Weeds and Deeds

A man of words and not of deeds

Is like a garden full of weeds

And when the weeds begin to grow

It's like a garden full of snow

I know, I know, I'm a bad blogger. Its not that I've  been lounging on the sofa being fed peeled grapes my my daughters. (I've tried, they just sqwish them up my nose). 

there really are fairies at the bottom of my garden

I've mostly been dealing with sleepless nights from teething babies and toddler nightmares.   I have managed prop my eyelids open with matchsticks, drag my weary body into in the garden and have started and re-written this blog four times.  It's been so long now that i cant remember where to begin.  

Ah yes there was a hosepipe ban.  Drought and disaster looming while at the same time, water water everywhere, well definitely in my three water butts.  Then Thames water finally  lifted the hose pipe ban after some of the heaviest rain fall in May and June.   Being on a water metre means that I am still hoping that I don't have to use the hose pipe too much. 

With all the rain I'm tried to stay off the soil as much as possible, so as not to compact it and destroy the structure.  I managed to do some weeding, though it's a constant battle as they are growing ..... Well ...... like weeds!

I haven't cut the hedge yet as it was too wet and i cant find the hedge trimmer since we moved.  I haven't cut the grass, you guessed it, to wet. (though i probably could now) .  

So I thought its about time to get those reluctant gardeners back on track.  

I followed my own earlier advice and cheated. I didn't buy tomatoes as I had already sown some, I bought some pumpkin seedling and some chilli seedling. For the pumpkins I formed three little mounds, apparently they like to trail down little hills. To stop the slugs I put tumble dryer fluff round one, oats round another and the last had to fend for itself as the sheeps wool is in the post???  Now whether it was the high winds or the slugs the porridge oats lost. Slugs 1- Mum in wellies 0. (I now have two flowers on my pumpkins, so excited!).   The slimy ones have also been chomping their way through my lettuce and my strawberries.  So I went mad with the slug pellets all around the strawbs as I don't have enough tumble dryer fluff. (the td fluff seems to be working as my beans have remained intact). 

I digress. Reluctant gardeners I have a task for you. A simple and inexpensive was to increase the amount of plants in your garden, presents for friends or to get in the good books of the church/school/village fete committee. 

Soft wood cuttings. 

There are loads of plants that you can take soft wood cuttings from both perennials and shrubs. Too many to mention so here are just a few. 

Perennials

Erigeron - evergreen ground cover big blouse daisy flowers 

Penstemon - classic cottage garden plant comes in an array of colours

Nepeta - catmint I love it but do does my cat so I can't grow it in my gardened he eats it, rolls in it and goes nuts. 

Shrubs

Lavendula - what can I say, everyone know this one and it's a great way to get tons of it!

Buxus - only if you have the time and patience,  it's slow to propagate. 

Buddlejia - don't knock this train line plant it has some lovely cultivars and is great for wildlife.  Black knight is beautiful, deep purple flowers with orange centres

Hydrangea - aborescens Annabelle is my favorite big white pompoms

The soft new shoots on plants is what you are looking for. Preferably non flowering shoots as they will root more easily. 

from left: lavender, sage, ceanothus, flowering currant

Take off up to 10cm of a shoot just above a bud on the parent plant.

feeling a little cold: stripped of their lower leaves

Strip the lower few leaves so you have a decent length of stem to plant in the soil. 

I've used John innes seed and potting compost, but you probably could you a good multi purpose compost. 

please ignore my bad manicure!

Dip the cutting in some rooting powder or liquid then make a hole in the compost (fingers, dibbers, a pencil what ever suits). Then put in the cutting and firm it into the compost. 

Water well. 

now wait

I put two to three cuttings per pot (just because I'm tight!). 

Mine are in a sunny sheltered area in my garden as my greenhouse isn't up yet. But a window sill would do of you haven't got the space outside

Leave them for 6-10 weeks. Remembering to keep the compost moist. 

Then your only problem is finding places in your garden to plant them. 

I have cuttings of

Lavendula  Hidcote

Salvia officinalis

Rosmarinus officinalis

Ceanothus Concha

Cistus Sunset

Buxus semirvirens

Ribes sanguineum

I do get quite carried away taking cuttings as its SO easy!

just a few strawberries, red currants and sticks of rhubarb

my little star

I've also been collecting the strawbs and red currants which, even though we've been sharing them with the slugs and bird population of Newbury, seem to be an unending harvest.  Lottie like Holly before her has acquired a taste for red currants straight from the bush so it's a battle between them as to who will get there first, all fear of spiders and other crawlies banished. 

no spider can stop the intrepid strawberry hunter

Unwelcome Visitors

When I first got back into gardening as an adult I'd just moved into a basement flat in Camberwell which had a garden. It was mostly paving but had some borders and an enormous elder tree at the back.  As I was pretty poor I decided to grow all of my plants from seed. With no greenhouse and much to the annoyance of my boyfriend I had seed trays all over the kitchen floor. I had cleared the borders of weeds and just planted out some of the seedlings when I had to go on a two week tour with the dance company I was working with.   I was welcomed back by my very proud boyfriend who said he had been looking after my garden, watering and weeding. He took me outside to view his work, when I looked out in the garden I found a lot of bare earth. He'd weeded all of my seedlings. What could I say.......... 

As this dear boyfriend is now my dear husband, I thought I'd do a run down of the weeds in my garden, just in case. 

There are two main types of weeds, annual (grow, flower and die in one year) and perennial (the buggers that keep coming back). The former and quite easy to get rid of if you get them before their flower, the latter are a pain in the arse. 

(I'm using botanical paintings just to make them look nicer)

Perennials pains

Brambles

Mixed feelings on this one as blackberries are so yummy. But I think on the whole I'd prefer to forage them elsewhere .

Broad leaved willow herb

Quite easy to clear with a fork but can tear, leaving the roots behind for another year. 

Wood Avens

Annoying as it does look like a it's cultivated cousin until it flowers but quite easy to  lift.

Bindweed

is there any garden that doesn't have this strangulating pernicious pain! if there is I'd like to move in!  it seems that I have two types.  hedge bindweed Convolvulus arvensis, the white flowering one that most gardens seem to have, and field bindweed it travels along the ground pulling things down rather than twining up and strangling everything.  Both are as bad as each other. But I only seem to have them in a small patch so operation strangulation has begun.

Annuals

Goose grass

One of my favourite weeds on that it is fun to play with and quite easy to clear.

Common field speedwell

spreading suffocating, but pretty blue flowers.

Chickweed

Easy to clear with hoeing.

A tip I remember from Bunny Guinness off gardeners world was, if you don't have time to weed the garden properly deadhead the weeds to stop them flowering. That way you are at least stopping them from spreading.   But do go back and clear the weeds at a later date, otherwise you'll never get rid of them.

I must say that Bjorn is very proud that he can now discern many different types of plants, but he does steer clear of doing the weeding.

So I'm sitting here trying to stay calm, waiting for the dentist to fill my life with pain.  (2 fillings, I blame all that Ribena).  So I'm thinking of the lovely week I've just had filled with beautiful walks in stunning landscapes with friends and family. 

mown path through the orchard at The Vyne

On Friday I thought it was a out time I used that national trust membership that I got for Christmas. (thanks mum). So I packed a picnic, sun cream and picnic blanket(thanks again mum) and of we drove to The Vyne near basingstoke. Half an hour of windy roads and a dozen "are we there yet"s we arrived, bumping over the cattle grid.  I was slightly condemned that although I would love ambling through the beautiful gardens Holly might get bored.   In true jubilee/Olympic spirit they had a scarecrow trail through the garden so Holly had the time of her life searching for scarecrows and choosing her favourite. In fact she enjoyed it so much we had to take her Daddy there again in the Monday and we will be making our own scarecrow for the garden. 

Holly wasn't impressed with his cycling style

My second venture into sublime landscapes was a wonderful  surprise.  While visiting  my friend Marneta in Oxfordshire, not only did I get to while away the hours in her beautifully serene garden, but she took me to a capability brown landscaped garden just down the lane.  What a fabulous surprise that was.  

Grecian temple in the gardens

Immaculately restored with formal gardens around the house, spreading out into acres of landscaped views out into the Oxfordshire countryside. It never ceases to amaze me how Capability Brown had such vision. 

While out on our stroll with Ronnie Barker, a dog with special privileges. We came across some lemon sorrel, great in salads and other dishes too.  

Ronnie was quite taken with the Wedding Cake tree,
Cornus controversa Variegata

And so a mini wild forage began. We also collected some hedge garlic and by the time we go back we had enough for a small bowl of salad to accompany a beautifully healthy vegetarian lunch. 

my new friend

Back home in Newbury the wild foraging inspire me to get out into the garden and see what was on offer.  All my life I have. Even convinced that I don't like rhubarb, now it's in my garden I've been converted. Thanks to a simple recipe for rhubarb syrup. Holly drinks it as a cordial but we've also had it on ice cream and I'm waiting for a garden  party to try it with gin!

there may be a small child lost in there

Having spent so long in the back garden I have been ignoring the front which has turned into a bit of a wild meadow. So one evening Bjorn mowed as I edged. Though after it was finished it looked more like a moss lawn than a grass one. Ah well. Maybe that will be inspiration for my Japanese garden. 

short back and sides please

Frothy Pink and Invasions

Okay so it's two weeks since my last blog (I feel like I'm in the confessional), but I've been doing so much I just don't know where to start. 

I planned a day out at RHS Wisely for some spring inspiration but it turned into a wash out.  It was pouring with rain but my friend Pernille braved the weather, which pleased Holly as she got to see her friend Francesca.  The pair didn't seem to mind the rain and still managed to roll around on the grass. 

sharing, caring friends

this is as pink as nature gets!

Wisely is a beautiful garden all year round and a firm favourite with young kids with the adventure playground and hot house root cave. 

Purple Toothwort; strange fruit indeed

The rhododendrons and azaleas were on top form with their loud blousey colours.   I also discovered (well not me personally, that would probably be a Victorian plant hunter) a rather curious looking plant at the foot of a large rhododendron, the purple tooth wort, Lathraea clandestina.  It was quite prehistoric looking in a dangerous triffid type way. A parasitic plant that lives off the roots of, mainly alders and salix but also other trees.   I do love it when I find things I've never seen before, quite by accident. 

Back home with a desire to get the garden looking more like a garden than a wildlife reserve, I mowed and edges the lawn. There's something wonderfully about the smell of freshly mown grass. While edging the lawn next to one of the borders I found a plant which made me stop in my tracks and change tack. 

Mint.

Now mint is an essential plant for summer.  In one word, Pimms. 

However, never, never, never plant it in a border. 

Always, always, always plant it in a pretty (and big) pot. 

It's a survivor i.e. a thug of a plant which will take over your whole garden and your neighbours gardens and completely put you off Pimms which is never a good thing. 

the border mid mint extraction

So as I said I changed tack and stripped out the border, apart from the lavender bush. This was in fact a good move as the congested irises needed  splitting. (I know it's the wrong time of year to split Rhizomatous Iris, July to September being the best time).  So the result is a bed clear of mint and irises that are a lot happier. 

Oh, a quick foot note on a previous blog, I checked the mouse nest and there was not a trace of mouse.  Now I'm counting that as a good thing, (no bones) so I think the parents went back to the babies and they are now jumping around my garden waiting for the strawberries to ripen.

the lights are on but no-one's home

Poking around in the back with the fruit bushes I discovered a bit of a disaster if you like gooseberries, which I don't.  American gooseberry mildew. Not sure why it's American? But it's mildew and that's bad. There's the non organic treatment, spray it with chemicals, or the organic treatment, cut out the affected parts, and in the future prime the plant to an open habit to let air circulate.  I don't like spraying fruit bushes as Holly tends to eat while she picks so the only option to me was to cut out the bad bits. Unfortunately this meant most of the three bushes disappeared. But my worry was that it might spread to the currant bushes, so I'd rather lose all the gooseberries than some of the currants. 

I don't like gooseberries even if they look sugar coated

I'd only kept them as my sister likes them, but as I'm the one who has to picking them and always end up filling the swear box when I do, I think they are going to end up on the bonfire.  Sorry Boo. X

May the fourth be with you

It's been a busy old week with the bank holiday weekend, Lottie's first birthday and my first dressmaking class, but I have managed to do a bit of gardening.

I can't believe my little Lottie is actually one year old, it feels like only yesterday that Holly was one never mind three and a half going on fourteen.  But the day arrived and not only did she get lots of presents she kindly gave us a present, her first steps.  Yes Lottie teetered precariously across the room to the pile of wrapping paper and proceeded to gleefully tear it up, so much for the dolls buggy!

As a birthday treat and with our new country living we decided to go to a local farms lambing weekend.  Holly was transfixed with the sheep giving birth, as was I (they made it look so easy).  There were faces to be painted, orphaned lambs to feed and piglets to be stroked, Lottie thought the piglets were the funniest things she had ever seen.  I was particularly glad to see the baby chicks and tried to encourage Holly to hold the loud little chicks.  I am a devious mother in that I am trying to use my children to influence their dad to agree to me keeping chickens.  So it was a case of "isn't the chick lovely,Holly." "see how soft it is." "would you like some little chicks?" "

Holly wondering if she could take Timmy home!

no one would notice if I just popped it in my pocket

After all this rain and the little bit of sunshine we had the garden needed seeing to, as it was not only the veg and plants that are growing. The weeds are getting tall! 

Before I could plant the lettuce I had to prepare the beds.  As I've previously said the soil is very good but full of stones. As it is such a big job I'm clearing as I go.  So I cleared the area for the strawberries and now an area for the lettuce, spinach and pak choi.  Rather than sitting there hand picking them all I've invested in a garden sieve.  I was amazed how many stones you collect so quickly.  Now I'm out there looking like I'm madly prospecting for gold, though it is rather good exercise for the wobbly waistline.    Gardening it's the new gym!

Even the elephant had given up picking stones

No stones, well not the ruddy great big ones at least

okay so my straight line cutting could do with
improving

my sieve full of stones, and a glimpse of my wellies!

With enough wood pigeons to feed an army in my garden daily, I've also bought some enviro mesh in the hope that I might feed my family, not the wildlife, so I only have to contend with the slugs and caterpillars. 

I've also earthed up my potatoes almost to the top of the bags now, so I just have to have a trip to the garden centre and buy some liquid seaweed feed.

Clearing the brambles from along the fence and espaliered apples it all looks a bit bare now so I'll be planning some plants that won't compete too much with the apples, good pollinators to encourage the bees and like it about dry.

While clearing the weeds and brambles I discovered a patch of raspberry canes why they would have been planted so close to the apple tree I have no idea, though they could have self seeded.  I'm going to leave them there for this season but will move them I the autumn to a more appropriate place.

The seeds that I planted two weeks ago are now sprouting.  The spring onions,  tomatoes,carrots and runner beans are all appearing and some of Holly's teddy bear sunflowers are also peeking through.

It's also not quite so rainy as it has been so watering is becoming more of an issue especially as there is still no hosepipe usage.  It's a good job we have two full large water butts.  So when I've finally got the kids to sleep I can spend a quiet half hour in the garden, listening to the sparrows twittering watching the sun go down.

meiow

The Reluctant Gardener

There are some things that I love having but can't be bothered to put the effort into; yorkshire puddings, shapely eyebrows, clean dishes.  For these things I take short cuts/ cheat, call it what you will.

There are other things that filled me with fear before I tried them,  driving, ice skating, rock climbing.  I put driving off for ages before I tried it and now I don't think twice about it (but to be truthful I'd still have to take a deep breath before rock climbing). 

What I'm getting at is all the reluctant gardeners out there.  I MEAN YOU!!!

Lord Kitchener had his gloves on and was ready to garden

We've all done it, really wanted to try something but are too scared to do it.  Where to start, how long do I wait until I realise the seeds are just not germinating.......

So I'm going to try to help, hold your hand as you get your fingers dirty.  Once a month I'll set a little task, something simple at first, and your plants will grow with you.  

I have two task for this month one for the short cutters and one for the garden nervous

Short cutters

Cheat.  Get some tomato seedlings from your garden centre, choose whether you want beef, plum or cherry toms. Don't buy too many to start with two or three plants should do.  I'd get a 5 litre pot for each of them rather than a long flat tomato bag as these tend to make the plants fall over as they get tall.  As the tomato seeding grows bigger transfer the seedling to the larger pot.  

I'm growing Tomato Principe Borghese, tiny plum tomatoes.

Half fill the new pot with compost and water well then gently take the tomato plant out of the old pot and backfill with new compost.  Firm the compost down around the plant and water well.  Keep in a sheltered but sunny position. 

The secret for good growth is keep it well watered, and liquid seaweed food (follow the instructions on the feed).

For the nervous

Something pretty.  There's still time to plant some nasturtium seeds,  the  flowers and young leaves are great for putting in salads.

Nasturtium 'Empress of India  

Get yourself a cellular seed tray a packet of nasturtiums seeds, my favourite is "Empress of India" ( deep velvety red with deep green almost glaucous leaves) and some seed compost.   Fill up the seed tray with compost, water well, poke your finger into each cell to about the first joint of your finger.  Pop in a seed and cover with compost.  Keep well watered and they should germinate in a few days.  

A cellular seed tray like this would be great.

If you are still in doubt, feeling a bit of a Margo then put on some gloves, and  I don't mean the gardening variety.  A good pair of marigolds, they'll protect your hands while still letting you feel the plants. I get some strange looks when I'm gardening but have lovely soft hands!  I only use gardening gloves for heavy work like digging or pruning/weeding thorny plants.

Holly was camera shy in her gardening gloves.

So It's still the bank holiday, it's not raining so no excuse, get out there!

Having a rare and much indulged in Break from family life with one of my oldest friends 40th birthday bash in Brighton I sat down with the newspaper at breakfast (having slept until 9.30!)  and with the largest pyramid of Full English I could get on my tiny plate. 

The  independent declared that the deluge we've been having recently is the right type of rain but in the wrong month!! If anything the drought has got worse. 

It's complicated, (actually it's not that complicated). The rivers are full, the plants are growing but due to the hard compacted soil, a result of two long dry winters and hot summers, the waters not going down deep so the aquifers are not filling, so we have parts of England flooding but are still in a drought. 

Anyway the long and the short of it is, I've  changed my mind (I'm allowed to!) and am going to do some planting in the garden after all.  I'll be leaving the actual design of the garden till later, but with all this open ground, good soil and hands aching to get dirty, I'll be planting some veggies. 

I've got this beautiful soil thanks to the previous owners love of veg, so I think I'll continue his legacy until I've worked out a design. I've already got my four potato bags, which I love.  It makes growing potatoes even easier, and there is no problem with contamination of potato scab, which I've had in the past when growing in the ground. (If you get potato scab it is best not to plant potatoes in that soil for a few years and to rotate with grains or other non hosts). Using scab resistant varieties also helps.

• first earlies; Casablanca
• Second earlies; Anya
• early mains; Mayan Gold
• mains; Inca Belle

Anya Potatoes 

As they grow I'll be topping up the soil in the bags until it reaches the top. This acts just like earthing them up in the ground.

I like my potatoes with the nutty tastes of the Mexican tuber, I grew Mayan Gold last year and loved it.  Casablanca is a apparently a good boiler so we will do the taste test when they pop up.

I've already sown some Tomato Principe Borghese; small plum tomatoes, Lottie eats these by the squishy handful, and they have started to sprout.

So here's what else is going to be on the menu.

sown directly in the ground

I've not chosen a salad mix as being the fussy salad eater that I am I don't like some of the lettuces in the mixes so I've picked out some of the ones that I like and will do battle against the evil slugs and snails

• Lettuce Cos Dazzle 
• Spinach Bordeaux 
• Lettuce Lollo Rossa
• Pak choi a free sample from the RHS

In containers

• Carrot Parmex bright orange short stubby carrots. Just right for containers or window boxes if you don't have a garden.
• 
  
• Spring onions Apache have a beautiful deep purple colour to make salads really pretty   

To be potted on

• Stringless runner beans - I grew these last year so have lost the packet and can't  remember the name of these. I remember that they have to be picked quickly or they get quite tough.
• 
  
• Dwarf bush bean Purple Teepee beautiful purple French Beans, I've grown these for a few years now and though they are beautiful when raw, they rather disappointingly lose their colour when cooked, they go to a regular green (the packet says emerald green, but it's not purple is it!)
• 
  
• French Bean  Lazy Housewife, my mom gave these to me a couple of years ago, and being the lazy house wife have only just got around to planting them!

To make sure that they appear on my menu and not the slugs menu a lovely vet I know who lives in the wilds of Devon has just offered me some sheeps wool to keep slugs at bay,  this is the same font of all knowledge who told me to try tumble dryer fluff to deter the pesky devils.  With these two suggestions I will set up a garden experiment to see which works the best.  The other trials will be:

• porridge oats (the slugs apparently love to eat this and ten explode as it swells in their little tummies). 
• Sharp gravel (hurts their little foot apparently)
• I'd do egg shells but I think you need a hell of a lot and I don't eat that many eggs
• Then the regular organic slug pellets

The elusive artist in resident know as Wood Mouse.

To encourage wild critters who would feast on the slimy ones we are going to set up a little dipping pond for frogs, we've already found a few in the garden, but the more the merrier.  Keep some big stones/rocks for any birdies to smash snail shells.  And of a course do my darnedest to not disturb any more wood mice. I've found evidence of wood mice in other parts of the garden, hazel nut shells with perfectly round holes nibbled out.

It was all I could do to stop Holly kissing him.

Our resident frogs.

I'll keep you posted on how everything is growing, or not growing (I'm not as experienced as mr Titmarsh and we have a lot of wood pigeons).  So I'd better stop writing, don my wellies and go get my hands dirty!

(hand moisturizer trials will be later in the season.)