Do you like to garden, and have you been tempted?

[Saphire]

View attachment 9098
A small bit of my garden from last year

Oh, your garden is truly stunning, full of interest.
Thanks for posting those pics....when mine come into flower in summer I will post some more pics.
They wont be as interesting as yours though.

 

[funandflirty]

Oh, your garden is truly stunning, full of interest.
Thanks for posting those pics....when mine come into flower in summer I will post some more pics.
They wont be as interesting as yours though.

Thank you - I can’t wait to see yours (I had no luck with my magnolia so seeing yours made me smile) , I am a bit of a bare foot hippie gardener and I do all I can to attract different wildlife I have nests and hedgehogs and foxes all living out there

 

[Saphire]

Thank you - I can’t wait to see yours (I had no luck with my magnolia so seeing yours made me smile) , I am a bit of a bare foot hippie gardener and I do all I can to attract different wildlife I have nests and hedgehogs and foxes all living out there

I envy you...I have slugs and lots of Magpies.
We used to have one hedgehog that walked through the garden every night at the same time....I haven't seen him for a couple of years.
Same with the foxes, the only reason we know they are around is we see footsteps in the snow in winter, and we often hear them at night....they make some blood curdling noises.
We don't encourage them now because we have an old adopted cat, and I would hate to think they could hurt her now she is not so nimble.
We do have loads of bats as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer, I love seeing them swooping around at dusk.

 

[Moriarty]

I love gardening, when some else does it

 

[hell2bwith76]

 

[hell2bwith76]

Wifey won a 2nd prize local "Town in Bloom " contest and has managed 3 awards since but she`s slowing down now .
She enjoys the garden though .

 

[Saphire]

Wifey won a 2nd prize local "Town in Bloom " contest and has managed 3 awards since but she`s slowing down now .
She enjoys the garden though .

Yor wifey has green fingers, that's a beautiful blaze of colour.

 

[hell2bwith76]

If it's the same type as mine (Stellata) they can grow in pots.
Mine is in the ground, and it's been there about 12 years.
I know they do prefer ericacious soil rather than normal multi purpose compost....so if it's not dead, it's worth filling your tub up with that.
They don't take well to being pruned either.

Thanks for those hints . I will certainly try them..

Yor wifey has green fingers, that's a beautiful blaze of colour.

It`s a small but very busy little cul=de-sac and the fields ,acessible from the top of road , are ideal for Dog walkers . As they pass they always comment on her Floral display which boosts her up no end . I can`t claim any glory but i do help with ideas.
I grow a few greens in a high level planter which is enough for me .

 

[WickedPerdition]

2 am to be precise .

No, she was correct that it was from 1. a.m. advancing to 2. a.m.

 

[hell2bwith76]

No, she was correct that it was from 1. a.m. advancing to 2. a.m.

Yes ,i found out and apologised =

 

[LadyOnArooftop]

Great thread.
I'm almost green with envy at you people's lovely gardens. The back of my home faces on to woodland, so i'm plagued with field mice, squirrels (they're ok!) and the occasional rat. There is also a huge tree right up against the fence, and it's one of those trees that is constantly shedding leaves and stuff from like May to Nov. You lucky people!

The tree growing right up against the back fence. The bamboo is to stop marauding feral cats coming into the garden to spook my own timid cat.


Huge root from the tree that broke through the base of the old shed. I've cropped the pics to remove offending items, children.... my feet! etc

 

[Saphire]

Wow...that is some tree, the roots alone are massive.
I bet your outlook is lovely, backing on to woodland. The mice and squirrels wouldn't bother me...rats, yuck. We had one in the house a few years ago, what a drama that was.
We back onto fields, I love the view, and the horses are not much trouble, (I don't own them)
They have been known to break down the small farmers fence, get too near the garden and chew whichever plants they take a liking to.

 

[hell2bwith76]

Great thread.
I'm almost green with envy at you people's lovely gardens. The back of my home faces on to woodland, so i'm plagued with field mice, squirrels (they're ok!) and the occasional rat. There is also a huge tree right up against the fence, and it's one of those trees that is constantly shedding leaves and stuff from like May to Nov. You lucky people!
View attachment 9108
The tree growing right up against the back fence. The bamboo is to stop marauding feral cats coming into the garden to spook my own timid cat.
View attachment 9109

Huge root from the tree that broke through the base of the old shed. I've cropped the pics to remove offending items, children.... my feet! etc

Nothing ,but NOTHING can stop rats getting into your garden, as we found out tis Winter. My newish neighbour and his partner ,with a 2 year old girl moved in about 2 years ago and shortly afterwards so did loads of Rats !. Reason was that they decided to keep 2 Chickens to get free Eggs ! I was getting some tool from a garden shed when i noticed a heap of stored food in the shed .Mr Ratty had been busy harvesting and his stores consisted of Apples ( dropped on ground by neighbours Apple tree! which he never had pruned ) plus bird seed which we decided was most likely from our bird feeders ..Never had rats before but we had to take all the feeders down to deprive rats of our seed. My wife os petrified of rats / Mice and any such little animals so i had a word with the ex-Pest Control bloke who ( luckily) lives over the road from us and he soon laid poison near the sheds. As it was obvious that the Rats had made a home in that shed we decided it would have to be demolished to get rid of their Home !.
It`s ongoing and now neighbour has 3 Chickens which wonder all over his garden right up to the house . Last week i found a bundle of shredded foam in the older shed . Poking amongst it i found yet another rat which was dead ,the Rat was fully grown .

The old saying ,from everyone who knows is " Where there are Chickens there are Rats "

 

[hell2bwith76]

Our tame Squirrel

 

[LadyOnArooftop]

The old saying ,from everyone who knows is " Where there are Chickens there are Rats "

Funny you should mention chickens. One of the neighbour does keep 2 or 3 chickens, and only recently we all got letters saying that poultry should be kept indoors due to this Avian flu thing. Well his aren't, because you can hear them

 

[hell2bwith76]

Funny you should mention chickens. One of the neighbour does keep 2 or 3 chickens, and only recently we all got letters saying that poultry should be kept indoors due to this Avian flu thing. Well his aren't, because you can hear them

It`s same with our neighbour. They wonder freely all over his garden from bottom to the house even !.It`s not very healthy tbh. I do`nt think the Avian Flu laws ( passed last November ) apply to him !. From now all Eggs can`t be classed as "freerange" until the restrictions are lifted .(even if they are roaming free).
I`m no happy about how neighbour keeps his Chickens anyway. Plus one problem is that although he has a pen for them ( which is still outside currrent regulations) the one end of the pen is my Fence ! Grrr!!.
About Rats ...i know from reading that they carry the most lethal germs/bacteria/virus on the Planet even though they are quite clean themselves . Also they roam around after food without any restrictions and they mark the rout they came by Urinating frequently. Hence why ,although i hate to do it ,they have to die if they are in our garden.
We phoned our local Council Pest control office a few months ago and the guy just laughed ! he told us to go round to the neighbou and tell him they have rats . That`s not our job ,it`s the damn Council`s job . We pay enough in Council Tax.

 

[Kev1n]

I have managed to catch up on most of the work that needed doing in my garden just have a few polycarbonate sheets to cut to size and install in the small greenhouse and I am done till late Spring when I can start taking the honey from my hives and help the locals with their allergies.

 

[Saphire]

I have managed to catch up on most of the work that needed doing in my garden just have a few polycarbonate sheets to cut to size and install in the small greenhouse and I am done till late Spring when I can start taking the honey from my hives and help the locals with their allergies.

Well done. Local honey is always recommended to treat allergies, not sure if that's strictly true, but it makes sense.

I have all my annuals in now...praying we don't get a late frost.

 

[Altair]

Well done. Local honey is always recommended to treat allergies, not sure if that's strictly true, but it makes sense.

I have all my annuals in now...praying we don't get a late frost.

Praying that the plants take over and put you into a permanent frost.

Your annuals are MINE NOW.

 

[hell2bwith76]

Well done. Local honey is always recommended to treat allergies, not sure if that's strictly true, but it makes sense.

I have all my annuals in now...praying we don't get a late frost.

I learned about Apples from TV ! Apparently they are doing exceedingly well this year due to the lack of rain ! The trees are laden with flower < mine are too) but only the apples ,not other fruits.