Wildlife & Gardens

Discussion in 'Taylor's Tittle-Tattle - General Banter' started by Sting, May 7, 2019.

  1. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    BFB added a month ago.
    Time to take the weed cover fabric off the asparagus yet ?
     
  2. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    Has anyone got artificial grass in their garden? If so are you pleased with it , or do you regret using it?

    I would really appreciate your feedback, as I am considering it for my front garden, therefore it is more for appearance than general use, like kids playing on it etc. Furthermore, is it easy to maintain and does rainwater tend to puddle on it or does drain away OK?

    Thanks guys.
     
  3. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Dunno - it's been a very warm winter - have a look to see if anything's sprouting?
     
  4. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Couldn’t see anything on my allotment last weekend... :(

    Rhubarb doing nicely, though.
     
  5. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    The forced one of mine's struggling but the other plant, left alone exposed to the elements is thriving...

    TBF it is a Siberian plant which I *think* is the dictionary definition of "hardy".
     
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  6. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I wouldn't remove any frost cover just yet.
     
  7. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    It looks **** no matter how expensive it is or how well laid.

    I gave up on the grass at the front of Meister manner and split it into 3 sections of different coloured state, with the odd evergreen bush and a coupel of pots on.
    Cheap and if you put some decent anti weed membrane down only requires a quick buzz round with some weedkiller every month or so. It;s also porus so good for rainfall runoff.

    I would use slate chippings rather than stone chippings and the cats and foxes like that less for shitting on.
     

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  8. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    Thanks for the tip HM :)
     
  9. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Don't use weed killer for goodness sake - it's bad for the environment and possibly carcinogenic.
     
    Moose likes this.
  10. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Spot application only.
     
  11. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Even so... why not just pull the weeds out? The exercise is good for you.
     
  12. HappyHornet24

    HappyHornet24 Crapster Staff Member

    Not in the “garden” category, but can anyone with greener fingers than me give me some tips on the best way to look after an orchid? For the first time ever, I have managed to keep one that was gifted to me alive. I’m watering it a little once a week. It is growing and forming new buds, but the buds are then dying before managing to flower. Any idea what I’m doing wrong that’s meaning the buds die before growing?
     
  13. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    I have half a dozen. Typically they like a lot of daylight but not direct sunlight so a windowsill on the darker side of the house is best. They typically don't like draughts and like their leaves to be sprayed with mist every few days for extra humidity. There's a product called myst that I use. As close to a humid, rainforest as you can get. Don't overwater the specialist orchid compost you presumably have they growing in. Don't cut off any roots that grow above the compost.
     
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  14. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Because they grow back. Kill, wait a couple of days for the root to die then pull out.
     
  15. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    They don't if you do it properly!

    Might be a problem with Japanese knotweed, admittedly...
     
  16. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    I’ve been having problems with difficult weeds recently. Can anyone suggest anything?

     
  17. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Nothing that a bit of ground cover fabric and bark mulch can't overcome.
     
  18. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Worrying. The mess that was once a front garden opposite my folks house has got one of those in it.
     
  19. As we have a lot more time for gazing out of the windows, has anybody noticed a resurgence in hedge/house sparrows/dunnocks? No jokes about tea cakes / caramel wafers please.
     
  20. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    We had a pair of dunnocks this morning, which is very unusual for us - we just sometimes get the odd one.
     
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  21. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    We have quite a few sparrows,tree and house.
    After a month of being quite restrained all the birds are going potty for the fat balls.
    Avian equivalent to lavatory rolls?
    Perhaps they want them for the 'lavatory roll challenge'?!
     
  22. Stupid t i t s.
     
  23. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Spent a good 4 or hours in the garden this weekend.
    Scarified & mowed the grass went through all the dead pots, weeded and sorted out my seeds for this year.
    It was gloriously warm in the sun and out of the wind.
     
  24. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    0CF131D0-6C3D-4D50-8E0D-2C3C995D6CB8.jpeg Not sure why this photo has rotated 90 degrees but there has been a stirring in the garden....
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2020
  25. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    .....first asparagus spear of the year from the 20 crowns I planted last year. Sod the virus, this is a major event in our household.
     
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  26. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    Looking for some advice please.

    My dad has a respiratory illness so despite being otherwise healthy (works full-time, farms part-time on top of that) he as expected has to adhere to strict isolation guidelines for 12 weeks.

    I still live with him (I work from home now) but I think the boredom is going to kill him as he doesn't like to 'do nothing'.

    I had thought about buying him one of those 'garden greenhouses' to keep him busy over the next few months, do any of you have one? What sort of vegetables/fruit could you grow in one at this time of year?

    I wouldn't be looking anything too big or fancy, just something to give him some interest in the coming months. He has experience growing a variety of vegetables before on a farm.
     
  27. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    So I think I've sourced a outdoor plastic greenhouse that will do the job for the summer.

    What sort of plants/vegetables would be good to plant at this time of year, if any?
     
  28. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Sorry Norn. Other than my little asparagus experiment I've never grown any veg or had a greenhouse so you need others who've had such experience to chip in.
     
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  29. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Spinach, lettuce for now. Hardier varieties of carrots as well but make sure they are covered at night under a cloche. Grow them in a mixed bed with other plants like coriander for instance to mask their scent from carrot fly. Potatoes that are sprouting too in a raised bed. Sand underneath for drainage and an angled side for maximum warmth. I never believed people who told me that home grown vegetables and tomatoes would be tastier than those in the supermarket several years ago. They are. Plus it brings a great sense of personal satisfaction and one into touch with nature. You feel the change in the seasons and notice your local wildlife that bit more. And spare a thought for it as well. I still leave part of my garden wild and wood piles for insects and bee flats for the bumblebees.
     
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  30. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    You can start stuff inside but there's still a risk of frost so I wouldn't plant outside yet.
    I've started off my chillis on the window sill and garlic outside at the end of the year as it needs to winter.

    The most important thing I've learned is grow what you eat and plenty of variety. Having 10 lettuces all ready at the same time is not a great idea.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2020
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  31. HappyHornet24

    HappyHornet24 Crapster Staff Member

    Thanks for your top tips. I’ve been giving the orchid a little more water than I was previously (but still only once a week) and, as I didn’t get round to buying the myst product before we went into lockdown, gently wiping the leaves with a damp cloth a couple of times a week. And today I have my first flower! The most success I’ve ever had with an orchid.
     
  32. Goldfinches for the first time this morning. And I think a Blackcap.
     
  33. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    Mountain bike ride yesterday, deer, a grass snake, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch and heard a cuckoo. Nature is returning...
     
  34. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Has any decent way of stopping (neighbours) cats crapping been covered in this thread? Just as the lockdown started I helped my girls plant a very modest flower bed and small herb garden. They chose the flowers and very proud of it they were too. Freshly turned soil though is inevitably a cat magnet and sure enough within 5 weeks I have removed a mountain of cat **** from what is a small flower bed. They obviously bury it so some of the flowers have been damaged by that too. And naturally, for the flowers the cat(s) can’t produce enough **** for they just wee on instead, half killing them too.

    Do those sonic noise things work? Any other tried and tested ideas? I’ve considered landmines but the delivery time is too long at the moment.
     
  35. Tried the sonic thing. Useless. ******* in various corners of the garden worked to a degree. Best results from a campaign of shooting the little bastards with a catapult* using leftover hazelnuts from christmas. Hard enough to deliver a nasty sting, non penetrative (unless you get lucky with an arse shot).
    * Barnet Black Widow is a good brand; or at least it was til my wife confiscated it...
     
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