How about a gardening thread?

[Tom1234]

Slugs, vine weevils and box tree caterpillar are the bane of my garden but on the plus side, we've got salamanders all over the place, thousands of bees, hedgehogs and we even found a frog yesterday.

For all the pests though, I've found the most effective way, but also the most time consuming is to regularly inspect the plants and deal with them by hand.

Our box tree shrubs and small hedge are now growing back and the plants that the vine weevils and beetles attacked are getting eaten less.

A layer of sand in the base of the cold frame has limited attacks by slugs on seedlings.

It does help to have a small garden though.

A trick I learnt about the other day is to spray pots with DW40 to deter slugs- you can also buy sticky copper tape to stick below rim.

Tom having a larger garden can also make you more tolerant and switch your ways. I can't be bothered to grow lettuce and plants like hostas- as it would be a constant battle. Swiss chard however is not a problem.

I love the bees, the butterflies, and the myriad of birds- and without weeds like nettles, which I allow to grow in the field and harverst to cook too- and the bugs, including flies- those animals would not survive. We just can't have it both ways. Fortunately we have bug screens on one window per room and on the kitchen to patio/garden door and flies now stay outside (we could not use the door screen when our large dog Gatsby was still with us, as she would barge in and tear it. Little Slinky just stops and waits. Hedgehogs just cannot survive without slugs and worms, and they are such a joy to have around- and are real little helpers eating slugs all night.

Our wild pond is full of alpine newts too, black with bright orange beliies- and the dragonflies have began their climb onto the reeds for their magical transformation- it takes about 1 hour, and it is such a spectacle. Once firmly gripped onto the reed, it pushes the head back slowly until it pierces the skin, then continues to slowly push back for about 1 hour, until it is all out- then has to quickly switch grip and wait until dry and then fly off. The dragonflies (blue aeschne, with large yellow and turquoise eyes) are much bigger than the larvae- it is amazing. Then just the shell is left on the reed- paper thin- and still looks like the larvae is there...

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	Tom1234
	A layer of sand in the base of the cold frame has limited attacks by slugs on seedlings.

Tom, do you put the sand around the cold frame border, or throughout on top of the soil you have placed the seedlings in?

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I've been looking after my mother's garden in the Chicago area while she is recovering; I'd forgotten what a joy gardening can be when you don't have to worry about slugs. I mean, I plant something and it's still there the next day - who'd a thunk it?

[Tom1234]

	Quote:
	Tom having a larger garden can also make you more tolerant and switch your ways. I can't be bothered to grow lettuce and plants like hostas- as it would be a constant battle. Swiss chard however is not a problem.

We've got a bed of of Hostas but they are in a part of the garden which the slugs find difficult to get to as they would have to cross gravel.
They need dividing next spring.
But I reckon that the ones I'm going to replant won't last a week in the new patch.

Just wondering if anyone has seen this rose, or knows anything about these kinds of roses. This picture is from near Canterbury, England. The rose blooms are yellow and gradually change to red over time.

Thanks!

[Tasebo]

	Quote:
	Just wondering if anyone has seen this rose, or knows anything about these kinds of roses. This picture is from near Canterbury, England. The rose blooms are yellow and gradually change to red over time. Thanks!

I am fairly sure that is Masquerade, or near-identical twin. It is a climbing type, and the blooms "change" colour from opening to withering.

	Quote:	Tasebo
	I am fairly sure that is Masquerade, or near-identical twin. It is a climbing type, and the blooms "change" colour from opening to withering.

Thank you! Yes, that appears to be the same rose.

[JanerMacP]

With the heatwave coming up over the next 7+ days, is anyone covering their tomatoes to protect them? Mine are planted against a wall and get a lot of sun, not full sun all day but pretty close. I don't want them to wilt or cook in the heat - just wondering if I need to do anything?

They're growing really well, I lost my whole crop last year due to bottom end rot so I am taking particular care to baby them this year.

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	JanerMacP
	With the heatwave coming up over the next 7+ days, is anyone covering their tomatoes to protect them? Mine are planted against a wall and get a lot of sun, not full sun all day but pretty close. I don't want them to wilt or cook in the heat - just wondering if I need to do anything? They're growing really well, I lost my whole crop last year due to bottom end rot so I am taking particular care to baby them this year.

Tomatoes generally love sun and warmth. (Those I grew in the US midwest - 30+ with nary a sign of rain from mid June on - did beautifully. Whereas mine struggle here in our usually damp and drearly summers. ) Intense sun usually isn't a problem for tomatoes, rather the opposite.

You might need to give them a bit more water, though.

But if yours start to look like they are having trouble, you could always shield them from the worst few hours of the day's heat with a tilting patio sun umbrella.

Planted strawberries too tightly packed 3 years ago- and gave them more space in spring- for the first time, the crop is fantastic, and raspberries just beginning too. My neighbour will have them all next week when away (typical)...blackcurrants and redcurrants should be ready when we get back.

[amogles]

	Quote:
	Planted strawberries too tightly packed 3 years ago- and gave them more space in spring- for the first time, the crop is fantastic, and raspberries just beginning too. My neighbour will have them all next week when away (typical)...

Have you still got strawberries? Mine finished several weeks ago. Raspberries are doing really well though.

When you replant strawberries, do you throw out the older plants and go for the young ones, or do you keep the old ones going?

We are at near 1000m altitude, so a bit behind I was given the plants from sil in Surrey- I will replace them when they become less productive.
Raspberries were given to me by a neighbour and I've used suckers to create another long row- and will keep doing this until I have too many (well you never have too many raspberries though). Given up on vegetables and fighting with slugs and snails- raspberries are so much easier and so delicious. I freeze excess on trays so they remain whole and then bag them into the freezer- keeps us in fruit all winter.

I prune some to half stem, and the rest to the ground- so we have raspberries constantly from late June to end September.

[meloncollie]

Either I've gone crazy (always a possibility) or my Johannesbeeren have.

I planted red, white, and pink currant bushes some years ago. I have them growing in two areas, each currant bed containing all three colors. Made for a nice display as well as tasty fruit.

This year - the fifth year the bushes have been in - about half the red currant bushes have now produced white fruit. The formerly-red currants now producing white are in an area of the garden that gets more sunlight. The bushes in the shadier area have retained their original fruit color.

(The pinks have stayed pink, in both beds.)

Any idea what is going on?

Looking for rectangular non-clay pots and saucers. Migros doesn't seem to stock them (I've only seen the round ones until now). Also looking for perlite. Any pointers?

[kiwigeek]

The sell some on the Do It & Garden website: http://www.doitgarden.ch/fr/jardin/m...20plantes.catp

Or get ye to your local Landi....

[meloncollie]

	Quote:
	Looking for rectangular non-clay pots and saucers. Migros doesn't seem to stock them (I've only seen the round ones until now). Also looking for perlite. Any pointers?

Non-clay as in plastic, or metal, or Terralite, or?

What size - window box, or planters?

Hornbach have a good selection, CoopB/H carry them as well, albeit somewhat smaller selection.

Both carry perlite. At B/H, likely in the indoor garden area rather than outdoors.

[Belgianmum]

They have a decent selection of rectangular planters and saucers at Jumbo around here. There is also a reasonable (albeit smaller) choice in Landi.

Melon collie is right about the perlite, it's in the indoor plant section here too.

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Non-clay as in plastic, or metal, or Terralite, or? What size - window box, or planters? Hornbach have a good selection, CoopB/H carry them as well, albeit somewhat smaller selection. Both carry perlite. At B/H, likely in the indoor garden area rather than outdoors.

Size - something around 70x30cm.
Material - plastic, with fitting saucers.
Don't see perlite on the doit page though...

	Quote:	Belgianmum
	They have a decent selection of rectangular planters and saucers at Jumbo around here. There is also a reasonable (albeit smaller) choice in Landi. Melon collie is right about the perlite, it's in the indoor plant section here too.

Landi, B+H and Jumbo aren't feasible for me atm, so Migros'll have to stock what I need.

	Quote:	kiwigeek
	The sell some on the Do It & Garden website: http://www.doitgarden.ch/fr/jardin/m...20plantes.catp Or get ye to your local Landi....

Thanks - seems "my" do-it does indeed stock the plastic pots according to the website, but they are invisible in store... hope a salesperson is there next time to help me find them.

RAAANT -

I got some plants this week and now have zillions little disgusting flies zooming around even though I haven't even watered the plants yet, so I think they were there before they arrived at my place.
As I don't want to toss the plants and it isn't possible to find out which plant is the nest of these horrid little blighters, I'm going to have to repot them and apply some stuff to the soil to prevent this kind of thing happening again.

Any suggestions as to how I could do this, apart from baking the soil before use and putting garlic water/ginger pieces/tea tree oil in the soil? The yellow sticker thingies supposedly only get rid of the flying bugs, but not of the larvae which cause the most damage.

I don't want to buy a packet of ciggies just to use their insides to kill the bugs.

Thanks for any help!

[Tom1234]

	Quote:
	RAAANT - I got some plants this week and now have zillions little disgusting flies zooming around even though I haven't even watered the plants yet, so I think they were there before they arrived at my place. As I don't want to toss the plants and it isn't possible to find out which plant is the nest of these horrid little blighters, I'm going to have to repot them and apply some stuff to the soil to prevent this kind of thing happening again. Any suggestions as to how I could do this, apart from baking the soil before use and putting garlic water/ginger pieces/tea tree oil in the soil? The yellow sticker thingies supposedly only get rid of the flying bugs, but not of the larvae which cause the most damage. I don't want to buy a packet of ciggies just to use their insides to kill the bugs. Thanks for any help!

I wouldn't bother to re-pot. My wife, a one-time entomologist, informed me that they exist in most of the pre-packaged soils and composts.

Except most of the year you don't notice them because you either are using the soil outside or the flies haven't yet hatched out.

It's probably pot-luck whether a bag contains lots or hardly any fly lavae.