How about a gardening thread?

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	EastEnders
	Some other tip, whether in a pot or or planted into the ground. Raspberries don't like to be fiddled with too much during spring/summer, so don't weed too much and if you put a layer of cut grass around the stems , it'll help to keep weeds at bay as well we help keep the soil moist and the grass acts a bit like plant food too.

I don´t have the link here, but I read recently that there are "companion plants" - and one of the companions for black berries (and probably raspberries) are mints. That would make a nice cover to keep other plants/weeds from coming in.


I´ll try to post up a link later, although google is your friend if you´re really interested

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	EastEnders
	If you don't want your garden overgrown with brambly hedges DO NOT plant the raspberry shrubs direct in the ground. It ll grow like crazy, shoots coming up in places you didn't think of

Goodness, don't I know it.

I planted normal raspberries some years ago. The plants didn't do much in the bed I put them in... but they have sprouted up everywhere else, likely thanks to my feathered friends. I have volunteers taking over my slope, especially those spots where it is difficult to get at them to get them out. Can't turn around without finding a stray raspberry cane just where I least want it.

Thus my experiment with the new compact (Topf, Balkon) raspberries. I like the idea of a raspberry specifically created to stay put.

But I am concerned about over-wintering, should we actually get a real winter this year.

	Quote:	Tom1234
	I like your containers. Where did you get those?

Hello Tom

this is actually the Pirate's allotment at his home (mine is on the balcony here and only 8-9sqm )

We built those raised beds last fall, out of old railway-pallet frames, he was lucky enough to get them for free where he works.

This year was the first where we could profit from them physically, it is sooooooooooooooo much easier on the back and the yield of the veggies etc was quite good, if not better than before!.

Here's a link I found, what to look for.

http://www.allekleinanzeigen.ch/haus...en-kaufen.html


If you want to know more, feel free to PM me.

Cheerio

EE

[Tom1234]

	Quote:	EastEnders
	Hello Tom this is actually the Pirate's allotment at his home (mine is on the balcony here and only 8-9sqm ) We built those raised beds last fall, out of old railway-pallet frames, he was lucky enough to get them for free where he works. This year was the first where we could profit from them physically, it is sooooooooooooooo much easier on the back and the yield of the veggies etc was quite good, if not better than before!. Here's a link I found, what to look for. http://www.allekleinanzeigen.ch/haus...en-kaufen.html If you want to know more, feel free to PM me. Cheerio EE

Thanks for that. They look much more expensive than that. I;ve seen things that look similar in garden centres.

My new 'local' garden center has prices that make Meier Gartencenter look cheap!

[JagWaugh]

	Quote:	EastEnders
	We built those raised beds last fall, out of old railway-pallet frames, he was lucky enough to get them for free where he works.

Wow, the price of SBB rahmenpalette has gone down a lot.

About 15 years ago I looked at them and they were at least twice as much as those prices!

Even if you bought cheap cornerplates at pestalozzi and used really cheap wood you couldn't make them for that price.

[DantesDame]

I have a question! I just took over and allotment and the previous tenant left behind a few dozen nursery pots (the cheap, plastic ones). There are many different sizes, most of them in good shape. However, I don't want them.

What do I do with them? They don't appear to be recyclable. Could I take them to a local nursery? Bebi sack?

Thanks for your ideas!

[DantesDame]

And a separate question: Composting blackberries vines/canes.

I cut back the bushes on the plot but am hesitant to throw these thorny bits into my compost bit (which itself needs a lot of work). I have a mix of young, softy leafy vines and old, dried out canes.

What do you guys do with yours?

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Offer the pots for free down in the Marketplace. See if any of your felllow allotment neighbours would like any.

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	And a separate question: Composting blackberries vines/canes.

Mine go in the shredder - and then the shredded stuff goes in the compost.

Life lesson learned the hard way: wear safety goggles and long gloves when shredding thorny canes!

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	Mine go in the shredder - and then the shredded stuff goes in the compost.

Unfortunately, there is no shredder available. I'll keep looking for the best alternative <-- safety glasses

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	Unfortunately, there is no shredder available. I'll keep looking for the best alternative <-- safety glasses

An alternative would be to painstakingly cut the canes into smaller pieces with garden shears, then into the compost - but that's in no way a best alternative. With all that cutting you'd have blisters within a very short time.

Given our lack of sun here, we have to give the compost a fighting chance by shredding. A decent 'home' shredder from Landi or Hornbach should be ca CHF 200. One of our better investments. I figure I've saved the price of the shredder and then some in home-made mulch alone.

As for the pots, I return mine to the garden center. Even Coop B/H, although they no longer make it easy, will take them back. If you have a garden center nearby simply ask if they will take them - many do, even if you didn't buy the plant there. They sterilize and re-use them for starting new plants.

[Medea Fleecestealer]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	Unfortunately, there is no shredder available. I'll keep looking for the best alternative <-- safety glasses

Then hire one.

Interesting topic,

I have been told to NOT put bramble and raspberry twigs etc on the compost as it would most certainly start to grow again from even the tiniest shreds and thus over grow the compost in the coming year.

During my janitoring here, I cut them up in small pieces and binned them in the regular waste.

Meloncollie, as you seem to do it that way a longer time, have you never had any trouble with that??


@Dantes Dame, you may also try the Brockenhaus, they may take the pots off you and sell them again in Spring.

Should we pick up all the leaves from our garden or just leave them?

The gardener probably did his last grass cut of the season last week, which also picked up all the leaves.
Aside from how it looks, should one pick them up or just leave nature to do it's thing?

Leaving the wet leaves on the grass to rot, can cause moss/mould-like growth as well as make the grass turn yellow underneath it.

As beautiful as it looks, it is better to pick them up. But if you can, put them into a heap somewhere on the side of the garden and leave them to rot there, this will also be very wildlife friendly.

[amogles]

	Quote:	John_H
	Should we pick up all the leaves from our garden or just leave them? The gardener probably did his last grass cut of the season last week, which also picked up all the leaves. Aside from how it looks, should one pick them up or just leave nature to do it's thing?

Depends on the leaves, and also what's growing in your garden.

Leaves can be beneficial as they provide small plants with some protection against frost. Furthermore as they rot they release nutrients. If you remove them you are removing nutrients from the cycle in your garden.

On the other hand, too many laves can smother some plants and cause permanent damage if they don't get enough light and air. Some types of leaves also take very long to decompose.

So basically the answer to your question depends on what type of leaves, how many and what you're trying to achieve in your garden.

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	EastEnders
	Meloncollie, as you seem to do it that way a longer time, have you never had any trouble with that??

I don't think I can blame my wandering raspberries on the compost, as they regularly crop up in places where I have not put out composted mulch/soil. But of course I can't fully rule it out. I shred the canes finely and allow each bin several seasons to rot... so hopefully not.

(Lordy, if I put the canes in the communal green bin I think the Geraniumpolizei would have a conniption fit. I'd rather spend all summer rooting out volunteer raspberries than face that. )

I'm still holding the birds responsible. But random plantings in odd and unexpected places are a small price to pay for the pleasure of watching my feathered friends throughout the seasons.

	Quote:	amogles
	Depends on the leaves, and also what's growing in your garden. Leaves can be beneficial as they provide small plants with some protection against frost. Furthermore as they rot they release nutrients. If you remove them you are removing nutrients from the cycle in your garden. On the other hand, too many laves can smother some plants and cause permanent damage if they don't get enough light and air. Some types of leaves also take very long to decompose. So basically the answer to your question depends on what type of leaves, how many and what you're trying to achieve in your garden.

Basically .. It's leaves on grass. Like 30m x 40m . Leaves are from an "ornamental pear" tree which is huge and old.. And the tree which makles hazlenuts

[JagWaugh]

	Quote:	John_H
	Basically .. It's leaves on grass. Like 30m x 40m . Leaves are from an "ornamental pear" tree which is huge and old.. And the tree which makles hazlenuts

John,

The short story is that although really soft leaves (like raspberry or such) will mostly decompose over the winter, most tree and bush leaves will only partially decompose (if at all), when you leave them on the grass.

They are a lot easier to rake now, before the winter has turned them into a soggy sticky mess. If you have a corner get a compost thingie, rake them now, and put them there. Composting isn't difficult, but it does take a bit of attention and effort to recycle the cuttings and leaves, and there won't really be any useable compost produced until mid next summer.

If your grass is prone to moss, then definitely remove all the leaves you possibly can before the wet season starts.

[amogles]

	Quote:	meloncollie
	I don't think I can blame my wandering raspberries on the compost, as they regularly crop up in places where I have not put out composted mulch/soil. But of course I can't fully rule it out. I shred the canes finely and allow each bin several seasons to rot... so hopefully not. (Lordy, if I put the canes in the communal green bin I think the Geraniumpolizei would have a conniption fit. I'd rather spend all summer rooting out volunteer raspberries than face that. ) I'm still holding the birds responsible. But random plantings in odd and unexpected places are a small price to pay for the pleasure of watching my feathered friends throughout the seasons.

I very much doubt they're in the compost. Raspberries may be tough but they're no way that indestructible. It's either the birds or the tubers.