Month: May 2009

Myself and my husband put up a chicken wire fence at the back of a border in the West Garden today. I am very pleased with the effect. The fence really sections the West Garden off and makes it more like a garden room.

I plan on growing Sweet Pea up this fence. I am not as brave as others on this site, however, and have not yet dared plant out my sweet pea.

In fact, I am so pleased with the effect of this fence that I am going to put in another one. The only problem is that I need two more stakes. So I’m off to a garden centre to get them now.

Finally I can report that I have flower beds, or one rather large one divided into sections. I went to Johnstown Garden Centre yesterday and got two Arbutus (Strawberry Trees) and today I went to B&Q and made a few investments. I got poppys, foxgloves, lavender, hollyhocks and a rhodendron.

Just spent the last hour in the garden planting them out, much to the amusement of Benji. I left the beds for  a few days after planting the sunflowers and artichokes out to see if Benji would dig but he seems busy with his own plans, thank god.  His "pet hate" pardon the pun is box hedge, under no circumstances would it survive in the garden with him. I would love to try the topiary but unless I put it on a shelf I may forget about it for the moment.

Can someone tell me if this seedling is actually Bird of Paradise.

It germinated a week ago in the tray where I sowed Bird of Paradise but it is the only seedling. I suspect it is a weed.

Any thoughts?

The garden today could not be touched for the first half of the day.Rain and wind called back around.Indeed it is never far away.After dinner,with so much planned for the bank holiday all that was done was the setting up of some more tubs in the veg area..The rain stopped app 1.30pm but the wind started.No tunnel or greenhouse opened up and finally by the evening all were in place,with some manure filled in them and ready for the final touches tomorrow at some stage in the evening.

Must say Hello to Alison, whom I met at the GC on Friday evening, lovely to meet you, was glad to see i wasn’t the only one there that hadn’t grey or permed hair!!

Got up Saturday morning to see that hubby had plastered the bottom of the greenhouse walls, I must be doin’ something right by him???!  I got to spend the sunny afternoon masking and undercoating the windows, managed to paint a gloss coat on Sunday morning too, smashing job now!

Bought a thermometer last week & put it into the G/h, it reached like 28 deg C before I opened the windows on Saturday afternoon! Will have to put in an irrigation system when I start planting in it and hosing it down. I don’t like the idea of squelching around on a wet floor, but I think I have the solution to that! keep watching…

Done some weeding on the borders to the back of the road wall. My lavendars didn’t make it thro last winter(?) so a few bald patches here and there to be filled. Must get cracking sowing some annuals to fill in this year. Chat soon

J 

 

 

There was no gardening for me this weekend. I went to London with my sister.

She is not a gardener. At all! but she came with me to Columbia Road flower market on Sunday morning.  It is mad busy. If you didn’t look at any of the stalls or plants it would take you  nearly an hour to get through the crowds of people.  And then we met lots of people on their way back to the tube station with huge Jasmins. I can’t imagine getting them in the doors.

I was flying Ryanair so couldn’t buy any plants, but I did get some orange hemorochalys in the green and some dwarf iris freshly dug from the field last Thursday.

I thought I’d be stopped at security but we sailed through. I hope they grow, I’ll have to get them in the ground today.  They were well squashed down in the bottom of my bag. Under all of the shopping and presents.

Planted these in a pot some weeks ago as unknown seeds – they were in a tiny unmarked pack, the ones inside the larger pack that seeds come in. They germinated well and I’ve just thinned them out into two trays –  thought they might be herbs, but now suspect they may be spinach? Raining all day here . Yesterday the same. I’m sure the snails are having a great time out there!

Well the count down is well and truly on!  The Bloon Build starts tomorrow up in Phoenix Park and I am excited, nervous and a wee bit terrified.

I spent part of the weekend over in Wales with my family where I have stored, what I call, a natural sculpture (it’s a beautiful peace of tree trunk with bags of character) for the last 10 years. 

There’s a bit of story behind this sculpture; 10 years ago my family lived on an old farm called Hen Dy (that means Old House in Welsh) the farm wasn’t operating anymore and all the fields were let out to neighbouring farms.  It was quite a lovely place to live and we were free to wander the farm land as long as we didn’t disturb the sheep.  On the day in question I had gone to explore a wooded area on the land.  Once in the wooded area I realised that it was infact a marsh/bog and possibly not the best place to take a walk.  I should have left but then something caught my eye.  Sticking out from the muddy ground was this beautifully textured branch.  It was smooth in places and bobbly in others, to this day I have no clue as to what type of tree it came from as I didn’t stop to look at the types of trees around me I just grabbed hold and started to pull it out of the ground.  Only it was stuck fast and I couldn’t get it loose…I was going to need help.  I ran back to the house excited about my find, I was in art college at the time and already had grand visions for this branch. 

In the house I found my Stepdad, Barry, and asked him if he had "5 minutes" to give me a hand-he did.  Off we went back to the branch I had set my heart on.  Barry grabbed it with both hands and gave a tug…it didn’t budge!  After some shoving and pulling i ran back to get a shovel for leverage (by this point we were covered in mud and I was starting to realise this might be harder than I thought).  Using the shovel we cleared away the mud from around the branch and that’s when i realised…this was no branch it was a tree trunk!  By this point Barry was as determined as I to get this thing out of the ground, he dissapeared and came back 5 minutes later with a chainsaw!! It did the trick the trunk, or at least part of it, was now free.  However, it was incredibly heavy and another run back to the house to fetch the wheelbarrow was necassary.  We could barley lift the thing between us; not only was it fairly big but it had been sitting in the bogland for who knows how long and therefore was waterlogged!  It took about half an hour to wheel it less than 100m as it was falling all over the place.  Back at the house i propped it up in the corner of the workroom and within a week had forgotten about it!

10 years on I now have the trunk in my own house and Barry is finally talking to me again 🙂 I have revisited this trunk over the years with great intentions of ‘doing something with it’ but hve never been able to bring myself to lay a chisel on it.  In my mind it has a beauty that should not be modified.  Now that I am putting it in my Bloom garden I hope that the judges and Bloom visitors feel the same!

Have been waiting 2 days now for a bit of sunshine to take a photo of my new Standard Lavender that my brother brought me at the weekend. It was a truly horrible day yesterday and not much better today. The only time the sun came out today, I was at work. Sitting here at the computer looking out – It looks more like October than May. The wind is so bad at the moment , I am wondering if I should take the roof off the gazebo. My washing line is already down. Lifted the two cement blocks right out of the ground. Crazy. Everything is growing like mad. All we need now is a bit of sunshine and a bit less wind.

We have  been very busy this week planting out the runnerbeans,  weeding all over again tying down the daffodils pulling out the for-get-me-nots from around the lupins, We took down the old chicken run that ran down the side of the pond and made the flower bed wider to take some Hostas and Astilbes John built a low dry stone wall around the bed it really opens up the area around the pond and orchard. also we brought two new benches for the garden (I do not know when we will have time to sit on them. )

i’m delighted that the beans are growing well. we had them last year as well but to be honest with such a damp season they were fairly rotten by the time we got to them we didn’t get to enjoy them. fingers crossed this year’s weather will be better for us all 

i don’t have a dedicated veg plot, i just plant up the area under trees. so far neither the veg nor the trees seem to mind!!!

Couldn’t do much in the garden over the last two days on account of all the rain. Lawn needs cutting and hedges! I replanted my two new Acers into larger pots until they get bigger and put them in a very sheltered place. This is another Japanese Maple which I dug out of a friends garden 2 years ago. It is facing east so I will have to keep an eye on it.

I made it to Mount Usher Gardens in Ashford, Co. Wicklow today.

I have been itching this year to see their spring Rhododendron display and I was not disappointed. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas were breathtaking and what a collection of trees! Inspirational is too small a word!

I have opened a new album to show photos I took there today.

On the way in I was charmed by this planting combination of Bowles perennial Wallflower and Persicaria. I have several specimens of this unruly Persicaria at home and its habit is quite difficult. I see it, however, beautifully combined here with the Wallflower which, by chance, Linda recently gave me. So, thank you, Linda, I have found the perfect companion for your recent gift.

It was a day of wind and sideways rain here in Galway.  All is normal, I guess. 

I have been hardening off a pot of garlic that I started in the greenhouse.  It is nearly ready to stay out as today it had 8 hours of exposure.  Sadly, buy the time I arrived home from work a gust of wind had tossed a kayak off it’s spot on the wall landing on my garlic.  I think it’s OK, but it is a rude welcome into the great big world outside of the greehouse.

The wind has also knocked over my green house to a 45 degree angle that was held up by a pot of potato plants.  It was weighed down by several concrete blocks, but they were not enough against Galway wind.  Long story short, my morning glory and pepper (sweet and chili) seedlings were knocked loose and scattered everywhere.  I have hope for the morning glory, but the peppers are another question.  The corn seedlings seem to have faired better. 

Keep your fingers crossed!

 

hi there

      well wind and rain have stopped play, everything has grown so fast will need a tidy up this weekend , if it drys up enough.  my new bedtime read tonight is" crops in pots", its about growing flowers and veg together in pots to complement one another watch this space?. better go and start reading and see if i can get any ideas.

Hi all,

Its great to see the sun shine today – mind you it is cold.

We had a nice drop of rain yesterday and hoepfully all those tagetes I planted last weekend will be settling nicely in to their new home in the flower bed.

I attach a copy of a garden pest – if you see him be sure to alert any gardener with a mile of where he is.  He might look friendly, but dont let that hairy facade fool you into thinking otherwise.

This is Rusty as some of you know.  Rusty loves digging and especially this weather because we have been working on the soil and its nice and loose.  He has a habit of taking the food we leave out for the birds and burying it – all sounds fine so far – but last week he upended some of john’s lettuces and yesterday he dug up a patch of my newly dug bed where i planted the tagetes.

 So the birds will have to get their food well crumbed in future, because last year if you remember we also lost a sea holly to him.

 So whilst he looks cute – be warned, 🙂 

 

 

another wet and windy day,  Its hard to keep hoping!  Vine weevil continues to cause damage in conservatory.  perhaps when she sees the size of weapon in my arsenal  she may decide to depart minus the eggs she may have already laid.  Have abandoned use of nematodes as not 100% effective.  See the damage on the petals of dendrobrium in the picture.  Eliminating adult beetles will do away with the more destructive grubs.

Seem to be always on the war over something  Mr Smelly cat is still on the loose but am leaving radio on at night so he thinks somebody there.  Working so far but not very  "green".  Am doing my "green"  bit otherwise.

unfortunately the weather is not helping, and young seedlings that have should have long ago been evicted from the greenhouse are still resident. The ground is too wet and mucky to dig in beds or plant shrubs. The veg garden is only 3/4 planted, a second sowing of cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower plants still resident in the greenhouse. A second onion and carrot bed remains a dream at this stage as it is just too mucky. On the other hand indoors the tomato and cucumber plants are doing well, as also is the lettuce and various different onions. However I want to be outside not inside.

whay a day , thunder lightening, torrential rain and high winds!!

took a few photos when it cleared up . can anyone identify the butterfly on the cabbage leaf it has tiny blue spots on its wings . hope its not out to eat all my veg.!!is it a cabbage white?

if it is what do i do next?

even the Schlumbergera is in doubt!!

Common shrub for our gardens – Sambucus nigra L. I don’t know its name in English. Do you know this plant? 

This is a shrun or little tree from Caprifoliaceae family. Blooms in May-June, black berries mature in August. Fast growing shade-enduring bush, especially on rich moist soil. 

Flowers and berries, leaves and  bark can be used in medicine (antiphlogistic, analgetic, etc). 

Also used as decorative shrub because of fragrant flowers and showy black berries. I’ve found several specimens in the city, not in bloom yet, but near. Next week total May blooming will start – the weather is warm and all trees, shrubs and early flowers have buds. 

Photo report will follow.

Finally, Exams are a thing of the past!! Well, at least until October comes around again!! Update on the cats….

I arrived home from my exam this evening and went out to survey the challenges that await me. I noticed that the Mammy cat was busy gorging on her food so I went down to check on the status of the kitten who at this stage is nearly 7 weeks old. Lo and Behold, he’s within a whisker of my face when I check under the shed!!! I picked him up and brought him to the house. He is now a permanent fixture in his box in the living room as you can see in the picture!!

Anyway, while I was out surveying I decided on a number of things.

1. Under orders from the boss, the kitten is the No. 1 priority.(Obviously that would have been my decision aswell!!!)

2. Raised beds are my No.1 Priority. Timber will be purchased on tuesday morning and work can commence then.

3. My No. 2 priority is a compost bin which shouldn’t take too long and will mean that the annual weeds and grass that i removed can be rotting away nicely!

4. Once raised beds and compost bin are in, cabbage, kale, calabrese, peas, beans, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, turnips, sweetcorn, and more spuds will be planted/sown after that the hard landscaping can begin.

5. Initially, the hard landscaping will consist of repairing the concrete edge at the back of the house and building up a retaining edge before inserting gravel on the patio area The next step will be laying the edging for the path to the shed. Once the flower beds are finished on the east side of the garden, the lawn can be sown and then it should be time to study again.