General Chat

I would keep attacking the lavender rather than risk moving the roses.

Mads, you might find Roundup Root Killer effective on the lavender. Not used by organic gardeners, but it is biodegradeable.

Don,t move the roses yet, wrong time to do so,**M**.

snails & slugs

leave some beer in a bottle, lie the bottle on its side in the garden.

snails & slugs love beer........ they'll crawl into the bottle, get drunk and can't get out again. They drown in the beer.

Safer for your pets than using snail bait.

Strip some old copper wiring,tie it round the containers ,stops the slugs. :-D

Thanks Wend.
Perhaps they are more common in the sunny? south.
I think you have identified the proper name.
They make a wonderful splash of colour at this time of year.
I hope yours haven't taken too much of a battering over the last few days.
I'll look out for some to grow myself.

Gwyn

I would prune the lavender down to the ground in growing time. This should deter it from growing too big and gradually weaken the plant. I only takes one seed from a lavender bush to find a suitable cranny to grow in and it will! I never let ours go to seed as I dont want the garden full of it, lovely though it is.

What has anyone harvested ?

Hello Greenfingers, up to now only lb's and lbs of Strawberries which have gone into the freezer for jam-making later in the year.
But, OH tells me we will have the first boiling of Broad Beans, ready for next Sunday dinner
Hope this is the start, because everything is so behind.

Hope you are doing well with your crops.

Julia in Derbyshire

Not a thing with zilch sun and too much water [sic] he he .I may just have some Pac Choi ready in two weeks ,at least ,it's a start.Fred :-)

Just harvested 2 huge and caterpillar free cauliflowers. They were spring ones that came late and were hiding with the cabbage. We have been eating raspberries and some strawberries if we can beat the birds

I do wonder if some of the veg will catch up. The squash will be a write off

Salad leaves that I grow

Potatoes that we grow commercially, does that count? :-S

Lesley in Essex

Hello everyone. Just wanted to show off my very first rose ever grown...'Compassion'...isn't it lovely? And it smells like a rose too! My thanks to Badger and Merlin for their advice :-) <3

What a pretty rose, BC.I do like roses that smell like roses, a good strong scent.
The geraniums we planted the last warm spell look starved and are certainly not growing. I will try and get perennials for next year, they seem to do better. The runner beans seem to like this weather tough.

my honeysuckle is spreading everywhere must cut some back its eating my camelia and lillies,

my apricot tree or peach tree has lost all its leaves any idea xx

Jan, I harvested spinach that I grew in a trough, raspberries and rhubarb but that is about it.

BC what a beautiful rose with a lovely name. I shall have to look out for it.

I even lost me Rhubarb over the winter,no sign of the roots at all ,lol,wonder if they emmigrated to a warmer country :-) but i took a trip to my local garden centre and got two more to take it's place,now waiting for the garden to dry out after the flood ,so that i can put my winter veggies in :-D,Fred.

Just noticed the post about roundup,and Lavender ,no good against any bush or tree which has bark so that the roundup can't penetrate,the only effective killer is Deep root ,which will kill the roses too,a case of fork and spade i'm afraid,or a saw , Fred.. :-)

badger do you know why my leaves have fallen of my apricot trea, it had them when i bought it xx :-D

How old is the ? tree and what sort of position is it in ,full ,sun ,part shade ,and sort of soil?.
It could just be the season ,which is away with the fairies this year,my brand new Bay tree is loosing a few leaves as well ,which may be ,in both cases far too much rainfall and lack of sun.
Get yourself a little book on citrus trees which are sort of related ,and have a look through the pest and disease pages ,better still ,go online to a market garden and ask them,i issss new to trees other than apple and pear too lol. Fred. :-)