How much will you miss outdoor gardening in the next few months?

I'm always amazed by how much they charge for little plants, when I've always found that once waterlilies start growing, it's a battle to keep them controlled! I used to throw loads on the compost heap - it was disgusting, but they were liberally coated in fish waste, so were quite useful. And removal then helped reduce nitrogen in the pond.

 

Ah, the joys of winter gardening! … What makes it even worse is to have two sons killing themselves laughing a few feet away, instead of saying, Why don’t you let us do that for you, father?... Ah, the boys of winter gardening!

 

I’ve just had this idea, just popped into my head, to scrap the Orontium and get a couple of Iris ensata; does anybody know how and when is best to do this?

 

Warm wishes to everyone on the forum for a Happy Christmas, as well as
prosperous Winter Gardening, and a happy New Year from Lao & Mrs Lao!

 

All the very best to you both @LawnAndOrder

 

Cheeky! Have a look at this....https://www.lilieswatergardens.co.u...27_113.html?osCsid=7ri9m7u5guome78df68pbrkvl1 or this...Iris ensata 'Tiramisu' bare roots — Buy Japanese water iris online at Farmer Gracy UK Other nurseries are available.....

 

You can get ensata [and sibirica] irises in many online nurseries late winter/early spring.
Any of the pond plant retailers will have a selection - Waterside, Devon Pond Plants, PuddlePlants are all good. Places like Bradshaws also do plants as well as liners, underlay etc.

 

You are a treasure! We've just looked at those sites filled with wonders! but which to choose?
Looking forward to look into all this, and act upon it ...

By the way, you ask why I am doing this pond work now? We live in a house where ideas, once had, have to be put to bed, or else they never go to sleep.

Incidentally, the cause of the leak has been discovered; see below the serious fault line (the discrepancy between the faultline and the water level is due to the thirty buckets (six hundred litres) of water extracted to make the 'dive' easier (more on that later) ... we have a plan to deal with it (sort of 'belt and braces'), hopefully without too much fuss, to bring the level once again above the lawn, which used to have a lovely effect ...

 

To put things in perspective, whilst I am doing the former, Mrs Lao is doing the latter!

Which do you think I would prefer? You’ve guessed it: very happy where I am, I know my place!

So cool in there … Went back into the house which now smells like Billingsgate Fish Market … and tonight we are having the soup made from the rest of the “Moules”! What’s not to like?!

The third photo is of Mrs Lao's when I came back into the house.

 

She's knitting a pond liner? Silly boy! Where are the fetching Lidl fluo pink waders and matching Marigolds? Tenue obligatoire for fossicking in ponds, it provides hours of amusement for amphibians having a PVC-clad monster to dodge, as well as providing a bit of insulation for more mature bones and muscles. (There, wasn't that diplomatic? ).
In fact, mine sprang a leak a couple of years ago (the waders, not the pond) so it's still a somewhat damp experience but at least the creepy-crawlies get strained out.
How are you going to seal the breech?

 

Mrs Lao has a lovely cardi @LawnAndOrder

 

I didn’t need any of that; Mrs Lao had wrapped my legs in some recyclable bin-liners supplied for free by the Council; and cheap-to-make they must be because they started to leak the INSTANT I hit the water.

The breach will be sealed (after much local scrubbing of the concrete) by plumber’s mate firmly pressed into the crack and then secured with an (apparently) miracle tape which is guaranteed under water; we have used it to seal the edges of the lawn-roller cover we made in the summer, and it is unbelievably strong. As for plumber’s mate, I have never known that to leak, it is a matter of keeping it in place, hence the tape … Well, god luck with that, we’ll see.

 

Thank you @Bluejayway - you’ve made her day! , @cactus_girl, @Victoria, @CarolineL, and @noisette whose diplomacy has made my day!!!

Yes, Mrs Lao is a good knitter. In fact, she knitted that cardigan a few weeks ago, more or less at one throw, very fast, without a pattern and improvising the design and colours as she went along; she can even do it while talking - both activities proceeding at about the same pace. Having said that, the most important contribution was mine, as she was using MY knitting needles, from the far-long-faded days when I tried my hands at it. Yes, it quite agreeable if you can deal with the monotony, although not, I suppose, when you do it at her level.

I pay her lots of compliments, such as It must be so nice to be a woman of leisure! This prevents scathing remarks aimed at her husband who is minding his own business in foul water (in fact you can see a picture of me in the photo where she knits, just above the grass seeds boxes – did you notice, by the way, how clean the floor is: that’s when you are a man of leisure!).

P.S. She is also very good at knitting her eyebrows!

 

Mrs LAU is better than good. I gave up knitting years ago and only crochet now and make lots of afghans, shawls and such like simple items, most of which I give to the Cat Charity we support to sell in their shop.

My name was Lady of Leisure when I joined this forum nearly 19 years ago till I found out what LOL meant so changed it to my name .