Lust for Rust

Lust for Rust

I’m checking the prices of scrap metal on a daily basis. I like to know that all of the rusty metal containers I have collected to put plants in are increasing in value.

They are not.

The price of recycling metal is actually more than it costs to mine the bare materials from the ground and make new. For that reason at least I am stuck with a lot of rusty old tat that I think would look great planted up with geraniums (they do!) For the foreseeable future I can see old metal items such as fridges, washing machines and cars to be sat at the side of country roads for a while until the prices of metal go up and it begins to be worthwhile someone going to collect them and sell the scrap.

My garden resembles a scrap yard as I have accumulated quite a lot of items over the last few weeks. My favourites which I have mentioned are the stained glass windows, but I now have a rather large Victorian Hip bath, a set of cast iron scales, old pub signs, industrial steel extractor fans and masses of galvanized wire mesh shelving which can either house potted plants or loaded with soil and planted up. The options are many, I have tried to get the shelving into the house and use in the bathroom but for some reason the rest of the family keep saying that the rusty edges are a tetanus risk. So for now they stay outside.

So you fancy collecting Junk to grow plants in?

I felt compelled then this week to come up with a list of 5 ideas (and reasons) for why having old rusty features in the garden are great.

1) Look for finishes with character

If you find an item is already rusty and the paint is chipped, you don’t have to worry about protecting it from the elements. Also, if the finish is too polished, just leave it outside.  A couple of seasons in the weather will give it the look you’d like. The older and more worn the better

2) Safety First

Beware of sharp-edged and rusty metal pieces. Wear gloves when handling rusty containers and old glass windows and doors. Seal old painted surfaces on any pieces you think might contain lead with clear varnish or remove the old paint completely. Maybe this type of item isn’t the best if you have youngsters.

3) See the Neighbours

Tell your friends and understanding neighbours that you  have a passion for garden junk. It’s amazing what will show up on your doorstep. (Not the friends and neighbours in my case as they tend to keep away now…)

4) Provide year-round focal points and vignettes

Create an outdoor scene for when the weather turns cold, rainy and even snowy. Set a colourful table outside a window and lay a centerpiece that’s weather proof and cheery. I used old golf hole markers and rusty pressure dials from oil tanks.

Experiment with putting different objects and flower pots together. Change things around until you find a little scene, or vignette, that you love!  Galvanised metal containers look good, the older the better. If you have an old bucket with a hole in then that’s ideal for drainage.

5) Go for Colour

Use your favourite colour combination in the garden displays, everything doesn’t have to be rusty brown. I have some great metal car parts that still have some of the original bright blue paint on and it contrasts really well with the rust. 

Pick items in eye-catching colours and interesting shapes that will create visual interest in the garden long after plants have withered. Primary colours work well and natural plant pot colours combined with the existing colours in the garden.

Find fun, inspiration colours of your own, by deciding what in your house or garden you absolutely love colour wise. There’s no reason why you should have to throw anything out into the rubbish bin again. I’m going to use any electrical item that packs in from now on. The kettle can house some cacti, the microwave can be turned sideways with the door open and use as a propagator. I might even try and get a rusty old car or two around the back and put some chickens in there. I’m not sure many of you will be convinced but until the price of metal increases we will be seeing more old metal laying around so might as well plant it up!

Soil Web

I’ve actually planted some seeds this week. I initially thought I was running late but the two nights after I put them in there was a frost!  Luckily I put them in the tunnel under bubble wrap so they are all coming along nicely.  My feeling of being late with the packets was also quashed by the fact that half of them said “Sow mid to late April” Klaus (Laitenberger) has his own packets and they are specifically geared for our climate. So on the back of a large companies seeds the instructions might suggest planting in February but Klaus will delay that for at least a month, maybe longer. Suits me.

Putting the seeds in modules has also highlighted the fact that a lot of the beds out in the veggie patch aren’t ready. I have gone over a few of them in last weeks dry spell and removed a lot of the perennial weeds. I am getting a lot of reeds coming up, they must be seeding from somewhere and it’s usually a sign of wet ground so I might have to add more organic material this year to build the beds up and improve the drainage. I think that in hindsight I damaged the structure of the soil when I first prepared the beds three years ago and it’s taking a while to get them back into a productive state. Soil is a complete eco system or “Web” and I went in with a sieve to take out all of the couch grass and stones and in doing so I broke down a very sensitive web.

Building fertile soil

Feeding the soil actually feed the plants. It’s a basic rule and far more effective than trying to just feed the plants themselves with a chemical feed. That’s why it’s important to spend time building up and more importantly not damaging the delicate structure of the soil.

Healthy soil needs to be teeming with earthworms, mites, bacteria, fungi — all kinds of mostly microscopic, interdependent organisms that release mineral nutrients and create the loose soil structure crops need to thrive. 

This complex, mostly invisible soil ecosystem can be damaged easily. Chemical fertilizers, dehydrated chicken manure or high-nitrogen blood meal can burn tender root hairs, and tilling or ploughing destroys soil texture, disturbing the layered web.

No Dig

To avoid soil damage this year I am not digging compost, grass clippings, leaves and other organic mulches will be added on a regular basis to promote and sustain this soil food web.

Tip

Keep the soil covered with live crops or, at minimum, organic mulch, preferably one that your dog wont eat. Whenever you are not growing a food crop, sow a cover crop such as clover of other nitrogen fixers so the carbohydrate pipeline isn't shut off.

Permanent Garden Beds

When I dug and sieved the ground, surface-layer organisms were buried, threads of beneficial fungi were broken and earthworm tunnels are destroyed.

Too much digging could also introduce excess oxygen that causes organic matter to decay too fast, and tilling causes plants to give off more carbon dioxide, contributing to global climate change.

Good Soil

Good garden soil should be about half porous space occupied by air and water. Compacted soil, created by rainfall on bare ground and the use of heavy equipment or repeated walking upon the ground, has much less space for air and water. That's a recipe for crop failure.

Tips

Avoid walking on the soil in the beds, or disturbing it or any plant roots in other ways. The roots left in the ground are food and shelter for microbes and earthworms. To incorporate compost into the soil, this just needs to be spread across the surface with a rake and covered with mulch. The worms will move the compost into the soil.

Once a permanent bed is established, feed the soil food web to manage a healthy microbial ecosystem in a home garden is to routinely apply organic material such as compost to the top of the soil. Gauging the amount needed by what has disappeared from the soil during the previous season. Generally, adding one-half inch to 1 inch (2.5cm) of compost every spring will be plenty. 

Hide them all

It’s really tempting to just dig the soil over to hide all of the weeds.  Perennials still come back. Digging over will kill nearly all of the annuals though but in turn it uncovers a load more seeds that were too deep in the ground to germinate. I’m taking a very laid back approach this year and just hoeing the tops of the annuals and let nature do the rest. I’m not even going to be fanatical about clearing the corners of the garden.  Realising the whole garden is one big ecosystem with  the “web” running through it, I am just going to let some areas just do their own thing. I realise I can’t control everything in the garden and this year more than most, I don’t want to.

Book: The Wildflowers of Ireland - A Field Guide by Zoë Devlin

 I don't think I have fully grasped the 'Selfie Stick' concept...

Until recently I used to claim that I was an avid “selfie” photo taker. Well before everyone was stretching their phones at arm’s length I was there in my garden taking images of myself pressed unnaturally close to whatever it was I was talking about.  I did used to get someone to take the picture for me but it was too much trouble and the moment was usually gone before the picture was taken.

I usually embellish my own images by including myself with a huge grin or a look of quizzical wonderment at what it was I was looking at. It’s a simple formula but seems to work for me and stops people being shocked when they see me in the street for the first time in a few years. 

Selfie Stick

My lad got a “selfie stick” this week and as soon as I saw it I knew this was the way to go for me. I can be far more animated with my weekly pictures now as it has a remote control.  I haven’t quite got the use of it yet as I think I’m supposed to keep the actual rod out of the picture. The idea of using the telescopic stick is made more enjoyable knowing that they are now becoming classed as antisocial, even some museums and other public places are banning them. That’s my kind of gadget. As long as no-one shoves one in my face.

The Wildflowers of Ireland

One person that takes her own images but manages to keep out of them is the wonderfully talented Zoë Devlin.  Zoë has taken hundreds of beautiful images of Irish wild flowers over the last 35 years and published a book called ‘The Wildflowers of Ireland - AField Guide’ along with a new website titled wildflowersofireland.net.   

Zoë hopes to add a new dimension to a country walk by drawing our attention to the amazing but often overlooked beauty of what is growing along the way.

 “Even in the earliest parts of the year, there are wildflowers to be found, and when you get into the habit of looking at every hedgerow, wayside and ditch, you’ll be well rewarded.” Zoë is also including folklore with regard to many of these wildflowers and any other relevant herbal information, historical or literary allusions.

800 Irish Wildflowers

 Zoë tells us more about the wonders of wild flowers. “In Ireland, we have over 800 flowering plants. Our mild climate and varied soil types are the major influences on the range of plants growing here.  Our flora, though much shared with Great Britain, contains fifteen plants which are not found there and this group of plants is collectively known as the Lusitanian Flora. The members of this plant group would have relatives more usually found in the Mediterranean.

One of the most interesting areas for Irish and visiting botanists alike is Co Clare’s limestone pavement, The Burren and there are several of the Burren’s wildflowers listed on the website, including Mountain Avens, Hoary Rockrose, Lesser Butterfly Orchid, Shrubby Cinquefoil and Spring Gentian.  In our natural woodlands, plants such as Wood Sorrel and Enchanter’s Nightshade occur, and on our blanket and raised bogs one can find Bog Asphodel, Common Butterwort and Round-leaved Sundew.  

Many plant families are well represented in Ireland.  The Daisy Family – Asteracea – is widespread with varieties of Ragwort, Thistle, Knapweed and Hawkweed.  Also the Geranium Family – Geraniaceae – containing the wonderful Burren wildflower, Bloody Cranesbill, several other Cranesbills and the well-known Herb Robert."

Conservation

“Conservation of our wildflowers is of the utmost importance as they are now facing threats on several different sides.  One is the changing uses of land for building purposes or different agricultural practices and there is the increase in invasive species, particularly aquatic plants, which crowd out our native species.  Also it is estimated that climate change will affect 15% of our Irish flora, the most vulnerable being alpine plants.  Estimates are that as many as 120 species are under threat in Ireland, six on the verge of extinction.  Through education and awareness of the diversity of our wildflowers, perhaps, just perhaps, the tide can be held back a little longer.”

Zoë does say that she has a scientific approach to the flowers to some extent, but she is in reality very much drawn to the wonderful, delicate, magic creation which is a flowering plant.  They are her passion and she closes by saying:

 “I hope that I can pass on some of that feeling for the beauty that is all around us if we just choose to find it.”  

Slow Start and the NooCity Growbed

The winter can be quite harsh on plants and their containers. This isn’t a new revelation I have had by any means; it’s just a thought after looking at some photos of a canvas bag I planted up with annuals last year. The aforementioned bag is sitting in the old pea bed looking very sorry for itself. The handle frayed and everything else went mouldy as the geraniums rotted.  I’ve grown to love this distressed look though because if I didn’t I would be driven mad trying to maintain everything to its original state. My wicker wall baskets are dropping to bits and the metal containers are all rusting. But you know what? I’m just going to plant them up again this year and I’ll bet they will look great (well, to me anyway).  I sort of feel that anyone can buy new looking garden containers but to have something that has been aged and matured in the Irish winter has a special charm and is full of character. You just can’t buy that (well you could if you wanted to buy my rotting canvas bag)

Disagreement

I caused a bit of a furore on my facebook page the other day when I posted a picture of some succulents growing in books. Holes had been cut into the covers and pages removed to form a circle large enough for some soil and a plant or two. The covers were painted with wood glue and were very decorative and worthy of being put on the dining room table as a centrepiece. Others disagreed and thought the idea of using books and not having them on shelves so you could read them was a disgrace. It’s divided the gardening community.

More Ideas

I think you could put a plant almost anywhere. I particularly like the idea of putting flowering specimens in old paint cans that have dripping paint going down the sides. The flowers could be chosen to match or compliment the colour of the tin. How about old chandeliers, used and broken kitchen sieves, speakers, old ties, trousers fastened at the legs, empty chocolate boxes, empty snail shells…. I could go on as the list is endless. All I know is that come the growing season all of those unruly looking containers will be a fabulous addition to the garden.

Slow Start

I still haven’t ordered any seeds from Klaus this year. I haven’t even thought what I am going to be growing. It’s not apathy or neglect; I’m trying to be patient. Over the years I have watched my seedlings and found that the ones I plant later in the season seem to do better and have less pest and disease. I’m pleased I am not in the position of growing for the public and having to grow things in heated propagators, it’s very time consuming. My main priority is to get the beds ready for when things have warmed up enough for me to plant directly outside. This year I am taking the very “Lazy Gardening” approach and looking forward to just sitting and relaxing. I have yet to sit for more than 2 minutes in the garden before I find jobs to do, but this year I am going to stretch that out by at least another 8 minutes so that I can have 10 minutes of relaxation. Oh the pleasure.

Growbed

There is a new product coming onto the market this year. It’s got  going by means of Indiegogo, which is the same as a Kickstarter project. It’s a small raised bed made from canvas with a solid plastic frame. The raised bed, called NooCity Growbed has a drainage area at the bottom and their unique selling point is that it has a worm bin in the middle of the bed. The kitchen compost is put into this and watered. The worms digest  the food and the resulting liquid feed is taken up by the plant roots. So far they have raised €40,000 so manufacturing will begin shortly. The 125cm beds will retail at around €130. The makers say that the beds are ideal for the urban landscape as they can be put up on balconies and rooftops.  I might invest in one for the craic and see if it works.  . It all sounds great and I am sure they will be using canvas much more suited to the job than my rotting bag in the pea bed