General Gardening Discussion

Ohh thanks Pam. And thanks for the welcome all!

i sow & grow on annuals that i later plant in the tops of the same pots that my spring bulb are in, once the bulbs foliage has died down i take off the top few inchs of soil & plant my annuals with a top dressing of good fertile fresh compost...never had any problems & always get a good show

We didn't come to any conclusion in the old thread i'm afraid.

Flowering today.

Its great when a gardening technique works , in a controlled test like yours. Most off the time we follow instructions in a "monkey see , monkey do " fashion, not really sure on the real effect that our actions are producing .

Others may disagree, but here goes.Not if you use Round Up or any other glyphosate based weedkiller. Glyphosate has no direct effect on foliage, it works by effectively reversing the flow of nutrients and destroying the roots. By the time you see visible results, the roots are already...

Yes, lovely lovely plant! Perfect when we have a bigger garden. Thanks Kristen

Also, the flowers from a cutting are MUCH bigger than from the tuber itself!!Val

Butterflys or Moths I expect. If they are still around I expect they are hiding in the pot.I had some slug damage on some potted Roses a while back so I immersed the pots in water for half an hour, should have seen what crawled out

Ooh, now there's an idea. I think I will be looking at seeds next weekend, as well as plants....

So compost is compost, I had 3 or 4 bags I stored unopened over winter last year, it was lovely stuff when I opened it, will it continue breaking down.

I use polystyrene as well on large pots to save on the weight . I use the big bits of packing from cartons and just break it up a bit . I found the soil/compost doesn't wash through it too much.

And in the greenhouse if it gets too cold for too long (as per last year) I cover them with fleece (or an old net curtain)S

Expanded form.tin tin tin = it in't in t'tin = It isn't in the tin

Thanks strongy, I can't believe I've lived on the wirral all these years and never been to ness gardens! Pushing a pushchair through the undulating gravel paths and the steps was a bit of a challenge tho!Glad I gave up the cigs otherwise I'd be kernackered!

Hi again, just been reading a book which states that this skimmia, maybe all skimmia's?, are easy peasy to root from cuttings in spring.I have 15 successfully potted on now so that has given me some confidence to try other plants for cuttings. I've had success with hydrangeas in the past....

Clueless, you just can't take the hint can you? First chapter of "Selleri's guide to budget gardening: How to get free plants": When you see a nice garden with a plant you'd really love, slowly walk past it daily. Engage in conversation with the gardener and receive free cuttings and surplus...

Petunias do flower until frosts even without deadheading, but the dying flowers don't look very good and a snipping round every week or so definitely encourages more flowers IMHO. I use scissors as well because the flowers are sticky. Or encourage/bribe/blackmail/trick the Junior to do it. ...

@Loofah Beat you to it What we need now is a list of their special offers to really take the max advantage of the free P&P offers I'll add a link to this thread from my earlier one on the other board.