Re: Gardening Thread.

[Sabot]

Well, I've got a spare packet of wildflower seeds to donate

Have you got any Sunflower Seeds? Only good quality accepted. And besides, you are all going to lurve my pontifications on how to grow Sunflowers. I am already working on it, and I haven't even got any yet.

Sabot. You are an angel. You really are. Almost like having our own Percy Thrower on the forum......

More Bob Flowerdew, Lily. But even he isn't always right. Just wait until I start on my Wisteria diatribes That'll fill a few of your more boring hours. It did mine.

[sadie]

http://www.polybags.co.uk/shop/layflat-tubing_c1013.htm?gclid=CJGFxLns_K4CFaImtAodFUnW0w ... we used to have a roll of this, about the same diameter as a coke bottle, but I think we had to throw it away when the tiny stream that runs through our garden suddenly decided to become a raging torrent and surge through our house and garage 2feet deep. It was classed as black water because of cow poo etc in it and also the possibilty of weils disease. Everything had to be thrown away even unopened bottles of champers left over from our anniversary.


http://www.treeprotectionsupply.com/tubex%20tree%20tubes.htm ... expensive!


http://www.recyclethis.co.uk/20110201/what-can-i-reuse-or-recycle-to-make-garden-cloches-row-covers ... this idea is fun and the bean protectors can be opened up and used for other applications afterwards. Guess you can scrounge the bits of concrete reinforcing wire as off cuts from a building site?

And if like me you are not sure what conrete.R W looks like, some pictures of the stuff, as used on building sites.,, .
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4p0YMIjrWaAC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=lightweight+concrete+reinforcing+wire&source=bl&ots=cLe0Yn6V9n&sig=bi1ecFb1vkQGQJY2jO71GcxKfCY&hl=en#v=onepage&q=lightweight%20concrete%20reinforcing%20wire&f=false




Sabot, you and a bit of ingenuity can work wonders and have the best beans in France. Atta girl

[Sabot]

What a good idea with the Tubing, Sadie. I shall look into that. I could use Soil Pipes.

[sadie]

What a good idea with the Tubing, Sadie. I shall look into that. I could use Soil Pipes.

Dont plants need light tho Sabot? Not sure about soil pipes, unless they are very short and the sun can get to the soil around the roots.

Another way you could tackle the problem, would be to put the final bean supports in at the beginning. They would all have to be the same height above ground and the beans would have to be planted in a rectangle/square pattern.

Then nail some cross members in place and diagonals, so that you make a sort of cube, So you have a rectangular shape that could be enclosed.

If you tacked polythene sheeting in place along all four sides and the top, you would have a sort of temporary greenhouse.

You would have to water tho, so a closeable opening of some sort would have to be made.


Very Heath Robinson! But might do the trick if you can stand the appearance for a few weeks.

[bb1]

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16194787

UK To Be As Hot As The Sahara This Weekend

Forecasters are predicting a treat for sun worshippers this weekend as UK temperatures match those in the Sahara Desert.

Thursday saw Britain hit 20C for the first time this year, with Otterbourne in Hampshire basking in the balmy weather.
Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Most places will keep the fine weather this weekend.
"The warmest day will be on Saturday where there'll be plenty of inland sunshine once the mist, fog and low cloud thin away during the morning.
"Further inland, the south could reach highs of 20-21C.
"Sunday will bring more warm sunshine for many, especially across central and western parts, but once again North Sea coasts will be plagued by the mist and fog."
Temperatures in the African desert are predicted to be around 21C this weekend.


Spring may have sprung officially just a few days ago but with peaks at 20-21°C expected over the weekend Britons will have a true taste of summer with temperatures to rival those normally seen in June.
While the record March temperature of 25.6C, recorded in Mepal, Cambridgeshire, in 1968, will not be challenged, the sunshine will be welcomed by vitamin D-starved Brits.

SCORCHIO!!!!

[bb1]

For non-UK residents, Scorchio! came from the comedy series The Fast Show, which sometimes featured an Iberian TV station (not unlike TVI) with a weathergirl who presented the local weather thus:

[Sabot]

I shall buy a length of soil pipe and cut it into pieces, and then just put it on at night, Sadie. This could even stop slugs for a while.

And I bought some Giant Sunflower Seeds today. Giant Sunflowers not Giant Seeds. Orange with a black centre. Very swish by the sound of them.

PS. Just off to make a Coffin for my poor departed Beans.

[bb1]

That's the chaps, Sabot - find them a nice sunny spot, and they will be in sunflower heaven.

[Sabot]

My garden fence which is plastic covered chain link, faces almost due South, Bonny. And I'll be planting them outside my garden, so the dog won't be able to pee on them, but I can still see them.
And nobody steals things around here, so they will be quite safe.

PS. Ghastly thought. Do slugs attack the seedlings?

[bb1]

I have no idea, Sabot, sorry.

[Sabot]

I have no idea, Sabot, sorry.

Don't worry. I'll Google it. And stick plastic bottles over the seeds when I plant them.

[lily]

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16194787

UK To Be As Hot As The Sahara This Weekend

Forecasters are predicting a treat for sun worshippers this weekend as UK temperatures match those in the Sahara Desert.

Thursday saw Britain hit 20C for the first time this year, with Otterbourne in Hampshire basking in the balmy weather.
Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Most places will keep the fine weather this weekend.
"The warmest day will be on Saturday where there'll be plenty of inland sunshine once the mist, fog and low cloud thin away during the morning.
"Further inland, the south could reach highs of 20-21C.
"Sunday will bring more warm sunshine for many, especially across central and western parts, but once again North Sea coasts will be plagued by the mist and fog."
Temperatures in the African desert are predicted to be around 21C this weekend.


Spring may have sprung officially just a few days ago but with peaks at 20-21°C expected over the weekend Britons will have a true taste of summer with temperatures to rival those normally seen in June.
While the record March temperature of 25.6C, recorded in Mepal, Cambridgeshire, in 1968, will not be challenged, the sunshine will be welcomed by vitamin D-starved Brits.

SCORCHIO!!!!

That's lovely for you guys. I hope it continues for you.

[sadie]

sabot =

and then just put it on at night, Sadie

Now that IS GOOD THINKING!

Well done Sabot. Problem solved and easily.

[bb1]

I am delighted to report UK-wide SCORCHIO!!!

From:

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16195846

More, Please: UK Revels In Unseasonal Heat



There was very little space on Brighton beach in Sussex as locals and day trippers soaked up the sun

Quote:

Britain has been basking in sunshine today with temperatures in the low 20s again in some places - well above the seasonal average.

It was so warm yesterday that many headed for the beach - although they generally kept out of the water.
By early afternoon on Sunday the warmest places in the UK were in Scotland, with Aboyne in the north-east and Kinlochewe in the north-west Highlands at 20.8C.
Temperatures today are almost as high as yesterday, when Porthmadog, Wales, reached a high of 22.2C.
That made it warmer than Madrid, Rome, Athens, Barcelona and Monte Real in Portugal.
Today, the temperature in Belfast hit a balmy 18.5C, with Edinburgh not far behind at 18.1C.
But London was a little cooler, with the temperature at Heathrow just 15.4C.
Yesteray, in Aberystwyth in South Wales, the temperature rose to 21.2C, 8C above the average for this time of year, while London's Kew Gardens recorded 19.6C.

[Sabot]

It is bloody hot here at the moment, so let's hear it for Global Warming. Although I never have believed that it was Man Made.
Our glorious Summer of last year started at about the same time, and just went on and on. Although the nights were quite cool. Just what you want, actually. So here's hoping.
French stone built houses have the advantage of being quite cool, so I suspect that this has happened before.

[bb1]

My, it's hot!

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16196269

The unseasonably warm Spring weather is set to continue this week with Scotland enjoying record temperatures for the month of March.

A balmy 22.8C (73F) was recorded at Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire on Sunday, beating the previous March record high of 22.2C (72F) in 1965.
Sky News weather presenter Sarah Pennock says there is more to come.
"Scotland could see another March record-breaking weather day if parts of Aberdeenshire top 22.8C (73F)," she said.
"Northeast England will see 19-20C (67-68F) with highs being what we would expect in June.

[Sabot]

This reminds me of the Summer of 1958, Bonny. I got my first ever tan. I also had one of those dresses with lots of net underskirts which were uncomfortable to sit on because I burnt the backs of my legs.
Blue Grass Perfume. I can smell it now. I was stationed at RNAS Abbotsinch, near Paisley. Happy days.

Meanwhile, My Crab Apple bush is in flower. Bright red, and such a pretty thing. It is also excellent ground cover against weeds. And if you put the apples in a dish inside a room, the smell is superb.
I have never cooked them, but if you stew the whole thing it makes wonderful Apple Jelly. I know because my friend does it. Don't try to peel them,just chuck the whole thing in, and then put it through a sieve. Not sure about sugar, but I think she does add that.

Very hot here. I am digging out my shorts.

[bb1]

Some scarey sights around today, Sabot - you're usually safe from post-winter Scots bodies till at least May, but they are emerging from their winter cocoons already, before the shops have even got their stocks of fakebake in....

[Sabot]

I have never used Fake Bake, Bonny, and fifty years of Sun Worship has made it unnecessary. But we do get a few horror sights around here. It's the socks and sandals that set me off. No French person would be seen dead wearing such attire.

[lily]

I'm glad you are having fabulous weather.

Your tree sounds pretty too.

Had a little rain but we've had lots of sand storms here. Those things are very strange.

[Sabot]

I know how you all wait with bated breath for my riveting updates on this fascinating Thread, so here is just a morsel to keep you going.

The next lot of Runner Bean Seeds are planted in The Propagator, being as how it is past New Moon. Again.

I am keeping a close eye on my Wisteria, all home grown. Two of which Flowered after only six years. This is a Miracle. They normally take twenty years.
But one of them which is now eight years old, never has. However, it looks very much to me as though it is on its way for this year. But this could be due to my poor eyesight and wishful thinking. I shall let you know. Obviously.

[sadie]

I know how you all wait with bated breath for my riveting updates on this fascinating Thread, so here is just a morsel to keep you going.

The next lot of Runner Bean Seeds are planted in The Propagator, being as how it is past New Moon. Again.

I am keeping a close eye on my Wisteria, all home grown. Two of which Flowered after only six years. This is a Miracle. They normally take twenty years.
But one of them which is now eight years old, never has. However, it looks very much to me as though it is on its way for this year. But this could be due to my poor eyesight and wishful thinking. I shall let you know. Obviously.

You have a lovely way of expressing yourself, Sabot

All power to the wisterias. We had a mighty one, superb, that flowered the first year and kept getting bigger and better. Sadly it had to be removed for flood drainage underground after our BIG flood disaster almost 5 years ago. The house has never looked as good since.

The blue tits are doing well building their nest. It is looking almost finished, dried grasses and moss. Judging by last years effort, only little fluffy feathers to be added for lining now.

Then the big egg-lay. Hopefully.

[Sabot]

Thanks, Sadie. My expressions are half working class and half upper class aspirations. I am never quite sure which is in the ascendance. But it makes for an interesting combination in my head.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if my Wisterias have undermined the foundations, but I can't get off on it just now. They are about to burst into bloom. Such glory you have never seen if you haven't got one, or three.
Always I want to grow things from seed. This is what gardening is to me. Even if I fail, which I frequently do.

I have now cut out the peanuts and the grease balls, and some of my birds have departed, although I am not sure why. They might just have gone off somewhere else. Or perhaps they don't particularly like what I feed them at this time of year. But the choking of baby birds worries me. Sometimes we can be too kind. And we do need to remember that at some point these birds have to be able to feed themselves occasionally.
But do keep on putting out Water. This is so much more important than most people realise.

[Sabot]

Right. So it wasn't just my bad eyesight or wishful thinking. All of my Wisterias are loaded with Flower Buds. Even the one that has never flowered before. But this has taken some patience and hope.
However, I do have to say that it was only last Winter when I finally got around to pruning these Weeds properly.
And be sure that they are just Weeds. They flower for only one month. And then require serious Hacking, never to do anything even remotely useful from that day onwards.

But, but, I can hardly wait for the glory of that one month. They are so beautiful when they are in flower.

And I grew these barstards from seed. This is what I do.

[bb1]

Will it be like these ones, Sabot?

[Sponsored content]