Does anyone know anything about gardening?

My garden needs a few more tiers/ changes in height

Ours has about 4 tiers or 5 tiers depending on how you count it. Very good for packing in lots of different types of plants as you get very different conditions, and adds a lot of interest compared to the standard rectangular box. But it can be hard to do simple gardening tasks - clambering up and down everywhere and hacking away with a pruning saw while trying not to slip and fall to your death. And we have a toddler and a dog and the garden is pretty useless for them. It makes a great garden for looking at, for sitting in, and for supporting wildlife - but not ideal for growing fruit and veg, playing football etc

Love an orange rose, what's that? I have a 'lark ascending' which is beautiful but not quite such a strong orange, more peachy

It's a 'precious amber' it starts brilliant orange and fades to a pinkish orange. Here it is when it started blooming

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Ohhh, that looks nice :)

Fabulous. Much scent to it? Online listings don't seem to agree between 'lightly scented' (which usually means none) and 'fragrant'

Not looking to Marry, but have you tried Bulldog for the Garden Fork?

https://www.bulldogtools.co.uk/view-all

Just went out to have a whiff. Not much going on!

Fair enough. You've inspired me to go out and flip the mushy nasturtium mess from all over the path to back onto the beds.

Yep, it was superb for the couple of days it lasted.

Ah, Mine have lasted 10yrs+, maybe a dud?

At allotment I have cheapo Wilko ones that are holding up well to use too.

I had a wilko fork which broke the first time I used it (digging out a bamboo root). Current spear and Jackson one has done ok but one of the prongs has bent digging out a root so probably not Colin proof. Has a 15 year guarantee so at least I can replace it if it croaks.

The only appropriate tools for digging out bloody bamboo are a JCB, or at absolute minimum a jackhammer with a clay spade

I've done it with a mattock, small axe and spade. Was tough - not sure I'd try again...

p'raps not the ideal place to ask, but I have just brought my @ 4 year old potted Christmas tree inside at the behest of the @ 4 year old child and I'm a bit worried about it surviving. It is as far away from a radiator as I can get it but the room is fairly warm most the time - water a bit every day? Feed it? Put it back outside ASAP too I guess?

trees are pretty intolerant of being moved into houses, which is one reason why potted christmas trees rarely last more than a couple of seasons.

i don't think feeding it now will be a good idea, do that in spring / summer if it survives that long.

keep the soil moist but not wet.

Didn't enjoy that, did you!?

Thanks, it has been outside consistently for the last 3.5 years, it looks ok and was repotted at the start of Autumn. I’ll try and keep an eye on it.

Keep an eye out for pests!
We did this a few years back with a small tree and various critters infested our decorations, which was a fairly disgusting surprise the following year when we reopened the box.

Only the top few sprigs survived after it was moved back outside on 1st January, too. If you can, bring it inside later in the month, and get it back out as soon as you can.

The potted Christmas trees you can rent, they only allow them indoors for 3 weeks. Then you need to return them. So, short and sweet then back out into the cold.

The only appropriate tools for digging out bloody bamboo are a JCB, or at absolute minimum a jackhammer with a clay spade

Strongly disagree. Tactical nukes as a bare minimum, nuke from orbit with a full ICBM salvo if you really need to be sure.

Type 2 fun, I felt good once it was over....

The one we were looking at (and was £90 albeit for a larger tree than we had already) could have been collected yesterday and returned on the 3rd of Jan, so 4 weeks, but I will put mine back outside as soon as I can after Christmas day.

Was someone asking about coffee sacks the other day?

Managed to quickly wrap my dwarf pear up. Insulation underneath, then two bags round the edge.

Unfortunately nothing fits inside a bag anymore. But for smaller pots I used to like putting them inside the sack for a neater look - that is best done as a two person job to keep the insulation in the right place.

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I have spring bulbs coming up and some primroses are blooming again...

If it's like last year with hard frost in January might lose a few plants again...it's just all "off" season wise :(

Making some gardening friends in the area, going to give seeds to someone in the street. He said his dad was a gardener and he taught him to use potatoes to break up clay, might give that a go next spring :)

I read somewhere that what kills potted Christmas trees is the temperature change from coming outside to inside then back again. If you can, transition it somewhere with a temperature between the two for a week or two when bringing in and taking out. A garage is ideal, a shed will do at a push.