My Garden is My Space
Garden Diary
My Garden is My Space

Winter Returns but Snowdrops Give Hope of Better Days to Come

    Thank goodness I took advantage of the couple of day’s fine weather to do some “real gardening”. Since then we have gone back into the depths of winter with snow and cold temperatures. In fact the cold wind has made it unpleasant to do anything than to work in the greenhouse. However I you see the world news of earthquakes, floods and mudflows I realise just how lucky I am. Once the snow and ice has finally gone I may have quite a bit of work to do sorting out any damage and debris but at least I will have a garden to work in and many poor souls will not even have a roof over their heads.

    In the greenhouse it is nice to see the tomato seedlings coming on, new life with the promise of warmer days to come.

    Also germinated is Lobelia but not the annual (tender perennial) type that use as annual bedding but the perennial variety. I have chosen a packet of mixed colour seed but from the packet they complement each other and so I do not have to wait for them to flower before planting out and worrying whether there will be a colour clash. The packet says forty seeds and I have to believe them, the seed is like powder so there was no chance of counting them. I could not even be certain the seed had rested on the surface of the seed compost! The good news of course is that as long as I can nurture them through to planting out I will not have to buy any more Lobelia seed or plants. I will be able to take cuttings and eventually divide the plants, a continuation of my policy of only buying plants when it is a necessity.

    My Standard Fuchsia has leaves. The dead looking twigs of the many past weeks have decided it is time to start into life again. I keep it in the conservatory which has no heat whatsoever apart from any weak winter sun. It is still only young but the stem and branches are looking much thicker and stronger. If I find another of my fuchsias vigorous enough to train I will have another go.

    Fieldfare
    The renewed snow and extended cold has brought the Fieldfare back into the garden. It might be cupboard love but I will take it as he will not be around for much longer I am sure. Hanging a large fatball in the magnolia outside the conservatory has paid dividends. We have had close views of birds that we normally only see from a distance and maybe not even notice them visiting. The Blackcap for instance, a pretty little bird with as the name suggests a black patch on its head, and Long Tailed Tits that we see flitting through the bush in gangs but not sitting still very often.

    It is not all doom and gloom outside, the Christmas Box has opened up even more flowers and the perfume is just stunning as I walk through the back gate. It may be considered a dull looking shrub the rest of the year but for me it more than makes up for it at this time of the year.

    The Snowdrops are in bud at last and one small patch that are catching the welcome bit of sun today has opened a flower or two. Soon there will be swathes of these little white beauties – I hope!

    Although it is only the end of February many of the gardening news articles have vegetable growing as their theme. Mainly about planning the vegetable garden but it will soon be time for that vegetable garden preparation. It is good to see so many column inches being devoted to vegetable growing again. Like all gardening it can be hard work, frustrating and so rewarding. And all in the same growing season!



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    Posted by Rodger at 24 Feb 2010, 3:32 AM | Add Comment

    Another Great Reason to Grow Marjoram

    After weeks of winter weather that has included snow, frosts, ice, hard ground and very cold winds it has been a joy to be able to get back into the garden again if only for a couple of days.

    In those couple of days I have been able to get on with some real gardening. What do I mean by real gardening? The answer may come as a surprise when I say starting to clear last year’s debris from the herbaceous borders, pulling up any weeds that have managed to survive the winter months, gathering leaves and cutting out and dead spotted on shrubs while weeding. I have heard so many people say that they enjoy planting up a border but hate the maintenance that follows. I can understand but gardening is not just about planting. Just like a room in the house the garden needs a bit of TLC to keep it looking good, how you plant will determine how much time you need to put into the regular tidying. I plant quite densely so most of my work is late winter / early spring clearing the borders before everything starts to put on a spurt and cover the soil.

    Along the edge of one border I planted marjoram (oregano). The golden leafed form is a plant I would not be without; it is like a ray of sunshine in the garden and has the benefit of small but masses of beautiful flowers. Also along the border edge I have the larger varieties with much darker green leaves and these again have a mass of flower. The idea of the planting was to have them close to the kitchen and be handy when required for cooking, so much nicer than dried oregano. This has worked well but there is yet another advantage of growing marjoram. As part of my cleaning up the borders exercise I have been weeding around the marjoram plants and cutting off all the old flower stalks and the smell of marjoram that has surrounded me has made the job such a pleasure.

    Sparrowhawk
    The garden birds strangely are eating more seed now than when the weather was really bad. I will have to buy a new sack of seed sooner than expected! It is not very often I spot the Blackcap but this pretty little bird has been visiting the fatball that I hang in the Magnolia close to the conservatory. He is quite nervous and as yet I have not managed to take a picture. However, one bird I have been able to picture is the Sparrowhawk. I heard a bang on the conservatory window and also heard our cockatiel going berserk. She must have thought her days were numbered and he that here was a colourful and easy meal. Anyway he sat very conveniently on a bowl not far from the window so although taken through glass I am quite pleased with the results. We humans are taught by our parents what is danger and what is safe. Our cockatiel will have been separated from its mother at a very tender age and yet she instinctively knows danger. We don’t have to look out of the window to know that a Sparrowhawk is flying by or a neighbourhood cat is passing through. Amazing when you think about it.

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    Posted by Rodger at 17 Feb 2010, 9:56 PM | Add Comment | Trackbacks

    Do My Garden Birds Know Something That I Do Not?

    Do my garden birds know more than me and the weather forecasters? Sometimes it makes me wonder. This is the most severe winter we have had for years. Snow, freezing temperatures that have not even reached as high as the norm for this time of the year and yet as soon as the snow and ice have cleared the birds are singing like spring is just around the corner. Not only are the garden birds singing to claim their territories but the Jackdaws are trying to build a nest in my chimney. With the winds coming from the ... << MORE >>
    Posted by Rodger at 27 Jan 2010, 9:39 AM | Add Comment

    Garden Wildlife Winter Visitors, Welcome and not so Welcome

    There is a new pecking order in the back garden. Most of the year it is the blackbirds who boss this part of the garden, chasing off the thrushes that are brave enough to attempt a quick meal. But temporarily this has changed with a thrush relative, the Fieldfare, now in charge. The Fieldfare is a long-tailed thrush with contrasting plumage pattern and defends its territory with great authority. With the ground so hard and the ... << MORE >>
    Posted by Rodger at 6 Jan 2010, 1:21 PM | Add Comment

    Rain and Frost and Stops Play in the Garden

    When you have rain, rain and more rain with the first good frost of the winter, what can you do in the garden in weather such as this? Not a lot outside is the answer.

    The ground is waterlogged, there is no point in walking on it and causing compaction and the soil is just too wet to work. I have lifted the dahlias and they are under cover now and drying odd ready to start off in early spring so that I can take more cuttings. This year’s cuttings have been a ... << MORE >>
    Posted by Rodger at 6 Dec 2009, 8:44 PM | Add Comment | Trackbacks

    Locally Grown Vegetables

    Going through town I stopped for a chat at a market stall that is run by a local farming family. Needless to say they sell vegetables that they grow on their own farm and, if they do not have enough of a variety to crop and bring to the stall that week, they buy from their local farmer friends. The fruit that they sell is locally grown where possible, the exceptions being things like bananas. To attract custom my friend has a habit of shouting “home grown bananas”. Now if anyone believes that one! He had healthy looking Brussels Sprouts for sale that he has grown but he was telling me that he had been reading an article in a trade magazine about sprouts being grown in Scotland and then being transported to Poland for processing before, yes you guessed it, being shipped back to the UK for sale. Has the world gone mad?

    He also had some great parsnips for sale so I decided to buy some for home. “You don’t mind buying the dirty one, do you?” was the question. No I don’t but apparently they have to hose some off because there are those who will not buy root crops that still have any sign of the soil on them. I am old enough to remember when all vegetables were sold that way.

    We are so lucky to have a market stall to shop for vegetables where they have been grown locally and travelled just a few short miles to the table. Also here is a second generation that have kept up the farm started by their parents and have learnt skills by experience and know their land. With farms closing down every week it makes you wonder how long small farms such as these will be able to continue.

    If you have any spare room in your garden or even landscaped try growing a few vegetables for yourself. It can be frustrating but more often than not it is very rewarding and very satisfying.

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    Posted by Rodger at 17 Nov 2009, 7:53 PM | Add Comment

    Summer Bedding Plants still Doing Well in November

    November in the garden last year was a bit bleak to say the least. Early really cold weather finished off the annuals and the dahlias had to be put into storage. What a difference this year.

    The weather did turn cold, the cold winds suggested a repeat of last year but instead the cold winds went away and unseasonal mild weather returned. The result is that the Dahlias are still looking good, the Cosmos are still stars in the border, Geraniums are still flowering en mass and Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) in sheltered spots are flowering their hearts out. ...<< MORE >>
    Posted by Rodger at 3 Nov 2009, 1:12 PM | Add Comment

    Honey Fungus, Save the Hedgehogs and Vegetables in Season

    Honey FungusI strolled out into the garden to check what tasks needed to go onto the list of things to do and, although I have seen it before, I was amazed to see several eruptions in the garden. There is no other way to describe it. The awful Honey Fungus has decided that the time is right to send up its toadstools. One day there is nothing and the next there is this mass of toadstools so strong that they push anything in their path out of their way. Digging down to remove the horrors I found that it was living on and reproducing from bits of Silver Birch root still in the ground from when the Boot Lace Fungus destroyed the tree.

     

    It is sad to read an article in The Daily Telegraph saying that gardening makeovers are being blamed for the rise in orphaned hedgehogs. The article states that Dr Toni Bunnell, who runs a sanctuary in York, has taken in dozens of baby hedgehogs this summer, many more than usual. It seems that mass makeovers where everything is cleared before creating a new garden is disturbing the families, the mother runs but the young get left behind. Sometimes it is difficult to get the balance right but if the new garden has planting that will encourage and help the wildlife then perhaps it is worth it but if the resulting new garden is neat, tidy and sterile then that is another matter. We gardeners need the wildlife just as much as the wildlife need our gardens as a way to navigate around their territory. If a six lane motorway was built across one of our favourite walks with no obvious way around we would get upset. This is what it must be like for the likes of a hedghog that forages for food one day and the next finds some of its prime food locations unaccessible.

     

    This weekend I picked all the remaining tomatoes, all shades from green to light orange. The good news is there is enough to make some tomato chutney. Cannot wait!

     

    Also the Runner Beans have come out. We tried to eat some of the remaining beans but they were a bit hard and stringy. Still, there is always next year. one of the great things, to my mind anyway, about growing your own vegetables is that you get educated once more into eating vegetables that are in season for your country or region. I am old enough to remember when we had to eat what was grown locally and in season and did not eat so much imported fruit and vegetables. Personally I would like to see more people with a bit of spare ground or space learning how to vegetable garden for each month and season or just to buy vegetables in season locally. It gives you something to look forward to and the food seems more enjoyable.


    ·             UniqueDaily.com – Fat Hedgehog Gets Stuck Through Hole - Either way this poor hedgehog was left in a most humiliating position when he managed to wedge himself firmly in this hole in a garden wall. Animal rescuers were called out to help the hapless animal which became wedged in a hole, ...

    ·         Vegetables in Season in September | Womens Nook - List of vegetables in season in September in Australia. Asparagus, artichokes and peas are at their peak. A recipe for leek and goats cheese galette included.

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    Posted by Rodger at 12 Oct 2009, 1:02 PM | Add Comment

    Winter Flowering Pansies Have to Wait Their Turn

    When you go away on holiday in the height of summer it is always a worry that friends or neighbours cannot get round often enough to keep up the watering. Everyone is busy and they cannot be expected to lavish all the love and care that you would yourself. One of the good things about taking a vacation this time of the year is that most things will survive well enough with a watering every other day. This has been the case with my week away rambling in the wilds enjoying the fresh air.


    The birds have had to ...<< MORE >>

    Posted by Rodger at 5 Oct 2009, 4:02 PM | Add Comment

    Tomato Harbinger Takes the Prize

    It is not so long ago that I made an entry in my diary giving an opinion on the tomato varieties that I have grown this year. At the time I stated that I would grow more of the same next year, this being Harbinger and the plum variety Red Alert. I have changed my mind and will only be growing Harbinger next season.

    So what has changed?

    Harbinger has proved to be the best cropper by far and in my opinion Harbinger has the better flavour. In addition Harbinger tomato plants have proven to be much healthier.

    The blackbirds have disappeared as they usually do at this time of the year to moult. I spotted one in one of my rhododendrons and he hardly had a feather left on his head.

    The great news on the bird front is that we have more sparrows this year that we have had for a very long time. They are doing their best to eat me out of bird seed but I have no complaints. Flocks of them arrive on mass and disappear together. I hear them in the bushes near the feeder waiting for a refill. Their numbers suddenly declined dramatically one winter and it has taken years for them to make a comeback. The funny thing is, last winter was the harshest we have had for many years and yet it is this summer that we have had the biggest increase in numbers. Long may it continue.

    For the first time ever I have had problems with caterpillars on my salad crops grown under cover. I recognised the caterpillar of the cabbage white but I must confess my ignorance when it comes to identifying the other thug. Whatever it was it had a voracious appetite!

    This autumn I must give some thought to my vegetable garden layout. I have already made some alterations that will help next years crops which has entailed cutting back shrubs and trees that had put on more than expected growth due to good growing conditions.

    My begonia hanging basket is looking good at last. For the first time this year I have grown tuberous begonias from seed that are recommended for baskets and containers, having only grown the fibrous rooted varieties from seed. They have taken a while to reach flowering size but the wait has been worth it. Hopefully I can over winter the tubers and have earlier flowers and a cheaper hanging basket next year.

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    Posted by Rodger at 8 Sep 2009, 9:42 AM | Add Comment
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