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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 12, 2020 21:48:10 GMT
This afternoon I have tied up all my chrysanths again and did some disbudding. Rosemary was feeding the roses but she ran short of fertiliser so I will have to go to the hut for some more tomorrow. I have been on the allotment this evening, just weeding.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 13, 2020 20:45:40 GMT
As I said yesterday I went to the hut this morning for some more rose fertiliser and I also got some weedkiller and some twine. I had some other errands to do and it was raining so I couldn't have done much .It did stop raining this afternoon but it didn't look promising so Rosemary didn't think it was worth risking going for a walk .I did risk going to the allotment though because if it did start raining I could sit in the car but if we were on a walk there is no shelter. It did rain a bit but it didn't last long so I carried on with the weeding. All the veg beds and the paths between them are done so I was doing the chrysanths and annual beds. Brought home three nice "Little Gem" lettuces and 6 more courgettes and gave them to some of our neighbours. The weather did look better this evening so we went for a walk . When we got home I fed the rest of the roses.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 14, 2020 20:41:32 GMT
This morning I went to my son Martyn's to cut his hedges. They were rather long and should have been done a few weeks ago but on the days when I could go the weather was against me. I also did some weeding on his borders but didn't have time to finish them. The troublesome weed in his garden in bittercress that seeds everywhere .In between my visits I wish he would get some out himself to stop them seeding. I suggested that to him this morning. Went on the allotment this afternoon and just carried on with the weeding and we have been a walk this evening.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 15, 2020 20:02:52 GMT
Not done much today as it was too showery. I did chance going to the allotment this morning but it started raining as soon as I got there. I just sat in the car drinking my coffee till it stopped. I got about three quarters of an hour weeding till it started again so I came home. On Saturday I told you about a weed that we have at school but not at home or on the allotment or at Blackleach . I also have a weed on the allotment that I don't get anywhere else (Shaggy Soldier ). It rained most of the afternoon , not hard but a steady drizzle so I went in the greenhouse and took a few geranium cuttings.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 16, 2020 20:57:15 GMT
A decent day today and apart from going for a walk this afternoon till 3.00 I have been on the allotment morning afternoon and evening fighting against soldiers (the shaggy soldiers I told you about yesterday). Their battleground is my annual flower beds. They are not deep rooted so are not difficult to pull up but there are a lot of them and it makes it difficult because they are between all the plants so I have to be careful not to disturb those. I have been at it all day and I still haven't finished them. There are a lot in the dahlia bed too so this is the next job.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 17, 2020 20:35:26 GMT
As you know, Rosemary and me walk round Blackleach Country Park every two weeks to record the birds and wild flowers. We normally do it at weekends but we are going out for the day tomorrow and won't have much time on Sunday so we have done it this afternoon. Went on the allotment this morning and this afternoon after the walk just carrying on with the weeding. In the last few days I have told you about two weeds that I only get in one garden and I am now going to tell you about some "weeds" that I only have on my dahlia beds .I had them last year as well. They are turnips and the only explanation I can think of is that the turnip seeds were in the manure that I used. There aren't any in the annual beds that are next to the dahlia beds but I don't put manure on these. This evening I have just done some side shooting and disbudding on the chrysanths. Two coot and three young at Blackleach this afternoon.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 18, 2020 21:26:24 GMT
Our son, Martyn, came for us this morning and took us to Brodsworth Hall and gardens near Doncaster. Never been there before and hadn't even heard of it. It is owned by English Heritage of which Martyn is a member and he found out about it in their magazine so he got in free. It was raining at home but fine when we arrived there .We couldn't go in the hall but looked round the gardens.However it started raining about 2.00 so we came home but I think we had seen it all.I will show you some pictures that I took. Arrived home at 4.00 and I went to school to feed and tie up the tomatoes .Picked the first few tomatoes (sungold). Went on the allotment this evening but had a change from weeding because several things wanted tying up. If I waited till all the weeding was done I would never get the tying up done.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 18, 2020 21:27:21 GMT
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 18, 2020 21:30:44 GMT
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 19, 2020 21:12:50 GMT
Today I fed my baskets, tubs, larger pot plants, dahlias and chrysanths as I did last Saturday. I mowed the lawns and sowed some wallflower seeds. I also went to the recycling centre with 4 bags of weeds from the allotment. There are 3 bags in my recycling bin and I put 3 in last week , so that's 10 bags and I still haven't finished weeding and on June 6th I wrote in Garden News that I had a weed free allotment!.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 20, 2020 22:14:36 GMT
Today I have been on the allotment this morning, an hour this afternoon after going for a walk then again this evening .Did more staking and tying up.I hadn't enough canes for the gladioli last time I went so I took some more and finished them .Also finished tying up the dahlias and did some disbudding on them. Carried on with weeding after.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 21, 2020 20:28:33 GMT
We went shopping this morning so I didn't get much time but when we got home I tied up and disbudded my dahlias After going for a walk this afternoon and again this evening I went to the allotment. I treated weeds on some of the paths with roundup and I fed the runner beans and sweet peas with maxicrop. Spent the rest of the time weeding. The main beds and paths between them are all done now .There are weeds among the rose hedge at the back so these need doing next. Brought home more turnips and courgettes and the first peas.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 22, 2020 20:34:23 GMT
Went to Martyn's this morning to carry on weeding his borders but still not finished them. This afternoon we went for our usual walk and then I went to the allotment but it started raining as soon as I got there. I also discovered that the back door of the car wouldn't shut(the tailgate).I just sat in the car for a while then decided to go home and call at the garage. They made it close so that I could lock it but it won't stay up now and I have to take it back in the morning. So I didn't get anything done this afternoon. I did go back to the allotment this evening because it had stopped raining. This afternoon I took some lettuce and beetroot to plant but I left them there. I did plant them this evening and I tied all the gladioli to the canes , also gave my big onions and leeks a feed of nitro chalk. I brought home all the red onions (about 12)
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Post by roofgardener on Jul 23, 2020 13:39:12 GMT
What is "disbudding" ?
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 23, 2020 20:24:52 GMT
Hi Roofie Dahlias and chrysanths produce a central bud at the top of each stem surrounded by smaller buds.If you want large flowers, particularly for exhibition, the surrounding buds are removed when they are large enough to handle just leaving the central bud to flower. If you are growing just for garden decoration it doesn't matter so all buds can be left on. You just get a lot of smaller flowers .Growers of spray chrysanths for exhibition do the opposite. They remove the central bud and let the surrounding buds flower which means that you get a more even spray. Hope this explains it for you. This morning I took my car to the garage. Because I didn't know how long it would be before they phoned to say it was ready we went a walk this morning. I didn't get the car back till mid afternoon. While I was waiting I went in the greenhouse and took a few more fuchsia and geranium cuttings. Went on the allotment this evening and I decided to sort my compost out. I have three equal sized compost bays and I keep one empty then I can transfer the material from one bay to another.The empty one was very weedy so I had to weed it before I transferred other material into it.I didn't have time to transfer it all so will hopefully do so tomorrow.
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