Coldeanseagull
Opinionated
I made that mistake first time around!
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[Help] Gardeners Question Time.
- Thread starter Stat Brother
- Start date
Weststander
Well-known member
Thanks again. I learnt that lesson from a small job years ago. Then got it right on the big lawn. I also noticed that you guys at BHCC did that with park repairs.
Gravity!
Coldeanseagull
Opinionated
Yeah, gravity.....that's where a lot of people fall down
Weststander
Well-known member
For three years I gave Box topiary a go, cubes, but from day one they were afflicted by Box Moth caterpillars. I haven’t got the patience of @WATFORD zero with his beastie traps and covert surveillance.
So I dug them out this afternoon and have gone down the Taxus Baccata route.
So I dug them out this afternoon and have gone down the Taxus Baccata route.
Coldeanseagull
Opinionated
Much better choice....just needs a trim a couple of times a year.
Don't lick the fruits unless you're a badger!
Don't lick the fruits unless you're a badger!
Weststander
Well-known member
Arils.
We’ve got an old, big Yew in our back garden. I shape it by hard pruning most January’s. Very unusual for an evergreen, they always grow back.
Coldeanseagull
Opinionated
Unusual for a conifer to grow back after cutting into old wood. It's one of only a couple of conifers native to Britain...along with.....nope, senior moment
- Jul 10, 2003
- 27,789
I've got a 30ft
I've got a 30ft Tree of death in the bottom corner of my garden. Eventually I managed to grow about 40ft of clematis montana around under it where nothing else would grow but it took a good few years.
And the battle with box tree moths is ongoing (need something to keep you entertained when you retire
)
I've got a 30ft Tree of death in the bottom corner of my garden. Eventually I managed to grow about 40ft of clematis montana around under it where nothing else would grow but it took a good few years.
And the battle with box tree moths is ongoing (need something to keep you entertained when you retire
)
Coldeanseagull
Opinionated
Slugs and snails, never a dull momentI've got a 30ft
I've got a 30ft Tree of death in the bottom corner of my garden. Eventually I managed to grow about 40ft of clematis montana around under it where nothing else would grow but it took a good few years.
And the battle with box tree moths is ongoing (need something to keep you entertained when you retire
Weststander
Well-known member
Unusual for a conifer to grow back after cutting into old wood. It's one of only a couple of conifers native to Britain...along with.....nope, senior moment
Junipers.
I read up years ago what the native woodland looked like here just past the last ice age - Beech, Yews and Junipers.
Coldeanseagull
Opinionated
It was the Scots pine I was thinking of!
Weststander
Well-known member
The Natural History Museum website 15 / 20 years ago had a brilliant section where you entered your post code and it gave an extensive plant list of true natives to your neck of the ‘woods’. For about 25 years I’d been interested in the natural flora here on Downs chalkland, partly due to the benefits to our native fauna.
Then the NHM I think deleted the whole thing …. cost grounds?
Luckily I had a printout.
I have a question for Gardener’s Question Time please. Mrs A has suggested we scarify the lawn this weekend. I have a machine for it so it’s no big deal to do it but am wondering if we’ve left it a tad too late in the year now? Any thoughts? I am Brighton based.
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Weststander
Well-known member
I'm a layman, I think it's fine to do that now. These are effectively early autumn temperatures, you won't do any harm.
Jack Straw
I look nothing like him!
We would scarify our bowling greens as soon as the season finished, which was the end of September, beginning of October, so get going on it ASAP. This will give your lawn a few weeks to recover before the weather gets cold.
Don't just tickle your lawn. Go bananas on it, going over twice in different directions. Adjust it so it's working about 1" deep in to the surface. It will look a mess when you've finished, but will recover before you know it.
If you can spread a light sowing of a multi-cultivar grass seed mix after you've finished, that will also be beneficial, but not essential. The grass seed will find its way in to the slits you make with the scarifier.
Photos of before and after, then progress would be much appreciated on here.
jevs
Well-known member
It's been one of the nicest weeks at work for a long time.
About 4 years ago, we replanted a lot of our old, tired flowerbeds with a wide range of summer flowering herbaceous perennials. They've grown like mad but these plants need splitting up every 3-5 years or they will stop flowering.
So this week, i've lifted and divided a few species and replanted in areas where we lost some plants last winter.
So here's an example. I've got 8 clumps of Kniphofia 'mango popsicle' ...a beautiful dwarf orange red hot poker. I dug up the 8 clumps and put a saw through them....again and again. I ended up with over 50 plants which will need dividing again in a few years. I did the same with Rudbeckia, Helenium, Eryngium varifolium, Persicaria and Salvia uliginosa.
If the weather's kind to them this autumn, they should be nicely established by spring.
I was out there in the pissing rain today in a T shirt and shorts, covered in mud and soaked and I was as happy as a pig in mushroom compost.
About 4 years ago, we replanted a lot of our old, tired flowerbeds with a wide range of summer flowering herbaceous perennials. They've grown like mad but these plants need splitting up every 3-5 years or they will stop flowering.
So this week, i've lifted and divided a few species and replanted in areas where we lost some plants last winter.
So here's an example. I've got 8 clumps of Kniphofia 'mango popsicle' ...a beautiful dwarf orange red hot poker. I dug up the 8 clumps and put a saw through them....again and again. I ended up with over 50 plants which will need dividing again in a few years. I did the same with Rudbeckia, Helenium, Eryngium varifolium, Persicaria and Salvia uliginosa.
If the weather's kind to them this autumn, they should be nicely established by spring.
I was out there in the pissing rain today in a T shirt and shorts, covered in mud and soaked and I was as happy as a pig in mushroom compost.
Gave the lawn a going over with the scarifier this morning, hope the weather stays compliant over the next few weeks. I have the seed to put down but figured I’d wait until Tuesday as the forecast is dry til then but wet on Wednesday. Before and after pictures here (slightly restricted as we had washing out on the line both days but you get the gist!!)
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Cheshire Cat
The most curious thing..
Sounds good, but the local pigeons will love the grass seed.
Jack Straw
I look nothing like him!
They won't be able to get the seeds that fall down the slits. A light brushing will work a lot of it down, and the pigeons can have the rest!
Jack Straw
I look nothing like him!
That's the stuff. Looks like you've done a good job. What I failed to mention on my original post is that you should shave the grass off and remove the cuttings before you scarify, but it looks like you did, or you've achieved the right result with what you've done if you didn't. As mentioned above, a light brushing of the grass seed will help get it in the slits. Looking forwards to another photo in about 3 weeks. You'll be amazed!