Gardeners Thread

[mazie]

well Start paying attention and get "rooting" and next year get selling on e-bay. If you have a greenhouse, you need to go for plants like Brugmansia's, they sell well and some of the rarer ones make shed loads on e-bay. I was bidding for one last week, a cutting about 8" tall and it went for £46! I have about 8 different varieties and I'm happy to take some cuttings and send you a few down this year. About Sept take cuttings,over-Winter them and you're ready to start selling on e-bay April time. Brugmansia cuttings are the easiest you will ever do, can almost guarantee they will strike! The Mother plant next year will be beautiful as well

I'm guessing light and warm, but out of direct sunshine? - Yes, and push the cutting to the side of the pot, not in the centre.

pps. I've not watched it this year. Couldn't get my head round Robin hood without Marion

[omnipleasant]

£46?! Crikey I'm going to have to seriously consider this. Combined with some odd-job gardening, it could well be provide a living if I give it some thought.

It crossed my mind earlier in the year when I saw Forsythia on sale in garden centres for about £15. I have two massive ones in my garden, I could easily get a dozen or more cuttings off them.

RH isn't right without Marion, but Friar Tuck is in it now, which compensates slightly (though he's not as juicy as loverly Marion yum..)

[mazie]

Oooh, I might have to take a look at Friar Tuck! (I'm always tempted to switch that around!)

Here's a link to current Brugs on e-bay. Seeds also seem to be a good earner, they charge loads for postage.

shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=brugmansia&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Anyway, let me know if you want any brugs

[sushimo]

Few years back I had an old greenhouse that was too small to do much with, so I turned it into a Cuttings Trial House. I lay about 6" peat, and covered with 2" sharp sand - then just tried anything and everything I could lay my hands on. Of 36 rose cuttings, 30 took and grew into full bloomed bushes. I did well with different conifers too, even hydrangas and philadelphus took on a high %. Loads more, but it was a while back and memory is shot now!

I did have nearly 2 acres of garden to cover, it was just a messy field when we bought it, but I managed to get it looking good for the minimal amout of outlay.

Just try anything and see what is worth persevering with, if it fails it's cost nothing. I never went out anythere without secataurs and a plastic bag on me, just one snip off one plant is all - yea, thieving, but I saved loads of money and hurt nothing.

[minge tightly]

£46?! Blimey, our first tentative steps toward cuttings (Not very succesful either) might take a massive leap forward in light of that!

I do intend going up the local woods soon with a few bin bags and a spade, fully intent on digging up (Aye...thieving) a few ferns and filling up a few bags with leaf mould. We have a patch of garden next to the back door which never, ever sees the sun, so with the help of a few bought ferns (And more 'liberated' ones) I intend to transform it into a 'woody' area. Without any trees...

[mazie]

yes minge,cuttings, money for old rope once you master the technique. I had a lovely little wooded garden until next door complained and we had to take a couple of trees down (The bastard!) Got lots of Shuttlecock ferns which multiply like crazy, also lots of wild wood anemones. Good luck with your treeless woody area!

Hi Sushi xxx I've been off gardening for the last two years (too busy) but really getting back into again this year so will be going lots of cuttings later on.

[puffin]

Summer in one corner of my garden. It'll be a bit different this year because we've had decking put round the conservatory.

Well you did say you wanted more pictures.

[omnipleasant]

Lovely, Puffin. Really nice planting scheme you've got going on there. You a big fan of fuscias, then? They seem to be everywhere. I am too, but I seem to have killed mine.

You could do with some blues to really set off those pinks and whites though - I recommend Nemophilia 'Baby Blue Eyes'. And take a pick-axe to as much of that paving as you can - what's wrong with grass, woman!

I'll have to work out how to do this picture thing.

[puffin]

I was a dog breeder, omni, and I still have a dog...enough said...If the picture was panoramic you would see plenty of blue off to the right..there is a bed of French and English lavenders in blue, purple and white.
M rP does all the heavy work in the garden, I design, prune, plant and trim and bring the young plants along. He wants to keep the paving even though we are down to one dog and I'm not pushing it. He isn't a keen gardener but he will do the labouring for me.

[Scooby Do]

Ok. So who strecthed the page?

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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8014873.stm


I'm trying to do my bit. Currently I have 2 cherries, 2 pears, 6 apples, 1 Tayberry,1 blackberry,1 blueberry, 9 worcesterberries, 2 blackcurrant, 1 redcurrent

a family apple with 3 varieties, and a mulberry

[Chromo]

Dig for victory!

If that doesn't work you can use the hole as a grave.

[Ðevon]

lol Chromo (nice to see you, hope life is treating you well out there!)

I would love to have a garden again, there is a 6 year waiting list for allotments round here.

I do have a lot of plants indoors though, but its not the same.

Love the photos Puff, those lillies are stunning, I could not grow them because the pollen is poisonous to cats and we had 3 of them, when anyone bought me some I had to have them right up on top of the wall unit so the cats couldn't get near them!!

[puffin]

You can snip off the anthers when they start to turn yellow, Devon, but it does tend to change the look of the Lily. I know some people do this when they grow lilies outdoors.

Talking about cuttings (unintentional this time) I used some 'dead' trimmings toact as supports for youmg climbers and to tie black cotton to protect the early primroses from bird pecking.

I discovered that the twigs that I'd put in with the climbers had produced 3 perennial fuschias and the black cotton twigs had given me 2 climbing roses. This from prunings of what I thought were old dead wood from last year just shoved unceremoniously into the ground.I was particularly suprised at the fuschia because the twiggy bits were so dry they just snapped off the dormant plant and I put them on one side to use later when I planted the climbers.

Just shows, you never know with gardening.

I bet if I'd actually gone to the trouble to take cuttings properly I'd have got nowhere.

[Deleted]

Great pics Puff...

[puffin]

Thanks Joyce.

It's not been very good weather for gardening today.

I've been thinking of growing strawberries in a strawberry tub. has anyone done this and have you any tips viz a viz the best position, compost and pest control.

[fizzycola]

Puffin

Growing strawbs in a tub is really successful.

Re the pest control, I bought a roll of copper tape from my garden centre and you just stick it around the bottom of the tub. Slugs that try to cross it get some kind of little shock - likened to an electric shock for them, and they are supposed not to cross the tape.

I bought some and stuck it round the door of my greenhouse, so far so good as I've no evidence of slugs on the lettuces.

Good luck with the strawbs!

fizzy

[yord]

buy a 12 bore you wimp

[puffin]

Thanks, fizzy.

Is there any variety that does better than most?

[yord]

Oh yes , a Purdey. Not only will it blast the buggers to bits but is a very sound investment with good chance of increased capital gain.

[puffin]

It might not do a lot for the strawberries though...or the barrel either!