General Gardening Discussion

Marigolds, especially tagetes (French marigolds) contain pyrethrins which are natural insecticides. Any flower in the vegetable garden helps attract pollinating insects.

Hi,Yes, cut those brown stems off as low as you can get them, they are dead and serve no purpose.Your plant looks good and healthy with a new leaf emerging so you are clearly doing things right.Don't know if or when you are feeding them, but if not, now is a good time to give it a...

I was going to say - Astilbes like moist conditions so I'd be wary of using them, but @fairygirl has beaten me to it!I started with 6 foxglove plants that I bought. I let some go to seed then I scatter them. I get lots of little plants that I thin out. They've been lovely this year. I've...

It can also depend on the variety of lettuce as to how well they do against slugs, and how much sun they tolerate. I grow all of mine in containers because I don't have room for a dedicated veg. patch, and don't want to remove ornamental areas in order to have one as it wouldn't be worth it. Re...

I agree, the ones I've grown from seed have all been very slow to begin with but then suddenly explode with growth. I don't think that's too shabby for a 3 year old seedling.

Thanks to everyone for your comments.

Have you seen me recently @Tidemark ? I never wear it at all now. Can't be bothered.

I never see it round here. If people have it, it must be quite well behaved. Never had it in any garden of my own either.

Mine was in a similar situation. It will definitely be better in the ground and will soon get going.

A present for the slugs too then

I thought Shepherd's huts were supposed to be movable, so you could follow the sheep around. How many Shepherds share the hut?

Thank you

I think little plants (aka weeds ) are quite common at the edge of tarmac. I certainly have them.

Hi @groundbeetle I think that's SBK brushwood killer - the active ingredient is triclopyr. It's pretty good but as you say, needs to get to the "growing bits". For Japanese knotweed, I cut off stems and inject into hollow centre. That might be possible with bamboo too.

I’ve run out of pergolas @Mrs Hillard. I’d need to buy a bigger house for that I think…

But they produce magnificent flowers and the colour is superb. Just don't get near them for the smell.

Oh well. It seems I have quite a selection

When I was prepping the fruit cage area I used to dig up small balls of pure white clay, left over from the clay mining nearby. The soil is miserable, no nutrients, gritty and either sodden or dusty. I have tried top dressing and mulching but the blueberries do not thrive, whereas the...

Okay, I’ll try that, thanks. I like the way it’s exploded with flowers. Absolutely brillliant. So I’ll see if I can grow some more.

I was digging out a new section next to the stream yesterday and got a horsefly bite on the elbow. Strangely, my ponies were just the other side of the stream and weren't troubled!