[Help] Gardeners Question Time.

[Stat Brother]

The Hanging Gardens of Statylon! The rose is romping and the poppies coming along nicely. When this virus lark is all over, you really should open your garden to the public. All the magic you've weaved is now paying dividends. It's a splendid spectacle. How's your Photinia by the way?

Steady on.


The Photinia still won't die.

Well what's happened is of the 2 rootless branches, the one that was attached to the root ball is now just a bare branch, stuck in the mud.

But the branch that had grown a few inches away from the original plant is hanging in there.
It didn't enjoy the move.
It certainly didn't enjoy the subsequent hack back.
But (having just been out for a look) it does have new leaves shooting forth.

 

[Jack Straw]

Steady on.


The Photinia still won't die.

Well what's happened is of the 2 rootless branches, the one that was attached to the root ball is now just a bare branch, stuck in the mud.

But the branch that had grown a few inches away from the original plant is hanging in there.
It didn't enjoy the move.
It certainly didn't enjoy the subsequent hack back.
But (having just been out for a look) it does have new leaves shooting forth.

Your last sentence sounds encouraging. A photo of the Photinia would be nice.

 

[Stat Brother]

16-04:-

All this seed germination, planting indoors, then transferring into the flower bed is a load of old bollox right?

Jnr cleared out 10ft of border, so as a present I bought 4 packs of different poppy seeds.
Mixed them up.
Scattered across the bed.
Gave it a rake and a water.

Bish bosh job done.

They'll be alright, won't they?

Today is the grand opening of the 'Guess The Colour of the First Poppy' competition.

Following on from the success of Coldean's - plant thing guessing game - we might as well go again.
This time it's a little easier as it'll be a poppy, but what colour? de de deeerrr.


Having been photographed at the start of the week just looking nice, they've decided to put in some effort and Poppyagenddon has about 20 flowers ready to pop, within the next few days.

 

[WATFORD zero]

16-04:-




Today is the grand opening of the 'Guess The Colour of the First Poppy' competition.

Following on from the success of Coldean's - plant thing guessing game - we might as well go again.
This time it's a little easier as it'll be a poppy, but what colour? de de deeerrr.


Having been photographed at the start of the week just looking nice, they've decided to put in some effort and Poppyagenddon has about 20 flowers ready to pop, within the next few days.

Yellow



(It was one of the colours you planted wasn't it ?)

 

[Jack Straw]

16-04:-




Today is the grand opening of the 'Guess The Colour of the First Poppy' competition.

Following on from the success of Coldean's - plant thing guessing game - we might as well go again.
This time it's a little easier as it'll be a poppy, but what colour? de de deeerrr.


Having been photographed at the start of the week just looking nice, they've decided to put in some effort and Poppyagenddon has about 20 flowers ready to pop, within the next few days.

I'm more excited about this than Coldean's Dracunculus. Poppy flowers often only last a day or so, so be quick with the photography.
I'm going to have a wild guess and say red, but it's just a stab in the dark. I did consider orange, yellow, and even blue, but I have a gut feeling for red.

 

[Stat Brother]

I'm more excited about this than Coldean's Dracunculus. Poppy flowers often only last a day or so, so be quick with the photography.
I'm going to have a wild guess and say red, but it's just a stab in the dark. I did consider orange, yellow, and even blue, but I have a gut feeling for red.

I'm afraid your gut might have led you into my cunning trap.

Despite only being 2 months ago, I think (but a long way from being sure) red is the least likely colour.

Being the contrarian that I am, when presented with the 8 or 9 different makes or models to choose from, I'm pretty sure I would have steered clear of red.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

It'll be a reddy/mauve/pink.
I do love the first somniferum of the year

 

[Stat Brother]

More of a fence erectors question time but I'll run it up the flagpole here first:-

My garden is 3x6ft fence panels + 1x3ft gate + 13 inches wide.

There's some concrete on the edge of the boundary.

Fence panel 1 would be on concrete.
Next is the gate as that's where the path leads out.
FP 2 No concrete.
FP 3 concrete base of shed.

4 posts in total. (I can use the neighbours fence post on the left, but the 13 inches means I can't use the one on the right).

It seems both posts either side of the gate and post 4 were put in at the same time as the concrete or right up against it.

FP 3 was set in a massive concrete block which Jnr has spent the morning digging out.

The problem if they are set in old school poop load of concrete he won't be able to get round the blocks of 1, 2 and 4.


I know I can get 3 of these



But I also know they will be worse than useless as the concrete I'll be attempting to attach them too won't be flat or smooth.



Any advice?

 

[Stat Brother]

Poppies don't normally grow to thigh height and above, do they?

It's like Day of the Triffids out there.

 

[Jack Straw]

Poppies don't normally grow to thigh height and above, do they?

It's like Day of the Triffids out there.

 

[Jack Straw]

More of a fence erectors question time but I'll run it up the flagpole here first:-

My garden is 3x6ft fence panels + 1x3ft gate + 13 inches wide.

There's some concrete on the edge of the boundary.

Fence panel 1 would be on concrete.
Next is the gate as that's where the path leads out.
FP 2 No concrete.
FP 3 concrete base of shed.

4 posts in total. (I can use the neighbours fence post on the left, but the 13 inches means I can't use the one on the right).

It seems both posts either side of the gate and post 4 were put in at the same time as the concrete or right up against it.

FP 3 was set in a massive concrete block which Jnr has spent the morning digging out.

The problem if they are set in old school poop load of concrete he won't be able to get round the blocks of 1, 2 and 4.


I know I can get 3 of these

View attachment 125176

But I also know they will be worse than useless as the concrete I'll be attempting to attach them too won't be flat or smooth.



Any advice?

Is the problem that you want to replace the fence and posts, but the concrete from the old posts are in the way of putting new posts in?
Some photos would be a great help.

 

[Stat Brother]

Is the problem that you want to replace the fence and posts, but the concrete from the old posts are in the way of putting new posts in?
Some photos would be a great help.

We (he) can't easily get the tonne of concrete that was originally holding the, now long gone, old posts.

The problem is we can't attach those things on top of the old concrete because that's really uneven.

Thinking about I guess I'm asking if I can smooth the top of the old concrete with a thin layer of cement, then drill down through that into the concrete in order to attach the holder.
Could I just get away with sand or even gravel just something to flatten the concrete out.

 

[WATFORD zero]

We (he) can't easily get the tonne of concrete that was originally holding the, now long gone, old posts.

The problem is we can't attach those things on top of the old concrete because that's really uneven.

Thinking about I guess I'm asking if I can smooth the top of the old concrete with a thin layer of cement, then drill down through that into the concrete in order to attach the holder.
Could I just get away with sand or even gravel just something to flatten the concrete out.

5 minute job

 

[Stat Brother]

This is just one week later.

Even rosy is growing by about a foot a day.

 

[Jack Straw]

This is just one week later.

Even rosy is growing by about a foot a day.

View attachment 125306

View attachment 125307

The next day or so will be really exciting!

 

[Jack Straw]

We (he) can't easily get the tonne of concrete that was originally holding the, now long gone, old posts.

The problem is we can't attach those things on top of the old concrete because that's really uneven.

Thinking about I guess I'm asking if I can smooth the top of the old concrete with a thin layer of cement, then drill down through that into the concrete in order to attach the holder.
Could I just get away with sand or even gravel just something to flatten the concrete out.

Without seeing any photos, it's all guess work. How about cutting the first panel in half so that the posts can go in to virgin soil? So your fence, instead of being 3 x 6` panels, it would be 3`, 6`, 6`, 3`.

 

[Stat Brother]

The next day or so will be really exciting!

When I'm back at work!!


Yeah we thought about rearrange the panel sizes but the first panel and gate are locked in.
So we might as well just go with it.

I'll take some photos later, at which point you'll say 'ah I see what you mean'.

 

[Notters]

Hi [MENTION=1320]Notters[/MENTION] - Any updates on your Peonies ? (And remember, size isn't everything !)

Here's three of mine


Although, If I'm absolutely honest, one of those may have been in there for a few years The new ones are coming along, but not sure they are going to flower this year.

Sorry, slow response! They're all looking good, both the ones in pots and the ones in the border. No sign of any flowers though I gather this is normal in the first year.



Question for [MENTION=259]Jack Straw[/MENTION] and others - a lot of the young leaves on various plants in my garden, including perennials and french beans (though not the peonies!) look all crumpled and almost blistered. Do I have some horrible disease in my garden? See pic below.

 

[Jack Straw]

Sorry, slow response! They're all looking good, both the ones in pots and the ones in the border. No sign of any flowers though I gather this is normal in the first year.

View attachment 125315

Question for [MENTION=259]Jack Straw[/MENTION] and others - a lot of the young leaves on various plants in my garden, including perennials and french beans (though not the peonies!) look all crumpled and almost blistered. Do I have some horrible disease in my garden? See pic below.

View attachment 125316

Not a horrible disease, but a pest. Uncurl the leaves and see if there's a little something in there. Could be sawfly damage. Any sign of aphids?

 

[WATFORD zero]

More of a fence erectors question time but I'll run it up the flagpole here first:-

My garden is 3x6ft fence panels + 1x3ft gate + 13 inches wide.

There's some concrete on the edge of the boundary.

Fence panel 1 would be on concrete.
Next is the gate as that's where the path leads out.
FP 2 No concrete.
FP 3 concrete base of shed.

4 posts in total. (I can use the neighbours fence post on the left, but the 13 inches means I can't use the one on the right).

It seems both posts either side of the gate and post 4 were put in at the same time as the concrete or right up against it.

FP 3 was set in a massive concrete block which Jnr has spent the morning digging out.

The problem if they are set in old school poop load of concrete he won't be able to get round the blocks of 1, 2 and 4.


I know I can get 3 of these

View attachment 125176

But I also know they will be worse than useless as the concrete I'll be attempting to attach them too won't be flat or smooth.



Any advice?

I've had a couple of fence posts needed concrete spurs on rotten posts and it was surprisingly cheap. Got professionals in and they went straight through the existing concrete. If you are looking to keep costs down maybe just get a quote to put in the couple of posts where the concrete is and do the rest yourself ?