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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 18, 2013 23:13:00 GMT
I don't normally grow pot tubers,Tel. I did grow a few once but it was a long time ago.I have never seen any advantage in growing them but if you can tell me that there is I will grow some next year.I keep note of which plants grow best and give the best blooms and any that don't are discarded.How can you do this if they are only grown in pots?
I have been at Blackleach all day today and was hoping to do some gardening there but it rained nearly all morning.I have therefore been sat behind my deak all day.Just glad I got my dahlias done yesterday.
This evening we have been to the Christmas social evening of Salford and Bolton fuchsia society. We had a nice meal and it was an enjoyable evening.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 19, 2013 23:17:00 GMT
Didn't rain today but I decided after yesterdays rain the ground would be too wet for digging and weeding.Spent the morning in the greenhouse, I first had to make room for the dahlia tubers under the staging. There were a lot of other plants under there mainly those from the hanging baskets that I wanted to keep. I had just put them there till I had found room elsewhere .I put all these in trays and put them on a shelf then put the dahlias under there.During the summer I have trays on the staging containing grit which help to create the right atmosphere. They are not needed now so I removed the grit and turned the trays over. I also potted a few rooted cuttings of angel pelargoniums.
This afternoon I treated the lawns with autumn and winter fertilizer at 2oz.per square yard.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 20, 2013 20:50:55 GMT
Rained very hard overnight and the terrace is flooded again.Mostly dry during the day though. I have told you before of two flowering cherries in a neighbouring garden that overhangs one of my greenhouses. The leaves have all come off now (they hadn't yesterday)and are all over the garden and greenhouse.I decided that I would start collecting them up. To get them from between the greenhouse and the fence is a difficult job I first have to move the things that I store behind there which takes a while.I have difficulty getting behind because there is not much room between the greenhouse and the fence. I have to use a long brush to get the leaves off the roof and then scrape them all up with a shovel then put all the things back. I cleaned the glass at the sides but I can't clean the roof because I can't reach. I can't get anything behind to stand on. I am glad this job is done but I have the same trouble with the blossom in May.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 21, 2013 21:45:44 GMT
A dry day. I first got rid of more leaves from the flowering cherry. They were all over the chrysanth beds and the path. I have filled 7 bin bags with them .Will take them to the allotment next time I go.
I then planted my roses which had just been planted temporarily when they arrived because the ground was too wet. They are to replace others which weren't growing well. There were two floribundas (Sea of fire)which went in the front garden and 3 hybrid teas in the back. I changed the soil in the planting holes with some from the chrysanth beds and mixed it with some old potting compost and bone meal. Also put rootgrow on the roots.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 22, 2013 21:18:18 GMT
No gardening today because I had to do as I was told and go Christmas shopping! Guess what I found in my greenhouse when I got home. A parcel of 5 dahlia tubers that Scrumpy has kindly sent me. Three white Charlie two and two Rycroft magnum.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 23, 2013 20:49:20 GMT
This morning was the last at our supply hut till mid January.There were five of us there as there usually is but we only had one customer all morning. Waste of time but what am I going to do on Saturday mornings for the next few weeks?.
We had a heavy frost overnight and the ground was frozen. I was really hoping to go on the allotment this afternoon to carry on with the weeding but it's no use with frozen ground.So I thought it would be an afternoon in the greenhouse . Rosemary wanted some sprouts for tomorrow so I called at the allotment on the way home from the hut.Also took home some beetroot.
About 2.30 however I noticed that the ground had thawed out so I decided to go to the allotment after all so I had about an hour and a half before it went dark.I took all the bags of leaves from the flowering cherry and spent the rest of the time weeding the spray chrysanth bed which I had started a few weeks ago.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 24, 2013 20:43:59 GMT
Another dry day so I had another afternoon carrying on with weeding on the allotment. Not going anywhere else tomorrow so I can have a full day there weather permitting.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 25, 2013 22:56:16 GMT
I did have a full day on the allotment today just forking over the soil and weeding. Finished the chrysanth bed and did most of the dahlia bed which is more than twice the size but there weren't as many weeds on there.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 26, 2013 20:34:08 GMT
Been at Blackleach country park this morning. Planted my left over tulips in the border. There are so many trees around that you couldn't see the border for leaves so I had to rake most of them off first then weed a patch for the tulips. Billy(my helper) has finished weeding the nursery beds that I asked him to do a few weeks ago so today I asked him to start weeding the fish shaped bed because I have some plants I want to plant in there. He has to do something to earn his free lunch that all volunteers get, hasn't he? !
I only had about an hour spare this afternoon but I went to the allotment and finished doing what I was doing yesterday to the dahlia bed. Brought home the last carrots.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 27, 2013 21:08:39 GMT
Couldn't go on the allotment this morning because Rosemary needed the car. I decided to fork over the border round the front lawn. In next doors front garden there is an Acer palmatum about 7 feet tall close to the fence. A root from this went right across my border almost to my front gate about 16 feet long. I have never noticed it in previous years and I would never have expected a tree of this size to have a root so long and I had a job to dig it up and get rid of it. The cable for our telly runs under the border and this root was lifting it close to the surface so when I had got rid of the root I tried to bury the cable deeper.
This afternoon I did some weeding in the garden at church and then went to the allotment and started weeding the onion bed.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 28, 2013 22:39:24 GMT
I had to go to the hut today at 8.00 to help unload a wagon with about 12 pallets of potting compost. On the allotment the rest of the day just carrying on with the weeding. I also planted some lettuce that I had started off in cell trays. Don't know if they will survive the winter but time will tell.
My seeds have come from Dobies today including some I have ordered for school and some for the allotments. I have just spent an enjoyable hour sorting them out. I had ordered them about two weeks ago as part of a bulk order from people on our allotments and horticultural society totalling about £1100.Orders given to me by individual people (about 30)are delivered to their homes. Those for the allotments which have been delivered here are some flowers I have ordered to attract insects ,particularly bees .They will be given free to anyone who wants to grow them. There are 3 packets each of 15 varieties . I will leave them in the toilet for people to help themselves to but I won't put them there till next February or March because none need sowing till then.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 30, 2013 20:53:39 GMT
Not much gardening time today, just an hour this morning and the same this afternoon but I went on the allotment both times. It was a toss up between carrying on with the weeding or pruning the roses. I decided to prune the roses. On the allotment there is a row of hybrid teas and one of floribundas. I did all the H.T.s and half the floribundas. I prune roses any time between November and March provided the weather is not frosty and it is O.K.at present. I have said before that I keep watching the weather forecast on telly not only to look at the pretty weather girls!. One reason for doing some today is that we are having a bonfire next Saturday so it will save me taking the prunings to the re-cycling centre. Also the re-cycling centre I normally go to has closed. Another has been made but I'm not sure where it is yet and I will have farther to travel. I hope to be able to finish these roses before next Saturday but I won't have any time till Tuesday.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 3, 2013 22:55:39 GMT
Went on the allotment this morning . Finished pruning the roses then carried on with the weeding. This afternoon I only had half an hour spare before it went dark so it wasn't worth going back to the allotment. I started forking over the border round the back lawn. When bad light had stopped play I went in the greenhouse and potted the remainder of the rooted cuttings (mainly angels and regal pelargoniums ). I have been growing carrots on the allotment in 3 aluminium frames. They have all been harvested now so the frames are not needed there anymore. So I brought one home today and will bring the other two home the next two times that I go. I can get one at a time in the back of the car. I don't need to dismantle them.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 4, 2013 23:05:05 GMT
Went to my son's this morning. Finished weeding his garden which I started a few weeks ago then forked it all over . Won't need to do any more there till spring.
Went to the allotment this afternoon and carried on with the weeding . Began forking over the bed again which had grown potatoes and found many that I had missed when I dug them up in August.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 6, 2013 21:27:22 GMT
Like other parts of the country we had gale force winds yesterday but thankfully not as much rain as other parts. We had about half an inch of rain overnight and the wind had dropped this morning. Couldn't go to the allotment this morning because Rosemary needed the car. It was too wet for digging anyway. So I decided to prune the roses. It is rather cold but not frosty. I have a bed of hybrid teas at the back and some floribundas at the front and I got them all done. I just went to the allotment this afternoon because she wanted some sprouts. When I came home I went in the greenhouse and did some more tidying up of the pot plants.
I have spent considerable time this week organising the Salford garden bird survey. Spent most of Monday behind my desk at Blackleach writing all the envelopes. We send the forms out to some people (including Sue A )by email. You may have already received them ,Sue, but if not you should get them soon. However there are over 100 people who need them by post. I got all the printed forms on Wednesday and because the weather yesterday was so bad I stayed in in the afternoon and got the forms ready for posting. I had to staple the various forms together and put them in the envelopes then stick all the stamps on.(Rosemary helped me ).She has posted them all today. I also send some to all the libraries in Salford (16 of them).This evening I have made packs of 10 survey forms for each of these libraries and one to take to my local garden centre. There is a lady on our allotments called Helen who works for the library service and she will get them delivered for me. Her mother ,who is also on the allotments (and is "Paws57 " on this forum)said that she would put the forms on "Facebook". I'm not sure how this would work . I'll have to have a chat to her about it.
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