WHATS IN YOUR GARDEN????

[Cisco]

Absolute great set up Sam , looking good Twich yer hard work is looking like its paid off , ye might wanna wait till late May early June for germing and planting Autos , or if you can harden them off under CFL for a few weeks will do them a world of good , Iv got a Blue CFL and lampholder if you wanna shot ? Just gies a shout , I would like to do anything to help people be self sufficient

[Chantra]

A pineapplette.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Sorry lads/ladies.... no pics, but is anyone else having problems with friggin Magpies???? usually they wouldn't bother me but ive noticed a significant drop in song birds around my neck of the woods e.g. blue tits, robins, sparrows

Heard the was talk of a magpie "cull" being introduced UK wide

[spidergawd]

Add cats, and round my way squirrels to the list of bird killers.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Add cats, and round my way squirrels to the list of bird killers.

+55

Were plagued with grey squirrels as well

Rottweilers help keep cats well away though

[cattales1960]

Squirrels are the bane of my exsistence. Every winter they get into our pool house and do damage. Then the neighbors cat got in there and got the squirrels out but manage to get the freezer open on the fridge we keep down there and was storing some extra chicken and stuff. the Cat ate everything in there. As far was birds IM seeing all kinds this year. Even bought a hummingbird feeder.

[25211]

first up sorry for the lack of recent updates
But I have managed to get very little done in my garden due to the crisis around my mum falling
Now she has been out of hospital for a couple of weeks things are settling down a bit
So will try and sort some photos out in the next couple of days

On the Bird front this year I would say I have had a lot more and a wider variety of birds so far this year
I have had a pair of magpie's coming first thing most mornings
Yes they do try to scare off any other birds that are down at that point
But especially the starlings seem to gang up and have a go back

Cats, well there are a few down the yard, last year the starlings seemed to enjoy taunting the cats as they feasted on the fat balls with a frustrated cat sat underneath them with no way to get at them
And a couple of times recently I have watched one of the magpie's really getting close to one of them and frustrating the living...... out of it

Grey squirrels aren't much of a problem for me as they just seem to pass through on their rounds, and as it happens I spotted one this morning running along the top of the wall at the back

What has impressed me most this year so far are the birds of prey
I had the sparrowhawk take a starling in Jan, then in early march there was a smaller bird of prey trying to take a pidgin (both flew away)
And about 3 weeks ago while washing up one evening I spotted a small bird of prey sat on the fence at the back (got a bad out of focus photo of it taken through the window so will post that up soon)

And not birds but as I pulled the blind up this morning (around 05:00) I saw a hedgehog scurrying around next doors bit and down the back wall
It is well over 10 years since I saw one down here

Will get some photos sorted soon
TTFN

[Chantra]

Mangoes:



Pineapple (one month on):



Kaffir lime:



Citrus lime:



We also have about eight banana plants, but they're not very interesting at the moment.

[25211]

At last I have sort of got my act together and sorted a few photos
Things are still hectic so still not getting much done in it
but it looks like it is holding up well
the main things I have done are
Moved a rosemary bush from my mum & dads down here (appendages still crossed it will survive)


I had started to lift some of the small pink geranium before it all kicked off, so have actually bought some plants to replace them with
So I have another variety of oriental poppy and another variety of pink as well
I also bought 2 more pinks to replace 2 in the boarder at the top of the lawn as one of the 2 that were there had died
so I lifted the living one have put that in a pot at my mum & dads and put 2 new ones in


other than that about all I have managed is cutting the lawn roughly once a week (monsoons permitting) and have given it a couple of liquid feeds
(el'cheapo lawn food from Wilkinson's)
I am also seeing the first signs of things to come, with flowers forming on the established oriental poppies, lupins & strawberries






Next doors bit is almost totally due to mother nature this year I have been tending to use it as a ground feeding station for the birds
which is well worth while when I get to watch them & even get visits from birds of prey












most of these photos are from about 10 days ago, so will try to get chance to do some more soon











One other thing, I have half deliberately not being using slug pellets this year as I have been ground feeding the birds with the suet pellets you can get as well as not knowing if I am coming or going most of the time
But I had noticed a lot less slug damage than the last 2 years
Then about 2 weeks ago as I was raising the blind at about 05:00 I spotted something scuttling towards the wall at the back of the garden
I thought it was one of the local cats until it turned right and ran under my bench
It was a Hedgehog a big yes moment and a great start to a day

Loving reading other peoples updates
and I will try to get some more recent photos up for you as soon as I can
TTFN

[spidergawd]

Love your tropical paradise Chantra . Fresh limes in the gin, lovely.


Nice one Arty.



Is that where you sit with your spliff whilst you contemplate the meaning of early modern ideas etc ?

[25211]

Is that where you sit with your spliff whilst you contemplate the meaning of early modern ideas etc ?

Something along those lines, although I don't think the word "modern" plays a big part
A joint a pot of tea (and tea bags are hideously modern for me) and the sparrows drowning out the traffic noise
you just cant beat it
TTFN

[Twichaldinho]

Suns oot.... few pics for my ACD peeps...




That is the last living tulip in my flowerbed... they flowered early when we had good weather..


Lavender from seed






question time.


my tomato seedlings are stretching, and I was wondering, when I pot them up, and put them outside, probably next month, can I raise the soil level higher than where they are growing now, or is that gonna cause problems..... also, any tips?

good day greenthumbs...

[Slip & Sal]

2511 if you don't want to use slug pellets use beer. Dig a butter container down level with soil, pour beer inside, slugs and snails are attracted to the beer and fall in and drown. Also old coffee grinds are sharp and snails and slugs will not or can not go over them.

Twich I do this and have never had problems. Especially if little aerial type roots have appeared.

[sam]

Twichaldinho when you transplant the tomatoes break off the leaves about half way up the plant and plant it so the top leaf you removed is about 1" below soil level. This will do several things to help the plant. Tomatoes will grow roots out of the stem that is below the dirt level and it will have roots farther in the ground from day one to help with getting water on a more constant basis.

[sam]

Here is a couple pics I took today of my greenhouse. Things are growing great and I have been getting cucumbers for abot 10 days. I find this amazing as it is finally nice enough here to plant my outdoor garden.


You all have some really nice looking yards with the flowers and fruit trees. I am no expert but if anyone has any gardening questions I will do my best to help.