Does anyone know anything about gardening?

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  • Any body got any knowledge or hints on how best to deal with box blight?
    Planted some next to an ugly fence nearly 2 years ago and they are struggling to establish and form a nice hedge as planned.
    Generally some are ok other are going brown and yellow.. is this a fungus or insect attack?

  • If it is blight then cut out and destroy (burn) but sometimes if the roots have been allowed to dry it shows the same result and with watering and time will come back, common box is larger and best for hedging it doesn't take as long to grow and establish, no cure for blight as yet and will spread if left untreated,

  • At my previous and this house I planted buxus sempervirens, common or garden box hedge plants. In both cases they were next to the driveway and both suffered from browning. In the first case red ants had formed a nest under the bits that were brown so I cut the bits off and dealt with the ants. The problem seemed to resolve itself. The second house it has happened a couple of times. Again there are red ants nesting and again it has resolved. Because of the two variables I don't know if it was ants or blight but they got better and survived. Both hedges have taken forever to grow but they were/are both in very dry areas. My hedge now is 14 years old. Privet might be a better option but that's just a guess.


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  • ..the one in that picture is 14 years old?

  • Yes. I planted twelve (I think) about 18" apart that were about 8" tall. They've looked their best this year. They get a couple of trims a year and have knitted together into one lump. They never really get watered. I had a spare which I planted on its own in the back garden and that's been trimmed into a ball about four feet tall and wide. So it's definitely more hostile in the front garden.

  • Wow, never would have thought it takes them so long to grow like that..

  • The conditions are hostile and so am I.

  • I meant to end it with :) really.

  • You did introduce the ants deliberately though, didn't you.

  • I always have a colony to hand.

  • As the leaf fall accelerates,
    does anyone want a black mulberry cutting?
    I have no idea if it will develop from a hard wood cutting,
    but, the 'bush' we planted some 10(?) years ago is now far too large,
    and it will be pruned this Autumn.

    Proviso,
    the black mulberry is the 'wrong one'.
    The fruits are juicy, the juice is staining, and you will be mainly feeding your local birdlife,
    as the fruit develops early and it is prolific. If we ever get another Summer like '18, you will even get a second crop. I get a kick out of having garden-grown mulberries on my breakfast muesli in early Summer.
    (The white mulberry fruit can be picked and dried for later use).

  • Anyone recommend a nice brand of brazier/chiminea or firepit?
    Looking for something well made ie cast iron or similar

  • Talk to me about lawnowers.

    What is good for approx. 50m^2 lawn?

    I don't mind something that takes a bit if effort, if that means it's smaller in size and will store more conveniently.

    Also, is it worth mowing now, or should I wait u til spring?

  • What is good for approx. 50m^2 lawn?... a bit if effort, if that means it's smaller in size.

    Any of the small flymos. I wouldn't want a manual one for that area. My mum's one is tiny and very light - maybe the floor area of a folded Brompton when folded up.

    For that size lawn you might want something that will collect clippings which will take more space.

    Also, is it worth mowing now, or should I wait u til spring?

    Depends how much sun your lawn get. As it hasn't rained much you could probably get away with a mow. I did our last mow a couple of weekends ago.

  • A small goat.
    Then bask in the hipster points from homemade goat mozzarella on your pizzas.

  • A small goat.

    I was overruled a long time ago on a pair of pygmie goats.

  • Raised beds are going in next spring, against the south facing fence. Mostly established herbs (bay, mint, oregano, chives, rosemary, thyme) anda bunch of bamboo poles to support tomatoes, chillis and jalapeƱos.

    There's not enough space to make growing anything else worthwhile - although I may try a few squash.

  • In a small space, it's worth growing salad as a 'cut and come again' crop, winter salad too. The cost of supermarket pillow bags and wastage of said salad makes growing your own great value.

  • a long time ago

    Pre-Brexit?
    Guaranteed milk supply may appeal in 2019.

  • Want a redcurrant stem(s)?
    I'll have to prune mine this Autumn.
    Trouble-free bush. Stems easily tied in to make it essentially just 2-D.
    No thorns. Fruit easily picked, typically ripe as last UK competitor loses at Wimbledon.

  • There's not enough space to make growing anything else worthwhile - although I may try a few squash.

    Squash are great but they trail everywhere so probably down the list of things to grow in a not enough space to make growing anything else worthwhile space.

  • Thanks for the offer, but I'll regretfully decline - Im not sure we have the space just now - I'm just planting things I can move easily

    Case in point - knocked up a couple of planters from scrap cladding this afternoon, and chucked in some herbs. Next year, when we do the garden properly, I'll move them into a bigger bed.


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  • Fair enough - I had no idea how they grew. I'll stuck to growing upwards things if I can.

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Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Posted by Avatar for carson @carson

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