lapal_fan Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 So far this lockdown, I've widened the entrance to my drive (which is a red sandstone wall) and widened the block paving to allow 2 cars on the drive and I've dug a 200mm deep hole/trench in my garden for when I extend my patio to become slightly useful. Because of my dads skills/knowledge, my drive extension cost £11 for 7 kerb edgers (I used the block paving from my garden to widen the same block pavers on my drive) and about £1000 for the patio extension, but that's money from cancelled holidays. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be done. and the skip will be on it's way outta here. Hard work, but rewarding and hopefully will look nice and be useful 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Just remember to look as baffled as the next guy when 500 metres down the road they get their first ever flash flood. ‘I’ve lived here 20 years and this has never happened before!’ ’yeah, global warming innit’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 On 29/03/2020 at 03:54, KenjiOgiwara said: I'm trying to get an avocado seed sprouting, but so far no luck. Think I might get going on this years tomatoes soon. Already pretty warm outside. Might get som peppers going this year too. What do you guys grow? Try the damp paper towel/zip-lock bag method. Worked a charm for me. I just transferred it to a pot after about 4 weeks. See the method on here: "Forget the toothpicks and water!" https://empressofdirt.net/grow-avocado-seed-easy/ Got a pineapple underway for a laugh and working on a mango next. Might end up making for some nice in house shrubbery/greenery. Unfortunately, our rose appears to have died over the winter, cranky fecker. Any tips on how to care for these when only at potted size? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 1 hour ago, lapal_fan said: So far this lockdown, I've widened the entrance to my drive 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted May 18, 2020 Moderator Share Posted May 18, 2020 13 minutes ago, villakram said: Try the damp paper towel/zip-lock bag method. I just plonked 2 seeds/stones in a pot, covered with a polythene bag on a windowsill and one grew. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 2 hours ago, chrisp65 said: Just remember to look as baffled as the next guy when 500 metres down the road they get their first ever flash flood. ‘I’ve lived here 20 years and this has never happened before!’ ’yeah, global warming innit’ Ha I think I've added about 3m² to my drive and 7m² to my patio (when that's done). On the phone the woman said "that'll come to £1100 please". "Do you do good guy/NHS discount?" "Yea, of course, that'll be £900-odd please" Every little helps!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted May 18, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 18, 2020 3 hours ago, lapal_fan said: Ha I think I've added about 3m² to my drive and 7m² to my patio (when that's done). On the phone the woman said "that'll come to £1100 please". "Do you do good guy/NHS discount?" "Yea, of course, that'll be £900-odd please" Every little helps!! So you qualified for the NHS discount, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 1 hour ago, il_serpente said: So you qualified for the NHS discount, then? Sad face.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imavillan Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Question for the green fingered fellow Villatalkers out there. As with lots of others i've spent a lot more time in the garden clearing out overgrown areas planting sunflowers, potatoes, beetroot and carrots. If it was not for the lockdown i would never have bothered as i'm not really into it. I've now go a variety of plants bursting through in the borders. The thing is i've no idea what they are. Are they flowers, weeds?? I've downloaded a few (free) gardening apps to my iPhone. Take a picture and it tells you what it is, although the results are a bit hit and miss. I know this as when i take pics of the plants i know it comes back with some differing results. iPlant, Plantnet and Gardenflower id. Can anybody recommend one that they use which gives a high success rate? I don't mind if i have to pay for the app. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 I plant stuff in a line, sometimes with a line of string. If stuff starts growing, and there’s a line of it, I leave it alone until it turns in to something. If its strayed away from the string and there are only a couple of them after a week, those **** are getting plucked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted May 26, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 26, 2020 First harvest of the year: We pulled some radishes and cut some cilantro for an asian chicken noodle salad tonight. Unfortunately, that was 1/2 our radish crop, but the first meal of the season that makes use of homegrown veggies always tastes special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) I've got the weirdest chili plant. First 12 months I got no fruits. Suddenly 1 month ago I started getting fruits. Mean while the little cute chili plant I expected based on what my friends got (i.e. 30 cm tall etc) has turned into a tree. I don't know what to do now cause it's a beautiful plant, but it takes a big size of my living room and can't survive outside. The canopy (right word?) is absolutely massive. About 120 cm wide now. I'll try and add a picture. The tree itself is about 1 meter tall. https://ibb.co/Kjwc2H4 Edited May 26, 2020 by KenjiOgiwara 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 On 18/05/2020 at 12:36, blandy said: I just plonked 2 seeds/stones in a pot, covered with a polythene bag on a windowsill and one grew. Planted a couple of weeks ago with sprout at about 2 inches. Faced the sprout down. The seed has just split fully open in the past few days with the proto-stalk about 1cm above the seed right now 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilko154 Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 So I've got some fairly big raised borders out on our drive, they were there when we moved in. I would say 90% of the plants growing through are weeds; I'm currently into my third year of pulling them out for them to grow back two weeks later. How do I kill it all so I've just get empty borders for me to plant stuff in if I wish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted June 1, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted June 1, 2020 51 minutes ago, wilko154 said: How do I kill it all so I've just get empty borders for me to plant stuff in if I wish? You never do, you plant stuff there that will, to some extent outperform the weed. Better get it done right after you've been weeding Your other option is to cover it with for example a tarp, starve it from sunlight. It will take about 2 years though and when the tarp is removed, things will start to grow again so you have to plant stuff you want sharpish. © Mrs Tegis 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 1 hour ago, wilko154 said: So I've got some fairly big raised borders out on our drive, they were there when we moved in. I would say 90% of the plants growing through are weeds; I'm currently into my third year of pulling them out for them to grow back two weeks later. How do I kill it all so I've just get empty borders for me to plant stuff in if I wish? The starving weeds of sunlight option as per Tegis's post above is a good shout. You can do it with some compost and a tarpaulin or you can just do it with a really thick layer of compost. You'll still have to weed periodically but it should be easy to get on top of it. I've done the tarp method myself on an area that was about nine square metres - left it covered in a layer of cardboard and a thickish layer of black plastic for the winter and then dug it over - but the digging can bring seeds that are deeper down to the surface and cause further problems so the 'no dig' approach can bring dividends see below: Charles Dowding's video on two options (these are on just some weedy pasture): 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 This gardening lark never ends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 On 18/05/2020 at 18:36, blandy said: I just plonked 2 seeds/stones in a pot, covered with a polythene bag on a windowsill and one grew. I did the bag trick someone recced on here. Worked I think. 3 cm root coming put of the seed now. What's next? Do I plant the seed right away? Is the root coming out an actual root or do you plant it root 'up'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, KenjiOgiwara said: I did the bag trick someone recced on here. Worked I think. 3 cm root coming put of the seed now. What's next? Do I plant the seed right away? Is the root coming out an actual root or do you plant it root 'up'? Plant in pot. I did it with the initial root facing into soil. Leave about half of the seed above the soil. Lightly water each day. I had a new growth of about 1inch after 7-10days, then it basically stopped and slowly started what looked like leaves starting to develop. Then out of nowhere, a brand new strand popped out and now at about a foot tall with loads of leaves. Leaves are also appearing on the initial ~2" sprout and a 3rd sprout has appeared too. All a bit mental, but super cool. Edited June 25, 2020 by villakram 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) 51 minutes ago, villakram said: I had a new growth of about 1inch. also appearing on the initial ~2" sprout Edited June 25, 2020 by lapal_fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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