30, 2006 14:03:22 GMT
OOH 4P I wish I could remember the name of those Klingon Chickens I saw at that farm park a couple of years ago. Prolly wouldn't go down too well with your lovely old girls....running around getting drunk on blood wine and stabbing each other...BUT they might set to and finish off any rats left behind after your clear out!
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Post by 4pygmies on Dec 30, 2006 14:08:48 GMT
Klingon chickens?? Do you need an axe to get into the eggs? Or do they stop you actually removing them from the hen house?? P'raps they have a cloaking device so you can't ever find the nest boxes?? You've set me off now!
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Post by sweetleaf on Dec 30, 2006 14:28:57 GMT
Have you been rooting yet sweetleaf. My idea failed miserably, I was going to try and do a ball basket with variegated Ivy, unfortunately I've not got enough. I had about 16 in small pots that I'd grown on from the gdn but could only find 4, then remembered I gave the others to a friend . I'd thought about filling both baskets in the normal way, not on the top obviously. Then sitting them in a large pot. To join them together I was going to put a circle of cardboard over the compo to hold it in while I tipped it onto the other basket, the cardboard could stay there as it would rot or you could use a bit of board and slide it out. Once wired together I was going to weave or wire the stray stems of Ivy to the basket. I use inside out compo bags to line the baskets so would have made a watering hole at the top once finished. Would have just used the normal clip on chain to hang it. Do you think it would work ;D I wasnt intending to plant them up till March, just to do the engineering part, to see if I could replicate the idea without spending, have found the baskets and the wire but cant find anything to line it with...OH has been to the dump, and taken all the "rubbish" including some of my saved stuff grrr! Im going upstairs in a bit to see if theres any of his jumpers I can recycle! ;D I wanted to make the stand as well, when planted it should look like a standard tree! If you use the original chains you might need to use both sets it will be twice as heavy after all! |
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Post by Plocket on Dec 30, 2006 16:33:11 GMT
I'd love to have chickens but it's not allowed here and OH is still mumbling on about bird flu. Mum and dad won't have them for me either because they've got a fox and rat problem.
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Post by MamIDdau on Jan 2, 2007 20:25:59 GMT
I was thinkin about keeping chickens the other day but I don't think my boyf would approve and I think the cat would love it too much!! Plus I always worry because some of the farms around here just have them running loose in the yard and I hate seeing dead ones at the side of the road  We're off to the estate agents on thursday to look for a new property to rent. Obviously somewhere with a garden but the problem with renting is they don't appreciate you digging up their garden ;D I keep all my stuff in containers for the time being as I know I can take them with me if I leave again. Looking for a long term let now so I can bring the bunnies and the cat with me and we can be one big happy family! Then we might see about getting a dog but I'm wary in case it starts digging.... I'm finding now that as I've learnt a hell of a lot in such a short space of time, I'm building up a collection of nice perennials so I'm not wasting what little money I have on something that won't last. I've only been taking it seriously since last spring and I made the mistake of impulse buying without thinkin where things will fit and not knowing how much room they'll need. Now I have more of an idea about what I'm doing, I'm planning a lot better. I'd be too embarrassed to take pics of what I've done anyway. I'm an amateur and what seems like an absolute marvel to me, will seem very unimaginative and basic to everyone else! I was incredibly proud for instance that my dahlias actually produced corms!! I lifted them and put them in another pot so I could change the soil and change the pot they would go into next year to give them more room. I've planted bulbs for the first time and they're coming up. I'm well chuffed with myself! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2007 20:44:06 GMT
April
You can come and live next door to me her garden is a waste land full of weeds, she cant be bothered.
Don't be embarrassed of taking pictures of what you have done, we all had to start somewhere, you learn as you go on.
We are all here to support you and if we can help we will.
Its a good feeling when you plant something and it does well you are right to feel proud.
Keep up the good work
Karen
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 2, 2007 20:49:05 GMT
Aprilaydee, Karenwl is absolutely right - we'd love to see your pictures. My own garden is a wreck so I only show pictures of the good bits!! We all share that amazing sense of wonder and achievement when something grows - I don't think it ever disappears. The fantastic thing about gardening is that it doesn't matter how many years you've been growing things, there is always a huge amount still to find out!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2007 11:41:19 GMT
Exciting thought, Summer, I'm going to do something about the bit of lawn that died last summer & hasnot come back to life, try & grow the roses better, make the most of the veg garden instead of wasting space. The seeds are back in Wilkinsons this week.
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Post by sweetleaf on Jan 3, 2007 11:50:53 GMT
Im dying to crack on with my plan for the front garden but have to wait until the porch is finished! I have to remove a small border in front of the bay window today, and put the plants in safe areas, but my N.S.Stock is still going strong and it seems such a shame to move it, it will of course die.  |
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 3, 2007 12:58:35 GMT
Three major plans I suppose:-
1. Convert allotment to raised beds with help of son in law but need to source some used scaffold boards first.
2. Make much better use of the large decking area at the end of the garden. Need to make it more user friendly and introduce some dramatic plants in tubs.
3. Greenhouse needs a complete makeover and I need to move evrything out bit by bit to clean it all thoroughly. That will have to wait until the big items have been moved out for summer. I also need to spend some money on my collection. I try to grow everything from seed but the problem is that seed may not be available for rare items plus they may be too slow growing to use them for show purposes. I realised in the Autumn show this year that I need to speculate to compete so £100 has been put by to raid the nurseries in Spring.
Ooh, 1 more thing although I want to do this fairly soon - I need to put stepping stones into the lawn area to join the front and back of the garden. Might start on that this weekend.
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Post by MamIDdau on Jan 3, 2007 19:24:35 GMT
<blushes> ok ok. When I find something worth taking a piccy of I'll do it and post it on here somewhere. Will see how my tulips turn out ;D
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