Gardening 2020

Also, I've been given a £10 Sarah Raven voucher - I know that doesn't get me a lot at Sarah Raven - but what would you buy?

Plus, what bulbs should I buy from Wilkos in my sad lunch-time half hour?

Hyacinths: I think you can literally leave them in the pot until next year??! I have one just starting to sprout now from last year that I just forgot about for a long time and it's coming back.

Post more about gardening, everyone. It's springlike today and I'm getting eager (even though we're due at least a few more blizzards before real spring).

Inspirations: I went to this lavender "labyrinth" a couple of years ago (http://www.cherrypointmarket.net/lavender-labyrinth.html) and it was so beautiful and textured and interesting even in late August. I bet in high lav season it's SPECTACULAR. Anyway the way they use herbs and botanicals for height and structure and not just for blooms intrigued me, and led me to the really sculptural, 4-season work of Piet Oudolf.

Cherry Point lavender maze & thematically arranged herb garden:

http://www.cherrypointmarket.net/uploads/7/9/4/5/79453278/2017-herb-garden-4_orig.jpg

http://www.cherrypointmarket.net/uploads/7/9/4/5/79453278/24-summer-solstice-2018_orig.jpg

Piet Oudolf is my personal gardening inspiration even though I have a small space and I know I cram too many plants into it because I like their shapes and colors.

https://shawellnessclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/oudolf-DSC08377.jpg

I have seed catalogs coming in weekly but I am vowing to do budget gardening this season. I should start seeds this weekend.

That’s a great idea. I have seeds left over from last year and/or can get more. Lemme do that too, something to look forward to this week!

has anyone had any luck regrowing vegetables from scraps?

Yes, for us cherry tomatoes grow wherever the fruit hit the ground in the previous year. One particular variety especially -- Matt's Wild Cherry.

I might be about to find out because I realized too late that I threw bell pepper cores with seeds in them into the garden as compost. Might plant some scallion butts this spring!

I'm worried because I didn't realize that this whole invasive earthworm thing was happening so whenever my bf went fishing and didn't use all the worms, I put them in the garden. The bait stores claim that the variety are "Red Wigglers" and if that's true, they should be fine and are actually a good vermicomposting species.

Due to see Alys Fowler talk about houseplants tomorrow so am a bit giddy.

Seeds are half price at Wilkos at the moment. The timing seems odd but I've enjoyed it ...

talk to me about bamboo

Don't do it.

we need to do our back garden, after having just had builders in. the lawn is severely compacted and looks.... uh, dead? in places. I'm going to try aerating it first to see if the lawn regrows. after that we need to landscape it etc

biggest issue is the dividing boundary is a three foot fence with my neighbour and so privacy is severely impeded. they don't want a fence - OK fine but I'm going to have to put in screening so I'm thinking bamboo, grown to 5-6ft. in planters? in the ground? what genus? who knows! ugh it's stressing me out

too invasive? I would use clumping not running, and probably constrain it to planters.

You'd be bang to rights putting a fence up. My brother had similar issues with an arsehole neighbour who said they need occasional access so I put up a huge farmer's gate with a padlock on it and told the cunt to knock on the door if he needs access !

This cunt had threatened my brother so we took drastic action.

Admittedly I don't know that much about bamboo. I lived in a house in college where someone let it run wild in the side yard and I pulled out tons of it so we could see out the window again. More recently, someone put a pot of it out on our front stoop where it was inappropriately tall and in the way, and as it turns out it didn't get enough water and died over the winter. So I've just found it underwhelming and unappealing. Maybe if you want it as a privacy hedge it would do the trick in long narrow planters, I guess!

I can't imagine it would do well long term in planters, and in the ground it will spread everywhere, as noted.

Yeah there are better options imo

Hello hello. Ever since the move to SF I haven't had the best chance to do anything with gardening -- there's a backyard but it's not the best and a lot of it can end up in shade. However, way unsurprisingly, spending time around the place more means I've been caught up in the 'well what CAN I fix' end of things. End result has been to batten down all the weeds with ground cover, mulch and bark, set up a couple of planters and refresh others that the downstairs neighbor already had, and generally make it at least a comfortable place to chill. That plus a great gardener we happily pay well over his quoted rate for to come in once a month to take care of a variety of little things and some bigger projects, from weeds to some tree trimming. Once I feel we've gotten it all somewhat more presentable -- I think we're about 3/4 of the way there -- I'll post some photos.

It has been quiet on here given that gardening is apparently *on trend*.

Here (UK), I've started to cautiously put out squash and courgettes and have been letting tomato plants sunbathe in the day. Lots of nasturtiums on the go (a habit). Various squash growing on windowsills, as are artichokes and a few sunflowers.

the weekend before last i planted a hundred or so renga renga offshoots in an area formerly occupied by a dense mass of aluminium plant (massively invasive here) which along with being an amazing groundcover for shade areas has the added bonus of edible rhizomes once they mature a bit.

trying to even get a gardener to quote for our work has been a pita. garden still a state and will be for a while : /

I have so many updates! It finally turned reliably warm here as everything has sped up greatly after limping along for a few weeks. Pics TK when I get to a computer, idk how to post from phone.

I currently have 11 bags of soil/compost/mulch to distribute around the yard so that’s some work for today. Arugula + romaine lettuce are doing great! We’ll start eating radishes soon! I have kale and red cabbage seedlings to give away if anyone wants.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VEQ4qWUZUxYWMqZ47

Testing....

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNFjtivIPE0ZeiVqGa73TE_L5cttXXIep7M1ff9

Testing?

Why is Google Photos so difficult?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/buT2P4WOCnZJUt_gATqmPuJeqDGB959XUxzbYuyocKfsM_4qfHVTyY4i2Wc9sshW3MlPw_4DFgeM4-cdF0PzdcBwBBAdUekg0m_BfjKRtyFfYDrf7EOjwbR5nnLATZmwMf2ze83PZjfB_gSp0a37ePsL09_YLoEm1XtRT0uap_Fxbke0qvzIGR8CYkx-_bzhfTmqds05QCzqmowZeav2IHcEe9IQTXuGNzktspof-xd9f8Qivc4YBGrKrvqch5bdQKPEZSQ4yUIhMDVyjq4GDUh2dH3Ytg_8T0VZvdovIkdaJFq4JDz1LREUJrO2qFnI_4ZgyVfm4gLbUQ8m9nr8nN366cit3tRsabiWDqycc9J52yWNIiYetls6aOGsp5rxws5RcOvqXjHd1FW0DAeDS9OzvkUFvhjbooeieXDMWUBipJlqa5eJ2h0QxGNCaJgVP-OHT4I7pri9uBITchtBl53VSB2N1MZ4bwp6vu2jWPqhDoWTrkBc_rWDfhxj5GHKNqYDnNlPrQ-Z2THvrHs9sAFdWTX0WD2yMMJWFeoj1v73WaujTlQ0OjZgAB3B3ehWzD9QgdOm49hVTNED2DdwivxUz5uIS4jjADKx-qPIcKV92jCx_FgcG6SImiMtKRROIQInq9PnmCDKAdKUaQduoFwXPrR_ZXN8pLmNRqgo5ra4ENgnuV2p0Cy2bMjgwiA=w476-h634-no?authuser=0

Red cabbages in fore, red romaine lettuces in the rear. From last week, so things are bigger now!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/PfsHbBqfkaQZRwYX-aAN_nAR6zwoN94wBuctEpBpVGP7QyT_AZ7BGmtevHoD7jIDAJpqjeF146PR9Pk_xPi-Va7a_lJD395mlt9KlydtJODsxfOL2DrcVNUf0OYNg0Z9c2cg7gT_DfeFY-vg-GGfxD520VqPMHU12l1N2_GHpNPDFbzB9ywv_OGGnsGqjhKy3iJyYir3vOi2e2iVuuoE1wqM6hhOoUIyNd77fGUTGVgLHaRm50Q-eSJPObTYED8viTucA3qgojEjBjOd-uprYBUQZjCVRYf8_kzXE7NHsDMvjrXXe4-BKJAV5HUQkYVFIu-Nzd0yXzMKBgkdurNRQUH2HXY1a4dMqd4QtB4zq21gYqp1RbdGJXkxfAr8f08P5jPd_-96DWo5MYkT5A1ChXxAeKjl3EyLxiI0dkqbCDTiizQiNxuHmiZ2V1vmZdVdH4Wg5IZd29BwKMrATD8Ry4sh3WgaLvCF3NV7qq1XJ-kZkIt4DQiytphgyVKji1Kf0NxUtMIkncDIowFuhZ4dQotXmfQvU_9uV5jm829zsBoXrnCJmaCDQjwKH6bsmnlxktbp4j0nCdTr0nxiXEm0O2kVt2C3rv22LtBmkwuC3XGTDmUmtra6C1tXZx04_CSzcRkE7awU7teR5L7vimXBu8HUuoCWAwq19QgpXTkpIn2WhL0wXNhWM3hQ4fwgMWs=w476-h634-no?authuser=0

From last night: Tomatoes planted in mounds! Basil! I mulched the paths between rows in an effort to not spend 5 hrs a week weeding this year!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lYsiUAF4RKPgKpipmLwq4vSxESx9nxqnN7SgIi9vO71BHBy1F_IGvFW9L6E57BXuZIa7XjkbTA6cmmRE38CCIB51F0MMwo5nQ_eotKD490m65Lg3eek3a9GptnpNsOAf1HUn6P-8jB8rPIHE24rBPHrmCXHih3y031LfliqwRXgnpXA-2wgTsbtIOPiwDpk01bL-hdmNmhZ921patyMeacBL3Ux-2-HmxtOPT6KDTk-o9gq__0pqh_upv41oUuZzanwqHG7Oyi6nwhLEEcuypmalj7WrKYi1Mg830BLNTERCzvwpbB__hG8PkzWGa-u350W1FXeBpL8ZUHl221Y4DgUmFsFCw-bJVcCmq_It9xNz3UGLCA9rooUzTZGUq_jkrIXo_yiGWTZa1kKby2lIiPE3L5TQ6uUjBU3pREwz4sNE2x--0jXJPi8AFgOZdVPQneMK47cOb6rBbwNvF8KKB9PFvLh-_7SefVtjI6j5MBDOFfVIjT5Fb18ndMAJApyKyrdTK9pAKsxF4SMwn0u4-pibS3Ki-taRdYylJ-Ufkl5yZCVyfc-qsoAz1gnxKRjK7j-NozYlYlf3I9C1RyXCZ_w6gnjJDGybaVZbQTX8HlDWYHinGpnlEI5kTCeJZ2jjfGlYDtcrkBJI_SE4GAsBvSJbIpgsbEQQwsWTLFiZAxTbICcXSvZXepSuE9nE71s=w846-h634-no?authuser=0

Did the pics not come through? They showed on my computer but now nothing.

I remember seeing them Friday, but nothing now.

I blame Big Ag!

Damn I would really like to see them! <3 gardening pics

The pics have never showed for me.

Anyway, UK question, perhaps I need to say south UK question: when will you start leaving tomatoes outside?

Warning: fahrenheit reference

Tomatoes hate being under 54 F and I would not plant them out until the lows are reliably above that.

12c? We're way off that, aren't we?
(Ta)

Okay here's a little garden tour:

The view from the back porch:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DUwTbbVdXqKyTH2MCtboG9ddv_4FIEHB7nS8Hrb67I8NpHN6pocMmZdgWmxUk1ddDKt40DZ5acCnNebnJRkzJk17jNftvTE6VeoMlS53HoL-G1b_RQJTVi4xddrUgSYNg5AhYvkbfDE=w2400

Mustard greens, a first for me but my neighbor gave me the plant:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NGmkBpSmT1l-WxM_AtfUHoNFKsbrh-sqso2QBnGZlo5ny1iJQbZgUzzY-A_VYejUIGnEpVi9lNvZ7pDMdbxT6xLjwFSpU8tVyBRcRXSKEHfwkLfb457anJy6o8ktEqqdk83j-Bw9oL8=w2400

Chives about to flower!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cwG99uPvLx4ssuKJwvuq4q7kqX1iOcKLa928e45WIihvRAXWduldJyf2NTdKKtZFC9Dm_J-4infpHS-CgzYsPnV0S79R2RDUai6bAJTrRusKi2XjH6JPJdG1D_kvwCNbCIw5h-1bCI8=w2400

Peas in bloom! Last year I missed the, like, 2-week period that the peas needed to be harvested and after that they were inedible so by being here every day I might finally get to eat some peas.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/HHcfj4RUz9tnpGQn4kkrbJAL5PDo6GeRLPeumH43NxIgP8wz3lMIK05oxcGp-JKKtLWWY4lHZovMwF-xKbb8P9MMkDxzbsoZlDbDlhdoEBKxl8GMN5Vo_0Ev_ERyGq0xGkxlBuWGea8=w2400

Two trellises for cucumbers that will also hopefully give shade to the lettuces behind them (and there's a mulched path in between which I like to walk on and pretend I'm strolling down a shady lane).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bZIColusqxO2ZxdOTEQQYE8ORM5CJYc8Ophsw_spr2b69EnM38ERQrMnAr2sK26ktwa98-ziLq1BY_d9gffK1Kgm_XJMDVTiU-Pt_sKxmPJ9VK18b2OEwJ2WP_h8QgZ09oFi0seK6Y=w2400

Lacinato kale that I'm excited to have this year, grown from seed!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NZRfGlsKit5PQX9mxvypLwyaiDKrFAC56m9vLNfYQh6-kdovX7Z7J4i53rIc3QS7-cUXw3IZ5qAsI2J2QMXxt1J0DJ4N0StLR0GhBMF8lAFnC_5eVdTJG1pTYZ4gBlRml-0nJuo3WPY=w2400

The back porch where I'm sitting right now, now with new rug.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0fO6_bZWW1oN1D71v_eE9wK5KRdxMhFSLKQRtWqtkAi1z3k4KoUaOCbDTwRafRnmo_NO05vzk269zjF5j5YXRnl4Yhat09wglbZeMGw7EPvj7lLq0whGfnM7cfcmv1RuU_b9rT1L9UM=w2400

For reference, the outside dimensions are about 13 x 16', but inside the fence line is probably 6-8" smaller? I've pretty much packed it with plants. 8 herbs, two bell peppers, two hot peppers, kale, red cabbages (that are totally not going to fit where they are now as they keep growing), about 7 difft tomatoes, cukes, romaine, butter lettuce, mustard greens, radishes, arugula, peas, fabulous multi-colored corn (an experiment), edamame, and leeks and shallots and one garlic sprout that won't be ready until fall. The spinach and radicchio seeds never germinated, alas.

I want to grow watermelon but I just don't have enough SPACE.

We have salads out of the garden every day now :))))))

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RgGg71XU-VGffysa8PCi9GWyaNV5ce_WsWjCKvWfp2mr-LSDXkY-QsyaraJWT6uPBzb65cPpZWGMvs_Efk3pYMG--bk4GkNPtaYsMWKC1w2s4kxZ03qFpTmZCu6uCosbvnuD2l9DQTc=w2400

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/t_8im49aPU-elncqUTixT1ibggqZBJr9f49ZZBUtEkxR_7aNRKHUsuR4IDdhMk6YAUe95XUzguYjgFQjSH2XlxJj2NTcBDtqNB7uezSzuXDntuIxT0HCPzrapbbcer9BT8V5vDUbqhU=w2400

Oh, that's lovely.

I can't eat the lettuce fast enough! I have so much! This is a problem with starting from seeds--you don't know how many will germinate and I hate thinning/killing any of the shoots that come up. I just planted too much. Same with radishes: I'm literally googling "How to eat radishes" because they need to get eaten in a short window and I have 2 or 3 dozen.

Also I have two teensy tomatoes growing already! Omg omg

We planted a whole 4x8 raised bed of leafy greens and I’m already overwhelmed by how much has grown. Most of the spinach bolted though which sucks

The arugula has a really short shelf life, it bolted QUICK. I succession planted a second crop but tbh I'm gonna need a third one soon. I really need to plant fewer seeds at a time.

I think I'll make spicy tuna & radish wraps with lettuce leaves for brunch. I mean, what else am I gonna do?

get a pony

Do they like radishes?

I only tried radishes with one horse, who was not a fan. But salad greens? Those disappear in a hurry.

Can you pickle radishes? (and would you want pickled radishes?)

Yes, and I don't know! I guess you use them the same as raw? Like to top tacos, salads, rice or quinoa bowls, and etc.

I'd show more pics but tbh I can't be arsed, it's so difficult from Google photos.

My one attempt at pickling ended in failure (serrano chilies), they were soft, even mushy, after not too long in the vinegar. Radishes should be easier, though.

Alys Fowler does suggest pickling radishes:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/23/alys-fowler-pickled-vegetables

japan to thread

(UK question). Hoping to buy a plant for a friend who is having a shit time of it. I'd normally buy house plants as gifts but I'm thinking something more garden-y. I know she has yellow lupins and some salvias. Any ideas? In an ideal world, it would be something that could be delivered sooner rather than later (I'd looked on Sarah Raven but everything I'd clicked on was "Delivery in July").

There's a good web-thingy here to choose plants by garden type/season/colour/whatnot: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form

I love digitalis, which blooms about now, and passion flower which is ravishing in a nice weird way, and blooms mid-late summer. Some alliums are late summer bloomers too.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0255/9760/8011/products/52629-00-BAKIE_20200213163555_960x960_crop_center.jpg

Something volunteered out back and we let it go for a while to ID it, and now we have a big sunflower partly blocking our walkway from the house to the carport. The bees are digging it.

Xpost - Echinacea too

Thanks Chuck. Went with an echinacea in the end.

For the first time in months, the windowsills only have houseplants rather than pots and pots of seedlings. Is there anything still worth planting? (UK)

Good time for salads and herbs, small tomato plants…

Have a load of squash planted in the garden (and next door's garden) - far many than there is room for. I'm finding it fascinating to see them almost visibly reach for things to climb.

Probably shouldn't have put a Tromboncino in the raised beds. It's the size of a medium child with flailing arms.

I don’t know if this is gardening per se, but has anyone else (in the UK specifically, but maybe it extends to other countries?) noticed an EXTRAORDINARY crop of acorns this year?

Like, not just that there are an exceptionally large amount of them, but they are also enormous? I swear I found an acorn yesterday that was nearly 2” long and shaped like a rocket ship. I can’t remember ever seeing acorns of this size before!

There are definitely plenty this year! We've got a few young oak trees hanging over our back fence and cutting the grass is lethal.

From what I understand, oak trees have 'mast' years, where they produce a bumper crop - the reasons for which are poorly understood.

Ah, thank you for the word / explanation. I looked it up and it makes sense now:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/10/autumn-is-back/

Seems like a supersaturation of acorns is generated by specific weather conditions, and the benefit is that there is too much mast produced for animals to eat all of them - so in certain years the trees all go crazy together.