who's your nemesis

Nemesis always reminds me off the classic line from the film "Snatch "
(I have diluted one or two of the words in the quote for GCs softer ears..............)

Brick Top: Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible person... ME !!!

 

I can never seem to get orchids flowering again after they have been given to me.

 

My nemesis is Lettuce, I can get seedling potted on..they start to grow bu by the time they get near edible size..they die!

I think we have had 2 lettuces this year out of around 18-20, and its the same story in recent years too.

Steve...

 

Interesting thread indeedy. Mine's a simple 'nemesis', the lawn(s) front and back both the same. Have had the local 'greenfinger' chap, more than a ton of topsoil, boxes of seed for 'patching' and still have small bare patches all over the place - not good!

 

Sounds like you've got root aphids Steve, I should see a Doctor about that.

 

Snowberry - I hate the stuff having bought a house that the garden had been left for 10 years it had spread like wildfire. I've had a digger in hes dug up some of the roots at least 5cm wide but they are sooooo deep. Planning on laying lawn but worried its doing to come through again. Any ideas? no poison though unfortunately

 

My nemesis is poorly developer-laid turf which has just been placed on top of rubble in my front garden. Plan is to dig it up, level it and create a flower-y front garden with less grass next year. Got to finish the back garden first though...

 

My nemesis in our new garden is the Japanese anemones.
We WILL try and eradicate them.

 

My partner absolutely loves these and wants some in our other border, are they quite a spreader?

 

Yes @silexa
They spread well. But I assume it has to be in the right soil.
They are everywhere in our village. I'm struggling to contain them to one bed. My wife dug one load out, and replaced with hydrangeas. She didn't dig deep enough, and left hundreds of broken pieces of root. Each piece will sprout a new plant, and it'll take years to get them all out.
The main bed of them has been a huge splash of colour, but every bed surrounding it has unwanted Japanese anemones, with roots coiled among plants I want to keep.
The huge bed I would like to replace with other plants, but I imagine I'll be still digging them up after I'm dead!!
If your partner wants some, I recommend keeping them in large planters, and up on bricks to stop the roots from escaping. The pink flowering ones are worse. I suggest buying the white variety. They appear to be easier to contain, even if they are not so colourful.


These are some of the pink ones!

 

If this is your first yr in the house, it might be better to hold off with the lawn and see how much snowberry comes through next yr. You could lay some membrane over the area to block light and discourage it.

 

Mine is Spring Onions & Radish, whatever I try they just won't grow

 

Yes Spring Onions are supposed to be easy but mine never get bigger than a blade of grass. Another thing that's supposed to be easy is Nicotiana, again a total failure for me.

 

I have in the past killed 2 acers, so I decided they are not for me - even though I love the look of them.

I think I killed them by over-caring, especially the second one. It was in a pot, I thought with good drainage, but the acer just suddenly deteriorated one day. It was quite dramatic. (I suspect either root rot or a fungal disease, probably caused by my frequent watering).

The first one... it was there when I bought the house, in a small pot, and at the time I had no interest in plants so I wasn't even watering it I am ashamed to admit. It was doing really well! Then I got into plants and I thought "right, you have been a real trooper - I will reward you with a bigger pot, fresh compost and regular watering". It died soon after I did all that

 

The pink Jap. anems always seem to spread more easily, especially in lighter soil. They aren't a problem round here, as we don't have light soil, and the white ones are generally better behaved, although they definitely prefer more consistenly moist soil. I only grow the whites as I really dislike pale pink.
It's quite hard to over water acers @CostasK , but poor drainage is always a problem for them. Too hot and/or windy a site is also not ideal. They grow like weeds here because the climate suits them in the west - cooler and damper, with suitable soil. If you use a soil based mix, with fine gravel or grit in the mix, that will be the best growing medium. Some of the composts hang on to moisture, or they do the opposite and don't stay damp properly at all. It's also a good idea, if potting them on, to only do a small change in the pot dimensions. Going up to a very large pot can often mean the finer roots are sitting in too wet a mix for too long.
Pick up a little cheapo next year, in a supermarket or similar, and give them another go