How about a gardening thread?

[curley]

	Quote:	ennui
	Heirloom tomatoes - an ox heart, actually a very pretty, heart shaped red tomato and a black prince - a dark, dark red, almost black round tomato. Good luck with them.....I’ve never had much success with tomatoes.

Exactly, that's them.
Well, I started planting veggies only last year, I'm a complete newbie. Plus I don't do detail studies like with other projects, I just want them to do their job and grow
However, last year's tomatoes were great and the only thing that did not give me troubles, died on me or didn't bother growing (which other things did). So I'm optimistic about the tomatoes.

	Quote:	DantesDame
	If you need another source of seeds, I have some very old heirlooms that originally came from Poland about 15 years ago. I always have trouble growing them to really good, nice fruit. So I've been taking the ones that DO form and save the seeds. No idea what the status of the seeds really are, but if you want, I can send you some to give it a shot.

That's very kind of you. This is only my second season and so far I start with little plants that obviously already live. Not sure I'm ready to start with seeds yet. Can I take a rain-check on that offer?

[Belgianmum]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	If you need another source of seeds, I have some very old heirlooms that originally came from Poland about 15 years ago. I always have trouble growing them to really good, nice fruit. So I've been taking the ones that DO form and save the seeds. No idea what the status of the seeds really are, but if you want, I can send you some to give it a shot.

Since Curley isn’t interested could I have some please.
My lovely Swiss neighbour has been growing heirloom tomatoes for years using the seeds from the good ones. She was really upset a couple of weeks ago when she discovered the mice had got in to her cellar and eaten them all. Of all the seeds they could have chosen they chose to eat those irreplaceable ones.
She’d be made up if she had some replacements for them even if they weren’t the exact ones.

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	Belgianmum
	Since Curley isn’t interested could I have some please. My lovely Swiss neighbour has been growing heirloom tomatoes for years using the seeds from the good ones. She was really upset a couple of weeks ago when she discovered the mice had got in to her cellar and eaten them all. Of all the seeds they could have chosen they chose to eat those irreplaceable ones. She’d be made up if she had some replacements for them even if they weren’t the exact ones.

Sure - I'll be happy to send some over. Send me a message with the address and I'll see if I can get them into the post in the next couple of days



Curley - I'll keep some in reserve, but maybe you should follow up with Belgianmum to get fresh ones if you want to try next year. Not sure how long the ones I have will hold up

[DantesDame]

I have a Mystery Dead Spot in my garden...

When I first took over the space, I assumed that the dead area was leftover from the previous owner having a greenhouse or something there. But each year, the weeds grew, but very little grass made it. Then I moved a blueberry bush to the area (more sun, no competition from other plants) but it lost leaves and looked more and more sickly. In parallel, I raked up the dead area put down some grass fertilizer and some grass seed. I made sure to keep it well-watered. Left it over the winter and now it looks like this:





I have since moved the blueberry bush elsewhere, and figured that the only thing left to do with this space is a raised bed.



This will be my first one ever! I'll have to wait until the shops open, but that's ok...Maybe I'll put some carrots in there, since the soil won't have any rocks or be compacted.

I have a little invasion of crickets in my garden at the moment.. Sure they are harmless and fun but man they digging thumb sized holes all over my grass, I've relocated around 30 of them so far but more appear daily..

Do I try to eradicate them, let them be, eat them maybe?

Here's a photo.. Cricket and her house

[KiwiSteve]

	Quote:	John_H
	I have a little invasion of crickets in my garden at the moment.. Sure they are harmless and fun but man they digging thumb sized holes all over my grass, I've relocated around 30 of them so far but more appear daily.. Do I try to eradicate them, let them be, eat them maybe? Here's a photo.. Cricket and her house

I found this:In terms of temperament, brown crickets are more docile, while black crickets are more aggressive and tend to bite. Black crickets also tend to be noisier and eat more compared to their brown counterparts.

Both black and brown crickets are ideal as pets and as food for other animals. As pets, black and brown crickets are fairly low-maintenance but highly popular. Their popularity stems from the chirping noises they make. Maintaining a black or brown cricket requires an enclosure with proper ventilation and simple foods. Keeping the cricket warm is also an important aspect; crickets don’t usually survive past the winter season.

Many varieties of crickets are popular foods for other animals like reptiles (frogs, lizards, iguanas, tortoises, salamanders) and spiders.



Read more: Difference Between Black and Brown Crickets | Difference Between http://www.differencebetween.net/sci...#ixzz6JfBh9m9F

[smileygreebins]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	I have a Mystery Dead Spot in my garden... When I first took over the space, I assumed that the dead area was leftover from the previous owner having a greenhouse or something there. But each year, the weeds grew, but very little grass made it.

Not sure how long you've had the garden - I wonder though if the previous owner put salt or some strong chemical (eg: roundup) into that area? Historically I'd used a Swiss weed killing chemical, that left the treated area devoid of green for 3 years, despite lush grass growing neatly up the the edges of the dead patch - the only course of action I could take was to dig up the affected earth to about 40cm depth, replace it with topsoil, and voila - no more bare patch....Never used that chemical again!

Strange -yes some chemical probably and does not look as though it will survive, so raised bed a good idea. Or dig- change all the soil to depth of at least 15 cm - replace with new soil and re-seed or turf- or make new border.

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	smileygreebins
	Not sure how long you've had the garden - I wonder though if the previous owner put salt or some strong chemical (eg: roundup) into that area?

	Quote:
	Strange -yes some chemical probably and does not look as though it will survive,

Chemicals.... that is something I hadn't considered. I've had the garden for about four years now. Odd that if a weed-killing chemical was used in that area, that only weeds can grow there now

	Quote:
	...so raised bed a good idea. Or dig- change all the soil to depth of at least 15 cm - replace with new soil and re-seed or turf- or make new border.

The raised bed will be much easier

Thanks for the input - I found it interesting!

looking forward to the photos

[DantesDame]

Veggies and dead spots aside, now I just need to wait for the email from the lawn mower repair place, saying I can pick up the mower.

Yeah, the grass has been going great guns this spring. But just think of all of that natural seeding that's going to happen!

[DantesDame]

Ok, back to veggies: In all honesty, is it too early to put out my vine seedlings? They have at least 4 proper leaves, have been out on the (north facing) balcony for the last week or so, and could probably benefit from the warm sun each day.

However, the forecast is calling for lows of 8-9 later this week. Will that be too cold for them? And no, I really don't want to mess with trying to cover them once they are in the garden bed.

To be frank, I am planning on putting them in next weekend, but I am curious what your wisdom holds. Thanks for your advice!

[Belgianmum]

Thanks for the seeds DantesDame, they arrived yesterday.

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	Belgianmum
	Thanks for the seeds DantesDame, they arrived yesterday.

Awesome! I hope that they produce well

[Karl]

Just had an awesome gardening firm cut back our massive 4 meter hedge which required 10 truckloads of leaves and branches. They did an amazing job, with Swiss precision, cleaned up immaculately, and the price was much lower than expected. Service with a smile and enthusiasm! So, for anyone in the Aargau area needing gardening service, I highly recommend this firm:


https://c4ruso.ch/


It's owned and operated by a married couple. They also offer moving, cleaning and general home construction services. Took me years to find a company of this quality and price!

Sorry Karl- but this gives me the shivers. We are right in the middle of nesting seasons for 1000s of birds- why oh why not cut the hedge in the dorman season, October to Feb? How sad.

[Karl]

Ooops. I had now idea. It was 4 meters, now it's only 3. Do you think it scared them all aways?

[Pancakes]

	Quote:	DantesDame
	I have a Mystery Dead Spot in my garden...

I've always had bad luck using regular grass seed but have always had very good results with this stuff called "Patch Magic" (bought in OBI or Coop Bau & Hobby). You basically just sprinkle it on about 1 cm thick, water it with a fine mist until it plumps up a bit and then be sure to water it using just a mist setting every day until the grass is completely grown in, which takes about 2 weeks or so. No need for fertilizer. Works in sun and shade. One bottle of it would probably be enough to cover that entire area. But I do like the idea of a DIY "hochbeet" / planter box. I was thinking of trying to build one of those myself for an area in my garden where I want something raised up to create some privacy. So thank you for that link.

[DantesDame]

	Quote:	Pancakes
	I've always had bad luck using regular grass seed but have always had very good results with this stuff called "Patch Magic" (bought in OBI or Coop Bau & Hobby). ... But I do like the idea of a DIY "hochbeet" / planter box. I was thinking of trying to build one of those myself for an area in my garden where I want something raised up to create some privacy. So thank you for that link.

Thanks for the link and suggestion! However, I think that I'm more excited about the raised bed than getting useless grass to grow, so... I'll be at the local DIY shop when it opens and give it a shot.

Pheewwwww, that were busy days that are behind us now....

Whilst my Pirate tackled the small hill beside our home, I singlehandedly mowed, thatched and raked the 'plains' around the home....good work out from eating too much during lockdown

My high rise beds are ready and many veggies were sown out and everything germinated and is is growing just fine, some seedlings are already planted, too. This warm weather helps them to root well and grow to a healthier size, that in case of some cold spell, they'll withstand it better.

I grow my veggies under tunnel foil, this way I won't need to wait until mid-May (Eisheilige) and they're protected from many things that could harm them during the year, such as hail, frost, any veggie eating critters = eg poison free veggies and the foil lasts many years if one is careful handling it.

Just ordered the last of the seedlings (for which I didn't have any seeds to grow them myself) from Hornbach and then my vegetable gardening year can start.

My perennial flower bed will sport a ton more blooms this year, I mixed the seeds, one got at Migros check out, together and sowed them, I am looking forward to see many bees and butterflies there!! The herbal/spices seeds I set aside and will grow separately in pots.

Begining of May the summer flowers for around the house (pots) will have to be chosen and planted.......someone told me about GAZANIA flowers, googled them and liked what I saw.

Are they easy to grow in pots and will they last well over summer?

I'd like, for once, to have something different from geraniums, osteospermums and petunias.