Beginners: Sow something easy from seed now!

[Mrs Magpie]

My folks said Clematis Wilt.

The advice is to always plant Clematis deeper than in the pot you bought it in......

 

[Bernie Gunther]

I told you they were demonic

 

[ernestolynch]

The advice is to always plant Clematis deeper than in the pot you bought it in......

I'll re-pot tomorrow then.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Look at the soil line from the pot and do it 3 inches deeper.

 

[ernestolynch]

Look at the soil line from the pot and do it 3 inches deeper.

Will do, cheers.
If I can find the camera->pc lead I'll get some pics up soon.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

My plan vis a vis the snails is to employ a thrush. Our blackbird does lots of slugs in pretty effectively (although this seems to involve flinging mulch all over the lawn, we love him for his songs and clean his messes up after him)

He doesn't do snails though, so I'm planning to lay a stone path over the far side of the garden and have already planted various berried bushes there (hawthorne, berberis darwinii, viburnum opulus and of course some more old roses). I'm hoping that a thrush can be persuaded to smash the little buggers to death.

 

[ernestolynch]

I want to farm my snails for eatin'.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Blackbirds do it too, not widely reported (Thrushes always get the credit no wonder their latin name is Turdus).

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Well, if you want lots of snails, get some big sheets of rusty rebar, turn them into a stalag-14 style fence and grow ivy up it. Then you'll get lots of snails.

I know I did

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I want to farm my snails for eatin'.

Just purge them on herbs, and they'll be fine, although the best species for eating are Roman snails, which are mostly around the Forest of Dean and may well be a protected species.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Blackbirds do it too, not widely reported (Thrushes always get the credit no wonder their latin name is Turdus).

Interesting. Well, we've certainly got a blackbird (his girlfriend should be showing up soon to assist) so if he wants the job, he's got it

Obviously we also do the torch and bucket thing, but my wife is squeamish and I tend to be away a lot, so some help from our feathered friends is good.

 

[sovietpop]

Another big plant that takes a bit of growing but is easy to germ is this one.

Echium pininana
Family: Boraginaceae (Half-hardy biennial) A magnificent plant, giant spikes up to 12 ft high packed with funnel shaped bright blue flowers, rise on stout stems from a rosette of lance shaped,rough, silvery green leaves.
They are really nice plants when mature.

I'd recommend this plant too. It's a fun loving plant. If you are looking for a bit of craic in your garden, this is the one for you. At this time of the year we can practically see ours grow in front of our eyes.


(we grew it from a seedling)

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Well, I have done Clematis in a very large pot on a tower block balcony but it wasn't a resounding success....even a large pot needs watering twice a day in the height of summer.

Of course that was in the days when automatic watering systems were beyond the reach of most....give it a go ern......you could even rig it up to water via a computer....

 

[davgraham]

Interesting. Well, we've certainly got a blackbird (his girlfriend should be showing up soon to assist) so if he wants the job, he's got it

Obviously we also do the torch and bucket thing, but my wife is squeamish and I tend to be away a lot, so some help from our feathered friends is good.

On our allotment site we have a pond so fairly soon we'll have frogs and the like to take care of slugs and so on. I makes me very careful with the strimmer.

Gra

 

[Cakes]

What's the best way to kill slungs n snails? I share my plot with a hippy who won't let me use pellets, so what we have in place is sharp sand, frogs, slow worms and I secretly drown them too. Have a friend who carries a knife and just slashes them whenever she finds them. Is there a better way?

 

[Funky_monks]

Plastic pitfall traps filled with cheap beer seem to do for 'em okay. A really fun way to get rid of them is to keep ducks and fold them onto your veggies (I concede that this option is not for everyone).

 

[Chuck Wilson]

What's the best way to kill slungs n snails? I share my plot with a hippy who won't let me use pellets, so what we have in place is sharp sand, frogs, slow worms and I secretly drown them too. Have a friend who carries a knife and just slashes them whenever she finds them. Is there a better way?

Stab the hippy?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

The real reason I got Rambling Rector is that I want an ecumenical fellowship with Clematis 'Polish Spirit'...all that white with deep purple...it'll be like a clash between a Lent Mass and an Easter Service.......

That corner of the garden is just getting more 'Bells & Smells' High Church by the day...I just bought a Tree Paeony 'Cardinal Vaughan' from Kelways.

 

[_pH_]

Just how difficult are daphnes? I've always fancied them, but thought I'd leave it until I had a bit more experience, having heard they were tricky ...

Not too bad to grow once established, but a bugger to propagate, therefore very expensive. Expect to pay at least £15.00 for anything of a decent size (i.e., 12" tall)

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Pshaw! I've got a two foot high Daphne off Brian Hiley for less than a tenner.....

 

[Mrs Magpie]

He does all the Horticultural Shows for these people...

http://www.trevenacross.co.uk/theplants.asp

 

[Mrs Magpie]

A plant I grew from seed this year that is fabulous is Papaver somniferum 'Flemish Antique', which I got from Chiltern Seeds. The blooms are really long-lasting which is not normally a feature of poppies...I can't find a pic that does it justice, but this is the closest. Bees love it too.

 

[mrskp]

I had great success last year with Morning Glory -- it really is idiot-proof!

i bought 20 Morning Glory seeds off a very nice girl from ebay. Only 3 have managed the first hurdle and poked their wee heads through so perhaps i'm not a complete idiot.

 

[madzone]

I've never understood the morning glory thing, to me it's just blue bindweed

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Except it dies when the first frosts come.

 

[madzone]

But it still looks like blue bindweed (to me anwyay)

 

[Jangla]

Planted 6 seeds a few weeks ago and now have my first shoot of one of these:

gonna do bonsai

 

[mrskp]

I've never understood the morning glory thing, to me it's just blue bindweed

atm ANYTHING that survives is a treasure to me.

but after a few hours of pricking out and potting up has taught me that ready grown plants might be the way forward.

if my snapdragons work, i might feel differently.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Forgot to mention, Clarkia is great. Just toss seed around in gaps that need filling in late March and bingo! It looks great with Opium poppies. Real cottage garden stuff.....