Hobbies and Crafts

We've recently been to Cornwall, somewhere I've never before visited. It was lovely and so GREEN ! What a treat to see such lush grass and pretty gardens.
We also visited Clovelly the day after the judges for Britain in Bloom had been there so it was at it's best, although quite busy.
Back home we still have barren landscape, but the recent rain will help.

I was reading online about some rare trees which have flowered for the first time in decades, because of the unusual weather and was wondering whether perhaps any of you had seen them?
One in Cardiff has bloomed for the first time since it was planted.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-44882792

Glad you enjoyed Cornwall Gwyn.

OH has got no further with the fence painting as it has rained so much that the wood won't dry out enough to paint. I have a feeling that come next year I will still be looking at a fence that is half brown wood and half "willow" colour.

As he couldn't paint OH decided he had time to do a few garden jobs and I saw him eyeing the lavender. Knowing the damage Mr Crewcut did to the lavender last year I very quickly guided him to an 'urgent' job and started on the lavender myself. ;-)

I then thought that if he was going to start chopping plants about again it might be wise to take a few cuttings. As we were low on some of the necessary stuff I sent him off to buy some more compost, a bag of grit and some rooting hormone. Well, he got the compost right! I also ended up with a bag of sharp sand and no rooting hormone.

One pre-loved husband for sale.....any offers.....he's going very cheap :-D

:-D :-D :-D Well if you had your offer accepted vera it might save you money. Love him, he does try to help. Mine teak oiled the garden seat about ten minutes before it rained!! Teak oil is £10 a squeezy spray bottle.

We wouldn’t be without them though, would we Ann :-D

No Vera certainly wouldn’t. Would not have anyone to moan about then would we?

I miss my "Master of Disaster" more than I can say. Count your blessings ladies.

Indeed I do kandj.

I know you will be cherishing your memories <3 <3 <3

Yes I cherish mine and often think of how you must feel Kandj.

Just noticed this gardening thread and was wondering if I could ask some advice. I've just bought two planters 4 foot long and about 18 inches wide and deep and was wondering what would be the best plants to put in them for winter colour. They both have a trellis on the back so the overall height is around five and half foot, so something tall would be good, or even a climber so long as it doesn't take over any other plants that I put in them. I love evergreens rather than bare looking plants in the winter, any ideas would be great. Thanks Gill

Heucheras, sedum, heather, small (check size they grow to) pine trees. spring bulbs (miniature daffodils, crocus, miniature tulips.)

If you put alpines in make sure there is plenty of grit in the soil for drainage.

Welcome to the thread Gill.

If you are looking for evergreen how about Sarcococca (Christmas box). It isn’t a climber so won’t clamber up the trellis. It’s quite slow growing but eventually will reach 1-2 metres. It doesn’t mind a bit of shade, is evergreen, has lovely smelling little white flowers in late winter/early spring and berries which turn black around autumn time.

What’s more they seem to be happy in troughs. I have several troughs just a little bit smaller than yours and two of them each have two plants in. They seem to be thriving :-D

Oh and there are some frost hardy grasses as well, black grass (can't remember its proper name) is frost hardy. I would suggest mix the colours with evergreen and red leaves etc.

Hello and welcome Gill. If you are looking for quickness to cover your trellis the russian mile a minute is an option but you will need to keep it well controlled. Evergreen honeysuckle is something else to think about and soon it will be bulb planting time to give you a beautiful display next Spring. Good luck.

The small amount of rain has greened some of the lawn but not all, and it looks unsightly and a mess to me. Perhaps needs to be scarified?? No energy for that.

Patience Kandj it will recover.

I will chase Gill up on the other thread and see if she has checked back.

Actually passion flower would cover the trellis or honey suckle but both would have to be kept under control.

Hi folks

I haven't had the Internet for a couple of days, thanks for all the suggestions I will take a look at them online as I haven't heard of most them. Because I couldn't get online my husband and I have been painting the new planters, we are hoping to finish them today and line them with some plastic, we'll put some holes for drainage in we're hoping the plastic will save the wood from rotting to quickly. We've added some wheels to the planters to, otherwise we'd never be able to move them.

I'm sure your lawn will recover in time Kandj, mine is starting to green up with the bit of rain we've had, we have watered it to which helped.

Sorry for my late reply and thanks again everyone for all your help.

The planters sound great Gill, let us know what you decide to put in them.

We don't realise how much we rely on the internet being available when we want it until we haven't got it. :-D

I've had a look online at the plants you all told me about and they look great, thanks again everyone. The only problem I have now is how many and what type of plants to put together, I'm worried the roots might choke each other if I put the wrong ones together.....I suppose that's the problem with planters, there's not much space for the plants to grow. I was thinking of adding some bulbs, as like Kandj said it'll soon be bulb planting time and then I'll have some colour in the spring.

All the painting is finished on the planters now and I've moved the back two wheels more to the corners as the planters were tilting backwards slightly, it seems to have sorted the problem out. Unfortunately the plastic I wanted to put inside I couldn't do as it started to rain. Hopefully it'll be dry tomorrow so that job can be done.

Yes, Ann I'll let you all know what I planted in them when it's all finished. I just need to find some plants where the roots aren't to big, so they have plenty of room in the soil.

You're right Ann, I really missed the Internet and it was only off for a couple of days, I think I rely on it far to much, but it's so handy isn't it?

Hi Gill yes the internet is handy, especially for situations like yours, asking advice. I would check any climbers you put in as their roots might spread more. Large grasses and bamboos can be thugs but smaller growing grasses are ok, Heucheras don’t spread a lot. Bulbs will usually grow among other plants I find, especially miniature varieties. I think with planters and containers it is a bit of trial and error. Good luck.

Thanks Ann. I have around 400 pots in my back garden which have made two lovely borders, but I only put one plant in each pot and re-pot them in larger pots when necessary. Planters on the other hand will hold more than one plant so knowing more about the room each plant needs to accommodate their roots is something I need to Google before choosing the plants.

There's more to think about than I first thought, but with everyone's help on here and the Internet I'm sure I'll get there in the end. Bulbs, like you said, don't take up much room and will grow in between other plants so I'm not so worried about those. I'd just like something interesting and colourful as I have about 8 foot to fill between the two planters. Once I've planted them up I will keep an eye on them and if needs be take some out and replace them with smaller plants.

I forgot to mention, the planters are going to be to the side of the front window in a South facing garden, so I will need to Google sun loving plants. I'm actually looking forward to planting them up and watching how they grow. I'm hoping to use them as screening between us and next door as it's quite open and can get quite windy in the winter.

Signing out now, thanks for all your help
Night Night

400! That's a lot of pots Gill.

Let us know what you decide to put in your troughs....maybe you can post a photo when they are planted up.

Yesterday I took a few cuttings of lavender, pelargonium, penstemon and erysimum. I need to do some more in case we lose plants during the winter, either through the weather or through Mr Crewcut getting at them. My problem at the moment is where to keep them as I don't have room for a greenhouse in this little garden. When it is cooler they can go in our unheated conservatory but it is too hot in there at the moment and our windowsills in the house are mostly too narrow for pots.


Has anyone got one of those narrow, mini greenhouse things with the roll up plastic covering? I'm not sure what they are called but I am thinking of getting one for things like cuttings. It can hide down the side of the house or behind the garage. I don't want to mention it to OH or he will offer to make me one. If he does it will be absolutely perfect and look beautiful but I will still be waiting for it in 6 months time and it will end up costing far more than one from the garden centre :-)