How about a gardening thread?

[lucy_who]

	Quote:	argus
	Looks like my regular online supplier has a selection of rambling roses. The peach and pink ones look lovely. http://www.baldur-garten.ch/unterkat...3Anotavailable

Thanks. I particularly wanted a Rambling Rector because they grow very quickly, smell lovely, and do well in shade, but looks like it isn't a popular variety in CH. Hey ho.

[Odile]

I planted a group of trees in the field next to the house last year, and made the mistake to put blood, fish and bone mixture in the whole prior to planting- and the badgers have dug it all up- fortunately trees have survived (expensive business!) and I have been able to refiil with soil and place large rocks around- and now the fertiliser has gone, badgers leaving well alone- although there is a marked badger path and territorial latrines all along the limestone wall.

[argus]

My other pop-outs in our balcony so far this year.
Am so pleased that the forced muscari that were thrown out in a pot willy-nilly last spring have come up healthily in two clumps. (Mental note to self: Plant more muscari when I have a real garden.)

[Belgianmum]

I planted these bulbs very late (early January) but it doesn't seem to have done any harm.
The purple flowering one was 'half inched' from Odile's garden.

[Belgianmum]

Can somebody please explain to me how to attach more than one photo to a thread please? I choose three in the attachments section but when I click upload there is only ever one that appears.

[meloncollie]

Need some creative ideas, fellow gardeners...

I have a spot with mature hostas. They make a wonderful show summer through fall, but I need a solution for spring. In previous years I had daffodil and tulip bulbs in with the hostas to give the spot some early color and foliage, but it seems the mice have eaten the bulbs - so now there is only a bare patch.

The spot is full shade.

Any ideas what I can plant in with the hostas to give me some spring color or foliage that won't fall victim to marauding rodents?


And speaking of resident critters:

I left a pile of brambles along my border last fall - didn't have time to clean it up. Which turned out to be a good thing, as a hedgehog family have taken up residence. I'd like them to stay and help me wage the never ending War On Slugs, so I'm hesitant to do anything that would disturb them. But I need to do some cleaning/planting before the neighbor gets upset at the unsightly mess.

Any tips for hedgehog-friendly gardening?

Many thanks.

[JanerMacP]

Aren't hedgehogs protected? So you could just tell your neighbor that? Or maybe put some colorful pots with colorful flowers around the mound?

[SOBEIT]

Best time to seed the grass, have some patches, now or in a few weeks? Tips welcome.

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	SOBEIT
	Best time to seed the grass, have some patches, now or in a few weeks? Tips welcome.

I would seed it now unless you're at a very high altitude and at risk of huge dumps of snow.

[SOBEIT]

	Quote:	Belgianmum
	I would seed it now unless you're at a very high altitude and at risk of huge dumps of snow.

Thanks, will plan to do it this wknd.

[Odile]

	Quote:	Belgianmum
	I planted these bulbs very late (early January) but it doesn't seem to have done any harm. The purple flowering one was 'half inched' from Odile's garden.

Pulsatilla, or lungwort- I love this plant because it is one of the earliest to flower, and therefore so useful to bees- and the foliage is nice all year round- Plenty more here if you want some more.

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	SOBEIT
	Thanks, will plan to do it this wknd.

Ideally you should aim to see it just before rain showers are forecast. Light showers are great but heavy downpours are a complete nightmare.

[lucy_who]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Need some creative ideas, fellow gardeners... I have a spot with mature hostas. They make a wonderful show summer through fall, but I need a solution for spring. In previous years I had daffodil and tulip bulbs in with the hostas to give the spot some early color and foliage, but it seems the mice have eaten the bulbs - so now there is only a bare patch. The spot is full shade. Any ideas what I can plant in with the hostas to give me some spring color or foliage that won't fall victim to marauding rodents? And speaking of resident critters: I left a pile of brambles along my border last fall - didn't have time to clean it up. Which turned out to be a good thing, as a hedgehog family have taken up residence. I'd like them to stay and help me wage the never ending War On Slugs, so I'm hesitant to do anything that would disturb them. But I need to do some cleaning/planting before the neighbor gets upset at the unsightly mess. Any tips for hedgehog-friendly gardening? Many thanks.

Saroccoca and Mahonia will flower in Jan/February. Pulmonaria flower Feb/March. Bergenia ("elephants ears") should also start in late February, and have good foliage all year. They should all be fine in full shade, but check for cold-resistance - I haven't been here long enough to know how cold it gets in Winter, but they've all done fine in northern England.

Hedgehogs like leaf litter and piles of sticks to attract insects; basically the untidier your garden, the better! Clearing up the brambles will disturb them, but you could try putting out saucers of dog food to persuade them to hang around while you create a new habitat for them in a more discreet area of the garden.

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	Odile
	Pulsatilla, or lungwort- I love this plant because it is one of the earliest to flower, and therefore so useful to bees- and the foliage is nice all year round- Plenty more here if you want some more.

Oops I thought it was called Pulmonaria Hence the lung connection.
No wonder the gardener looked at me a bit strangely when I called it that.

[Odile]

And NO milk- it is very bad for them. I leave piles of branches and leaves for them and newts, etc, at the bottom of the garden over winter- then when I make a bonfire in Spring, I mkae sure I lift all the pile to ensure there is nothing under before I light fire!!! (yes, it is perfectly legal up here in the boonies-and always warn neighbours first and ask for permission- and only once a year).

BM- you re totally right!!! Pulmonaria it is - doh and oooops - silly me. And in French they call them 'pulmonaires' - thanks for correction

Pulsatilla if of course the Pasque Flower/anemone- plenty of them in June at the Creux-de-Van. Also used in herbal remedies, for gall-bladder and kindey conditions mainly.

[SOBEIT]

	Quote:	Belgianmum
	Ideally you should aim to see it just before rain showers are forecast. Light showers are great but heavy downpours are a complete nightmare.

Thinking I could use the hose/sprinkler in the interim.

[smoky]

	Quote:	SOBEIT
	Best time to seed the grass, have some patches, now or in a few weeks? Tips welcome.

We also have a few bare patches in the lawn (from earlier renovation projects that destroyed the grass) and talking to a profi gardener, he said we should wait until May to sow grass seeds. Although the weather is good now, the seeds will only germinate from May. So we are waiting.

[smoky]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Need some creative ideas, fellow gardeners... I have a spot with mature hostas. They make a wonderful show summer through fall, but I need a solution for spring. In previous years I had daffodil and tulip bulbs in with the hostas to give the spot some early color and foliage, but it seems the mice have eaten the bulbs - so now there is only a bare patch. The spot is full shade. Any ideas what I can plant in with the hostas to give me some spring color or foliage that won't fall victim to marauding rodents? And speaking of resident critters: I left a pile of brambles along my border last fall - didn't have time to clean it up. Which turned out to be a good thing, as a hedgehog family have taken up residence. I'd like them to stay and help me wage the never ending War On Slugs, so I'm hesitant to do anything that would disturb them. But I need to do some cleaning/planting before the neighbor gets upset at the unsightly mess. Any tips for hedgehog-friendly gardening? Many thanks.

Full shade I planted "Fingerhut" last year. Nice tall flowers on stalks, and very large leaf base. The leaves stay green all thru winter, covering the soil.

Although the plant only lasts 2 years (flowers more abundantly in second year - it sheds so many seeds, and new seedlings keep coming up to replace the old plants.

Maybe an idea for your hedgehog area as well?
Or what about Comfrey? You can mistreat it, cut it down to nothing as often as you like -it just keeps coming up. WARNING: ONLY plant Comfrey where you know it will live for the rest of its life, which is forever!

Very handy stuff - the leaves are a compost activator, the bees love the flowers, makes a good herbal healing tea, and crushed new leaves ground into castor oil as a poultice relieves torn muscles/swellings/bone aches.
And leaves left to rot in water makes a good all-round fertilizer for garden.

[Odile]

You can also make fritters with the large leaves, with a filling like goat's cheese, etc.

Fingerhut is digitalis in English or digitales in French- I just love them. Here we have a yellow form that grows wild all over the place in Summer.

[smoky]

	Quote:	Odile
	You can also make fritters with the large leaves, with a filling like goat's cheese, etc. Fingerhut is digitalis in English or digitales in French- I just love them. Here we have a yellow form that grows wild all over the place in Summer.

The Fingerhut ....... when I sowed the seeds I had to keep the slugs away from them - seems the tiny little plants (in seed trays) are a slug delicasy? but as soon as they were larger and planted out - not a slug in site! And no more slugs appeared in that section of the garden.

Not recommended if you have small children around - very poisonous plant.

Tell me more about the Comfrey fritters Odile? Do you fry them? The big leaves are so "hairy" and prickly.