Does anyone know anything about gardening?

My Dahlia are still blooming.

But keeping an eye out on the weather forecast, they have to be lifted before frost comes I believe?

Definitely can't leave them in, the clay and damp is too much.

I used a mini dibber for bulbs this year and found it quite annoying, the point was too narrow so I couldn’t get a bulb to the bottom without having to keep dibbing and wiggling it wider

I took my dahlias out last week, the tubers were already suffering with how wet it has been.

I’m taking a chance and leaving my dahlias in. Covering with thick horse manure and wood chip. 🤞🏽

For bulbs I have a hollow cutter thing that lifts a plug of earth, more often than not I just use a trowel as its a bit of a faff lol

I’ve planted some grasses, molinia and calamagrostis, over the last 4 months. There’s now some more grass coming up around them - it’s unlikely to be the same right? Should I assume it’s just couch grass and pull it up / mulch to fuck?

I've got a fuchsia that has started to grow bigger than expected so thinking of shifting it to a different spot in the bed. When's the best time to do this and is there anything I should be doing apart from just digging it up in one place and sticking it in a hole in another.

Although they are hardy, (assuming it's a hardy fuchsia), they are sometimes a bit borderline, so I wouldn't want to move it now, so late into autumn. It might not have enough of a chance to settle itself before hard frosts and could suffer a bit. I'd move it in early spring when the worst of the cold is past.

You could cut it back a bit at the same time so the newly re-growing roots have less foliage to support.

Also a good opportunity to improve the new planting hole a bit with some compost/manure and maybe sprinkle some mychorrizal fungi to help the roots out.

Cheers. No problem with waiting till spring so will do that. It started off pretty slow growing but shot up in the past few months.

Compost heap questions - here, or in the allotment thread?

Foxes have realised that food waste (just veggie stuff - I'm not insane enough to put meat things in the compost) tastes good.

The have trashed the cover of our compost bin (in the middle of the night, while making blood curdling screams) in their quest for more raw onion ends.

When I make a new cover, what is going to work best - Completely enclosed & rain proof, or allowing some rain to get in?

The reason I ask is that when I go to turn it, it is almost bone dry inside, and decomposition seems to take years.

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You don't want it bone dry, but there's a balance between it being damp and too wet to strike. If it's slow to decompose it's probably too dry and has too much brown material in it. So you need to add more green matter, so grass cuttings are good, but not overdo it.

Can you not just add water when needed?

Or piss on it (human urine has lots of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in it, which is very beneficial).

^ this. Used to love a compost piss back when I had a compost heap.

Bob Flowerdew would approve

Thanks @andyp

I'm not sure what the neighbours would think, if they saw me - It's not as if the heap is in any way concealed.

So kind of semi-covered then? I can make a slatted lid, possible sloping, so that only a proportion of the rain gets in.

As for grass cuttings - that would mean having to mow the lawn...

So kind of semi-covered then

I would go for this. A bit of rain is helpful for decomposition, but so is air

One of our acers giving its final flaming display, such an incredible colour. I would love to go to Japan at this time of year.

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Lovely 😍

Do you know what variety this is?

Yep, Acer Palmatum Osakazuki. Spends most of the year green!

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Cheers. I'll do some reading on it.

Struggling for presents for my mum. Was thinking of tickets to Hampton Court.

How quickly do they sell out? Like can I just give her a fake ticket now then buy it in a few weeks time once I know what dates would be best?

Cheers.

Alternatively is RHS membership any good?

Magazine is good and Wisley is nice