ABC Wednesday 4: P is For...

... Project Update

How time flies! We're about a third of the way through the year, so I thought it would be good to review my list of projects for 2009 to see how things are going.

Blogging

Public Planting - lots of posts plus lots from you! Thanks for your contributions thus far and don't forget the next episode of the Out on the Streets meme is due next month.

Front garden quirkiness - to follow and 3 gardens found thus far - I have a steam engine (which also featured briefly in How Britain Got the Gardening Bug if you watched it), a garden of car hub caps plus one with every conceivable solar powered lamp. If you know of any others, do let me know.

Garden

I've mulched the garden and cleared about a third of the bottom bed for its makeover. Progress has been slowed by the amount of ivy that's crept in from the public land that needs ripping out, plus Clematis 'Francis Rivis' is looking so lovely at the moment I can't bear to cut it back.

After taking advice at the RHS Show in London, the back fence will no longer have any vertical gardening as it isn't strong enough. Instead I've invested in a couple of pots to add the vertical interest and as you can see from the picture, the Clematis on the fence is making great strides.

The patio strawberry bed to herb/salad conversion is now going to house the asparagus bed instead as I've decided I can't get my allotment space weed free enough in time. The salad succession project has transferred to a tray and pot system and the herbs have been transferred to bigger pots. I've also started an extra project: growing potatoes in compost bags.

Final decisions are still to be made on what to do with the conifers and the lawn area, though NAH seems to be rather taken with the idea of making an extra couple of beds out of part of the lawn. In the meantime I've revamped one of the terrace beds to include poppies, Echinops, Euphorbias and more Echinacea. A couple of miracles have occurred: I've remembered to stake the plants that need it before they flop over and there's less plants in the nursery area than at the start of the year in spite of my recent purchasing activities :0

Allotment

Progress has been slow here as my back/calf injury slowed things down just at the time when most of the work needed to be done. Consequently the gooseberries are still there and covered with lots of fruit, the replacement apple arches and cordons haven't been started and the weeds have gained the upper hand again! This is where my main activities will be focused over the next month or so.

How do you think I'm doing so far?

For other Perfect P Posts, do visit the ABC Wednesday blog.

Comments

  1. Victoria Summerley6 May 2009 at 00:23

    I think I'll have to go and have a lie down after reading that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gail6 May 2009 at 00:54

    Busy girl! You put this lazy gardener to... wondering what I need to do! gail

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rose6 May 2009 at 04:22

    I'm with Victoria and Gail...I'm tired just thinking about all this work, VP:) Your clematis is gorgeous! And I'm glad to hear you have another installment of "Out on the Streets" planned for June--I'll be on the lookout now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe6 May 2009 at 06:33

    Busy girl in busy time, May is a tough month but still I think it's the best!

    Well done/ Tyra

    ReplyDelete
  5. VP6 May 2009 at 08:47

    Hi Victoria, Gail, Rose and Tyra! I'm sorry if I've made you feel tired, but rest assured there's still plenty more to do! The allotment's have just had their first inspection of the year: I won't be getting a letter this time, but I would have done if they hadn't taken my injury into account! Now it's up to me to show some improvement next month...

    ReplyDelete
  6. easygardener6 May 2009 at 09:19

    Well if NAH is suggesting extra flower beds you will have to follow his advice - all that extra plant buying will be a chore but needs must ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Helen/patientgardener6 May 2009 at 12:17

    Sounds like you are making real progress with your projects - the weather seems to be preventing me from getting on. Always raining when I off work! See you Friday

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anna6 May 2009 at 21:19

    A perfect choice for P. I am full of admiration - a nursery area with less plants in it than at the start of the year- what's your secret ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. compost in my shoe6 May 2009 at 22:17

    busy spring.....sounds like you are having fun!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tumblewords:7 May 2009 at 04:47

    You are so busy! Amazing...sounds like you are feeling pretty perky!

    ReplyDelete
  11. spacedlaw7 May 2009 at 18:10

    I have not followed the saga of your planting but that sounds like a very busy schedule. Good P choice.

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP11 May 2009 at 10:10

    EG - I'm a bit gobsmacked he thought it's a good idea. I suspect it's because it'll mean less lawn mowing to do!

    PG - not as much progress as I'd like and I see you've come on great strides with your garden revamp too.

    Anna - easy, lot's of planting up! There's still some way to go though...

    Compost in my shoe - welcome! Yes, it's lots of fun :)

    Tumblewords - I am now I've started to get the plans into action!

    Spacedlaw - thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more