General Chat

my heleborers were in pots ann do think thats why they died and lost a hosta too xx

Nice here at the moment Puss but a very cold wind.

Jan our Helebores are looking better now, flowering well, must have been a late start.

Our hostas are mostly in a gravel bed but that doesn't stop them being eaten, some years are better than others, with us I think it is snails not slugs. Maybe i should do as the French and get my own back.

hi greenfingers, good luck with the obelisk ive got some climbers on mine, thanks for the tip of the soil, i wondered about it being the soil xx.

wend, poor you i will send you a card next year with a slug on to remind you.

Ann its a nice day here again, we had a few rain drops but thats all today x x x :-D

Joy....how I laughed, I had this vision of an army of snails, climbing SAS style over your fence......seriously though they hate grit, and egg shells crushed up round hostas and the like....when all else fails I use slug/snail pellets as well. I buy ones that are not harmful to birds and animals....and its chucking down here as well....did get in the garden yesterday....

Haven't tried Chartennay....but will another time.....also will use this year Autumn King which you can harvest till end November. If you have probs with misshaped carrots, use bags of compost from the garden centre (B&Q have offers on at present...and a trough, the soil is soft and the carrot can get thru.

I have to admit we did not wait till they got big, just scrapped soil from the tops, and if they looked nice, pulled them up...the smaller ones are delish.

This mad weather, has meant I have the best Hellebores I have had, especially my newest Golden Lotus, which now has 6 flowers between two plants.

OH going to Argos to get willow obelsisks tomorrow..will let you know what they are like....19.99 for two that are about 4 ft high.
Will let you know if the daffs bloom

Regards Jan

its raining here to
baby satans come over with his leggo

so no time to garden today

except for the pelleting

Yes, I did mine yesterday, a bit late it was supposed to be february. No gardening today as it is chucking it down out there.

i think i will start today and slug pellet

the butler says throw the pellets over the fence into next doors garden
as he is sure thats where the slugs are coming from

I remember when I went to Hampton Court flower show a few years ago, when my friend and I were at the Hosta stand, the guy told us his best bit of advice re timing to deal with Hostas-v-slugs was:

When that Valentine's card plops on your mat, think SLUG!

Trouble is I don't get a card, so I don't remember :-( :-D

i love my garden and can go out do a bit
and forget about all the world and its whoos

till the dog digs me a four foot hole
and fills my path that i have just jet washed with mud lol

AnninGlos it's probably because of those pesky little slugs that live in the ground, I use slug pellets when necessary, but I don't like to.

JoyBoroAngel BandQ is where I buy my sand, not from the garden centre section but from the builders yard, lucky you having newts a natural predator for slimy slugs.

Sorry missed your answer I'm slow at typing, I would use salt but not sure I would waste my beer on them.

i have beer traps use slug pellets and have high power torches
the neighbour laugh when i slug hunt with my salt pots in the rain lol

my side garden is riddled with them
they come over the wall every time it rains

OH read or saw on TV re hostas (we have a lot) that the time to put slug bait down if you use it is before the hostas show through the ground, can't remember why. I know a lot of people won't use slug bate but I do resort to it on the hostas otherwise they'd be a waste of money.

i go to B&Q and buy some big trays of plants for my pots
grow some myself then i go to boot sales and pick up some bargins
i bought some hostas 50p each a few years ago
grown them in pots and this year
i am going to split them into lots of pots
one is called stripper and the other joker
or thats what the lables said
one gets all the slugs eatting it if i am not careful
and the other the slugs never touch

and i have a small pond full of newts hundreds of them
as they are protected by laws i cant add fish to it or do anything with it

JoyBoroAngel I always add a lot of sharp sand to the ground where I grow my carrot and water them very sparingly that normally works for me, but having said that the Royal Chantenay Red is a short dumpy variety, here in Essex my fuchsias aren't showing anything yet.

Puss what are you like.
:-D :-D :-D

lesley, i didnt even know thwere was differnt types of carotts, ive been sent to seeds the picture on the front looks like carotts, but it says to chop and stir fry, its something orientel, but the seeds are in my plastc house, will have a look tomorrow lol xx :-D

lesley i have never been able to get carrots to grow
they have lovely tops and misshapen bottoms
or are short and stumpy

my son one grow some massive potatoes
when he was little from potatoe peelings
my hanging pots are still flowering from last year but not up to scratch
soon as easter comes i will have the new ones in
my fuchsias plants from last year are still in the pots
and starting to bud so i may take cuttings
and grow this years from them
this year has been a starange year

JoyBoroAngel I like the sound of your hanging baskets also growing your broad beans at the back of your flower border great idea.

Greenfingers have you ever tried Royal Chantenay Red carrots I started growing them a couple of years ago after I received some free seeds from the BBC Dig In, and touch wood I've never had a problem with carrot fly attacking them and I think they are delicious

Puss more falling, plants what were they?

:-D :-D :-D

I LIKED THE LOOK ON THE CARTON OF A BUDDLIA swo ive planted that, lupins are slowley growing,catkins on my willo tree and on my magnolia, my honey suckle never lost it leaxes and its getting more on it its grown all up my raised pond. im sure i heard a bit of frog antic behaviour, i remember the firdst time i saw frogs mating i though the were drowning each other. :-D

We pay £36 a year for our garden waste (brown) wheelie bin Jan. There are hardly any fortnights through the eyar when it doesn't go out for collection, well worth the money as it says the petrol for a trip to the dump. Not allowed garden waste in the landfill bin.

Wonder if the daffs will bloom, be interesting to know.

rose, just trying to imagine lupins in a hanging basket! A bit top heavy I would think!

OH and I were having a sort out and found some daffodils we had not planted eeekkkkkkkkkkkkk. They had sprouted well, so we put them in,,,,hope for the best now. Also planted some more nerines that we were given. Now have a tidy boiler house, and untidy greenhouse !! Also sowed some early carrots in our raised bed,,Nantes 2 can recommend them as they were delicious last year. Also planted broad beans, and one lot of ealry potatoes (in a bag) they are called rocket and had chitted well,so hope for the best...they are in the greenhouse and will move them out when it gets warmer.

My horrid sycamore is now down, and we just have the fence and the decking to repair,,,,,,but we do have at least £100 of logs.

Also took custody of a brown bin for our garden waste. It will be handy, but we have a large garden and wouldn't cope when we have a good clear out. But we shall get our moneysworth out of it...we have to pay a yearly amount.
Regards Jan