The Gardening Bed

Bruce Rioja · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:24 am

thebish wrote:

The Axman wrote:

Is the stick sticky? Are the leaves at the top of the stick sticky?

looks to me like the sticky thing with leaves on is the main plant around which some bulbs have been planted for spring interest..

it looks like it has a plastic label with its name... what does that say Bruce - it might be your answer! :wink:

It said 'stick with leaves at the top - leafium stickius'

thebish · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:25 am

Bruce Rioja wrote:

thebish wrote:

The Axman wrote:

Is the stick sticky? Are the leaves at the top of the stick sticky?

looks to me like the sticky thing with leaves on is the main plant around which some bulbs have been planted for spring interest..

it looks like it has a plastic label with its name... what does that say Bruce - it might be your answer! :wink:

It said 'stick with leaves at the top - leafium stickius'

mystery solved!!

The Axman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:32 am

Your leafium stickius looks like a baby hydrangea to me.

Bruce Rioja · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:43 pm

The Axman wrote:

Your leafium stickius looks like a baby hydrangea to me.

Is it?

It's got its bloody work cut out then!

The Axman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:54 pm

Bruce Rioja wrote:

The Axman wrote:

Your leafium stickius looks like a baby hydrangea to me.

Is it?

It's got its bloody work cut out then!

Y'see if your camera work was up to the standard expected on Nature Docs these days, I'd just zap it into my WhatTheFeckIsThisPlant app and the answer'd be there in nanoseconds. But as they say in showbiz it's hard work with amateurs, animals and children.

Bruce Rioja · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:59 pm

The Axman wrote:

Bruce Rioja wrote:

The Axman wrote:

Your leafium stickius looks like a baby hydrangea to me.

Is it?

It's got its bloody work cut out then!

Y'see if your camera work was up to the standard expected on Nature Docs these days, I'd just zap it into my WhatTheFeckIsThisPlant app and the answer'd be there in nanoseconds. But as they say in showbiz it's hard work with amateurs, animals and children.

And if your botany was up to speed, you'd know anyway

The Axman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:07 pm

You accusing me of not knowing my asparagus from my elm trees!

Unfortunately, I'm one of these amateur gardener-types that can identify anything I've ever grown (if it's in full bloom and in front of my eyes) but have difficulty differentiating between other people's small green shoots on the ends of twiggy sticks (especially from photos).
Actually on second looks it might be a leafium stickius in it's terminal tertiary phase. Have you been bathing it in WD40 by any chance?

2399 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:16 pm

We got a Vegie patch growing.

Today made more room for it.

I pulled weeds / grass out for a few minutes until I saw a spider.

The Axman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:21 pm

Stink bugs! Spiders! Gardenening Down Under appears to be more dangerous than a lightly armed patrol around the local opium collective up the Khyber.

Bruce Rioja · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:47 pm

The Axman wrote:

You accusing me of not knowing my asparagus from my elm trees!

Unfortunately, I'm one of these amateur gardener-types that can identify anything I've ever grown (if it's in full bloom and in front of my eyes) but have difficulty differentiating between other people's small green shoots on the ends of twiggy sticks (especially from photos).
Actually on second looks it might be a leafium stickius in it's terminal tertiary phase. Have you been bathing it in WD40 by any chance?

I'm not. Love nice gardens - hate gardening. The woman I bought the house off of was/is a massive gardening enthusiast and had stocked them with various plants, flowers, trees, bushes and what have you so that for nine months of the year there are always various things flowering. I don't know what any of them are, except now, Grape Hyacinths and Hydrangeas

but they look pretty awesome, so I pay a guy that knows what he's doing to keep it all that way. He's actually been today and I can't find the WD. Hmmmm

Hoboh · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:24 pm

Bruce Rioja wrote:

The Axman wrote:

You accusing me of not knowing my asparagus from my elm trees!

Unfortunately, I'm one of these amateur gardener-types that can identify anything I've ever grown (if it's in full bloom and in front of my eyes) but have difficulty differentiating between other people's small green shoots on the ends of twiggy sticks (especially from photos).
Actually on second looks it might be a leafium stickius in it's terminal tertiary phase. Have you been bathing it in WD40 by any chance?

I'm not. Love nice gardens - hate gardening. The woman I bought the house off of was/is a massive gardening enthusiast and had stocked them with various plants, flowers, trees, bushes and what have you so that for nine months of the year there are always various things flowering. I don't know what any of them are, except now, Grape Hyacinths and Hydrangeas

but they look pretty awesome, so I pay a guy that knows what he's doing to keep it all that way. He's actually been today and I can't find the WD. Hmmmm

Kin ell he's quick Bruce or you pay well, Megson must have only just cleared his desk!

The Axman · **Posted:** Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:43 pm

Off home early tonight, I've got 300 spring onions to plant out.

thebish · **Posted:** Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:51 pm

The Axman wrote:

Off home early tonight, I've got 300 spring onions to plant out.

300?? blimey man - that's a lot of spring onions!! are you starting a market garden??

Dujon · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:17 am

All at once, Axman? Mind you, 300 spring onions don't take up much space and, depending on your requirements, may need thinning.

Given that, assuming two spring onions per serve, gives only 150 meals and accepting the fact that spring onions are used in everything from salads to stews to part of the vegetables accompanying most meats that's not a lot of meals - even for empty-nesters such as me. Add a couple of other hungry mouths and the supply contracts to about a month's worth.

I don't know whether or not it's necessary but my wife always puts the spring onions we buy into the refrigerator. Perhaps they're not as fresh as the greengrocer claims as it takes but 10 days or so before they become slimy and messy to handle (although it doesn't reduce their taste or edibility as it's only the outer sheath that suffers.)

Anyway, Axman, good gardening - may the pests ignore your plot.

malcd1 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:35 am

My tip to produce a fantastic compost if you don't want the hassle of a compost heap is - Leaf mould. The easiest way to produce a lovely soil conditioner.

In Autumn when you collect the leaves from your garden: place in black bin bags, sprinkle water on them, tie the top and make small holes at the bottom and sides. Leave round the back of your shed or down the side of your house for a a couple of years. Hey presto.

Leaf mould is great way of improving your soil. It improves the quality, cuts down on watering as it retains moisture and is free (and easy). This soft lovely compost is great for sowing seeds or as a base for your own peat-free compost.

PS Don't use evergreen leaves such as holly or laurel.

thebish · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:40 am

malcd1 wrote:

My tip to produce a fantastic compost if you don't want the hassle of a compost heap is - Leaf mould. The easiest way to produce a lovely soil conditioner.

In Autumn when you collect the leaves from your garden: place in black bin bags, sprinkle water on them, tie the top and make small holes at the bottom and sides. Leave round the back of your shed or down the side of your house for a a couple of years. Hey presto.

Leaf mould is great way of improving your soil. It improves the quality, cuts down on watering as it retains moisture and is free (and easy). This soft lovely compost is great for sowing seeds or as a base for your own peat-free compost.

PS Don't use evergreen leaves such as holly or laurel.

indeed!! round here the council sweep the street-leaves into huge piles then bag them up and leave them on the corner for the lorry to collect... I have been known to make off with a few bags before the lorry arrives! Leaf mould without the accompanying raking and bagging effort!

malcd1 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:48 am

thebish wrote:

malcd1 wrote:

My tip to produce a fantastic compost if you don't want the hassle of a compost heap is - Leaf mould. The easiest way to produce a lovely soil conditioner.

In Autumn when you collect the leaves from your garden: place in black bin bags, sprinkle water on them, tie the top and make small holes at the bottom and sides. Leave round the back of your shed or down the side of your house for a a couple of years. Hey presto.

Leaf mould is great way of improving your soil. It improves the quality, cuts down on watering as it retains moisture and is free (and easy). This soft lovely compost is great for sowing seeds or as a base for your own peat-free compost.

PS Don't use evergreen leaves such as holly or laurel.

indeed!! round here the council sweep the street-leaves into huge piles then bag them up and leave them on the corner for the lorry to collect... I have been known to make off with a few bags before the lorry arrives! Leaf mould without the accompanying raking and bagging effort!

theBish

Can you get arrested for that?

thebish · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:03 am

malcd1 wrote:

thebish wrote:

malcd1 wrote:

My tip to produce a fantastic compost if you don't want the hassle of a compost heap is - Leaf mould. The easiest way to produce a lovely soil conditioner.

In Autumn when you collect the leaves from your garden: place in black bin bags, sprinkle water on them, tie the top and make small holes at the bottom and sides. Leave round the back of your shed or down the side of your house for a a couple of years. Hey presto.

Leaf mould is great way of improving your soil. It improves the quality, cuts down on watering as it retains moisture and is free (and easy). This soft lovely compost is great for sowing seeds or as a base for your own peat-free compost.

PS Don't use evergreen leaves such as holly or laurel.

indeed!! round here the council sweep the street-leaves into huge piles then bag them up and leave them on the corner for the lorry to collect... I have been known to make off with a few bags before the lorry arrives! Leaf mould without the accompanying raking and bagging effort!

theBish

Can you get arrested for that?

I dunno! I always do it after dark!! :wink:

David Lee's Hair · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:10 am

Bought a lawnmower this weekend, first one ever, I feel like a real man at long last... Plan for this weekend, is to get to work on the garden of the new house.

Last weekend sowed my seeds for my herb garden, depending how far I get this weekend with the garden I am looking at starting the cabbage, onions and carrots in the alotted veggie corner.

The misses planted her pinks and sweet peas... not happy as I do not believe either of those are edible.

The Axman · **Posted:** Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:08 pm

Been busy. I actually dig in leaf mould into my veggie bins. But to go back to the spring onions. Yes I always plant out the lot in one go, usually late Feb-mid March (depending on how harsh the winters are) I stick in 300 of the little blighters. I find I get a crop of about 25 a week from the end of July to the end of September. The July ones are sometimes a little small, and the September ones can be quite large for spring onions, but I like 'em big. I use at least two in the average cheese sandwich and my missus bases all her salads around the spring onions, radishes and lettuces we grow.
Did one year lose the entire spring onion crop to some horrible worm - like tiny tiny black maggots, they ate into the bulbs out of sight and it was only when all the tops wilted that I realised anything was wrong, but that was the last crop in the house before this one (2001) and I've not had another disaster like that.

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