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Subject:  Gardening Tips and Tricks |
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Author: whitewolf | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 15/02/07 3:40 Pull out the ol' hip flask, pull up a log and share some of your favourite gardening tips and tricks around the allotment bonfire... things like... • Protect seeds and young seedlings from hungry birds/rodents/cat or dog scratching etc... by placing holly branches over the ground. (The garden I'm working in has an abundance of very healthy holly bushes - the ones I used to decorate the house for Yule, have been put aside so I can recycle them on the veg patch). • Use crushed egg-shells around delicate or vulnerable slug-magnet plants (not advisable to over-do this though, the egg-shells may add too much calcium to the soil) - have you tried other slug-friendly methods? (I distract the slugs and snails with other garden waste / fruit I would otherwise put in the compost - seems to keep them happy and they don't bother with the plants they would otherwise target) • Any companion planting you use? like growing basil with tomato plants to help deter pests and improve the flavour of the toms.... or planting onions with the carrots to deter carrot fly.... • If you're having a bonfire, stack clods of earth around the edge of the fire, this will make excellent potash rich compost for toms. Let's hear them.... [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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Author: paganwolf (hmm) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15/02/07 22:10 Clean your hands afterwards with salt and olive oil. the salt removes ingrained dirt, grime and fence preserver and the oil softens the skin. This also works for engine oil as well as being more environmentally friendly than Swarfega. Oh if you rub petroleum jelly into your hands prior to dirty work, its easier to remove dirt & grime especially under your nails. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: jade [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15/02/07 23:26 ohh i love theseee. I have been reading about things that can go in your composter as i now have one (she says rather chuffed) and apparently lint from your tumble dryers makes good composting material if you dampen it a little? mind you i dont have a tumble dryer but kinda interesting anyway. Also seaweed if you wash off the salt is good in a composter I never realised that there was so much stuff that could go into one!!! although im a little dubious of how to get it all back out again, from that funny little slot at the bottom of the black bin thing. hmmm and there are loadsssss of spiders in it urghghghghgg oh and i read...Coffee ground and filters are good in a composter cause worms love coffee grounds and coffee filters!! soo ermm yeah im not quite as garden proficient as you lot, so if anyone has any good ideas as exactly what im meant to do with all this lovely compost now that ive got it, and how exactly do I know when its ready to come out??? sigh.. i do sound dim.. its a good job i trust you lot hey. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: gaiangrub [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16/02/07 19:38 being an expert on absolutely nothing i think your ideas are all great way to recycle too! YAY! gg [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16/02/07 2:56 other ingredients suitable for your compost bin/heap include : teabags, uncooked veg peelings etc, little bit of grass cuttings, dried leaves, pet/human hair, bannana skins (excellent addition - helps matter break down quicker)... the inner tube from toilet rolls and unprinted cardboard, the odd bit of shredded paper or tissue, straw, garden waste... but no cooked foods or meat or dairy of any sort and no cat or dog faeces (although if you have birds, their droppings are good additions - as is horse/ goat/cow manure) The smaller the ingredients the better - so crush up eggshells, chop up large pieces of plant matter, tear cardboard into more managable chunks etc... This will help speed up the decomposing process. If the compost becomes too dry or too wet the decay process can slow down - a good expression I heard is that it should be 'as wet/dry as a wrung flannel' :) Creating layers of compost seems to be an efficient method (say a layer of kitchen waste, layer of carboard or straw etc...) erm... that's all I have to say for now lol :) [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
[> [> Subject:  Re: Gardening Tips and Tricks
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16/02/07 2:56 Come to think of it... there's a Composting article in the Articles section of GG. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: jade [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16/02/07 18:44 goes off to have a read [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 23/02/07 15:38 Egg-boxes (carboard ones) - perfect for chitting your potatoes in and also make perfect little pots for sowing in, you can then plant them out as biodegradable plant pots isntead of disturbing the young plant. Soak the 'pot' before planting to help it break down quicker. :) [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: paganwolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 23/02/07 16:23 A big hanging basket makes an ideal place to grow herbs as excess water will just flow out after watering or the torrential downpours that constitute the British summer. also garden pests will struggle to get to them. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: sam spaniel... [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 24/02/07 16:10 fix your old sunflower heads to the bird table or something stable . the birds love to come down and pull the seeds out naturally... i know summer is a long way off yet but hey!! while i'm thinking of it !! love sam xxx [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: jade [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 24/02/07 23:38 ohh i like that one sam cheers i am gonna grow loadsss of sunflowers this year so i'd best invest in a bird table!!! hmm although we have lots of cats here.. so maybe not a good idea lol oh that reminds me Ash.. yooooo hooooooo u here? anyway what did you name your cat in the end????? [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 1/03/07 19:09 Recycle plastic bottles (and glass jars) by using them as mini greenhouses/propagators to help protect seedlings and keep them warm... Cut of the bottom of your plastic bottles, and pop the bottles over the top of your seedlings (don't forget to leave the lid off for ventilation). [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 7/03/07 23:50 Recycle the carboard inner tubes from loo rolls - they make great little pots to start your seeds off in and then when you plant them on outside the roots aren't being disturbed (so growth is less likely to be interrupted). [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: paganwolf (very alan titchmarsh) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 8/03/07 2:25 If you aren't going to be using your gardening tools in a while, give them a light spray of wd40 or equivalent to stop surface corrosion [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 5/04/07 17:12 If you've lots of lawn cuttings... lay them between your rows of veg to help suppress weeds and retain soil moisture. (It looks pretty too lol, and helps remind me where the rows of seeds are and serves as mini pathways). [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: Mountain Hare [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 10/04/07 20:34 Well, though I love gardening I'm no expert, so all these tips are great! Any tips on protecting goosegogs (gooseberries) and currants without getting meself so taffled up in netting I resemble a snared haddock? [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 11/04/07 23:52 hmmm... could you use some netting but fix it around poles/sticks leaving a space around the bush, so you wouldn't have to get prickled? (so the bush is in the middle but with space all around it... netting to go over the top as well as around... did that make sense??!! lol) Failing that... string up some old cds or something equally flashy or jangly around the bush, something to scare the birds away - perhaps you could give them a feeding station to distract them away from the bush? (not forgetting to leave the odd gooseberry/currant seeing as they do love 'em so). [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: Pilgrim [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 13/04/07 14:36 The old CD's works wonders to keep birds away. I use them every year and really have very little trouble with birds. I think they work so well because they are flashy, moving and look like a large predators eye. I also keep deer and other critters away by planting plenty of corn and other goodies in places away from the fenced garden. Rabbits aren't going to bother to burrow under a fence if there's the same stuff around that's easier to get to. The deer will stop at the corn and never go beyond, to the actual garden. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: whitewolf (tired but happy) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 4/06/07 18:59 Red Ants.... the garden I'm working in is full of red ants... but the lovely dock leaf is wonderful at relieving the pain of a red ant bite! rub the leaf onto the affected area, just like you would to soothe a nettle sting :) [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
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Author: jade [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 8/06/07 13:25 ohhh i loved that bit about the grass cuttings. im gonna do that. I made a little thing with the cd's for the veg they are cool. although when i go in the kitchen at night time and the kitchen light shines on them outside they always make me jump cause they look like little red eyes. hmmm [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |