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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 12, 2012 21:56:40 GMT
Forgot to mention yesterday that when I went on the allotment I was surprised to see that the dahlia leaves wre partly blackened because those I grow at home were still green.My friend,Alan accross the road had cut his down a week ago even though they were still green and filled about 6 sacks with them .I took them all to the allotment and put them on the compost heap.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 13, 2012 22:47:00 GMT
Had this morning and most of the afrernoon on the allotment today. It rained nearly all day yesterday so I thought it was too wet to carry on with the digging and weeding.I got rid of the runner bean and climbing French bean plants and took down the structures of canes up which the were growing.Put all the canes away in the shed.It's a work of art fitting 8 foot canes into a 6 by 4 foot shed. Spent rest of the day cutting down the dahlias but didn't have time to do them all.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 14, 2012 21:45:04 GMT
Rosemary wanted the car this morning so I couldn't go to the allotment till this afternoon.I weeded tho border round the front lawn and forked it all over ,also weeded the front rose bed.
When I went on the allotment I finished cutting down the dahlias.Had an hour spare after and it was a toss up between starting to dig up the dahlias and carrying on with the weeding.
I decided to do some more weeding and will dig the dahlias up when I've more time,probably Friday,weather permitting.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 15, 2012 20:43:20 GMT
Just had an hour this afternoon before it was time to go to school so I did some more planting in the tubs at the front of the house.
I didn,t think I could afford any new roses this year but Martyn (my son) says he will buy me some for Christmas.I phoned R.V.Roger Ltd. to ask if any varieties are out of stock.I wish Martyn had told me before because several varieties had sold out. Anyway I made an order out for four and posted it.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 16, 2012 22:18:21 GMT
Been on the allotment morning and afternoon today digging up the dahlias but only managed to do three quarters of them. All dahlia growers have their own methods of storing but this is what I do. When I dig up the tubers I remove the loose soil with a screwdriver.(I don't wash the tubers).I cut the stems down to about 4 inches then drive the screwdriver down the hollow stem and out at the bottom which helps to drain them.The stem often splits but it doesn't matter. I tie the labels on with waterproof string right round the tuber ,not just round the stem because the stem shrinks when it dries and the label will come off. They are then stood upside down in large trays from the greengrocers..They then go under the greenhouse staging till January when it is time to start them into growth again.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 16, 2012 22:31:16 GMT
 Dahlia tuber dug up and prepared for storing. |
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 16, 2012 22:34:27 GMT
 Dahlia tubers stood upside down in trays to dry off for storage. |
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 17, 2012 21:32:29 GMT
Only had an hour spare this afternoon so I didn't think it was worth going to the allotment.I dug up the dahlias in my own garden and put them away with the others then cleared the rest of the plants from the borders round the back lawn.
Also planted some tulips and daffs in the tubs at the front of the house.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 18, 2012 21:47:42 GMT
Carried on digging up the dahlias on the allotment this afternoon and just managed to finish them before it went dark. Brought them home and put them in the greenhouse with the others.Felt rather cold and frosty so I switched the fan heater on for the first time this autumn. The heat in the other greenhouse comes on automatically if needed.
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Post by Cherry on Nov 19, 2012 6:44:20 GMT
Good pics Derek. I am putting this note on here in case you think we are not reading your interesting gardening diary.  |
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 19, 2012 18:38:05 GMT
Thanks,Cherry,I'm glad somebody reads it  Went to the allotment this morning hoping to carry on with the weeding.I just managed to finish weeding a bed that was almost finished before but then got rained off about 11.00. Didn't risk going back this afternoon in case it happened again. I have told you before about two large flowering cherry trees in a neighbouring garden that overhang one of my greenhouses .The blossom in the spring then the leaves in the autumn fall all over the greenhouse ,in the gutter and water butts if they are not covered.There is a narrow gap between the greenhouse and the tall fence which gets full of the leaves.They have all fallen now so I raked them all out.It is quite a job because I store a lot of things behind there which have to be shifted first.It managed to stay fine though while I got it finished. Tonight we are going to the annual social evening of Salford and Bolton Fuchsia Society. Don't know what time we will be home so that's why I am on the forum now. |
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 20, 2012 20:59:23 GMT
Just had an hour or so spare this afrernoon so I just did some more tidying up of leaves round the greenhouses .Behind the other greenhouse there is a high hawthorn hedge and these leaves go all over the place too.I cleared them all from the top and the gutters
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 21, 2012 22:22:20 GMT
A full day for gardening today but it rained till mid morning.Went in the greenhouse and planted some tulips and daffs in pots then just did some tidying up in the greenhouses.
Went to the allotment this afternoon.Got rid of the annuals on the two remaining beds and began weeding them.
The leaves which I have been collecting are in 6 bin bags and I took these to the allotment.I don't put them on the compost heap because they take a long time to rot down.I will just leave them in the bags until they have rotted enough to either mix with the compost or dig into the soil.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 22, 2012 21:55:17 GMT
Very windy today but it managed to stay dry till 12.00 when it rained a bit.Went on the allotment and carried on with the weeding,
In one of the beds I cleared yesterday there was a row of Penstemon"scarlet queen".I wanted to save these so I dug them up and brought them home.Before it was time to go to school this afternoon I potted these up. I also weeded and forked over one of the borders alongside the back lawn.There was no gardening at school today,we had a party in the polytunnel.While we were in there it started pouring down and I got wet through walking home because Rosemary had the car.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 24, 2012 21:32:15 GMT
Today was the last day at the hut till January.What am I going to do with my Saturday mornings ?!.
Just had from 2.30 spare this afternoon because I had to go somewhere else first.So I went to the allotment and just managed to finish weeding a bed I was doing last time before it started raining at 3.45.
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