How about a gardening thread?

[DantesDame]

I am sad

This was the first visit to the garden since I left town last week and after yesterday's cold and hail, things are looking bad. Really bad. All sorts of dead buds (including the grape and kiwi) and broken leads on the black raspberry. The cucumber starts I put in are toast and I am sure that there are quite a few other dead things I just didn't notice. It doesn't look like spring - it looks more like fall!

[roegner]

I planted some seeds, will see if any of those ever grow. Potted basilicum is gone.... Who would have expected night frost?

[DantesDame]

I would like some advice

I have a vertical space that I would like to fill. It is to replace the bamboo screen visible in this photo:



What I would like to do is have a climbing, evergreen vine that I can train horizontally between the two posts to give us a little privacy. Ideally it would also have nice flowers and (bonus!) smell nice. I do want to be cautious about an overachiever, as I do not want it to compete too much with the grapes that will eventually cover the pergola above.

Thoughts?

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	I am sad This was the first visit to the garden since I left town last week and after yesterday's cold and hail, things are looking bad. Really bad. All sorts of dead buds (including the grape and kiwi) and broken leads on the black raspberry. The cucumber starts I put in are toast and I am sure that there are quite a few other dead things I just didn't notice. It doesn't look like spring - it looks more like fall!

I feel very lucky. We seem to have got off very lightly here with no frost at all. Aside from a couple of sleety showers and a couple of chilly mornings we haven't had any of the bad weather and everything in the garden has survived unscathed.
We were even sitting out on the patio having aperitif this evening.

What we desperately need is rain. It has been way too dry for way too long.

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	I am sad

As am I.

As if the ca. 5 centimeters of snow wasn't bad enough, we had a killing freeze over two nights.

Blueberries, Johannesbeeren, strawberries, the pear tree and apple trees were in flower; I've definitely lost the berries, the pear and apple don't look so clever. Raspberries were not yet in flower yet but the canes look pretty bad.

The hardy herbs, except the Bärlauch, are OK. Bärlauch is gone. The Liebstock... well, wouldn't you know it, the one thing in my garden I'd be glad to be rid of prospers no matter what.

Another heartbreaker: my Japanese maples, mature trees, had just leafed out - the young leaves were frozen and I think are lost now.

I had stuck a few plants in the cold frame, heated with candle lanterns - these look like they'll make it with some TLC.

But the fruit in the garden will likely be a total loss.

Oh my oh my, it is so sad to read that your gardens suffered so much. Nature is resilient, so not all might be lost yet.

However, some of you planted the seedlings out way to early for Swiss climates. General rule of thumb is, anything delicate goes out -unprotected- after the so called Eisheiligen in May. Before that it has to be in covered,or otherwise protected, early beds.

I've got 9 heads of salad in home made early bed contraptions (made of lidded office boxes),on my very weather exposed balcony, we had 'la bise' to almost stormy levels here, sleet,hail, frost etc .... they are all still thriving, thanks to the lids. The hardy stuff such as kale and kohlrabi is uncovered and survived well. I'll wait for at least end of April until i put cucumber, peperoni, tomatoes et al outside.

Sounds like we were lucky up on the top of the Jura some frost and a couple of snow flurries- but no damage at all as the fruit trees are not yet in flower- and I never plant anything in the veg garden until well into May.

Sorry to hear about all the damage done in some parts of CH.

[meloncollie]

While we'll have a nice weekend, it looks like cold temps, along with the possibility of another snow in my area, may be back next week.

http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/news/sto...anden-13195205


On Monday I shall be following the fate of the Böögg with more interest than usual...

Snow forecast in the Far West too at our altitude. And then we of course still have to be concerned about the dreaded 'Saints' days later in May, when last sharp frosts can still occur. Hence the tradition here not ot plant until all the Ice Saints are over.

Les saints de Glace sont les jours de la St Mamert (11 mai), St Pancrace (12 mai) et St Servais (13 mai).

Malgré tout, ne vous précipitez pas au jardin car "Quand la saint Urbain est passée, le vigneron est rassuré" et "Mamert, Pancrace, Boniface sont les trois saints de glaces, mais saint Urbain les tient tous dans sa main." C'est le 25 mai !

So Saint Urbano is not until 25th of May- unless they have cloches or greenhouse- no-one up here will plant until 26th of May

Lovely bright day up here- and the bise has dropped, much warmer today- but still better to put a fleece on at least for the 1st hour or so - out into the garden I go- Put all the tools in the new tool shed so we can regain use of the little house by side of patio.

[meloncollie]

The damage in my garden was not to things I had planted too early, rather to mature perennials, bushes, and even trees that had been in for years.

Early warming followed by a cold snap is increasingly a problem. We'll get warm spells in February or March, heck even January, and then the garden starts to wake up. In most years past those warm spells have been followed by a 'gentle' cooling off, late snows were heavy but not a deep freeze, so the damage has been limited.
But this last cold snap was something altogether different. A hard freeze hit the plants at their most vulnerable, when the blooms and young shoots were out.

The farmer behind me reckons his entire apple harvest will be lost.

Some more poking around today: The hydrangea are frostbitten and will have to be cut way down, the rhododendron is toast, and all new growth on the spirea is dead. Spirea! Generally the hardiest plant in the kingdom...

I'm truly heartbroken about my Japanese maples. One was 12 years old, the others 8. They formed the border for my patio and the centerpiece of the front garden, such a loss. It looks like even the 30+ year old 'regular' maple will lose it's leaves.

These are normally very hardy plants, this kind of devastation is unheard of in these parts.

(And no jam this year... )

So sorry it has left you feeling sad and cross. I brought a Japanese maple from our UK garden and it did so well, but at the end of winter found ti broken in half- was hoping it would show signs of new life- but no.

I realise you were talking about mature trees and plants re the Ice Saints- just saying I won't be buying veg plants too early this year- as it is a total waste of time. Onwards and forwards.

	Quote:	DantesDame
	I would like some advice I have a vertical space that I would like to fill. It is to replace the bamboo screen visible in this photo: Thoughts?

Espalier fruit tree such as peach or nectarine.

My runner beans are out but with double bubblewrap around & fleece over the top & are doing fine, but I have held back from planting out my courgettes & pumpkins. We'll end up with courgettes growing on the dining room table at this rate. I have been putting them out in the day & bring them back in at night. They'd normally be planted out already but these night temperatures are just too dodgy. Everything else is in the cold frame coming along slowly but nicely. Going for lots of artichokes this year as an architectural feature, some Okra (even though it will probably taste foul but the plants look pretty) + some cucamelons. Will soon sow my Callaloo (Amaranthus Tricolour) seeds indoors. Do like to play around with something different every year.

The lack of rain is already taking its toll in our garden. A big hortensia has dried and shriveled leaves already. This is our third year in this house and every year this plant looked pitiful though never as early as his year. It has most likely been here for many years judging by its size but maybe its time to replace them with something less thirsty? We also have a rhododendron of similar dimensions which will probably be showing signs of drying next.

How would you handle this? Do I really need to water these mature plants that are practically the size of trees?

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	neddy
	Espalier fruit tree such as peach or nectarine.

I appreciate the response Those would be good choices, if only for the slow-growing aspect of them.

Unfortunately, I can't have a tree (the city has already asked me to take down one of the four trees - I guess I can only have three on the allotment ) Plus, I would like something a little more evergreen, so that early spring time spent there will still have some privacy.


I am currently leaning towards an evergreen honeysuckle, but I need to learn more about them.

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Don't know what the weather forecast is for the rest of you gardeners, but here on Tuesday night into Wednesday it ain't going to be nice. Sleet and snow forecast at the moment, so can only hope the forecast will change for the better over the next couple of days.

	Quote:	carlasmom
	The lack of rain is already taking its toll in our garden. A big hortensia has dried and shriveled leaves already. This is our third year in this house and every year this plant looked pitiful though never as early as his year. It has most likely been here for many years judging by its size but maybe its time to replace them with something less thirsty? We also have a rhododendron of similar dimensions which will probably be showing signs of drying next. How would you handle this? Do I really need to water these mature plants that are practically the size of trees?

Ouch- when were they pruned? If it was me, I would prune them down by half- water plenty, feed with compost/manure and hope for the best.

My husband pruned them last year for the same reason. We will follow your advice and try more radical pruning in the fall.

	Quote:	Medea Fleecestealer
	Don't know what the weather forecast is for the rest of you gardeners, but here on Tuesday night into Wednesday it ain't going to be nice. Sleet and snow forecast at the moment, so can only hope the forecast will change for the better over the next couple of days.

I'm also watching the weather forecast carefully waiting for rain so that we can finally fertilize our lawn. Tuesday evening is our first option in weeks!

For the lawn, I would really wait a while. Snow forecast up here.

Even if it rains one evening- the ground is so dry that the fertiliser could still burn it.

A disaster for farmers- as grass is not growing fast enough- and those in uplands depending on cisterns that often run out in Summer- have totally empty reservoirs now in April Cows drink huge amounts of water per day- and they already have to have water brought in- which is hugely costly.

We are glad we have installed 3 x 1000 litre + one 500 l- at the side of the house- which get full quite quickly due to our very large roof- still got last autumn's water.

[krlock3]

Basically a garden newbie... planted a felsen birne tree (shadbush / juneberry) which is about 2m tall already.

I think about watering it twice a week for the first six months... about 4 litres of water a time... does that sound about right? and do I continue over winter?