The AVFTT Gardening isolation thread

Fleetwoodblack

Fleetwoodblack

Well-known member
Well if we can have a music thread, then why not a gardening thread, as a few of us who have gardens, and maybe in them while isolating.
So come on all your green fingered lovelies...I know Hertsfordshire and Camberwell are gardeners so maybe some tips
..plus

1. What is your favourite flower or plant ( couldn't help tittering there).
2. Monty Don, Alan Titmarsh, Charlie Dimmock or Percy Thrower ?
3. Favourite tree ?
4. Do you have a bird feeder in your garden ?
5. Best Garden ?

I'll go first:-
1. Cornflower
2. Percy
3. American Red
4. Yes, bought a shit squirrel defender..birds can't work it out.
5. The lost gardens of Heligan

Green fingers black.
 
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1. What is your favourite flower or plant ( couldn't help tittering there). Dahlia or Cosmos
2. Monty Don, Alan Titmarsh, Charlie Dimmock or Percy Thrower ? Charlie Dimmock (Anyone that can lug that amount of cement on her shoulders with that chest is the girl for me!!
3. Favourite tree ? Himalayan Silver Birch
4. Do you have a bird feeder in your garden ? No
5. Best Garden ? Beth Chatto

IMG_0719.jpeg
 
I am into water gardens, have a couple of ponds and Koi in one and goldfish in another.
I like colour in the winter months so at the end of the garden there is a row of golden LeylandiI and along one side a series of Bamboo of various types, care needs to be taken with some because they tend to send shoots out all over the place.
I have no grass, use shingle, stones and paving slabs to make life easier, getting on now and never did like mowing.
For colour a range of roses, but if you have a large water feature then that becomes the focal point, filtering the water for clarity to appreciate the colours of the KOI.
 
1.dahlia
2 Monty
3 Oak
4 yes, 4, and 3 nestboxes
5 mine

I love my garden. I've only had this one for 15 months but it is slowly taking shape. Raised beds for veg, lots of soft fruit bushes planted along with apple, plum and damson trees.
 
hertfordseasider said:
1. What is your favourite flower or plant ( couldn't help tittering there). Dahlia or Cosmos
2. Monty Don, Alan Titmarsh, Charlie Dimmock or Percy Thrower ? Charlie Dimmock (Anyone that can lug that amount of cement on her shoulders with that chest is the girl for me!!
3. Favourite tree ? Himalayan Silver Birch
4. Do you have a bird feeder in your garden ? No
5. Best Garden ? Beth Chatto

View attachment 792
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Top pic Pete..ps have garden with small plot on either side of path..recently composted waiting to create a fab garden..when do i start to plant or get a professional in to plan it and suggest plants?!..and how do I kill thick ivy roots ?..been great in this weather !
 
Screenshot_20200323-163427_Gallery.jpg1. Got a purple one in my garden that my grandad gave me a cutting off, hes no longer with us but the plant (havnt got a clue what its called) always makes me smile - flowers every late summer / autumn'ish.
2. Alan Titmarsh for me
3. Got a tree and (you've guessed it) I dont know what it's called but it gives off the most amazing colours each autumn but also during the summer covers over a very bad piece of cladding I did one year.
4. Did do but as we're semi rural found that it encouraged rats so got rid of it
5. Urrrr dont think I've every visited a garden.. quite like worden park in Leyland if that counts?

Been planting peas, cucumbers, lettuce, sun flowers, leeks along with chillies, peppers this last couple of weeks. All starting sprouting and making me content
 
Whitstabletangerine said:
I am into water gardens, have a couple of ponds and Koi in one and goldfish in another.
I like colour in the winter months so at the end of the garden there is a row of golden LeylandiI and along one side a series of Bamboo of various types, care needs to be taken with some because they tend to send shoots out all over the place.
I have no grass, use shingle, stones and paving slabs to make life easier, getting on now and never did like mowing.
For colour a range of roses, but if you have a large water feature then that becomes the focal point, filtering the water for clarity to appreciate the colours of the KOI.
Click to expand...
I've a koi pond that I inherited when I moved into my house 12 years ago. Ponds healthy and fish are content, loads of frogs and frog spawn every year but...... the water is always green! Cant see further than 10cm below the water. Pond is approx 4m by 1.5m and at deepest 3ft and 1ft at shallow end.... any advice on how to get clear water?
 
Long-shanks said:
View attachment 7951. Got a purple one in my garden that my grandad gave me a cutting off, hes no longer with us but the plant (havnt got a clue what its called) always makes me smile - flowers every late summer / autumn'ish.
2. Alan Titmarsh for me
3. Got a tree and (you've guessed it) I dont know what it's called but it gives off the most amazing colours each autumn but also during the summer covers over a very bad piece of cladding I did one year.
4. Did do but as we're semi rural found that it encouraged rats so got rid of it
5. Urrrr dont think I've every visited a garden.. quite like worden park in Leyland if that counts?

Been planting peas, cucumbers, lettuce, sun flowers, leeks along with chillies, peppers this last couple of weeks. All starting sprouting and making me content
Click to expand...
You had better keep them under lock and key .
 
Long-shanks said:
I've a koi pond that I inherited when I moved into my house 12 years ago. Ponds healthy and fish are content, loads of frogs and frog spawn every year but...... the water is always green! Cant see further than 10cm below the water. Pond is approx 4m by 1.5m and at deepest 3ft and 1ft at shallow end.... any advice on how to get clear water?
Click to expand...
A decent pump with built in filter works for me.
 
Long-shanks said:
I've a koi pond that I inherited when I moved into my house 12 years ago. Ponds healthy and fish are content, loads of frogs and frog spawn every year but...... the water is always green! Cant see further than 10cm below the water. Pond is approx 4m by 1.5m and at deepest 3ft and 1ft at shallow end.... any advice on how to get clear water?
Click to expand...
Mine is 4ft deep and I use a filter with a uv lamp situated at one end of the pond and the pump approx 12 feet away (yes it is a long run) at the bottom.
It has full sun for six hours of the day but in high summer more like 8, the sunlight helping the growth of algae so if you can manage to shade part of the pond in high summer then it will help.
I have no plants in the Koi pond but oxeginating plants and marginal plants in the goldfish pond with no pump operating keeps it clear.
Blanket weed is another problem, this is the stringy looking type of algae, which a uv lamp will not kill off, it is more of a pest than anything else/
So if you do not have a pump/filter/uv lamp working then a little more shade and plenty of plants will kill it off eventually, also adding tap water dose,'t help and doing a water change just means the problem will come back withing a week or so.
I keep the bottom pump running from beginning of March until the first week of December then switch it off because the warmest part of the pond in winter is at the bottom, that is why the fish stay down and if you pump it up and it drops back onto the surface then you taking the warmer water and the colder water just sinks down to where the fish are.
I have never used chemicals which you can obtain for water clarity but a friend did and he had Orfe who are a bit particular when it comes to water chemistry and he lost them all.
 
Fleetwoodblack said:
Well if we can have a music thread, then why not a gardening thread, as a few of us who have gardens, may be in them while isolating.
So come on all your green fingered lovelies...I know Hertsfordshire and Camberwell are gardeners so maybe some tips..plus

1. What is your favourite flower or plant ( couldn't help tittering there).
2. Monty Don, Alan Titmarsh, Charlie Dimmock or Percy Thrower ?
3. Favourite tree ?
4. Do you have a bird feeder in your garden ?
5. Best Garden ?

I'll go first:-
1. Cornflower
2. Percy
3. American Red
4. Yes, bought a shit squirel defender..birds can't work it out.
5. The lost gardens of Heligan

posh dave
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1. Lavender. Favourite smell in the world and attracts bees.
2. Don't care.
3. Weeping Willow. From being a small boy.
4. Yes but cats don't help.
5. A private one where my Dad used to do gardening. The owner used to show roses and his back garden was amazing.
 
You have approx 850 gallons in the pond or 4,000 litres.
You can go a number of ways.
A Hozelock 6000 easy clear just over £100 is an all in one with built in filter, requires just one plug and come with 30 feet of cable,water can be pumped out to a waterfall or just use the fountain which is incorporated within it, or use both.

Or you can have a filter and pump a Hozelock 10000 litre filer and ask the seller to recommend a pump that would best suite it as they are seperate and will cost you more than the all in one easyclear.
 
Long-shanks said:
Happy to splash the cash (within reason) can you recommend a decent one with a filter suitable for my sized pond? Thank you
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Mine is a Laguna waterfall and fountain pump. It circulates, aerates and filters. Different sizes depending on the size of the pond. Sealed unit that has been constantly running for a couple of years now. I've gone from 5 fish to around 60 as they've bred. Loads of little ones just emerging after winter having changed colour from black to mainly Tangerine.
 
1. What is your favourite flower or plant ( couldn't help tittering there).
Forget me not

2. Monty Don, Alan Titmarsh, Charlie Dimmock or Percy Thrower ?
Alan Titmarsh

3. Favourite tree ?
Silver Birch

4. Do you have a bird feeder in your garden ?
I had but I have two cats so removed it for now. Will put another one up come winter but it will be cat and Squirrel proof!

5. Best Garden ?
Mine. Very traditional English cottage garden with the river Wey at the bottom. The lady who had the house before me spent 50 years pouring love into this garden. I feel blessed when I walk around it.
 
Whitstabletangerine said:
You have approx 850 gallons in the pond or 4,000 litres.
You can go a number of ways.
A Hozelock 6000 easy clear just over £100 is an all in one with built in filter, requires just one plug and come with 30 feet of cable,water can be pumped out to a waterfall or just use the fountain which is incorporated within it, or use both.

Or you can have a filter and pump a Hozelock 10000 litre filer and ask the seller to recommend a pump that would best suite it as they are seperate and will cost you more than the all in one easyclear.
Click to expand...
Thanks everyone for the pond advice - just bought the hozelock 6000 easy care from amazon... at least it's in their ystem and will arrive when it arrives. Thanks again
 
I'm quite pleased this group exists - also that I can ask for some advice as i'm a complete novice !

Currently renting in Lancaster and the Garden (quite small) is an absolute mess.I'm using my weekends going forward to clear it out of rubble, rubbish, weeds and debris, dead plants etc. I don't want to do any major work / spend much money as it's essentially not mine to spend money on. I want to just make it a simple, clear and clean space for myself, my partner and her child to enjoy.

How deep do I need the soil to be for a decent lawn to grow ? Current there is a 'lawn' however its uneven, the soil is a mixture of gravel and poor quality dirt, and beneath that is tonnes (literally tonnes) of old stone wall. I think at a push there's currently as little as 10cm or so of soil in some places.

Any advice ?
 
Mot a big gardener but my front garden is overgrown- is this a good time of year to just cut everything back

Going to do weeding etc by hand
 
Bisphamtang said:
Mot a big gardener but my front garden is overgrown- is this a good time of year to just cut everything back

Going to do weeding etc by hand
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HI Bispham Tangerine hope you are coping well and isolating ....Defo good time to start just before everything starts a spring growth spurt..One thing I would like to point out and this is important to all who are gardening..Although we all know the benefits of digging = excersise, having a project = good for the head, and good fresh air alone...I'd like to flag up something that recently happened to me in the past few days of doing gardening and pulling out old weeds, but mostly stripping IVY that had grown up the wall..that alot of pollen..dust especially, from IVY, can have an allergy effect of the body. I went into full sore throat, coughing and clogged up chest throwing me into one of the biggest panics of my life that I'd got all the symptoms of the coronavirus...not so, just a bad recaction from pollen and dust. I had a cheap mask on, but mask up, if you managed to get one !
If I could put forward Hertfordshire or Camberwell to advise futher, that would be tip top.
 
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todayistheday said:
Better to give advice on here rather than working and going against the rules.
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Au contraire, I have been informed by the local government I am able to continue to garden as I will not be coming into contact with any persons at all so deemed no risk. Oh and another thing to to piss on your unpleasant bonfire, those of us who have allotments are allowed to continue going and tending to them so long as you keep the allotted distance from people, that is from the Government too. I'm so sorry you can't have a J Arthur at the misfortune of others you sad weirdo!
 
hertfordseasider said:
Au contraire, I have been informed by the local government I am able to continue to garden as I will not be coming into contact with any persons at all so deemed no risk. Oh and another thing to to piss on your unpleasant bonfire, those of us who have allotments are allowed to continue going and tending to them so long as you keep the allotted distance from people, that is from the Government too. I'm so sorry you can't have a J Arthur at the misfortune of others you sad weirdo!
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Way to go Pete. A very good way to burn a turd. 😀
 
How strange.
Being an ex-copper means he actually raises in my estimation.
Perhaps you should stop being so ill-mannered and go apply some "Netflix and Chill"?
 
hertfordseasider said:
Au contraire, I have been informed by the local government I am able to continue to garden as I will not be coming into contact with any persons at all so deemed no risk. Oh and another thing to to piss on your unpleasant bonfire, those of us who have allotments are allowed to continue going and tending to them so long as you keep the allotted distance from people, that is from the Government too. I'm so sorry you can't have a J Arthur at the misfortune of others you sad weirdo!
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Michael Gove said on Breakfast time that gardening is excellent isolation exercise and said visiting your allotment is very good as well as long as you stick to social distancing rules - I am off there now
 
Well I’ve started my gardening, (absolute beginner), I’ve cut back a right load of stuff, I’ve got shrubs , roses and effing brambles. My back garden is an absolute shambles , but I can now see where I want to go with it .
 
1. Not sure - so many to choose from. Maybe sweet pea.
2. Alan Titchmarsh - really like his calm manner and love for gardening...Also comes across as a decent guy on "Love Your Garden" (The one where they help people who've had difficult experiences in their life).
3. Japanese Acer
4. No
5. Don't know.
 
Fleetwoodblack said:
Well if we can have a music thread, then why not a gardening thread, as a few of us who have gardens, and maybe in them while isolating.
So come on all your green fingered lovelies...I know Hertsfordshire and Camberwell are gardeners so maybe some tips
..plus

1. What is your favourite flower or plant ( couldn't help tittering there).
2. Monty Don, Alan Titmarsh, Charlie Dimmock or Percy Thrower ?
3. Favourite tree ?
4. Do you have a bird feeder in your garden ?
5. Best Garden ?

I'll go first:-
1. Cornflower
2. Percy
3. American Red
4. Yes, bought a shit squirrel defender..birds can't work it out.
5. The lost gardens of Heligan

Green fingers black.
Click to expand...
1. Scented Pinks
2. Rachel De Thame
3. Garrya Elliptica
4. Bird and Bee Feeders
5. Mine in the summer
 
Fatboy said:
Well I’ve started my gardening, (absolute beginner), I’ve cut back a right load of stuff, I’ve got shrubs , roses and effing brambles. My back garden is an absolute shambles , but I can now see where I want to go with it .
Click to expand...
That's brilliant...we'll make a Percy out of you yet :)
 
Can I ask advice about a host? Got a massive pot which must have about 30 purple heads (make your own gags) coming through every Spring and then a huge plant - can I split it?
 
Long-shanks said:
Thanks everyone for the pond advice - just bought the hozelock 6000 easy care from amazon... at least it's in their ystem and will arrive when it arrives. Thanks again
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The Hozelock 6000 easy care arrived today and has been put into the pond - how long do you think itll take before some kind of results are seen? My water is very green and murky
 
Long-shanks said:
The Hozelock 6000 easy care arrived today and has been put into the pond - how long do you think itll take before some kind of results are seen? My water is very green and murky
Click to expand...
You might have to lift it out and clean the filter more often to start with but it shouldn't take too long.
 
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