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Can you fix a fracture in a plant? I recently bought this wonderful plant Garrya Issaquahensis to grow against my new shed. - a case of the shed to hide the compost bins, a plant to hide the shed. I had left it in the pot for a few days and it had fallen over and the growing tip seemed broken. There is no tear or cut outside, it has not snapped, but it looks like there is a fracture inside. So I have fixed a splint and am hoping that it will heal.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Pigeons!
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The slug was called "public enemy number 1" by some gardening magazine recently. My greatest enemy in the garden is not the slug but the pigeon. I have had some problems with slugs but I have learned to handle them. But the pigeon! It breaks in two my Aubergine plants, pokes holes in my perpetual spinach, and eats all the young leaves and buds from the Viburnum Tinus. I had put up a scare crow in the midst of the Aubergines and it seemed to be working but today I saw that the healthiest looking one had been broken in two.
What do I do? I seem to remember that a tightly tied string's vibration in the wind will repel a pigeon. I should tie them all around the garden.
The slug was called "public enemy number 1" by some gardening magazine recently. My greatest enemy in the garden is not the slug but the pigeon. I have had some problems with slugs but I have learned to handle them. But the pigeon! It breaks in two my Aubergine plants, pokes holes in my perpetual spinach, and eats all the young leaves and buds from the Viburnum Tinus. I had put up a scare crow in the midst of the Aubergines and it seemed to be working but today I saw that the healthiest looking one had been broken in two.
What do I do? I seem to remember that a tightly tied string's vibration in the wind will repel a pigeon. I should tie them all around the garden.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Fuschia Standard/Mophead
My horticultural triumph last year was this:
and this:
I first saw a Fuschia grown as a standard in a Fuschia society exhibition. I had recently fallen in love with the flower. I felt that the standard was the best way to grow the plant so that the hanging flowers could be viewed at their best. I checked on the net for photos and directions to grow them. Directions I got plenty and used them but there were so few photos.
So here is my contribution.
There was one tip the specialist at my garden center told me which I had not read before: Add some vermiculite to the soil because it helps the soil to hold more water and Fuschia will love it.
But the sad part was that I did not protect them in winter and the extra snow fall this year killed them. This year I have started a new one from a tiny, one inch plant and I will not grow it too tall so that it will be easy to handle and I can bring it in during cold spells.
and this:
I first saw a Fuschia grown as a standard in a Fuschia society exhibition. I had recently fallen in love with the flower. I felt that the standard was the best way to grow the plant so that the hanging flowers could be viewed at their best. I checked on the net for photos and directions to grow them. Directions I got plenty and used them but there were so few photos.
So here is my contribution.
There was one tip the specialist at my garden center told me which I had not read before: Add some vermiculite to the soil because it helps the soil to hold more water and Fuschia will love it.
But the sad part was that I did not protect them in winter and the extra snow fall this year killed them. This year I have started a new one from a tiny, one inch plant and I will not grow it too tall so that it will be easy to handle and I can bring it in during cold spells.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Planning
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I wonder how many hours my parents spent on planning their garden when they built their house. They had made ample space all around the house for plants. They made sure they had a few coconut trees and a karibevu tree. There were a line of small round openings in the cement strip next to the house in each of which my mother planted a different kind of rose. They had a wire screen that supported a beautiful jasmine and blocked the washing area towards the back of the house that would otherwise have been visible from the gate. They built a cement tub for plants next to the landing before the front door with small posts that reached to the ceiling for climbers to attach themselves to. All this must have involved some thought. A couple of hours perhaps?
A garden in England is a different ball game altogether.
First think what you want to use the garden for, say the planning experts. Kids to play in/entertainment/sight for sore eyes? Now think, how much lawn, how much space for plants. Garden buildings? Shed or green house or both? Some place to sit and enjoy the garden - extend the patio or add some decking? Being in the northern hemisphere, and the sun never directly above us, one has to think about which parts of the plot gets how many hours of light. Then place your trees and plants acording to how much light they require. Then, what kind of soil do you have - Acidic soil/clay soil/chalky? How many trees can you accommodate? How many deciduous and how many evergreens? Do you want to be an organic gardener? Where will you place the compost bins and which kind? Water butts? Do you want to grow vegetables? Where will you place the veg patch? Do you want to be a wildlife friendly gardener? Which plants attract butterflies, which will attract bees and which plants do ladybirds like? What about some water features to attract more wild life? Do we have plants that will together offer you something of interest throughout the year instead of just some bright colours in spring and summer? And so on and so on and on.......
Luckily it was winter when we moved in. I spent months as an arm chair gardener. Executing everything I planned in those few months will take many many years.
I wonder how many hours my parents spent on planning their garden when they built their house. They had made ample space all around the house for plants. They made sure they had a few coconut trees and a karibevu tree. There were a line of small round openings in the cement strip next to the house in each of which my mother planted a different kind of rose. They had a wire screen that supported a beautiful jasmine and blocked the washing area towards the back of the house that would otherwise have been visible from the gate. They built a cement tub for plants next to the landing before the front door with small posts that reached to the ceiling for climbers to attach themselves to. All this must have involved some thought. A couple of hours perhaps?
A garden in England is a different ball game altogether.
First think what you want to use the garden for, say the planning experts. Kids to play in/entertainment/sight for sore eyes? Now think, how much lawn, how much space for plants. Garden buildings? Shed or green house or both? Some place to sit and enjoy the garden - extend the patio or add some decking? Being in the northern hemisphere, and the sun never directly above us, one has to think about which parts of the plot gets how many hours of light. Then place your trees and plants acording to how much light they require. Then, what kind of soil do you have - Acidic soil/clay soil/chalky? How many trees can you accommodate? How many deciduous and how many evergreens? Do you want to be an organic gardener? Where will you place the compost bins and which kind? Water butts? Do you want to grow vegetables? Where will you place the veg patch? Do you want to be a wildlife friendly gardener? Which plants attract butterflies, which will attract bees and which plants do ladybirds like? What about some water features to attract more wild life? Do we have plants that will together offer you something of interest throughout the year instead of just some bright colours in spring and summer? And so on and so on and on.......
Luckily it was winter when we moved in. I spent months as an arm chair gardener. Executing everything I planned in those few months will take many many years.
Transformation
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How our back yard looked in Dec 2006 when we had just moved in.
The transformation after a few months of hard labour
How it looks this morning. We put up the shed last week. It holds all our gardening tools and neatly hides the two plastic compost bins in the corner. Repainting the fence is on. V who is in charge has exams next week and hence the delay.
How our back yard looked in Dec 2006 when we had just moved in.
The transformation after a few months of hard labour
How it looks this morning. We put up the shed last week. It holds all our gardening tools and neatly hides the two plastic compost bins in the corner. Repainting the fence is on. V who is in charge has exams next week and hence the delay.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Why another blog (Especially since I hardly update my old one)
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I have been gardening in England for the past two and a half years. It is so different from gardening in India, there has been so much to learn. I started out with a bare canvas and had to plan a layout for the garden, dig the earth, select the plants based on innumerable criteria, buy them, plant them, take care of them. At every step, I have done a lot of research on the net. On some topics there is a stupendous amount of information and on some others there just isn't enough. I have learned quite a bit from other blogs. When I have not found enough info on the net and in books, I have got help from the very knowledgeable, helpful and patient people at our local garden center. Really, I can't thank them enough
So why not try to store all the useful information I have acquired on my blog so that I can refer back to them later and other gardeners may use them.
It is good to know what I was doing in the garden at this time in the previous years - What I did too early and what I should have started much earlier. This prevents me from repeating the same mistakes.
There is one other very important reason. When we return to India after some years, I will not be able to take my beloved garden with me. I wish to take with me, a journal of my gardening, complete with lots of photographs.
I wish I had started this blog much earlier.
I have been gardening in England for the past two and a half years. It is so different from gardening in India, there has been so much to learn. I started out with a bare canvas and had to plan a layout for the garden, dig the earth, select the plants based on innumerable criteria, buy them, plant them, take care of them. At every step, I have done a lot of research on the net. On some topics there is a stupendous amount of information and on some others there just isn't enough. I have learned quite a bit from other blogs. When I have not found enough info on the net and in books, I have got help from the very knowledgeable, helpful and patient people at our local garden center. Really, I can't thank them enough
So why not try to store all the useful information I have acquired on my blog so that I can refer back to them later and other gardeners may use them.
It is good to know what I was doing in the garden at this time in the previous years - What I did too early and what I should have started much earlier. This prevents me from repeating the same mistakes.
There is one other very important reason. When we return to India after some years, I will not be able to take my beloved garden with me. I wish to take with me, a journal of my gardening, complete with lots of photographs.
I wish I had started this blog much earlier.
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