Does anyone know anything about gardening?

@Aroogah @olaf_von_pokemon I find going out on slug killing sessions in the evening with a stabby thing gets me loads more than beer traps... Plus, here's a thing, I'm in an ongoing battle with some ground elder, and the slugs and snails are ferocious devourers of the stuff. So in that sense they're useful. I dig it up, leave it lying about, and in the morning the slimy critters have eaten all the green stuff, leaving the roots to be disposed of.

I was more wondering if anyone had any opinions on the link I posted, or on use of ferrous phosphate in general. The forum is usually good on analysing sciencey stuff. I like my resident toads so I'm not risking it.

Aren't nematodes meant to be the business for getting rid of slugs?

Anyone know what this is and more importantly how to get rid of it?!

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If it has a zig zag red, bamboo like stalk then might want to check it against knot weed.

Google image search suggests it's a plant.

Doesn't look like the dreaded Japanese Knotweed though. Just spray some roundup on it and watch it die.

Top tip, try not to ingest any of the roundup. I've been shitting through the eye of a needle for the last two days.

that looks about 1 square foot so just dig it out before buying expensive chemicals.

Do you have access to A) nukes, B) orbit?

All helpful responses... Not Japanese knotweed thankfully...

Covers about 4m2 in total an has managed to grow up through my 3 foot raised border, have dig it up a few times but it is a persistent bugger! It's growing underneath a bush I want to keep so hard to get all the roots out, will attack with roundup...

All helpful responses...

I must be doing something wrong.

Tongue firmly in cheek...

If it's under bushes, try the gel. You can dab it in the individual leaves to kill the plant with poison. The gel stick looks like a anti-perspirant stick so try not to get it confused with your nivea men sensitive protect.

Cheers, will give that a go and see a small child under the bush, sounds like a fun game...

That's bindweed - roundup is one option, boiling water over the whole area (every time it reshoots) is another option and last one would be to strim it down to soil level everytime it resprouts. There is no quick fix but it's not a large area so should be ok.

If it's under a bush you want to keep then repeated cut back is the best option, keep an eye out for new shoots and nail them asap... soon the (extensive) root system will use up all its energy trying to resprout and it'll die. It'll probs take most of the summer but once the initial cut back is done it wont be that hard to maintain.

I have been using the ferric phosphate for a couple of years,
along with physical barriers, (crushed nut shells, broken roasted pumpkin seed husks),
and we still have frogs in our garden.

Cheers. Have nought some extra strength round up... Never liked the bush it is under so if I lose that to collateral damage then so be it..

Have a brother who is a landscaper so he is getting some licensed weedkiller, so will see how it likes that.

Neighbours knotweed. This shit grows quick. Housing association are dragging their feet so lost my shit with them.today. Getting Lambert council and Defra involved so see if that speeds things up. Failing that a low orbital tactical nuke.

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It will fuck that wall.

Anyone grown Arctostaphylos manzanita from seed before?
Moving to a place with a sunny balcony in a few weeks and loved the texture and colours of Manzanitas while we were in California last year.
Can't find anyone selling it as a plant over here(unless anyone can correct me?) so just ordered some seeds from the U.S

I have never grown it but from what I'm reading,
It's seed probably needs stratifying with fire.
It's ericaceous, bound to be tender and attracts bears.
Good Luck, sounds like quite the project.

Yeah, it looks pretty intense. I'm a treeman by trade and one of my guys is a trained horticulturalist so can hopefully lend a hand. I'm better at pruning than growing and never really grown anything from seed before. Will have to read up on stratifying..
Once established(presumably in a good few years time) I'd be looking to keep it in a medium/large planter if I can make it drain enough.
My guess is that it should be tough as nails as it was growing on cracks and ledges in Yosemite exposed to the elements.

Yosemite you say... isn't that like 3500' or something. Searing heat, freezing snows..? Should be fine in SE England.. ;)

Meh, there are Manzanitas up in Toulumne and all the way down to the coast. It's pretty adaptable it would seem.
My colleague has stratified sequoia seeds with fire before and loves a challenge so once the seeds appear we're on..

So Manzanita is the common name of several Arctostaphylos species. I found a website of a specialist grower in Oregon. Seems I was wrong about them being tender.
"The cold hardiness of Arctostaphylos species and cultivars from California has been a great surprise."
http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/arctostaphylos-for-pacific-northwest-gardens/

I'm getting the Common Manzanita which is Arctostaphylos manzanita, I reckon it'll do just fine. Will try and make a rain hat for the planter once it's outside so it doesn't get overwatered...

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/arcman/all.html#Germination

There yuh go!