How about a gardening thread?

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	curley
	My neighbour came home, telling me her father said she is not allowed to use the hose to water the veggies. I'm trying to find something on this to no avail (seems there was some advice in Germany). Does anybody know about this? Or does her father simply watch too much German telly? It doesn't make sense not to allow to water veggies and fruits properly?

As an FYI, water restrictions have been put in place in Altnau, Güttingen und Langrickenbach TG, sprinkling lawns and watering flowers will be prohibited. Also, residents of Russwil LU have been called on to be mindful of what is used. From the 20 Min ticker:
http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/news/sto...Regen-18527633

[ladylou]

Hi everyone, How are your gardens doing? I have been harvesting tomatoes, tonnes of blackberries and raspberries this year and we had some early potatoes. I have a question about a rocket salad plant i put in about 3 years ago. Every year i cut it back, but it has a main stalk of wood that new leaves grow from.. almost like a little bush.. it is quite full of leaves at the moment and i am wondering if the leaves are edible? Would they work for pesto? Anyone else growing rocket and how are you caring for it? Mine is just growing without much care so thought i would check.. i took some early leaves and since then it has been doing its own thing!

[meloncollie]

Committing the sin of quoting from discussions long moved on:

	Quote:	Blueangel
	I'll just put them on the front garden wall with a 'gratis' sign, same as I do with my other excess seedlings and plants.

I thought about your 'what to do with a (potential) glut of watermelon' problem as I was traveling around...

Seems just about every little bistro is serving watermelon and burata salad this year. Sort of a riff on traditional caprese. I'm now officially addicted.

Basically, cube and deseed watermelon, toss with a tiny bit of olive oil, generous helpings of basil or mint or oregano leaves (your choice to taste) some red pepper flakes or chilis, black pepper, some sort of fancy 'artisanal' salt. Get creative with the herbs, add any savory combo you fancy to balance the sweet watermelon.

Serve over a bed of rucola, garnish with shredded burata, drizzle with balsamic. Variations include adding grilled peaches, cucumbers, chives, yellow cherry tomatoes... anything you fancy.

Seriously good stuff.

Off to read up on growing watermelon. Maybe next year. That's what I love about gardening - there's always next year.

[meloncollie]

	Quote:	ladylou
	I have a question about a rocket salad plant i put in about 3 years ago. Every year i cut it back, but it has a main stalk of wood that new leaves grow from.. almost like a little bush.. it is quite full of leaves at the moment and i am wondering if the leaves are edible? Would they work for pesto?

I cherish my 'old growth' rucola!

The leaves tend to be more peppery than young rucola, so I use them sparsely in salads, as a complement to the younger plants or to add zest to other greens.

But where peppery old-growth rocket leaves really shine is as a substitute for spinach in any cooked recipe. I sauté them, along with any complementary herb or veggie (mushrooms, tomatoes, etc) and use that as a filling for omelettes, toss over pasta, as a side by itself, in soups - the possibilities are endless. Because the old growth rucola leaves are tougher than new the new leaves they seem to hold up better to cooking.

Because they are a tad tougher, I find that they need to be minced finer than usual for a pesto. A matter of taste. Make a small batch, and experiment from there.

I simply cut my plants back as winter starts, and voila, next spring I have a new crop of 'old' rucola. An added plus - rucola seems to thrive on benign neglect.

BTW, let a few of your rucola stems bolt - the yellow flowers make a nice peppery garnish.

[acf69]

Does anyone have any advice how to remove large weeds in an otherwise empty garden (post-construction)? It covers roughly 800m2...

[st2lemans]

Roundup.

Tom

[Blueangel]

	Quote:	acf69
	Does anyone have any advice how to remove large weeds in an otherwise empty garden (post-construction)? It covers roughly 800m2...

Depends on a number of things:

How soon you plan to landscape
What kind of access you have to the garden
What you plan on doing with the garden e.g. lawn, hard landscaping, etc...

I had my UK garden totally landscaped in May. It took 4 guys a day to dig it over completely, to a depth of about a meter, and remove as much weed material, including roots and tubers, as possible. Roundup wasn't a good option on that occassion as they were laying new top soil and turf the following day.

All the digging had to be done by hand as there wasn't access for a mini-digger, which would have done the job in a couple of hours.

If the ground is still too hard, and you're willing to wait a little while to landscape, then cut back to the root, and paint roundup on the stumps. I've even used that technique to kill several trees. Then this guy is my gardening guru. His videos have saved me an absolute fortune over the years...

How does this work?

[acf69]

	Quote:	st2lemans
	Roundup. Tom

My wife has vetoed this option:
http://fortune.com/2018/08/11/monsan...trial-verdict/

[acf69]

	Quote:	Blueangel
	Depends on a number of things: How soon you plan to landscape What kind of access you have to the garden What you plan on doing with the garden e.g. lawn, hard landscaping, etc...

Thanks for the suggestions. To answer your questions, we will not start doing the garden until next spring, but rather the neighbours are complaining about a garden of 1.5m weeds. I just want to cut it quickly, as the landscape companies are asking in excess of 1,000 Sfr.

[amogles]

	Quote:	acf69
	Does anyone have any advice how to remove large weeds in an otherwise empty garden (post-construction)? It covers roughly 800m2...

I used to own a smallish meadow (this was not in Switzerland) and whereas usually I allowed a naighbour to graze his two pet goats there, there were a couple of years that for various reasons that didn''t happen. I worked out that i could save myself a lot of time and energy by cutting at the right time. So cutting at a time that it's likely to grow back within a week isn't a sensible use of your resources. The vegetation was only about 50% grass and the other 50% various fast-growing plants. I used both a hand scythe and a motor trimmer. For smaller jobs an electric trimmer is fine but for a larger area I would recommend a petrol one as you typically have more power and the cable doesn't keep getting in the way.I payed the equivalent of 20CHF for mine in a charity shop.

If you want to remove stuff more permanantly, a ground tiller is a good investment. If it's a one off job you can also rent one at many garden stores

[Patxi]

	Quote:	acf69
	Thanks for the suggestions. To answer your questions, we will not start doing the garden until next spring, but rather the neighbours are complaining about a garden of 1.5m weeds. I just want to cut it quickly, as the landscape companies are asking in excess of 1,000 Sfr.

Go down to Landi and buy a decent gasoline powered weed eater (strimmer). They have some OK OKAY models for a little less than 200 CHFs. Buy some fuel and extra nylon line.

Alternatively, you could do it with a schythe.

You could also ask a farmer in your neighborhood. If it's good quality weeds/grass, they will cut and remove to feed their animals for a reasonable price. They might lend you some goats or sheep as well.

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	acf69
	Thanks for the suggestions. To answer your questions, we will not start doing the garden until next spring, but rather the neighbours are complaining about a garden of 1.5m weeds. I just want to cut it quickly, as the landscape companies are asking in excess of 1,000 Sfr.

This brought to mind the scene in The World's Fastest Indian when he cut his "lawn" with a gallon of gasoline and a match

[DantesDame]

My single sunflower seedling (planted from last year's flower) has outdone itself this year:



I'll harvest a couple of seeds for next year's garden, but I'm letting the birds and the bees enjoy the summer bounty

[acf69]

	Quote:	Patxi
	Go down to Landi and buy a decent gasoline powered weed eater (strimmer). They have some OK OKAY models for a little less than 200 CHFs. Buy some fuel and extra nylon line. Alternatively, you could do it with a schythe. You could also ask a farmer in your neighborhood. If it's good quality weeds/grass, they will cut and remove to feed their animals for a reasonable price. They might lend you some goats or sheep as well.

The sight of having goats and sheep in our garden and walking up staircases would be priceless. My kids would love that, unfortunately not practical.
Not sure what a strimmer is, but guess you mean a trimmer like this one:


https://www.landi.ch/shop/trimmer-freischneider_100505


And what do I need the nylon line for?


Attached some pics from the backyard that represents roughly 70% of the surface I need to handle. I need to handle this for about 9 months until we finish the garden properly. Propaby requires 10-15 cuts, and given they are asking 1,000 Sfr each time I rather do this myself.


Thanks for the suggestions to all

[Patxi]

	Quote:	acf69
	And what do I need the nylon line for?

That's what spins and cuts the weeds. You'll see the spools of it next to the machines at Landi (or any of the other garden centers).

[Tom1234]

	Quote:	acf69
	but rather the neighbours are complaining about a garden of 1.5m weeds.

	Quote:	acf69
	Attached some pics from the backyard that represents roughly 70% of the surface I need to handle.

Having seen the photos, it's impossible not to notice all the neighbouring properties have immaculate yew hedges with razor-sharp edges and dead-straight lines.

It's that sort of neighbourhood (I don't mean that in a derogatory way). If you want to stay on the right side of the neighbours then you are doing the right thing by cutting the weeds down!

[DantesDame]

The weather is finally turning. We had a fantastic last couple of months, but now the forecast is for a lot of cold rain, and possibly (but unlikely) snow on Monday

That being said, I decided today to "winterize" the garden by wrapping up the table and chairs, cutting back some of the pond plants and pulling out anything that looked remotely edible. Well, except for the grapes - there were just too many of them to deal with...


I present to you: The Last Harvest of the Season

[JBZ86]

Can anyone help point out the rules / laws regarding leaves that blow from one persons property to another?

This is deemed a natural occurrence in the U.K. and therefore no obligation on the tree owner to clean. Of course, maintaining good relations tends to lead people to make a compromise.

I am guessing it varies in different cantons?

[Tom1234]

	Quote:	JBZ86
	Can anyone help point out the rules / laws regarding leaves that blow from one persons property to another?

I think you are allowed to keep them.

[pilatus1]

	Quote:	JBZ86
	Can anyone help point out the rules / laws regarding leaves that blow from one persons property to another? This is deemed a natural occurrence in the U.K. and therefore no obligation on the tree owner to clean. Of course, maintaining good relations tends to lead people to make a compromise. I am guessing it varies in different cantons?

Here's some info. ( In German)

It seems like a grey area..

https://www.orion.ch/de/Rechtsratgeb...mmissionen.php