tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69999867985911007312024-03-13T04:48:53.294+00:00The Wannabe PlantsmanNotes on the garden, and other ramblings.Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-8531532550123638312014-05-28T20:28:00.001+01:002014-05-28T20:33:58.032+01:00Some Pictures From The Front<p> Some pictures of the front garden in the last couple of weeks. Must take some more as there is further growth explosion.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7TfvGgwSNi4/U4Y4rAiLLaI/AAAAAAAADhI/PwKJMuXdE8c/s2048/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7TfvGgwSNi4/U4Y4rAiLLaI/AAAAAAAADhI/PwKJMuXdE8c/s500/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" id="blogsy-1401305323978.0127" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="500"></a></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hDHfmHnh7Es/U4Y4wYRPPpI/AAAAAAAADhQ/73FN7uV4E4c/s2048/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hDHfmHnh7Es/U4Y4wYRPPpI/AAAAAAAADhQ/73FN7uV4E4c/s500/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" id="blogsy-1401305323937.123" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3aVQmY9kVqo/U4Y404DN-LI/AAAAAAAADhY/LstN75y-33Y/s2048/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3aVQmY9kVqo/U4Y404DN-LI/AAAAAAAADhY/LstN75y-33Y/s500/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" id="blogsy-1401305323955.6616" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v-FDSySPt4M/U4Y45ZJ6I_I/AAAAAAAADhg/t9CJrcGFtqA/s2048/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v-FDSySPt4M/U4Y45ZJ6I_I/AAAAAAAADhg/t9CJrcGFtqA/s500/Photo%25252020140528202716.jpg" id="blogsy-1401305323922.6736" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="667" alt=""></a></div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-47411050869389869522014-04-15T09:11:00.001+01:002014-04-15T09:13:33.599+01:00Spring Update<p> Well, this is an impressive lapse in output, even by my standards! I'm prompted to start blathering again by a flurry of activity over the last few days.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BwWN_9M2Pos/U0zpKgXYw0I/AAAAAAAADdw/xMLk8yJaTmw/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090900.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BwWN_9M2Pos/U0zpKgXYw0I/AAAAAAAADdw/xMLk8yJaTmw/s500/Photo%25252020140415090900.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468345.9463" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div><p> First and formost, my dad built us this rather spiffy raised bed. Good innit? Roughly 2m by 1m, it should mean some actual decent edible output his year. I've got peas already going on a window sill and am hatching plots for beans, kale, plenty of interesting salad, and a smattering of whatever else I have lurking in my seed box. We filled it up with compost and horse shit, and I've watered it in so I'm just giving it a few days to settle before it starts sprouting cloches that look remarkably like plastic bottles. Looking forward to seeing what it brings us this year.<span style="line-height: 1.3em;"></span><a name='more'></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ge8auIZhm_A/U0zpUTWYcII/AAAAAAAADd4/TbPDV8M3eeE/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ge8auIZhm_A/U0zpUTWYcII/AAAAAAAADd4/TbPDV8M3eeE/s500/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468382.3103" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div><p> I've given the back lawn it's first cut of the year and started giving everything a good cleanup. Lots of stuff starting to sprout and flower. I really must get on and mulch. </p><p>Have some pictures.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KbJylnhM7aY/U0zpWR-9LaI/AAAAAAAADeA/QXIsiCdMcG4/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KbJylnhM7aY/U0zpWR-9LaI/AAAAAAAADeA/QXIsiCdMcG4/s500/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468349.294" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o-hMXgJpVNs/U0zpY8ffu5I/AAAAAAAADeI/W2Za_341MV0/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o-hMXgJpVNs/U0zpY8ffu5I/AAAAAAAADeI/W2Za_341MV0/s500/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468339.9277" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9ucat8aoyTU/U0zpbT_OZvI/AAAAAAAADeQ/1VNoNE-Q1AY/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9ucat8aoyTU/U0zpbT_OZvI/AAAAAAAADeQ/1VNoNE-Q1AY/s500/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468387.1548" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LiWyV1Hj9Tw/U0zpdnOukjI/AAAAAAAADeY/KUWi-5jee7Q/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LiWyV1Hj9Tw/U0zpdnOukjI/AAAAAAAADeY/KUWi-5jee7Q/s500/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468306.5598" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-oUtO6WisQss/U0zpflduAkI/AAAAAAAADeg/xnTt_3ahdfE/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-oUtO6WisQss/U0zpflduAkI/AAAAAAAADeg/xnTt_3ahdfE/s500/Photo%25252020140415090901.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468336.21" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jm4JH1d8OnI/U0zpiHpSWkI/AAAAAAAADeo/ZfIjuRmkj_U/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090902.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jm4JH1d8OnI/U0zpiHpSWkI/AAAAAAAADeo/ZfIjuRmkj_U/s500/Photo%25252020140415090902.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468389.7817" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PJCnoUH5_N4/U0zpkcMJUaI/AAAAAAAADew/hhhkDZFQXvc/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090902.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PJCnoUH5_N4/U0zpkcMJUaI/AAAAAAAADew/hhhkDZFQXvc/s500/Photo%25252020140415090902.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468322.534" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n69utPfkxMk/U0zpmYNJL5I/AAAAAAAADe4/g_CGraYKp68/s2048/Photo%25252020140415090902.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n69utPfkxMk/U0zpmYNJL5I/AAAAAAAADe4/g_CGraYKp68/s500/Photo%25252020140415090902.jpg" id="blogsy-1397549468354.9258" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="667" alt=""></a></div><p> Until next time... </p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-39200358210828398742014-02-04T09:27:00.001+00:002014-02-04T09:27:54.140+00:00First Of The Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dpNs0esKWyQ/UvCyjH7MPII/AAAAAAAADbo/Dx6ohscgYaU/s2048/Photo%2525202%252520Feb%2525202014%25252013%25253A44.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dpNs0esKWyQ/UvCyjH7MPII/AAAAAAAADbo/Dx6ohscgYaU/s500/Photo%2525202%252520Feb%2525202014%25252013%25253A44.jpg" id="blogsy-1391506074455.1064" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<p> The stars were aligned and the conditions were right. The kids napped, and it stopped raining for long enough for me to get outside for a couple of hours. </p>
<a name='more'></a><p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">I haven't actually done anything in a good couple of months (probably more like ten weeks...) as the combination of a new baby and horrific weather does not make for great gardening conditions. This means that everything was in a pretty lamentable state. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">I decided to start with the front garden so that we have something rather nicer to look at when arriving home. I've filled a couple of bags with slimy piles of leaves, and put them aside for leaf mould, then I started by hacking back the less compostable stuff. The short box hedge that runs part of the way down the side is finally starting to recover from the butchering I gave it when we first moved in. It was a towering, patchy, lanky mess that had lost all of its shape and was sprawling across a good metre of lawn. I hacked it right down to a sensible size, but it's spent the last couple of years being yellow and looking decidedly sorry for itself. This was the last year I was giving it to pull itself together, so to speak, and it finally has. It's actually starting to be green, and is nice and compact. I've then cut back the big old rose on the corner of the garden. For that I decided to use a pruning saw and take out the thick woody central trunk, and then use lopers to cut back the remaining branches to a good open framework. I'm hoping that this will reinvigorate it a bit, but we shall see. </span></p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">After I'd finished this and pruned back the other roses a bit, it was time to start on the perennials. The very mild, but wet winter we've had so far has meant that things don't seem to have actually died back, so I still had lots of green foliage there from last year. I've chopped all of this back, hauled out the two big festuca grasses that kept just drooping over and swamping everything, moved a trio of poppies to the front of the main bed were the grasses were, and filled the space at the back with some verbena bonariensis that I grew from seed last year. They were a bit on the pot-bound side, but hopefully they should be happy there.</span></p>
<p> The bluebells and daffodils are all coming through, so hopefully things should fill out and start looking good soon. I'm hoping that at the end of this year I'll actually be able to put in the tulips I've been wanting, and I'm keeping my eyes open for some "in the green" snowdrops at the moment.</p>
<p>So, not exactly pristine, which to be honest is how I prefer it, and the paths could do with a good sweep, but worlds better than it was and well set up for the year to come. Now I just need to find time for a couple of sessions of paddling around in the quagmire that makes up the main garden around the back...</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-17444015178944421442013-12-05T09:47:00.001+00:002013-12-05T09:47:47.013+00:00We Are Not Amused<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mFWyUQbLmYI/UqBLvx02tDI/AAAAAAAADYg/hao-T30M70k/s2048/Photo%2525205%252520Dec%2525202013%25252009%25253A43.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mFWyUQbLmYI/UqBLvx02tDI/AAAAAAAADYg/hao-T30M70k/s500/Photo%2525205%252520Dec%2525202013%25252009%25253A43.jpg" id="blogsy-1386236868586.6597" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="667" alt=""></a></div>
<p> Yes, that is my coldframe...</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-80670688644143941432013-11-17T12:39:00.001+00:002013-11-17T13:09:49.849+00:00Garden Log - October and November<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lQe3YkMIlSU/Uoi32mEfTRI/AAAAAAAADWk/kNpuLZx50sY/s2048/Photo%25252017%252520Nov%2525202013%25252011%25253A57.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lQe3YkMIlSU/Uoi32mEfTRI/AAAAAAAADWk/kNpuLZx50sY/s500/Photo%25252017%252520Nov%2525202013%25252011%25253A57.jpg" id="blogsy-1384691941505.613" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div>
<p> The imminent arrival of child number two has meant that the garden has been nearly as neglected as this blog of late. My time has been taken up with things like nursery painting, and hauling baby clothes out of the loft, not to mention trying to make sure that our two year old tank/elephant doesn't break the heavily pregnant missus too badly.... I still haven't managed to plant anything out, and I suspect that by this point I'm probably too late. I could theoretically still get some bulbs in, but realistically, that ain't gonna happen. The stuff in pots will just have to stay put until things warm up again. The only stuff I'll be really cross to lose will be the astrantia that I've grown from seed as they've taken the entire year to get to any sort of size, and I really want that in the garden. It'll probably be fine, but we shall see.</p>
<a name='more'></a><p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">I have managed to do some bits and pieces of clearing, and the garden looks better for the removal of some sprawling dead stuff. I've just brought in the last of the green tomatoes, so I'll be making chutney later, and we're working our way though a hefty pile of wind fall apples.</span></p>
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<p> </p>
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<p> </p>
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<p> These cosmos are sprawling everywhere, but I can't bring myself to pull them out yet as the flowers are still so pretty. There's a fair bit of stuff underneath them though, so I'll have to bite the bullet and wield the knife fairly soon.</p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;"> </span></p>
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<p> </p>
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<p> I'll probably be even quiter for the foreseeable due to the afore mentioned imminent arrival, but I'll still be here, and I'm looking forward to being able to get stuck in again properly next year. I'm thinking of it as being like a perennial. Chopped back and invisible for the winter, but waiting to burst back into action in the spring. Or something.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-61753434157481897142013-10-27T17:43:00.001+00:002013-10-27T17:43:20.234+00:00Autumn Planting<p> I'm starting to get increasingly worried about whether I'm going to get my autumn planting done. My garden, the back in particular, is very poor draining, and the amount of rain in the last few weeks has been enough to ensure everything stays sodden. Even with the odd rain free day, the ground just doesn't dry up enough to do much. The lawn stays like a paddling pool, and the beds are so wet that any digging at all will do more harm than good.</p>
<p>I'm hoping that I get a break soon as I've got quite a few bulbs to put out, as well as a load of perennials that I've grown from seed. The lawns are in serious need of their final haircut for the year.</p>
<p>The weather forcast isn't favourable, but I don't tend to pay much attention to it as it seems to have very little bearing on reality, so fingers crossed!</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-50241603726341059162013-10-13T12:12:00.001+01:002013-10-13T12:13:45.504+01:00Garden Log - September 2013<p> Once again I stand guilt of blog neglect. It's amazing how quickly life passes by if you let it, and there's been a fair amount going on of late to keep me busy!</p>
<p>The garden has a definite feel of winding down at the moment, but at the same time I'm still getting the last bursts of fruitfulness. Tomatoes are ripening, courgettes are still appearing, and some of my cosmos and sunflowers are only just flowering. </p>
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<a name='more'></a><p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">There's lots to be done. I'm hoping to get an afternoon soon where I can get on with rearranging and replanting the front garden as I have verbena bonariensis and gypsophilia sitting waiting to go in, and the festuca to take out (it keeps swamping everything else), and I really need to man up and get stuck into the large pile of bulbs that I've been guiltily avoiding.</span></p>
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<p> There are roses to be pruned, and box to be clipped, and I really should give the lawn it's last mow. There needs to be more hours in the day! The garden is still looking great, but is never seem to find the time to go out there and appreciate it at the moment. I think what I probably need is to do some garden visits to reinvigorate the old enthusiasm...</p>
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<p> </p>
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<p> </p>
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<p> Some might remember me talking about planting up an old wheelbarrow this year. Whilst that's been an interesting experiment, I'll be removing it for next as it's had several problems. The main one is that it sits at the back of the bed it's in, so needs bigger plants to show themselves above the front stuff, but the barrow isn't really deep enough, so the plants are drying out very quickly and aren't able to put roots down deep enough to properly anchor themselves. Horizontal cosmos are interesting, but are doing a pretty irritating job of hiding the stuff in front of them!</p>
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<p> The is a barrow under there, honestly!</p>
<p> </p>
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<p> Apparently it's about to start getting very cold around here, so I'll have to start moving things like the dahlias under shelter and gathering in the terracotta. Jobs, jobs and more jobs...</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-31321284343215935802013-08-29T17:25:00.001+01:002013-08-29T20:03:48.180+01:00Garden Log - August 2013<p style="text-align: left;"> Shock horror. A garden log posted in the month that's being written about! You may not see this again for some time...</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Everything is looking and smelling fab this month, but there is a definite sense of things reaching a peak and winding down. The ornamental stuff has, for the most part, done better than I could have hoped. The veg on the other hand has been somewhat disappointing. A few strawberries earlier on in the year, and I'm getting a few courgettes and a bit of salad, but still no tomatoes. They're on the plant, but taking forever to ripen. I suspect this is probably down to the soil being a bit crap and nutrient starved. I've been reading about how last years constant deluge will have washed everything out of the soil so I'll have to take some steps to address this once things have died back a bit. My compost heap appears to be doing well, so I should have a good load of mulch to stick down, and the missus and I have been discussing building a raised veg bed in the border under the kitchen window which will allow me to import some good top soil and horse shit. None of this can hurt even if it doesn't improve things (which I doubt will be the case) so we shall see.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Without further ado, here are some pictures!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p><a href="http://https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-66vKDj_wG3c/Uh907sZkJoI/AAAAAAAADOg/E4QRVQaBmDw/s2048/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A19.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-66vKDj_wG3c/Uh907sZkJoI/AAAAAAAADOg/E4QRVQaBmDw/s500/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A19.jpg" id="blogsy-1377802996134.188" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></p>
<a name='more'></a><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center; "> </span>The sweet peas are still going nicely. They haven't climbed as high as last year. This could be because they are a different variety, or because of the soil nutrition issues mention earlier. We'll see next year I guess. I'm sitting here writing this with their scent wafting over me. Lovely.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> The non too productive veg bed. This is where the raised bed will be going. The lavatera at the back has been great. It's flowered for weeks, but does seem to be trying on a spot of world domination! </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> The hydrangea is flowering beautifully after a pretty poor show last year.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> Nicotiana, dahlias and crocosmia.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> The poppies in this border have been going non stop for months with everything knitting together very well.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> The shady area has filled out very well. There are masses of foxglove seedlings under this lot. They should look spectacular next year. I really like the pink poppies (back left) that have randomly appeared.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> Rampaging cosmos gone mad. But with no flowers... I'm hoping they'll start soon, but even if not the foliage is lovely. </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> This is a perennial sweet pea that I'd planted to climb the obelisk in the previous picture, but it seems to have decided that it wold rather scramble thought the cosmos. I'm letting it get on with it. </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> The seedling table is crammed with stuff waiting to be planted out in the next few months. The verbena bonariensis is almost growing in front of me it's walloped up so fast. The astrantia major at the front are taking <em>ages</em> to reach a decent size. I suspect I'll end up repotting and overwintering them to plant out in spring. You can also see a tiny agapanthus flowering. These also need a repot and I'm really hoping they turn out to be hardy. These are the ones I've grown from the seeds gathered at <a href="http://wannabeplantsman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/garden-visit-jardines-de-alfabia.html" target="_blank" title="">Alfabia on Majorca</a>. </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> The new bed and old wheel barrow that I planted up have vanished under a blanket of more non flowering cosmos. I've just given them a handful of blood, fish and bone today, so hopefully they'll start producing soon.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ARVZPz5e9I0/Uh91pGLUiSI/AAAAAAAADPw/BgDTGh8OETM/s2048/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A21.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ARVZPz5e9I0/Uh91pGLUiSI/AAAAAAAADPw/BgDTGh8OETM/s500/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A21.jpg" id="blogsy-1377802996155.841" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div>
<p> </p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> This is turning into quite a long post, but I've not posted about the front garden in a while, so I thought I'd put up a few pictures.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Tm6wJeayBpQ/Uh91vsk7tPI/AAAAAAAADQA/XrxBEfn7ZeM/s2048/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A24.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Tm6wJeayBpQ/Uh91vsk7tPI/AAAAAAAADQA/XrxBEfn7ZeM/s500/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A24.jpg" id="blogsy-1377802996160.8503" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">These sweet peas have been lovely to have next to the front door. Being welcomed home by that smell is fantastic. They are starting to develop a bit of mildew, which the ones in the ground in the back garden aren't, which is a bit strange. Any suggestions on that?</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dE5i1M8guhw/Uh91zF1LJvI/AAAAAAAADQI/3zz6OHm3fjA/s2048/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A24.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dE5i1M8guhw/Uh91zF1LJvI/AAAAAAAADQI/3zz6OHm3fjA/s500/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A24.jpg" id="blogsy-1377802996121.9585" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: left;"> The main bed is looking good, but will be getting a bit of a rearrange in the coming months. The festuca grass is coming out as I'm sick of it flopping all over everything else, there are some perennial poppies which will be getting moved closer to the front, and some of the verbena mentioned earlier is going here along with some gypsophila that I've been growing on in the coldframe.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hXRehOX2haw/Uh9121DCVaI/AAAAAAAADQQ/L4HpMYH620I/s2048/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A24.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hXRehOX2haw/Uh9121DCVaI/AAAAAAAADQQ/L4HpMYH620I/s500/Photo%25252029%252520Aug%2525202013%25252016%25253A24.jpg" id="blogsy-1377802996120.6555" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: left;"> A pretty full coverage this month!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I hope everyone is enjoying the tail end of their summer. I certainly am.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-66692890408486869932013-08-26T14:32:00.001+01:002013-08-26T14:33:52.577+01:00Succulents<p> </p>
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<p> We had a trip out to Tynemouth Market yesterday. Amongst other things, I've come home with a sempervivum and a couple of sedums bought from a very helpful lady whose stall I shall definitely be going back to. I've potted them on into some nice little terracotta pots that I had sitting around and they look great! Alongside the other couple of succulents that I already had they're looking like a nice little collection. One that I may have to expand... </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-66136860697909965742013-08-24T12:53:00.001+01:002013-08-24T13:01:56.716+01:00Challenge Fail<p> Ok, so I appear to have totally failed on the photo challenge. Seriously, who has time to do that every day as well as keeping up with real life!?</p>
<div class="separator" style="text-align: left;clear: both; ">Anyhoo, some pics from this morning...</div>
<div class="separator" style="text-align: left;clear: both; "> </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nYghRatLw7M/UhieuOaA0hI/AAAAAAAADN8/b5Ll9REcsec/s2048/Photo%25252024%252520Aug%2525202013%25252012%25253A44.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nYghRatLw7M/UhieuOaA0hI/AAAAAAAADN8/b5Ll9REcsec/s500/Photo%25252024%252520Aug%2525202013%25252012%25253A44.jpg" id="blogsy-1377345210686.6113" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="500" alt=""></a></div>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-38969651667784128532013-08-13T10:45:00.001+01:002013-08-13T10:49:31.371+01:00August Break - A Break<p> Busy few days... (Much building of flat pack furniture). Have some pictures...</p>
<h1><br>
</h1>
<h1>Taste</h1>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a7iqc9Sz3uE/UgoAFPXWVyI/AAAAAAAADM4/IgzGFZSd7ck/s2048/Photo%25252025%252520Jul%2525202013%25252014%25253A32.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a7iqc9Sz3uE/UgoAFPXWVyI/AAAAAAAADM4/IgzGFZSd7ck/s500/Photo%25252025%252520Jul%2525202013%25252014%25253A32.jpg" id="blogsy-1376387115316.1985" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a><p style="text-align: left;"><a name='more'></a></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">Red</h1></div>
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<h1><br>
</h1>
<h1> Play</h1>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O0gKLYhxucY/UgoAIlByAxI/AAAAAAAADNI/vnRRuow2blQ/s2048/Photo%25252011%252520Aug%2525202013%25252010%25253A27.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O0gKLYhxucY/UgoAIlByAxI/AAAAAAAADNI/vnRRuow2blQ/s500/Photo%25252011%252520Aug%2525202013%25252010%25253A27.jpg" id="blogsy-1376387115328.8289" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div>
<h1><br>
</h1>
<h1> Far Away</h1>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Wqmj2VsIXds/UgoAKG-DLSI/AAAAAAAADNQ/C_i2HJiIdS0/s2048/Photo%25252025%252520Jul%2525202013%25252013%25253A57.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Wqmj2VsIXds/UgoAKG-DLSI/AAAAAAAADNQ/C_i2HJiIdS0/s500/Photo%25252025%252520Jul%2525202013%25252013%25253A57.jpg" id="blogsy-1376387115345.6655" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="374" alt=""></a></div>
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" target="_blank"><img src="
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" border="0" alt="The August Break 2013" /></a>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-20578372664862643982013-08-08T10:36:00.001+01:002013-08-08T10:38:43.665+01:00August Break - Day Eight<p> A Selfie</p>
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Close up.<br />
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Love<br />
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Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-69580647435953028072013-08-03T11:34:00.001+01:002013-08-03T11:38:52.454+01:00August Break - Day Three : Flowers From The Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH-YxL4gPfwgl5-XdIzQmd_mZxPOop4kmKLj03oon39wIQTJ-hwOj05rjOOqYT6sQVVhc0gu8qMb8OJSxnNlDLYIjqscSCtlJIKx1u2MnvZdaWrvGyoHJUsFuUMbwsqT5sjJFyXhVwyRY/s640/blogger-image--1548135813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH-YxL4gPfwgl5-XdIzQmd_mZxPOop4kmKLj03oon39wIQTJ-hwOj05rjOOqYT6sQVVhc0gu8qMb8OJSxnNlDLYIjqscSCtlJIKx1u2MnvZdaWrvGyoHJUsFuUMbwsqT5sjJFyXhVwyRY/s640/blogger-image--1548135813.jpg" id="blogsy-1375526204738.6843" class="" alt=""></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.susannahconway.com/the-august-break-2013/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.susannahconway.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ABfooter6.jpg" border="0" alt="The August Break 2013" /></a>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-66171575328687665792013-08-02T10:33:00.000+01:002013-08-02T10:33:40.533+01:00August Break - One for yesterday - Breakfast!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPtiYrkLS86Ha5hROo4_OLLsamnkwB8Yhx58KLRthc7MqAYy0fQN4LuiuNQUeGeJwBQaqTgIJQST9Z1bt7p5OqzE84Du2LvFRCNlsPxw3VjzHCXA3jPjZezXOrmaqzFvyF6Z8iDyxGRxU/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPtiYrkLS86Ha5hROo4_OLLsamnkwB8Yhx58KLRthc7MqAYy0fQN4LuiuNQUeGeJwBQaqTgIJQST9Z1bt7p5OqzE84Du2LvFRCNlsPxw3VjzHCXA3jPjZezXOrmaqzFvyF6Z8iDyxGRxU/s640/photo+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.susannahconway.com/the-august-break-2013/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.susannahconway.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ABfooter6.jpg" border="0" alt="The August Break 2013" /></a>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-2126628803166890532013-08-02T09:51:00.000+01:002013-08-02T10:04:07.861+01:00Garden Log - July 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8eEGpOaz7-FPLI2_imVZQkJELF5FK0jynVsFLysOGxqrAI71IekZUVUB50qNKyzRFqqxeTU0EaV0hyphenhyphenY4uMMl_W89Lp0rM08C17P0ya6kPViMAoTgHeLwjmyW_jxnxZl1q0qinyKTmYKT/s1600/IMG_0292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8eEGpOaz7-FPLI2_imVZQkJELF5FK0jynVsFLysOGxqrAI71IekZUVUB50qNKyzRFqqxeTU0EaV0hyphenhyphenY4uMMl_W89Lp0rM08C17P0ya6kPViMAoTgHeLwjmyW_jxnxZl1q0qinyKTmYKT/s640/IMG_0292.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Since we've come home from our little <a href="http://wannabeplantsman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/a-week-in-middle-of-nowhere.html" target="_blank">jaunt into the middle nowhere</a> there hasn't been a single dry day. Not really complaining as A) we had lovely weather while we were away, and B) the garden REALLY needed it. The upshot of this has been that getting some non-soggy shots for this monthly update has had to wait a few days. That's this months excuse anyway.<br />
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I've decided to try and take part in <a href="http://www.susannahconway.com/2013/07/the-august-break-is-back/" target="_blank">Susannah Conway's August Break</a> this month. The point of it, in brief, is that you don't write anything for the month, but post a picture or two a day instead. Now, as anyone who is foolish enough to follow this blog may know, I struggle to post more than a couple of times a month anyway, so not much to take a break from. Instead I'm using it as some form of vague motivation to post more pictures. I'll try and keep them topical, but I may branch out and follow her suggested prompts. Just for a lark...<br />
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Anyhoo, without further ado, have some pictures from July to get things started.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvV3LB1AzFiVGtRaySzbDcoeodwhwoGXobSBs1w2EUkopj6thOWwF145b4spkGvE4ohan2NWchhMAa1oaBvWcxuD6CsIK5o49WPdZ-fdKym9RkUnWtg-5r-cSz_NuFYWXRaTm8NDr9vR8/s1600/IMG_0293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvV3LB1AzFiVGtRaySzbDcoeodwhwoGXobSBs1w2EUkopj6thOWwF145b4spkGvE4ohan2NWchhMAa1oaBvWcxuD6CsIK5o49WPdZ-fdKym9RkUnWtg-5r-cSz_NuFYWXRaTm8NDr9vR8/s640/IMG_0293.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loads of colour this month</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Hs-bxSsp3Uj7twm7sFyJSAZDuT-zZnv7pcQEl1xZY0uHi2loT7VxQ7-RnseahkSQJ2g8StVNedAWH_86t229z0C_Mj3RJfWbYH4MAkNhGaok8SCbIuzICaWnEsymiGH-21GTJgGY4F_1/s1600/IMG_0296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Hs-bxSsp3Uj7twm7sFyJSAZDuT-zZnv7pcQEl1xZY0uHi2loT7VxQ7-RnseahkSQJ2g8StVNedAWH_86t229z0C_Mj3RJfWbYH4MAkNhGaok8SCbIuzICaWnEsymiGH-21GTJgGY4F_1/s640/IMG_0296.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last of the strawberries. Must plant some with different cropping times.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaAlhKqUlSGHXFfDzdmZzdykthiyAgfSH7ok3bYn7FIHe9WepOTqDpMi0RZvZFVnFYHlzl0-a3uPQoCXh8gD5iivILGRidrxk1UgeD6k0aOeiZiMqcJnMxCwA3VOhYoK2N2vIInPj4fay/s1600/IMG_0297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaAlhKqUlSGHXFfDzdmZzdykthiyAgfSH7ok3bYn7FIHe9WepOTqDpMi0RZvZFVnFYHlzl0-a3uPQoCXh8gD5iivILGRidrxk1UgeD6k0aOeiZiMqcJnMxCwA3VOhYoK2N2vIInPj4fay/s640/IMG_0297.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Dahlia</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGLIswmsgvCjkt4Jq6ShI5BO9KHbOnxyNxFH5rPvjRhWrJwADlrPDRjoI8VURd1UhVSkctwu6zB6CVIFvN9mQGLagM3AcHshucmnLCAiTRInix597ZHxGqDg3cDGWsTH_MuIBhHjxg3l_/s1600/IMG_0299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGLIswmsgvCjkt4Jq6ShI5BO9KHbOnxyNxFH5rPvjRhWrJwADlrPDRjoI8VURd1UhVSkctwu6zB6CVIFvN9mQGLagM3AcHshucmnLCAiTRInix597ZHxGqDg3cDGWsTH_MuIBhHjxg3l_/s640/IMG_0299.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A ranunculus </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtKUH6LqduI6HajW77CvPwYgWmFVMrpqk-U0pStt9a28V8KhiksZi1vJcVwQwKCjFJpdT4g2sLEmd-Ru07wm_65Bw93_NJ_Rfxr8-ri8GIw9Nx-xnpWQnS5mVr2pfF9iQaWGWw8Cobhyphenhyphene/s1600/IMG_0300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtKUH6LqduI6HajW77CvPwYgWmFVMrpqk-U0pStt9a28V8KhiksZi1vJcVwQwKCjFJpdT4g2sLEmd-Ru07wm_65Bw93_NJ_Rfxr8-ri8GIw9Nx-xnpWQnS5mVr2pfF9iQaWGWw8Cobhyphenhyphene/s640/IMG_0300.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pelargonium</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuwJeKd58qvXwd1EBwTNO5TiNpeSuFN1yVTME1L9JOltmG16HiRi6vGYWBs9VAYJVWmHmujot2ysM7HiqJ2VmL_4EUHFOdeQdTKzgiYUm_dnq6L_BYDJZDXvOlYxu46F5DpswZEH7yjSy/s1600/IMG_0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuwJeKd58qvXwd1EBwTNO5TiNpeSuFN1yVTME1L9JOltmG16HiRi6vGYWBs9VAYJVWmHmujot2ysM7HiqJ2VmL_4EUHFOdeQdTKzgiYUm_dnq6L_BYDJZDXvOlYxu46F5DpswZEH7yjSy/s640/IMG_0301.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous pink poppy.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VoVIwdKr-JDBaXBfifZrOx4Q2Wpxd5BpgYOZL4mdUnn-tXsy311wwmmAP8EVpXRZlMP_9YgzdNNyx4MLefbkeUbcH-o5Q77WmVSIHcleBQU5FtFWTbTuUT0udrQcckATPEWkVpGYZq_1/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VoVIwdKr-JDBaXBfifZrOx4Q2Wpxd5BpgYOZL4mdUnn-tXsy311wwmmAP8EVpXRZlMP_9YgzdNNyx4MLefbkeUbcH-o5Q77WmVSIHcleBQU5FtFWTbTuUT0udrQcckATPEWkVpGYZq_1/s640/photo.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My barrow overfloweth. With Cosmos. This one got seriously crispy while we were away, but seems to have come back nicely after a good drink.</td></tr>
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I'll be linking to this on <a href="http://patientgardener.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/end-of-month-view-july-2013/" target="_blank">Helen Johnstone's Patient Gardener</a> blog again as part of her end of month meme. Thanks again Helen!<br />
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As I've said, more pictures to come this month. Enjoy.<br />
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<a href="http://www.susannahconway.com/the-august-break-2013/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.susannahconway.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ABfooter6.jpg" border="0" alt="The August Break 2013" /></a>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-90408649178957817682013-07-30T10:26:00.001+01:002013-07-30T10:37:38.669+01:00A Week In The Middle Of Nowhere<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nn3DGxB4--I/UfeGbQY9RvI/AAAAAAAADIw/hdbW57UaTqE/s2048/Photo%25252025%252520Jul%2525202013%25252017%25253A59.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nn3DGxB4--I/UfeGbQY9RvI/AAAAAAAADIw/hdbW57UaTqE/s500/Photo%25252025%252520Jul%2525202013%25252017%25253A59.jpg" id="blogsy-1375176371310.301" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="374"></a></div>
<p> We're just back from a week in a lovely cottage small holding in the Cardigan Bay area of Wales with my dad, and my sister and her better half. The cottage, very kindly lent to us for a week by some friends of my dad, is pretty much in the middle of nowhere with very few other houses around and, even better still, no mobile signal. The Internet was also pretty patchy (as in it only seemed to work at about 6 in the morning), but that was a good thing for the most part. A week of enforced digital detox was pretty damn good! Days spent reading actual paper books and doing a bit of wood gathering, and nights spent either barbecuing and sitting around a bonfire, or gathering together to eat on the picnic benches outside the kitchen. I could really get used to living like that...</p>
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The sea was a 15 minute walk away, and there is a large stream/small river (?) running through the property, so lots of splashing about, and a bit of open water swimming. I've always been a fan of that sort of thing, but have kind of gotten out of the habit in the last 10 years. Stumbling across several articles about the <a href="http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/" target="_blank" title="">wild swimming</a> movement and series of books has sparked the memories of how much I enjoyed it, prompted the purchase of some very snazzy neoprene swimming shoes, and seen me seeking out ridiculously cold water to hurl myself into at every opportunity!
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<p>The plantlife in that area of Wales is amazing. Everything is so green and healthy looking. The garden in the cottage was fantastic - the ornamental stuff was very relaxed and natural looking. Alchemilla sprawling all over the place, foxgloves appearing wherever they felt like it, evidence of aquilegias, and honeysuckle and roses clambering through trees and bushes all over the place. And ferns. Masses and masses of ferns. These are among my favourite plants, and seeing them forming great colonies all over the place was brilliant. This theme continued out onto the country roads surrounding the cottage with more ferns, foxgloves and honeysuckle picking there way through the crowd of vegetation in the verges.<br>
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<p>The cottage also had a very impressive little vegetable garden which served the dual purpose of showing me how it should be done (I'm clearly being over cautious and putting too little stuff in) and reinvigorating my urge to grow food, and supplying us all with masses of fresh salad with pretty much every meal. The veg area of my garden will be seeing some serious rejigging after this.</p>
<p><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">I'm a bit of a fan of a, shall we say, spirited drive and the combination of fantastic windy country lanes and very little traffic made every trip out an absolute joy. One of these trips out was to the seaside town of New Quay.</span> </p>
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<div class="separator" style="text-align: left;clear: both; ">It was a bit touristy (says he visiting it as a tourist) but the buildings where lovely, the views spectacular, and the fish and chips and ice cream were first class. Well worth a visit, if only so that you too can visit "The Famous £1.20 Shop"!</div>
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<p> We had a brilliant week, and really didn't want to come home. Starting back to work yesterday after two weeks of sitting around enjoying the sun was a very unpleasant shock to the system! But all things must come to an end. We can take away the memories of the week, and look forward to hopefully doing it again.</p>
<p>Many thanks to our kind hosts! </p>
</div><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-91599461201336666672013-07-04T19:40:00.000+01:002013-07-04T19:40:13.719+01:00Garden Log - June 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Late again. Sorry and all that...<br />
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The garden has been looking brilliant this month. Lots of stuff flowering like mad, and loads of green growth making the beds look pleasantly full.<br />
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This Heuchera "Ruby Bells" has been flowering for weeks now and the violets haven't stopped since I bought them last year!</div>
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The anemones were some of the best performers last year, and the new batch that I've put in isn't disappointing this year either.</div>
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This ladybird poppy has also been gorgeous, although I have had to re-stake it when it fell over under its own weight after some fairly heavy rain. Beautifully set off by the white foxgloves behind it.</div>
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Unfortunately I failed to get a picture of this geum before the rain flattened it too. It still looks good, but before it looked like yellow flowers floating amongst the other plants. I've just put in a couple of geum "Mrs. Bradshaw, so hopefully we'll have the same soon in red.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The new bed and the wheelbarrow are filling out nicely. It's hard to believe how fast those cosmos have grown.</span></div>
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The climbing rose on the arch is starting to flower. It's the first time I've seen it - lovely single white flowers. I shall endeavour to get a picture for next month.<br />
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I thought Snapdragons were annuals?</div>
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The French lavender that was rescued from B&Q is flowering nicely.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyCgFld8XGJh1_ZckfUE3sDW4oABFz4nYyAKallivTpUMAXVFWrU3Ps_I1YlD8nLxwXNMDeCuJHXGNd2oac8Cj0dTJtetbKpbx9HcsDeoB8Ad2qCdnhspWSphOsV-0jD7tnZXyMaSjRP7/s1600/S7301474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyCgFld8XGJh1_ZckfUE3sDW4oABFz4nYyAKallivTpUMAXVFWrU3Ps_I1YlD8nLxwXNMDeCuJHXGNd2oac8Cj0dTJtetbKpbx9HcsDeoB8Ad2qCdnhspWSphOsV-0jD7tnZXyMaSjRP7/s640/S7301474.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sempervirum</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Verbena bonariensis seedlings. Taking their sweet time, but getting there!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxgloves. I love the spots inside these ones.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The alpines still blazing away.</td></tr>
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You'll have to excuse me now. The head gardener wants the camera.<br />
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Thanks to Helen, <a href="http://patientgardener.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/end-of-month-view-june-2013/" target="_blank">The Patient Gardener</a> for hosting these monthly updates!</div>
Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-79192424658586923392013-06-29T09:46:00.001+01:002013-06-29T09:46:01.238+01:00Today's Lesson<p> So, today's lesson is:</p>
<p>Don't put secateurs in you back pocket. </p>
<p>More specifically:</p>
<p>Don't put secateurs in your back pocket and then sit down on a leather sofa. </p>
<p>I am not a popular bunny....</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-7726151061034653032013-06-09T20:49:00.001+01:002013-06-09T21:46:41.931+01:00NGS Garden Visit - Washington Old Hall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jTddQOVGbo8/UbTbZBoTxoI/AAAAAAAADEQ/F3ZZ0Y8Z_mQ/s2048/Photo%2525209%252520Jun%2525202013%25252015%25253A20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jTddQOVGbo8/UbTbZBoTxoI/AAAAAAAADEQ/F3ZZ0Y8Z_mQ/s500/Photo%2525209%252520Jun%2525202013%25252015%25253A20.jpg" id="blogsy-1370810748445.2778" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="374"></a></div>
<p>What better to do with another fine weekend but partake in a spot of garden visiting? Even better is a garden that is free to enter, but had a <a href="http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=23113" target="_blank" title="">NGS plant stall</a>, and a very reasonably priced tea shop with a fabulous selection of cake. Just the job. The Intrepid baby, my sister, and I felt it was too good to resist.<br>
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<a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/washington-old-hall/" target="_blank" title="">Washington Old Hall</a> is apparently the ancestral home of George Washington, the first president of the USA. Washington itself started out as a pretty small village from what I can tell, but has sprawled out into a fair sized town, which seems to have more traffic roundabouts than anywhere north of Milton Keynes. The gardens are always free to enter, but there is a National Trust entry charge for the house.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br>
The gardens are lovely. Next to the house is a formal lawn area set on a terrace overlooking the rest of the garden. There wasn't a huge amount of planting up here with just a few bits of box, and some lavender, and a patch of what looked like hardy geraniums at the end. The area was very calm and relaxing, and one the biggest draws for me was the seating at the edge of the terrace where you sit and eat the afore mentioned cake, look at the garden and peoplewatch.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CXZJ-cbLsIs/UbTbc-DR19I/AAAAAAAADEY/NjxGFfvrf-4/s2048/Photo%2525209%252520Jun%2525202013%25252014%25253A45.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CXZJ-cbLsIs/UbTbc-DR19I/AAAAAAAADEY/NjxGFfvrf-4/s500/Photo%2525209%252520Jun%2525202013%25252014%25253A45.jpg" id="blogsy-1370810748413.5764" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="374"></a></div>
<p><br>
The next area down was a geometrically arranged set of box edged beds containing a mixture of edible and ornamental plants. They still had plenty of tulips going nicely as well as onions, alliums, chives, more geraniums, and a plethora of other stuff. Unfortunately I was mostly too occupied with chasing a scarily mobile Intrepid Baby around to take notes...</p>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VGhPwSUMebw/UbTb7srXbpI/AAAAAAAADFQ/ZpPz-Okruzg/s2048/Photo%2525209%252520Jun%2525202013%25252015%25253A09.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VGhPwSUMebw/UbTb7srXbpI/AAAAAAAADFQ/ZpPz-Okruzg/s500/Photo%2525209%252520Jun%2525202013%25252015%25253A09.jpg" id="blogsy-1370810748368.4329" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="374"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I need one of these benches...</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><br>
The next area was more vegetable focused with a very nice sheltered seating area set in an orchard (I admit I'm rather assuming it was orchard. See baby based excuse above for why I didn't read any labels...)</p>
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<p><br>
Following on from here was a lovely ornamental bridge over a wet area with some fabulous irises, a bee keeping area, and a wildflower meadow.</p>
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<p><br>
On the way out we spotted a very impressive bit of box topiary in the form of some sort of knot. Very nice and I wish I had space to do something similar!</p>
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<p><br>
A fantastic couple of hours was had, some great cake was eaten and plenty of plants bought. The lady on the NGS stand said we were apparently the day's best customers. Better hope the wife doesn't read this...I'm so chuffed to find such a great garden so close to my house. We shall be back soon with a picnic basket.Did I mention that it was free?<br>
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</div><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-80785386798881498852013-06-02T10:49:00.001+01:002013-06-02T10:55:02.922+01:00Garden Log - May 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What a month it's been for growth. Plenty of rain mixed with a reasonable amount of sunny days have sent things rocketing up! Lots of colour is appearing and the amount of soil showing is shrinking by the day. I've dug a new bed in the main garden (it's against a south facing fence, so hopefully that should allow me to try a few more sun lovers), and moved a few bits and pieces around. Here are this month's pictorial highlights.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dodecatheon</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aquilegia going full bore</td></tr>
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This last photo is of the new bed. The wheel barrow will be getting planted up with annuals just as soon as I have a chance to go and buy some John Innes no. 3, and the pot will be housing the dahlias that are currently leafing up in the cold frame. In the bed there are delphiniums, salvia, lavender, hardy geranium, clematis, and a small peony that has started sprouting from tubers (is that the word for peony spuds?) that came loose when I was planting the big one in autumn. <br />
The front garden is also looking great. The brunnera at the front is trying to take over the world. It has been fantastic. The festuca Elijah Blue is also looking great. I've planted a load of lavender out here too, so looking forward to seeing it flower.<br />
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These tulips are going over now, but have been gorgeous. These will be going in the front bed for next year and getting joined by more come autumn.<br />
Now all I need is for the good weather to continue so I can sit back and enjoy it all. <br />
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Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-4438345568033870022013-05-19T18:03:00.001+01:002013-05-19T18:03:02.342+01:00Old School Tools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-FA7XGJOav5o/UZkFwrt-U3I/AAAAAAAADBA/NOqC_KZQpVk/s2048/Photo%25252019%252520May%2525202013%25252017%25253A48.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-FA7XGJOav5o/UZkFwrt-U3I/AAAAAAAADBA/NOqC_KZQpVk/s500/Photo%25252019%252520May%2525202013%25252017%25253A48.jpg" id="blogsy-1368982980654.8984" class="aligncenter" width="500" height="669" alt=""></a></div>
<p> I love old gardening kit. I'd rather have an old, solidly made piece of kit that's been around for years and should last quite a few more than some plasticky piece of modern crap. I have two pairs of pretty rubbish modern shears in the garage, but these look and feel so much nicer, and they make a proper '<em>snick</em>' noise when you use them.</p>
<p>I aquired them for the princely sum of £2.50 at the Tynemouth Sunday market. A bargainous find. They need a bit of a clean up and sharpen, but a bit of elbow grease and they'll be good as new.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999986798591100731.post-18859383518970152482013-05-16T18:44:00.001+01:002013-05-16T18:44:34.601+01:00The Hanging Planters Of.... Sunderland...<p> </p>
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<p> I read somewhere recently (possibly Gardeners World Magazine) about a thrifty method of preparing hanging baskets. Ever the cheapskate I decided to give it a go.</p>
<p>The general gist is quite simple - don't buy moss or whatever to line it with. Kill two birds with a single proverbial stone and use the mossy thatchy stuff that you can rake out of the lawn. Simple! Hanging basket liner and an incentive to get around to scarifying the lawn in one fell swoop.</p>
<p>Now to see how well it lasts. We've had a couple of seriously soggy, windy days since it went up and it has survived thus far. Only time and the ever delectable British climate will tell.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Rob Stevenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17836431293914192548noreply@blogger.com0