Rain rain go away

This is beginning to really hack me off!
It has rained almost none stop since the
beginning of June, with only a few, very rare,
full days of sun in between.

Still, good for the veg. And pond life.
Heres the little veg plot with the back two rows
of spuds, spinach leaf, beetroot, lettuce mixed
and onions up front.



























This is the parsnip bin
looking fairly good
dont dare lift anything
yet far too early I
expect.
They are good looking
plants though.













lifted the first carrotts last week
very sweet and crunchy.
the bin beside it is Moroccan mint
for making tea.
As you can see I need to drink more tea.













This is Clematis Margot Koster clothing a Viburnum davidii.
Thats how clematis should be grown.














Looking back at the Montana
that I was zig zagging up some wires
on a fence earlier in the year,
It is covering the space
very nicely. Next year it should be
a wall of colour.














This Jasmin has been trained
the same way as the
Montana above using
the technique
described in my first blog,
'Training climbers'.







Despite the courting period being over and done with months ago
the frogs as always seem to enjoy spending the summer basking around the pond edge.













Newts also hang around for ever, this female smooth newt still full of eggs to be laid

No VPL

Do you have a pond? If not why not?

I can spend hours sitting on the little bridge across my pond watching the newts surface and court and the frogs basking on the sides. It isn't a big pond as you can see from the pictures and the bridge isnt exactly Monet but it divides the garden nicely so that the only way from one end to the other is to cross the bridge.

This is the hole

I wanted to have a troll installed but the 'Union of fantasy creatures' were against the idea as it was classed as stereotyping. So much for my efforts to employ out of work silica based life forms.













Still the amphibians provide more than enough entertainment. We introduced frog spawn from a friends garden pond the first year we moved in. Invertebrates had all ready established themselves very quikly. Pond scaters, water boatmen, those little shrimpy things, and damesell flys. I know the flying bugs can smell or spot a pond from a long way up and drop in to investigate, but the none flying stuff, how the hell do they get here? I was filling a pond in a customers garden from a hose and from over my shoulder something flew straight into the 3 inches of water that was in the bottom of the liner. It was a small diving beetle. Incredible!

Line the hole with either soft sand or newspaper. You can buy special liner underlay but I bet it costs.

After the first year we found a few Palmate and Smooth newts had arrived. In the fourth year a single female Great Crested newt was seen lurking in the bottom. Next year a pair. Following year two pair and in the Autumn several eft swimming boldly in the clear patches. Frogs start to become active most years by late January but no mating or spawn appears until March. Then the tadpoles hatch and are promptly eaten by the ever increasing population of newts.

Lay out the liner and begin to fill. Ideally you'd allow the rain to fill it naturally or divert rain water from your drain pipes.
Yeah ideally, but lets be realistic.
The edge of the hole was stepped so that rock and upturned turf could be set into the water at varying levels. This allows you to disguise the liner and if the water level varies, which it will, the liner remains hidden.




Forget fish, they dont mix with amphibians. Mine is pure wildlife so no ornamental, inbred carp or freaky looking fish for this boy, oh no!

Testing the bridge.

Four years ago the pond was infested with dragon fly larvae which were killing everything that moved including some adult newts. So I fished about 40 of the little buggers out and took then to a near by nature reserve with huge ponds which would cope better with them.





All rock and plant work done and look...

No VPL.
Visible pond liner.









Here I am sitting on the bridge in May 2002 reading a venomous snake protocol.
There aren't many who could say that I'll bet.

I will leave you now as I must go for a newt training day. I think we get them to leap from the pond and take dead fish from our mouths and jump through hoops, stuff like that.
I'll keep you informed.

Lawn maintenance

Grass cutting is an utter bore, which is why the first thing I did with my new garden was spray off the turf with Napalm. The average UK citizen who owns a lawn has an unhealthy obssession with striped and scalped sward.
Lets look at how grass grows. Unlike most other plants and trees who grow from the tip, grass grows from the base. The culm or rooty base of grass is usually pale cream or yellow and without Chlorophyll. Thats the stuff that makes the green bits of plants green. If you cut a blade of grass really short you will reveal the yellow base. Hence during the summer here in Blighty most lawns outside peoples homes are shaved yellow squares. Delightful! Not!
Raise the height of cut on your mowers please. Amenity turf should be maintained at about 2" not 1/2 an inch. Be honest with yourself you probably have a broad leaved grass mix, which, from observations I've made over the last 42 years of life, is 80% weed filled so will never look like the greens at a golf course or bowling green. Have you watched the grounds person at your local sports facility. I live opposite the local village cricket club, and those guys are out there on their sit on mowers and push along Ransome cylinder cutters three times a week. Bugger that, what kind of life is that? To keep a bog standard lawn looking half decent you need to cut it at least once a week during the months from March to October. Remember that grass never stops growing it only slows down during the winter. So a mild winter will have you dragging the mower out of the shed, if you want to avoid that awfull heavey slog around the sod in late spring because you left it too long between cuts. I take great delight in sitting in my garden listening to the surrounding neighbours battling with strimmers and heaving rotary mowers back and forth through dozens of square meters of lank tuffted grass. Then a month later they'll all be out doing the same again. The sounds of an English summer, Black birds setting out their territories, grass cutters humming and mower pushers cursing as they mow over the cable/ a frog/ a dog turd. Delete as appropriate or inappropriate.
What I'm trying to say is if you insist on keeping that square of green boring and time consuming sod out side the house then stop deluding yourself that it is ever going to look like a golf course. Stop cutting it so short and forget stripes. Dont just take my word for it ask any garden expert and they'll say raise the height of cut on your mower.

Transplanting

Hello everyone

Going to look at the delicate art of transplanting shrubs, trees and perennials today.
As most would agree Winter is the best time to disturb the roots of most plants when they are dormant, especially deciduous trees and shrubs. Perennials, once they have died back and become dormant in the winter, can be liflted from the ground and given a jolly good beating without them being remotely aware of it, other than a slight headache when they wake up in the spring. Evergreens can be moved successfully in Winter, Spring and Autumn as can most things the trick is to maintain a balance between surface area of leaf and surface area of root.
No matter how careful you are when digging something out of the ground, some root will always be damaged. To compensate for this damage to the roots we have to damage the top growth to. Sounds a bit harsh but think about it, if its a big bushy plant covered in leaf what are those leaves doing? Losing water! Thats right, they transpire, or exhale moisture if you like, through those tiny pores in the leaf. Meanwhile down below a damaged root system is trying to heal itself and take up water at the same time. If the surface area of leaf is greater than the surface area of root then the plant will wilt. It's losing water quiker than it can take it up, a classic imbalance. No amount of water seems to perk it up again. If you dont do something quick it'll be a gonner. Take the shears to it and cut off some leafy growth.
It's a million to one shot but it might just work. And just like in the movies those million to one shots seem to work out just fine and dandy. This is starting to sound like the script from a 50's B movie.
So if you are planning to move something consider this vital piece of information. Water well, prune first, then lift and transplant. Water well again in the new situation.
If you look at the gardening by the moon site in my link list they will suggest specific times of the month for transplanting. Usually near the full moon when the growth is going into the stems and leaves and the roots are resting.

April sun

Hi all

Hello to the person in California who visited.

This sun spot activity is great isn't it!
I have a row of spinach seedlings emerging and potatoes coming through the plastic. also my first parsnip seedling has poked through in the big green bin. See earlier blog. How exciting. Other things going on are the Ipomaea seedlings which I cant keep up with. They shoot away so quickly that by the time the first set of true leaves appears and they're ready to prick out the damn things are a foot tall.

Most of my group three clematis are out of the cold frame and plunged into place next to the shrubs I want them to grow through. Only the four Romantika to go in and they'll be trained up an obolisk. Sounds posh but actually it's a rough looking thing I put together using slaters lats.

The newts are actively chasing each other round the pond and last night I watched a male smooth newt trying to pursue a female great crested newt. For those who dont know cresties are about three times the size of our other two native newts smoothies and palmates. still you had to admire the little fella for trying. The frog spawn that was laid earlier in the year I took out and put in an aquarium. This is not so I can watch the tadpoles but more to preserve them from being devoured by the newts. Once they are big enough they'll go back in the pond. Not as many frogs this year as previously, have any other pond owners out there noticed a decline?? My little baby Acer palmatums are all leafing up nicely. I bought a tray full of seedlings last year which I planted out under a net tunnel. I hope to grow them on for a few years then sell them when they're worth about £50 each. there are 45 of them and the tray cost me £36. They are field grown so dont require too much attention.

Hi to Debbie who put a comment on my site. You said your dad didn't rate raised beds, well I do and so have the Chinese for centuries. If you ever get the chance visit the Buddist monastery in the Scottish borders near Lockerby, their organic garden is wonderful and entirely made up of raised beds.

This is my raised bed pictured at a bizzare angle! What possessed me?

Thats the plastic the spuds are now coming through the spinach is appearing infront of it.

There is a row of onions at the near edge.

The Hellebores are just going over now but I took some pics a week or two ago.

This black one is dead sexy.

Helleborus orientalis pupurea

Helleborus orientalis alba

They all seed like mad and some of the offspring I put into the gardens of my garden customers.

I'm nice like that.

Happy Easter and all that. Now go and get grubby,, except Debbie, do your bloody assignment!

Parsnip planting

First time I've done this as I am mainly an ornamental type chap. So veggies are new to me.

Hoping for some comments and tips from you lot out there.

Council issue compost bin turned upside down and plunged slightly into ground. Filled with 'mole hill' soil as it is usually light and fairly weed free. How am I doing so far?

Got a big pinch bar and some grow bag compost and a trowel. See illustration.

Used bar to make holes then filled those with compost.

Did outer ring then inner ring of holes and a central one to finish. marked them with pebbles so when I come to sow seed will know where the holes are.

Bar went in about 12", thats almost two litres, for those of you listening in black and white!

As I am one of those tree hugging hippy types I'll wait until the moon is in a favourable Earth sign for planting.

I'll put some in at an inappropriate time as well just to compare. In fact I think I'll do it now as it is such a lovely morning.

See Ya

Slugs

Don't talk to me about slugs, they're a blummin' nightmare. tried the beer/cider trap thing but then it becomes a bit of a stomach churner when you come to empty them out. Dozens of little, bloated, white, drowned, pissed, smelly slug bodies. Tried the orange peel halves as well. Doesn't kill them but it means you have to remember to go out every bloody morning to collect up you oranges and dump them in the bin. Pellets, while very effective worry me. Just in case a slug eating predator comes along and finds a load of pllet filled slugs and noshes them all down. That amount of slug poison in a little toad or slow worm belly cant be good. Porridge oats apparently do the job, by swelling up in the slug and rupturing its internal organs. Nice way to go!
Late January early February is the time to wage war on our slimy pests as this is when they become active on mild nights and look for a mate. Get them before they breed, is my philosophy. I feel the same about paedophiles, rapists and drug dealers but thats a topic for my other blog. ( www.myspace.com/bwananyoka )
Natural predators such as the afore mentioned slow worm and toad are probably the most efficient along with the black ground beetles that you find scurrying around under stones.



Two male slow worms found under a rock near the mouth of the Rio Nervion in the Basque country. Thats my wife holding them.












Slow worms are my favourite as they feed almost exclusively on slugs. These harmless legless lizards will spend hours on mild spring and summer nights devouring slimeys. By legless I mean without limb not pissed. These shy reptiles are very widespread and probably occur near you without you even knowing about it. They share a talent, for not being seen, with their fellow reptiles. Piles of logs, stones, wood shavings or chipped bark can provide hiding places for slow worms and toads as well as other beneficial garden predators. Sheets of corrugated metal or fibre board left somewhere quiet in a garden or allotment can give shelter to slow worms. They produce live young in late summer which are almost like gold threads with a thin black vertebral stripe.

Pruning

Hello all today we're going to look at the dos and donts of pruning. When, where, how, why and why the hell not! Pruning causes stress to a plant and most plants react in the same way to most forms of stress. Other forms of stress are drought, water logging, wind damage, pest infestation etc. How do plants react to stress? Well they think they are going to die and their natural reaction is to try and produce babies. So they flower more and from lots of flowers comes lots of fruit, seed or whatever. An old fruit tree that I once was called to prune produced its best harvest in fifteen years the year following one of my heavey handed loppings. I've been pruning roses and clematis in a garden today. The clematis were a joy, the roses were just a bunch of vicious twigs that dont even deserve to be composted.
When selecting tools for the job get sharp bladed secateures, shears, loppers and a saw either pruning or bush type will do. Make sure also that blades are clean. The thicker the stem or branch to be cut the bigger the instrument of death to be used on it. Finger thickness stuff with secateures, between finger and wrist thickness use loppers and thicker than a wrist bring in the saw. Shears are for hedge type stuff, really thin twigs and leafy stuff.
When to prune. When does the shrub in question flower? If it flowers before the end of June prune after it has flowered. Such as Philadelphus, Cytisus, Weigela and Forsythia.
If, like roses, it flowers mid to late summer then prune in March. For the tree hugging hippies amongst you who, like me, follow the natural rhythms of nature, prune after a full moon, more towards the new moon when less sap is rising and less damage is done to the plant. For more detail on this check out www.gardeningbythemoon.com .
If the shrub produces ornamental fruits and berries such as some Viburnums and most Cotoneaster then prune in the late spring when the fruits have dropped off and before the next lot of flowers appear. The one I have a problem with is Viburnum tinus as it is always doing something, either flowering or fruiting. The bloody thing always looks good.
OK so what to remove first? dead wood should be first out and right back to its base. Thin weak stuff next, again down to near the base or where the stem thickens up. Any stems that cross and rub up against each other, take out the thinnest of the two. Try and get the air circulating through the shrubs core so any inward facing growth cut back to a bud that points outward. Cut back the remaining stems to healthy buds as far back as required. Cornus, Salix, Lavatera, Buddleia and Hybrid Tea roses cut back brutally to within a few inches of the ground.
Weigela, Forsythia and other early flowerers take back older wood by two thirds. The rule I use is the thinner the stem the harder back the cut. Think again about the foundation thing mentioned in the clematis training blog. You want to get a good base to work from with your shrubs. Perennials of course only need cutting back to ground level once in the Autumn. Try to catch them before the stems go too dry and woody so they compost down quicker.

Lets be honest here while we're on the subject, how often do shrubs and perennials require cutting? Once a year, sometimes less for shrubs. How often does grass require cutting?? So which is the lower maintenance, grass or shrub borders? I used to dispare when doing garden designs with customers who'd ask for low maintenance gardens then follow it up with the classic request 'not too many plants just plenty of lawn.' Morons! I'd generally put in stupid quotes to put them off so I didn't have to work for them. They'd be the same ones who'd want instant gardens. Sorry but wheres the joy in seeing a new garden that is going to look the same in ten years as it looks on day one. You may as well have it all paved. Who in their right mind wakes up and thinks ' Oh I'll make a cup of coffee and have a wander round to see how.. the patio has developed/the specimen conifers have unchanged since last week. The thrill and joy of a garden is in watching things grow and develope. Thats what makes you want to get out and have a look around on a sunny spring morning not the bloody paving or the quality of the brick laying in the raised beds.


Sorry I need to calm down, I'll go and watch the newts in my pond. Hmm! Could be next weeks blog, Newt attraction techniques. Ponds for short. Go on then go and get grubby.

Training climbers

I worked at a specialist clematis grower for a few years and would be dismayed at the lack of good specimen plants around the nursery trained correctly to show people how to get the best from their plants. The advice from the staff was good but they couldn't back it up with an example, and you know what they say about a picture?

At Alnwick gardens, one of the North East of Englands' major tourist attractions, ( Where those dire Harry Potter films were shot ) The clematis against the walls have been left to shoot to the tops of the walls. So there is ten feet of bare stem with a clump of growth hanging over the top of the wall. How often have you seen that in a garden?

I tend to use wires as opposed to trellis if I'm training anything against a fence or wall. They are much less visible for one thing. Plant your climber at least 12 inches away from the wall/fence and angle it in towards the wall. The first wire or trellis lat should be 18'' above the ground and span horizontally as far out as you want it to go. aim for at least 2' /60cms either side of the climber. Seperate the plant stems out and loop them round the wire or tie them in so that even numbers of stem are going out in both directions. When they are at the end of the support, loop then up to the next support which needs to be approximately 10'' /24cms above the first. Train them along this to opposite ends so that they cross each other in the middle.




Here have a look at a one year old Montana alba doing the old zig zag thing.











If the climber you bought only has one stem take it back and buy a decent one. I hate those 'one stemmed wonders' that garden centres sell. Below you can see a good example of a one stem wonder and a multi stem beaut'.

Both Montana clematis but the one on the right, apart from having liverworts on the pot, has been neglegted. No signs of pinching out, the one and only stem being allowed to race to the top of the cane. The left hand specimen looks clean, green and from memory had at least five stems. growing climbers is like building a pyramid you want a good broad foundation at the bottom not a single point on which a broad expanse is allowed to grow. So you are training your climber outwards along supports, looping up and training along the next support. This system should be continued over the months and years until the desired height is met. You will end up with a wall of colour, when the plant flowers, as opposed to a blob of colour on top of a bunch of naked twigs. If you have bought a one stemme wonder and cant be hassled to return it cut it hard back in its first spring. If it is an early flowerer ie flowers before late May, let it bloom then take it hard back. Mulch well with Farm yard or stable muck. Then start from scratch with the training system described.

The next picture shows two of my favourite clematis grown in 7.5litre pots. There are three of each plant per pot, grown on four feet canes. The plants were spiralled around the canes as they grew but they were also pinched out at regular intervals to encourage more stems. So from a foundation of fifteen stems you can triple or quadruple the amount of flower producing growth. These are group 3 clematis so they are pruned hard down to ground level each spring. all that growth and flower comes in one year.

The left is Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon 'and the sexy dark flowers belong to a Polish bred recent introduction called Clematis 'Romatika'.

Romantika detail.

Madame Julia Correvon.











Pinching out is essential in order to get as many stems as possible and increase the flower potential of your climber. Simply wait till a new stem produces two pairs of leaves then pinch out the growing tip. When do you do this? Well I always wait till the moon is approaching or around the new moon phase when less fluid is pumping through the plant. http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com Tree hugging hippy crap?? Not from my experience. The phases of the moon had a dramatic effect on the growth rate of the clematis I worked with. The photos above should illustrate the results I got from following the moon in my care of these plants. Why should you pinch out? Well from each tip removed will come two more stems, and so on and so on. Stop pinching out by Mid May with the group 3s as they will be thinking about flower bud production by then. Group 2s pinch out after the first flowering. Same with group 1s.

If you plant in the ground mulch well with bulky organic fertiliser. Your own compost or farm yard muck. Dont place flat stones around the base of your clematis to shade the roots! Why not? Becuase what likes to shelter under flat stones?..... Slugs! And slugs love the fresh new growth of clematis. Use course grit about 2"/5cm thick around the base of your climbers.

The best clematis for trellis or wire support training are the group two or early large flowered hybrids. They tend to only produce four to six leaf pairs before a flower bud so quite short growth. Also you dont prune them too savagely in the spring. Usually only taking strong stems back by three buds or so, weaker ones a bit further. I prefer the group 3s with their fast growth and months of mid to late summer flowers. Also they are ideal for growing up through shrubs and trees to add a bit of interest to their host. Chose an early flowering shrub such as Forsythia or Philadelphus and grow a late flowering clematis through it. Come spring find the base of the clematis grab all the stems together and cut them all about two buds above ground level. Should take about 30 seconds. Pull the stems from the host and shred them for the compost heap. Group 1s the early small flowered such as Alpinas, Macropetallers, Montanas and Koreanas can be grown either way but choose a big strong shrub or tree to host them as they require pruning only when they get out of hand. Again wait till after flowering before pruning.
OK hope that helps. Go and get grubby.

Compost

try and compost as much as you can from the home and garden. I'll list as many things as I can think of from the house that can be added to the compost heap and from the garden.
The compost enclosure can be made from a number of things but the essential thing to consider is air circulation, those plastic compost bins that some counils give out are usually a bit naff as they have no air holes. the bacteria and other organisms that break down your waste into usable compost are aerobic so divvent smother them. I nailed three pallets together and put removable wooden slats on the front. As you can see by glancing descretely to the left of this text.

The pallets I got from the back of a factory unit at a local ind est. You could construct brick or cinder block bays or rough timber. again allow some little breather holes around the sides. another compost bin which I use for putting weeds only into is a plastic bin that I drilled some holes through. Now this one is a bit different because I use snails in there to break down the weeds into compost. I have a problem with big garden snails which I used to throw in the pond if I found them as food for the beasties in the pond. Now I put the big ones in the weed bin as the shells are too big for them to get out of the holes. In the main compost bay I have hundreds of those bight red skinny little worms to break down the different things that go in there. OK so what do I put in there?

From the house
shredded paper
cardboard loo roll inners
the contents of the vacuum
ash from the open fire
used tissues ( its mainly water you blow out )
any fruit or veg waste from the kitchen
some cardboard packaging
tea bags, coffee grounds
dead leaves flowers from house plants
wood shavings/sawdust from diy.

I'm sure theres more if anyone can add to this please send your ideas.

From the Garden
Grass clippings
leaves
soft stems from perennials
pond weeds
stable or farm yard muck
shredded or chipped twigs, branches
shredded hedge trimmings
soil
old compost from pots
old hanging basket moss
ash from garden fires
cut weed tops no root

With all these readilly available, everyday things, it shouldn't take long to fill a descent sized compost bay. So have another one ready to start filling once the first one is up to capacity. Some would say keep leaves seperate for a year as they take longer to break down then add them into compost. They take longer yes but in mixed compost with plenty of tiger worms they should mix in well from the start. The key is not to have too thick a layer of any one thing. build up in gradual layers. If you have a big lawn dont dump all the grass clippings in at once put some other layers in between. You may need a seperate temporary grass bay to stock pile until theres space to add in the grass. Grass can clump together and stagnate in a pile so that no air gets in and it doesnt rot. Quite often you can dig deep into a pile and find white powdery layers of almost unrotted grass. Nettles are a good compost accelerator so go of to the nearest country lane or woods with a pair of gloves and a bag during the spring and summer and bring back some fresh green nettle leaves to add to your heap. Comfrey also except this is a protected native so only pick the older yellow leaves from the base of the plant. Never take flower stalks from comfrey let it seed and increase. Have your own plant in the garden if you have space they're quite attractive. Bees love the flowers.
In building the heap in layers you begin to develope a skill for lasagne bed construction. But thats another story. Happy planting!