The zombie army COVID-19 Gardening thread.
Discussion
The lawn needs some rain.
Planted a bunch of raspberries and strawberries but more on the way. Should have 35 strawberry plants in the ground for the slugs to eat and some in pots in the greenhouse.
Tomatoes from seed are only about 1 inch tall so got 5 online that are about 6 inches tall to get something faster.
I need to build a fruit cage for for raspberries though, 5.5m x 4.5m so thinking 2x2 bits of wood as the wife wants it to be vaguely aesthetically pleasing, sort of like this but smaller. Doesn’t seem too hard once the vertical posts are correct.
Planted a bunch of raspberries and strawberries but more on the way. Should have 35 strawberry plants in the ground for the slugs to eat and some in pots in the greenhouse.
Tomatoes from seed are only about 1 inch tall so got 5 online that are about 6 inches tall to get something faster.
I need to build a fruit cage for for raspberries though, 5.5m x 4.5m so thinking 2x2 bits of wood as the wife wants it to be vaguely aesthetically pleasing, sort of like this but smaller. Doesn’t seem too hard once the vertical posts are correct.
Ordered 4 x bags of ericaous compost to plant our blueberry bushes in nearly a month ago from our local garden centre on their delivery service. I appreciated it might take a while but we’ve had nothing. I wouldn’t mind too much but they quite happily took the cash amount of my account when I ordered!
Plus our B&Q is open now too so I could easily get it there.
Plus our B&Q is open now too so I could easily get it there.
snowman99 said:
The lawn needs some rain.
Planted a bunch of raspberries and strawberries but more on the way. Should have 35 strawberry plants in the ground for the slugs to eat and some in pots in the greenhouse.
Tomatoes from seed are only about 1 inch tall so got 5 online that are about 6 inches tall to get something faster.
I need to build a fruit cage for for raspberries though, 5.5m x 4.5m so thinking 2x2 bits of wood as the wife wants it to be vaguely aesthetically pleasing, sort of like this but smaller. Doesn’t seem too hard once the vertical posts are correct.
I did exactly that, but the netting just attracted bind weed and caught blackbirds, so now we've got rid and I've built some raised beds that we'll net individually.Planted a bunch of raspberries and strawberries but more on the way. Should have 35 strawberry plants in the ground for the slugs to eat and some in pots in the greenhouse.
Tomatoes from seed are only about 1 inch tall so got 5 online that are about 6 inches tall to get something faster.
I need to build a fruit cage for for raspberries though, 5.5m x 4.5m so thinking 2x2 bits of wood as the wife wants it to be vaguely aesthetically pleasing, sort of like this but smaller. Doesn’t seem too hard once the vertical posts are correct.
No rain in Yorks for over a month now, it's dry as a bone and nothing but cool and dry weather forecast. I noticed the farmers watering the crops recently. I filled about 5 x 200L barrels with rainwater in Jan/Feb, but haven't worked out how to get it out yet! I need to make something to hold them up on their sides so I can use a tap to fill watering cans.
Toms are a foot high indoors and have buds on them yet we had some freak windstorm 3 weeks ago which blew some panes out of my greenhouse, no glass places open and the weather has turned really cold so I daren't put them out yet.
Some veg seeds planted out last week when it was sunny everyday and now it's cold so have covered them over with a polythene sheet.
Got a wildlife cam and captured some nocturnal action on the veg plot:
Toms are a foot high indoors and have buds on them yet we had some freak windstorm 3 weeks ago which blew some panes out of my greenhouse, no glass places open and the weather has turned really cold so I daren't put them out yet.
Some veg seeds planted out last week when it was sunny everyday and now it's cold so have covered them over with a polythene sheet.
Got a wildlife cam and captured some nocturnal action on the veg plot:
Started renovating the chicken run ready for the new ducks' arrival. I have managed to get 2x2 delivered eventually from B&A plus some bolt down bases and already have some concrete screws...
But only realised my mains drill's chuck has seized once I'd taken the old run apart. The base is Purbeck stone and my 18v Makita drill (and newish looking bit) can put holes in the mortar but not the stone.
So now I'm wondering about upgrading to 36v SDS...
But only realised my mains drill's chuck has seized once I'd taken the old run apart. The base is Purbeck stone and my 18v Makita drill (and newish looking bit) can put holes in the mortar but not the stone.
So now I'm wondering about upgrading to 36v SDS...
Still waiting on any kind of noise whatsoever from the company I purchased some sleepers from a while back. I reckon it is just because they are inundated and poor Gary who knew how a telephone worked is sitting in front of a computer wondering what kind of mystical voodoo is going on before his eyes. Someone knows what email is as they’ve set it all up along with telephone and web messages directing customers to it but I think they’ve gone and then put someone in charge who hasn’t a scooby.
I’ve topsoil arriving tomorrow but kicking myself for not using one of the local firms for the sleepers.
I’ve topsoil arriving tomorrow but kicking myself for not using one of the local firms for the sleepers.
DonkeyApple said:
Still waiting on any kind of noise whatsoever from the company I purchased some sleepers from a while back. I reckon it is just because they are inundated and poor Gary who knew how a telephone worked is sitting in front of a computer wondering what kind of mystical voodoo is going on before his eyes. Someone knows what email is as they’ve set it all up along with telephone and web messages directing customers to it but I think they’ve gone and then put someone in charge who hasn’t a scooby.
I’ve topsoil arriving tomorrow but kicking myself for not using one of the local firms for the sleepers.
Why what happened to them?I’ve topsoil arriving tomorrow but kicking myself for not using one of the local firms for the sleepers.
People really need to stop calling them sleepers because most of them aren't these days. They're just lumps of cheap softwood with some preservative slopped on them.
Evoluzione said:
No rain in Yorks for over a month now, it's dry as a bone and nothing but cool and dry weather forecast. I noticed the farmers watering the crops recently. I filled about 5 x 200L barrels with rainwater in Jan/Feb, but haven't worked out how to get it out yet! I need to make something to hold them up on their sides so I can use a tap to fill watering cans.
Toms are a foot high indoors and have buds on them yet we had some freak windstorm 3 weeks ago which blew some panes out of my greenhouse, no glass places open and the weather has turned really cold so I daren't put them out yet.
Some veg seeds planted out last week when it was sunny everyday and now it's cold so have covered them over with a polythene sheet.
Got a wildlife cam and captured some nocturnal action on the veg plot:
You can get acrylic plastic panels online - they are a few pounds more but I am thinking of getting some as local glass places closed too and I generally break a couple each year removing them as it warms up.Toms are a foot high indoors and have buds on them yet we had some freak windstorm 3 weeks ago which blew some panes out of my greenhouse, no glass places open and the weather has turned really cold so I daren't put them out yet.
Some veg seeds planted out last week when it was sunny everyday and now it's cold so have covered them over with a polythene sheet.
Got a wildlife cam and captured some nocturnal action on the veg plot:
Evoluzione said:
Why what happened to them?
People really need to stop calling them sleepers because most of them aren't these days. They're just lumps of cheap softwood with some preservative slopped on them.
I think they are just inundated and like lots of similar businesses aren’t naturally structured for a sudden uplift in online business and communication. People really need to stop calling them sleepers because most of them aren't these days. They're just lumps of cheap softwood with some preservative slopped on them.
As for not calling them ‘sleepers’, you are correct but it’s just easier to say ‘sleepers’ than ‘lumps of cheap softwood with some preservative slopped on them’
Had to evict a couple of Mice from a box in my little Summerhouse today, social distancing and all that, actually felt quite bad 
Cut the grass in here for the third time this week. Still need to cut back the Laurels but will have to wait a while now. Neighbour has an industrial chipper so easily disposed of when it’s eventually done.
Wondering whether I could weather proof this old trunk? To use in the garden as storage/drinks table. Any paint or other suggestions?
ETA some stuff that’s flowering - All damaged stock or skip finds over the past decade
And in the White Garden
I love the scent of this but it’s coming to an end now
Wisteria won’t be long
Cut the grass in here for the third time this week. Still need to cut back the Laurels but will have to wait a while now. Neighbour has an industrial chipper so easily disposed of when it’s eventually done.
Wondering whether I could weather proof this old trunk? To use in the garden as storage/drinks table. Any paint or other suggestions?
ETA some stuff that’s flowering - All damaged stock or skip finds over the past decade
And in the White Garden
I love the scent of this but it’s coming to an end now
Wisteria won’t be long
Edited by Gretchen on Sunday 19th April 17:14
It’s a covered suitcase/card type trunk. It would take paint easily. I’d probably leave it out in dry spells and take it in where it rain (and I to remember) and store it in summerhouse or barn over winter. I’ve got plenty of Cuprinol/Ronseal garden shades paint, suitable for fences, concrete etc
- screenshot because wouldn’t post, usually crop it but missed it, nothing to hide except a million garden andpussy cat photos 
- screenshot because wouldn’t post, usually crop it but missed it, nothing to hide except a million garden and
Couple or three pics from today.
It's certainly a work-in-progress. I'm not even sure what I'm hoping to end up with, which is a probably a bit daft.
At this stage, I just want to get something I can manage and stop from growing out of control, which it would given half the chance. Back injuries are starting to become something I'm taking quite seriously!
The boys just say, "f
k's sake, just get a gardener. Pay some other to do it."
Where's the fun in that? (apols for the profanities. We're near Glasgow. Calling someone a you-know-what is just regular conversation.)
The front half of the garden was reasonably in order from the outset. The back, which slopes up quite significantly to the houses behind was - almost literally - a jungle.
From what I've uncovered, I would stab a guess at decades of leaves and garden debris, at least.
This man-made (obvs) stone staircase was buried under at least 18 inches of fibrous mulch. None of the stones to the left were even visible.
It was just a hill behind the house, covered in years' of leaf-fall and around 450 million miles of ground ivy.
It was such a thrill to discover it was there and expose it again.
What I found at the top of the stone staircase was equally depressing. I wish I had taken pictures; it was such a mess of fallen trees, mulch, 6-foot high weeds etc. It's taken me a long, long time to get to the stage in the pic below.
Remember, peeps, that we are inundated with midges up here, so any well-intentioned garden forays do get cut short when the wee buggers start sinking their teeth in. I've gotten reasonably tolerant and the bites subside each 24 hours, but it is a real PITA and means you can only be out for 25-30 minutes on a nice evening, because they'll just eat you alive.
This is the top of the stone steps, turn left. Still a lot of work to do, but there's a whole lot of effort, blood, sweat, tears and midgey bites (copious amounts of each category) gone into re-establishing this path.
Again, some of the rationale has been to get the thing under some sort of control. The lawns take a fair few hours each week when they start growing like the clappers.
The boys could well have a point
Final snap. This is kinda what it's all been about. Again, still loads of work and improvement is on the agenda.
Did you notice the cheapo bench at the end of the path in picture 2? This is the view when you sit there:
(one of the household won't be happy that he's been caught sleeping near our council pub bench today, photo'd and posted on the net.)
The bench will catch the sun for 3-4 hours in the afternoon in the summer, now that the chop-frenzy has been enacted. The midges seem to like staying down near the ponds, so it could be a nice spot for an evening beer.
The whole area to the right of the pond below looks pretty ugly just now but was a 20-feet high jungle of trees and ivy not that long ago.
There's soooooo much work needs to go into this thing still, but - as much as this Covid-19 has turned our worlds upside down - I'm grateful for the extra time to do this and I'm getting stuck in with a passion.
There's another couple of areas of stonework that I uncovered which are a little untidy at the moment, two more stone staircases and dry-stone walls which were buried in miles of ground ivy. I'll get them looking a bit more respectable before posting any pics, assuming anyone's interested.
It's almost been a bit of an archaeological find on some levels; thrilling to discover and realise that there's a stone staircase under all this mud and ivy.
There are more important things, obviously, but I'm easily pleased.
It's certainly a work-in-progress. I'm not even sure what I'm hoping to end up with, which is a probably a bit daft.
At this stage, I just want to get something I can manage and stop from growing out of control, which it would given half the chance. Back injuries are starting to become something I'm taking quite seriously!
The boys just say, "f
k's sake, just get a gardener. Pay some other to do it."Where's the fun in that? (apols for the profanities. We're near Glasgow. Calling someone a you-know-what is just regular conversation.)
The front half of the garden was reasonably in order from the outset. The back, which slopes up quite significantly to the houses behind was - almost literally - a jungle.
From what I've uncovered, I would stab a guess at decades of leaves and garden debris, at least.
This man-made (obvs) stone staircase was buried under at least 18 inches of fibrous mulch. None of the stones to the left were even visible.
It was just a hill behind the house, covered in years' of leaf-fall and around 450 million miles of ground ivy.
It was such a thrill to discover it was there and expose it again.
What I found at the top of the stone staircase was equally depressing. I wish I had taken pictures; it was such a mess of fallen trees, mulch, 6-foot high weeds etc. It's taken me a long, long time to get to the stage in the pic below.
Remember, peeps, that we are inundated with midges up here, so any well-intentioned garden forays do get cut short when the wee buggers start sinking their teeth in. I've gotten reasonably tolerant and the bites subside each 24 hours, but it is a real PITA and means you can only be out for 25-30 minutes on a nice evening, because they'll just eat you alive.
This is the top of the stone steps, turn left. Still a lot of work to do, but there's a whole lot of effort, blood, sweat, tears and midgey bites (copious amounts of each category) gone into re-establishing this path.
Again, some of the rationale has been to get the thing under some sort of control. The lawns take a fair few hours each week when they start growing like the clappers.
The boys could well have a point
Final snap. This is kinda what it's all been about. Again, still loads of work and improvement is on the agenda.
Did you notice the cheapo bench at the end of the path in picture 2? This is the view when you sit there:
(one of the household won't be happy that he's been caught sleeping near our council pub bench today, photo'd and posted on the net.)
The bench will catch the sun for 3-4 hours in the afternoon in the summer, now that the chop-frenzy has been enacted. The midges seem to like staying down near the ponds, so it could be a nice spot for an evening beer.
The whole area to the right of the pond below looks pretty ugly just now but was a 20-feet high jungle of trees and ivy not that long ago.
There's soooooo much work needs to go into this thing still, but - as much as this Covid-19 has turned our worlds upside down - I'm grateful for the extra time to do this and I'm getting stuck in with a passion.
There's another couple of areas of stonework that I uncovered which are a little untidy at the moment, two more stone staircases and dry-stone walls which were buried in miles of ground ivy. I'll get them looking a bit more respectable before posting any pics, assuming anyone's interested.
It's almost been a bit of an archaeological find on some levels; thrilling to discover and realise that there's a stone staircase under all this mud and ivy.
There are more important things, obviously, but I'm easily pleased.
Looks superb. Midges really are a bain. I lived on Skye for a brief while and in summer I’d look forward to wind and rain so I could sit outside and enjoy an evening.
‘The boys just say, "fk's sake, just get a gardener. Pay some other to do it."’. Aren’t they the ‘other fkers’ meant to do it? What’s the point in feeding and housing the cheap labour if they then aren’t toiling in the fields all day?
‘The boys just say, "fk's sake, just get a gardener. Pay some other to do it."’. Aren’t they the ‘other f
kers’ meant to do it? What’s the point in feeding and housing the cheap labour if they then aren’t toiling in the fields all day?
Hole #2:
Wood formwork in and found a home for the sharp sand f(both left over from hole #1) - granite sets (a left over from a driveway project) to stop the feet of the bench rotting too badly - eagle eyed viewers will note that the front right foot has already been amputated and a temporary splint is in place.
And again Covid stops play - only remaining job is to fill up with bark mulch though so 10 mins once the World is back up and running
Wood formwork in and found a home for the sharp sand f(both left over from hole #1) - granite sets (a left over from a driveway project) to stop the feet of the bench rotting too badly - eagle eyed viewers will note that the front right foot has already been amputated and a temporary splint is in place.
And again Covid stops play - only remaining job is to fill up with bark mulch though so 10 mins once the World is back up and running
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