Bedding Plants

This is the first year ever that I have bought bedding plants

The garage wall has had a thick coat of white emulsion painted onto it this week.  I generally shy away from painting bare concrete as it will always need repainting, generally sooner rather than you would like.  It’s amazing how much light the newly painted wall throws back into the living room, so for now I am very happy with the result. 

It’s a big wall though and very white, so I thought it needed a few contrasting colours to break up the monotone.  The easiest and most effective solution for this is to do something I have never done before and that is to go out and buy annual bedding plants and hang them in baskets on the wall.  I usually grow annuals myself (some people might even remember when I had the small nursery at the bottom of the hill in Clonbeg, Buncrana). 

As I have no protective tunnel or greenhouse and there is only a certain amount of young seedlings you can get to grow under a clear plastic bag on the windowsill I paid a visit to the Sow and Grow garden centre based at Gransha hospital in Derry to see what was on offer this year. There was a great selection of annual plants and after my initial resistance at the price tags I decided to take the plunge and see what I could get with my very limited budget.  It wasn’t long before I spent up.  I came away with a 6 pack of petunias, 4 trailing surfinias, pansies, trailing geraniums, 5 other trailing half hardy plants whose names escape me being out of practice growing these types of plants. I also did an impulse buy of 5 types of herbs and 2 lavenders for a new herb bed.

I had already bought three small semi circular planters made from woven hazel and thought these would look well on the wall. All it took was to drill three holes in the block wall and put in some screws to hold the planters in place.  I also had three window boxes to fill with plants.

Cramming them in

When I was growing annual bedding for myself, or for sale, I tended to cram as many plants into the containers as possible. This wasn’t a good idea in hindsight as there isn’t much room for root growth in most containers.  As these plants have cost me a lot of money I am only putting two plants into the baskets and about five plants in the window boxes. I have also used up the remaining water absorbing crystals I bought for my moss graffiti experiments in the potting compost mix. Then I added a bit of normal soil for weight and some blood fish and bone fertiliser which was the only organic fertilizer I could find in the shops. 

Hanging the baskets and putting the containers near the white wall have instantly improved the area and for the first time in my growing career I can see the benefits of showy annual plants, and that’s before they grow to full size.  Let’s just hope that I remember to water them regularly and also to keep the dogs from sitting on the window boxes.

Eaten Sunflowers

We have planted some young sunflower plants in the garden to cover up a bit more concrete block and had to take some extremely inventive methods to keep the dogs from trampling them. Initially I pushed a few sticks into the ground next to the plants but the dogs decided they could be used as posts to weave in and out of. They will be pestering me to go on talent shows next.  I have added more and more sticks around the plants to stop them being ruined, so many that it looks like I have been creating wildlife habitats for hibernating hedgehogs.  I’m sure the sunflowers will grow quickly and be safe in no time. I did have a bit of a mystery with the sunflower leaves being eaten, nothing to do with the dogs this time.  I initially thought it was slugs, but couldn’t find any sign of them breaking past the slug deterrents I have laid out.  I think the problem is pigeons.  I know pigeons have a taste for young cabbages and can strip a whole row in next to no time. There are ways to keep pigeons off plants. Netting works as does putting old CD’s on strings. I’ll leave it for a while as I think the plants have enough cluttering their growth already and any hungry pigeons will have to join the dogs weaving in and out of the sticks.

Competition Results

I will be announcing the lucky winner of the Garden Matters Poetry Competition next week after Gareth Austin has read through them all and decided on his favourite. Thanks for your entries.

Container Towers

 Thanks to the wonders of Photoshop I have transported myself to Willem Van Cotthem's bottle tower garden!

I found some carrot seeds in the kitchen drawer just now so am out in the garden planting them into a large pot. It’s not a difficult task as these seeds come implanted onto a roll of tissue like paper like toilet roll and all I am doing is unrolling it onto the soil.  Job done and there’s another container for the dogs to dig into. There seems to be quite choices with seeds stuck to tissue, especially small vegetable seeds that require spacing. These packs cost more but I suppose there’s less wastage as they don’t need to be thinned out after a few weeks.  I’ll watch with interest but I’m not holding out for a bumper crop as the seeds have probably been in the drawer for three years and are probably a bit past their best. 

Even Easier

This isn’t the easiest way to plant things by any means.  I spotted a company called Grobox the other day who sell boxes pre sown with seed.  All the time strapped gardener has to do is take off the lid and splash the soil with a drop of water then sit back and wait for the display.  We can choose from a mixed vegetable box which includes French Beans, Runner Beans, Peas, Spinach, Beetroot, Tomatoes, Lettuce and Spring Cabbage or a herb box containing Chives, Mint, Parsley, Oregano and Thyme.  Which is pretty impressive stuff considering the boxes are only about 60cm by 30cm in size. After the plants have grown Grobox advise planting the box into the ground. Grobox also have a roll out lawn called the Gromat, the large one measuring about 30cm by  270cm and contains approximately 60,000 luxury grass seeds.  The growing membrane ensures the seeds are evenly spread, won't wash away or be eaten by birds. After parting with 10 euro to buy the mat just water it and watch it grow, there’s also a 3x0.5 metre mat filled with wild flowers for 14 euro.

CONTAINER TOWERS

I came across a great idea for using old plastic bottles this week that would be great for anyone with a courtyard garden or limited space who wants to grow flowers or vegetables.  The idea is also perfect for conserving water.  Willem Van Cotthem, Honorary Professor of Botany, University of Ghent (Belgium)  and Gilbert VAN DAMME (Zaffelare, Belgium) have come up with some really interesting ‘recycling in the garden’ ideas mainly using plastic bottles, pots and buckets.

This idea is for a tower of 5 bottles and also a watering system on the top.  You could go a lot higher with more bottles, it just depends how securely they are fastened to a fence

• For this example of a stack of 5 we start off with one bottle upturned and with the lid still attached.  Cut the bottom off and make some drainage holes perforated at 2-4" (5-10 cm) from the top of the lid.
• Fill the bottle with potting compost and leave a gap of about 3 cm at the top for the next bottle to fit onto. Fit the upturned bottle securely onto a wire fence, trellis or similar.
• For the next 3 bottles (No. 2, 3 and 4, without the 2 drainage holes) take the lid off and cut the bottom part off. After filling the 3 bottles (No. 2, 3 and 4) with potting soil, stack them on the bottom bottle of the tower. Wire the bottles to the fence and secure.

Watering system.

Cut another bottle in half, take off the lid and invert into the top of the tower securing it into the compost.  This will be the funnel for the water.

Cut the bottom from another bottle and leave the lid on.  Make a small hole (1-2 mm) in the lid to allow water to drip out really slowly into the compost.  This is a really effective way of both watering and saving water as nothing is wasted; even the surplus water that comes from the drainage holes at the base can be reused. Adding a handful of sharp sand into the water bottle also helps to filter out any impurities.

Planting pockets

To make planting pockets for young plants use a sharp knife in each bottle to create a ‘flap’. This is achieved by cutting through three sides of a square but leaving the bottom line uncut. Fold this plastic flap down to reveal the soil where the plant can be pushed into.  You can cut these in any place but not too many as it could weaken the structure.

There is no end to the inventiveness of things to do with old plastic bottles.  I have also seen greenhouses and boats build out of them.  There is also an island in Mexico made from 250,000 of them.

 Check out Willem's Facebook page, Twitter Account and also his Container Gardening Blog

Harlequin Ladybirds

The Harlequin ladybird spotted in my sister in laws garden last week

My brother has been busy tracking down our family tree.  It’s something that I have been interested in doing for a long time but I have always got distracted after a couple of minutes and generations.  What he has unveiled, mainly down to new websites that have centuries of information stored,  makes for a fascinating read and the further back he goes, the more interesting it gets.  I did know that somewhere along the line we had a French Countess and a few Yorkshire mill owners and also knew that any wealth accumulated by them had been watered down and dispersed amongst ancestors.  One notable relation retired at 21 because he went bald (then won the crufts with his own breed of whippets before retiring to Switzerland to take in the air) and  also a great-great grandmother who decided to live in a penthouse apartment in a seaside hotel for over 30 years, again to take in the fresh air.  

So far the search has revealed connections to Norman invaders to the Franks, Charlemagne, the King of the Germans, Saxons, Romans and finally to pre Romans in Asia Minor (Turkey). So I have French, Italian, Nordic, German ancestors and one line goes back to 60BC.  The research highlights how we humans move around the planet constantly. I’m keeping the tradition going by moving house more than 30 times over the years.

It’s not only humans

It’s not only people that are always on the move.  If you look at the plant world there are a lot of different species that grow happily here from other climates.  It’s not always a perfect match though as the Australians can prove with their rabbit and bitou weed problem, both were introduced to combat other problems and become ones themselves. I can’t actually think of one example of a plant or insect introduced into an ecosystem to eradicate another problem working over the longterm. The latest failure in this regard brought to my attention last week appears to be the Harlequin Ladybird that was introduced as a predator to get rid of greenfly.  So far the problem has avoided most of Ireland but now Belfast, Dublin and Cork have had sightings of this predator that not only kills greenfly, but other ladybirds too.  A single female can lay over a thousand eggs so their spreading fast.

Origins

The harlequin ladybird is a native of eastern Asia and has been introduced into many countries as a biological control agent against aphid and scale infestations in greenhouses, crops and gardens. Populations have now established in North America, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland, Greece and Egypt, UK and now Ireland. 

Arrival in the UK and Ireland

The harlequin ladybird arrived in Britain in 2004 probably by a variety of routes. Some have probably flown across the channel, others have been found on flowers imported from Europe, and in packing cases from Canada.

Habitat range

The ladybirds have strong dispersal capabilities and can be found in many places. Most commonly found on deciduous trees, such as lime, sycamore and maple, and on low growing plants such as nettles. Will also inhabit reedbeds, coniferous woodland and crop systems.

Feeding

Harlequin ladybirds feed most commonly on aphids, but have a wide food range, also feeding on scale insects, adelgids, the eggs and larvae of butterflies and moths, many other small insects, including other ladybirds, pollen, nectar, and sugary fluids, including honeydew and the juice from ripe fruits.

Problems

Threat to wildlife -

• Harlequin ladybirds can seriously affect native ladybird species
• Harlequin ladybirds are very effective aphid predators and have a wider food range and habitat than most other aphid predators (such as the 7-spot ladybird) and so easily out-compete them.
• Harlequin ladybirds do not have a requirement for a dormant period before they can reproduce, as some ladybirds have (e.g. 7-spot and eyed ladybirds), and so have a longer reproductive period than most other species.
• When aphids are scarce, harlequin ladybirds consume other prey including ladybird eggs, larvae and pupae, butterfly and moth eggs and caterpillars.
• Harlequin ladybirds can disperse rapidly over long distances and so have the potential for rapid geographic expansion.

Identifying Harlequin ladybirds

The problem of the Harlequin ladybird hasn’t been highlighted much in Ireland so that might be why there are not many sightings, that and the fact that the ladybirds look very similar to the ones we normally see.  There is a chart on the harlequin-survey.org website showing the differences between the two species.  You can see on my image of one frolicking in my sister in laws garden that some types are very easy to identify.

If you do spot one in the garden please report it to the harlequin-survey.org website where they have a form to fill in that updates the sightings map on the website. Alternatively let me know and I will pass the information on.

Green Gungy Stuff

Green Gungy Graffiti

I decided to make some of the moss graffiti paste this week.  I did two lots, one made with buttermilk, moss and water retaining gel and the other one I substituted the buttermilk with a fine can of ale that I bought from the local off licence. The kitchen looked a bit of a gungy mess when I had finished as I seriously underestimated the sheer size of the retaining gel when it has absorbed the water

In the blender.  If you have ever seen a nappy when it is full this will give you an idea how much it can grow when wet, our cakes might have a green hue in them for a while.  I have three large containers of the slime in the fridge now and after drawing a couple of things on our shed wall I have run out of ideas where to put the remainder of the mix.  The main reason for this is the realisation that after the initial image gets established, the moss will just keep on growing until it has covered everything around it, especially if it on a sheltered north facing wall.  I need to handle it with care, or throw it into the compost bin, which is the most likely place for it to end up as mould seems to be pushing the lids off the containers.

Manure

Having moved house recently we needed to find a new source of good quality well rotted horse manure for the garden.  This we have done this week and I must say it’s the best I have ever collected.  It’s fine, like compost and full of earthworms.  We took advantage of the dry weather and collected as much as the car suspension would allow putting it into old coal bags which are now happily waiting to be dug in or added to the top of the soil as mulch.  I have sectioned off a bit of the garden with chicken wire to keep the dogs off so we can hopefully start very soon putting up the small vegetable plants that are growing quickly at the moment. The slower growing plants that will be in the ground for a long time like purple sprouting broccoli, these need to go in very soon as do the courgettes. The courgettes seem to be very slow in starting this year, they should pick up soon though as the soil is very warm.  There isn’t as much urgency with successive sowing vegetables like peas, beans and salad crops as these will shoot up really quickly.  We’re not putting ourselves under any pressure to get growing this year though as we actually thought that we wouldn’t have time to grow anything in the ground until next year, so even if we get a tiny amount of produce we will be very happy. 

WIN 2 GREAT GARDENING BOOKS IN THE POETRY COMPETITION

There have been some great poems sent into us already but keep the great poems coming to be in with a chance of winning the two great gardening books I have to give away to the lucky winner.   The first book by Klaus Laitenberger titled ‘Vegetables for the Polytunnel and Greenhouse’ tells you everything you need to know about growing your own vegetables, care, planting, weed control and more.  The second book written by myself is an 80 page manual all about making your own raised beds with lots of pictures.  Titled ‘Raised Beds for the Organic Garden’ is available as an e-book, so you will need a computer, Kindle or similar.

How to Enter

All you have to do is be creative and write a poem with a garden related theme. The poem can be about your favourite plant, season, environment, composting, digging, tools, vegetables, weeding, fruit, slugs and snails, in fact anything gardening related. 

Judging

The poems will be read and judged by Gareth Austin from Newtowncunningham who is the resident expert gardener on the Mark Patterson show on radio Foyle.

When you have penned your poem please send it to me at info@gardening.ie   or drop it into the Inishowen Independent office. 

There will also be a few of my e-books offered to the runners up.  The closing date is Friday 15^th of June so you have just one week to send in your finished poem. The winner and a few runners up will have their masterpieces published here in the coming weeks.  Good luck and have fun!

Inishowen Independent Gardening Competition

WIN 2 GREAT GARDENING BOOKS.

As a celebration of the fabulous summer we are having I would like to give everyone a chance to win 2 fabulous gardening books.  The first book by Klaus Laitenberger titled ‘Vegetables for the Polytunnel and Greenhouse’ tells you everything you need to know about growing your own vegetables, care, planting, weed control and more.  The second book written by myself is an 80 page manual all about making your own raised beds with lots of pictures.  Titled ‘Raised Beds for the Organic Garden’ is available as an e-book, so you will need a computer, Kindle or similar.

How to Enter

All you have to do is be creative and write a poem with a garden related theme. The poem can be about your favourite plant, season, environment, composting, digging, tools, vegetables, weeding, fruit, slugs and snails, in fact anything gardening related. 

Here is a poem to get you in the mood, written by landscape architect Jane Garrison. Her own experiences of gardening seem to be a bit on the challenging side to say the least!  Sing it to the ‘Clementine’ tune.

Oh My Garden

Oh my garden. My poor garden

I can see the moles and slugs.

But here's the full meal deal.

It must have disease and bugs.

Black and sticky. Oh how icky

on all my evergreens.

Sooty mould needs a washing

to avoid this nasty scene.

Lightly stippled. Not a good thing.

It's the teeny spider mite.

Nice to have the pretty lacewing

who loves the mite to bite.

Stunted new growth puckers leaves.

Scale, aphids and white flies.

Spray with water, just plain water,

and only good bugs will survive.

Pale foliage, tan and grey

with deformed buds and tips.

Looks like seersucker pucker.

And I've got a bunch of thrips.

Brown splotches on my dogwoods.

show up late in the spring.

A big dose of anthracnose

will make me do some pruning.

Brown and black spots, even scabs

and shot holes on my trees.

It is a Dalmatian sensation.

And it winters in rotting debris.

Tiny bites from sides of leaves.

There are many, many notches.

Root weevils got my rhodies.

Must now do night watches.

They say a blast of plain water

will wash away the goo.

Oh my goodness. What is that stuff?

Rusty pustules give me pains.

Rust is fungus that lives among us,

because here it always rains.

Plants are floppy, really droopy.

What are they trying to prove

Is it too dry, wet or shady.

I guess they will have to move.

Rotten buds and stunted growth now.

I think I am near the end.

The plants have root rot.

My song is over.

I will need to make amends.

Judging

The poems will be read and judged by Gareth Austin from Newtowncunningham who is the resident expert gardener on the Mark Patterson show on radio Foyle.

When you have penned your poem please send it to me at info@gardening.ie  or drop a copy into the Inishowen Independent office.

There will also be a few of my e-books offered to the runners up.  The closing date is Friday 15^th of June so you have 2 weeks to send in your poem..