What's occuring in the backyard? - page 2

Starting a new page - the first one was 200 posts long . . .

First page: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/523157/

Whew! It was long.

Here is my creation for this week. Hopefully none of the birds will get stuck in it this year now it is neatly held down all round the bottom. A very friendly young blackbird got tangled in it last year and was dead when I found it. Must check it every day.

Is it a cherry tree in the middle?
No photos from me I am afraid, most plants were planted last week and they are growing very slowly. Have no idea it they will get to bloom before autumn. And the garden is a mess, as it always is in the beginning. I am wondering if I am the only one that does this LOL

Yes the cherry tree is called Petite Noir a small very sweet black cherry. The net is touching the top of it as I couldn't get any longer poles, but it isn't squashed down too much.

All the rain this month has flattened all the herbaceous plants and ruined quite a few climbing roses which were in full bloom. Everything else has grown ridiculously huge and straggly and my garden looks like a jungle. Even the slugs are taking on snake like proportions, but despite this the peas and beans and salad stuff are growing well so I'll just have to carry on weeding and tidying - between downpours!

We're never satisfied are we?

Have you had that much rain? In my area it has mostly been clouded drizzling a bit, but Copenhagen was almost drowned a few days ago.
Lots of slugs here as well, only sow a few last year, probably because it was so dry and hot.
And yes we are never satisfied LOL.

Is it a canna I see to the bottom left?

Davs Zest!

More . . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6221006.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6221152.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6222088.stm

Yes Zest, there are about five cannas there, they have lovely bronzy-orange flowers. I split a large one from last year and have them with a few blue festuca glauca and some wine coloured sedums, oh and some deep purple Ophiopogons- felt a bit artistic when I put them together! The tree is a quince and has a few fruits on.

Yes it has absolutely poured with rain for the past couple of weeks with floods and thunderstorms. My son thinks it is quite funny Yorkshire having a monsoon season as he is living in Thailand at the moment. Today has been the first dry day for ages so I've been able to get a bit of tidying up and weeding done.

You were dry today?????

How on earth did you manage that?????

Poured down here all morning (+ thunder etc), only started to get drier mid afternoon

Only one dry day - yesterday was awful and it has rained all night and halfway through the afternoon it is still raining. I've just spend two hours putting boards across the path and housebricks along the edge of the road to stop the garden flooding. It has washed so much sand, stone and rubbish onto our drive that it has made a natural sand bank. The water was just filling our path when I took this photo, but as I was wading back a river came rushing down the road and filled the lot up to a good 12 inches and was lapping the bottom of the greenhouse with no sign of the herbaceous border.

Anyway, my barricade has worked and the water is going down again even though it is still pouring down. My partner has had to come home from work as the adjacent river has flooded the building - Why do they build on flood plains?

So close yet so far . . . yesterday here was a nice day, no rain at all, several hours sunshine (didn't quite equal the day's top total of 8 hours at Boulmer further up the Northumbs coast, but certainly 3 or 4 hours), and today, while there's a frigid north wind blowing, there's been nothing more than an odd bit of light drizzle.

Resin

How is it in Sheffield now? Last I heard on the radio, sounded like they were planning to evacuate half the city by 'copter

Resin

Thankfully we've had a dry day today and the water is going down again, but it has caused a huge amount of damage with roads washed away and lots of places with no electricity. The low lying parts of Sheffield are still under water and there has been no post as the main Mail Centre has flooded and is without power. Stocksbridge is below three reservoirs and they all overflow into the River Don which flows through the valley, so lots of houses have been flooded out along the main road which follows the valley bottom.

We've had 7 inches of rain in 24 hours which is incredible, and the dams were already overflowing from the last lot, so it was a lot of water with nowhere to go.

I've spent all morning sweeping and shovelling all the sludge and rubbish away, so I'm hoping it stays fine. I've left my flood defence materials handy to they can be put back much quicker if it happens again. The plants that were submerged don't look too bad considering.

I suppose I should think myself lucky that the house is built on a slope and is much higher than the front garden that flooded, and you never know but the sewage in the water might have done the plants good!

Yes, look on the bright side Pat ;o)

Seriously, I'm very pleased it hasn't been worse for you, though sounds as if it's made a lot of work nevertheless. Will have my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain any more for a while.
It's raining here in sunny SW France you'll be pleased to hear - but we're on a hill, so at no risk from the rivers, which have been very high in the area as they carry all the water coming form the Pyrenees as well as locally. They haven't burst their banks though, despite being swirly and brown.

Guess what, it is pouring with rain again, but much warmer. I'm surprised to hear that SW France is also wet, I thought Europe was having a heat wave, although that is Italy and Romania and further East isn't it that are 40 degrees.

I heard Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey were the ones suffering with heat at the mo.

Resin

I am suffering from the heat at the moment too, but, that is too be expected in Florida.

I am hoping that your weather returns to 'normal' soon.

Pat,

Do you have 'scare tape' avaiable to keep the birds away from your crops? They are strips of shiny Mylar that hang in the trees, vines etc. They swear by them in the Napa Valley vineyards.

Yes, the heat is further east. It was 23C here yesterday, very pleasant and sunny with a little breeze to keep it fresh.
Today is more cloudy.
I do hope the rain in the UK doesn't cause any more major problems. I've been following things on the news and with more rain forecast it doesn't sound good.

I thought the water meadows used to be under water some of the time in the summer as well as the winter, but may be remembering wrongly. Certainly Kent seemed to be getting hotter and dryer than when I was first there. Though this time there are many older towns and villages under water, so it's not just a question of new buildings on flood plains.....

I think the problem with flooding now is that they have built on lots of what were flood plains and water meadows, so the water doesn't just overflow naturally all the way down the river and disperse, but is kept within the river by man made structures until it builds up to such an extent that it causes devastation when it eventually does overflow, and this is causing places to flood which never had a problem in the past.

As you say, the water meadows naturally flooded whenever there was a lot of rain providing lush grass for grazing, but the developers haven't quite grasped this fact and that you can move cows, but not houses. Perhaps they will start building houses on stilts like they do abroad if the weather continues like this.

Sorry to hear about the flooding and rain you've had lately. Pat glad the damage was minimal. I think this must be one of the driest month on record here on the other hand ........ I think you guys got all our rain! ;-)

Yes Dale, I've tried hanging shiny reflective things around my crops, but the birds get used to them very quickly and after a couple of days they ignore them completely. My latest idea is to keep feeding them and hope they are too full to eat all my fruit. Probably not really a good idea as it attracts more birds to the garden, but I do enjoy seeing all the different birds so I think I'll just have to share at least one of the cherry trees with them. I've got all the raspberries, red currants, strawberries and one cherry tree covered with nets, and the birds don't seem to bother with the goosberries, blackcurrants and blueberries, so I'll still have plenty to go at. It looks like we're going to have a huge pear crop this year too, so I'm getting my recipe books ready.

I'm surprised you are having dry weather Rannveig, we've been having heavy rain on and off all day again and it is still coming down now. The pumpkins and squashes I planted out a couple of weeks ago are sulking and haven't grown a bit as it has been too cold for them and the slugs have eaten through four of them at ground level so I may have to sow some more. It is odd though because the courgettes are doing well.

I can't remember which thread it was now, but thanks for pointing out I was using Yorkshire dialect when I said Chelsea Physic Garden was SNIDED OUT with ladybirds. I never even thought about it as it is in common usage here. It's good to know regional variations still occur.

Yes, it'll be a dull old world if we ever get to be all the same......

It's been wetter than usual here too, so that's very interesting that it's been dry in Iceland

Never dull here.

Hi, I am in Hull and we are completely flooded in parts of the town, my house is OK but many as close as 1/2 mile from me are in a bad way. Our veggie allotments are under several feet of water and all our crops for this year are gone.I work in a school which has had total devestation and will be closed for 3 months, everything has been ruined in all the buildings right down to the furniture and it all has to be dumped. The destruction is unbelievable till you actually walk in and see it. We have more rain forecast in this area for the weekend with the risk of flooding again still quite high.

I ma glad you are OK in Sheffield Pat XX Jeannine

I'm very sorry to hear about your allotments and the school. It must be heartbreaking to see all that work ruined. I was really lucky to have been at home in time to get the barriers up as the whole garden would have been under water like it was about 20 years ago when the same thing happened. Fortunately although the garden is flat, we are on a hill, so the water drains away quite quickly once it stops raining.

I'm glad you're safe and dry at home Jeannine, but awful about the school. So sorry you've lost all your veggies. Terrible to have all that hard work go to waste :(
Good luck with the latest rains, hope it doesn't make anything worse.

Hi Jeannine - so sorry to hear about all that damage.

The rule of thumb is - if it's raining in Britain it's dry here and vice versa. There's a high pressure system up here that's keeping all the low pressure systems down south so they roll over Britain instead of coming up here. It's actually raining at the moment which is fantastic since everything is so dry - still more sun in the forecast for next week ........ This weekend has been fantastic - sunny and warm (around 16°C) in all parts of the country, which is really a rare thing ....... it's usually raining somewhere ...... especially on the weekends ;-) lol

Hope things dry up soon down there.

rannveig

Hi JeannineAnne where are you in Hull, I have been there, I have a brother who lives there still. Just been watching Wimbledon - while it was raining here, but then it gets hot again, it was well up in the 90's this morning.
Resin, Thanks for the detailed info on crocs! when are you planning to come and check out our 'Gators?
Dale -it's much nicer here than over there, but it's still good for visiting!

The Garden Pearl tomatoes have been ripening for a couple of weeks and I've had about 2lb off them. I think they taste better than Gardener's Delight, they are more tangy. Then the Cherokee Green tomato, which I've been trying to decide when to pick, turned red, so I thought it must be ready! It tasted slightly smokey and quite pleasant. The only other variety ready has been Sungella which is slightly larger than Sungold - my favourite - but I was disappointed with the flavour which was rather bland. Although I think that a few weeks sunshine would improve the flavour considerably.

A nice surprise was two runner beans which have re-grown from the roots I left in last year. I know they are supposed to be perennial, but I've always failed to get any through the winter before, even potting them up and bringing them into the greenhouse, so it was a real surprise to see them growing vigorously across the potato bed. I always just chop them off and leave the roots in for nitrogen fixing, but they have never re-grown before. We've had quite a few frosts this winter, but not nearly so severe as the year before.

Something else that has survived the winter which doesn't usually is the nicotiana in some of the tubs and they have put on a lovely early display.

The other things ready now are the sugar snap peas - Sugar Ann, Golden Mangetout, and I'm still picking the Crimson Flowered broad beans. I must remember to save some for next year's seed. I usually chose one of the strongest plants with the most seeds per pod and put a bit of coloured thread round it to remind me not to pick those.

I'm undecided whether I like the Golden Mangetout. The plants are very pretty with pink and purple flowers and yellow pods on pale green tall plants, but I dont think the flavour is as good as my other mangetouts. Has any one else tried them, they were from Real Seeds?

The Mr. Bethel's Purple Podded peas from HSL have got one pod on so far and it looks gorgeous - I'll report back on the flavour shortly.

Hi JeannineAnne
How is your are at the moment? So sorry to read of the devastation the rain has cost :o((

Patbarr; I heard s you cut down the runner beans down in the autumn, they will come back next year, and even be bigger. I have planted tree different ones this year, and will try this.
All the plants are growing very slow and I am not sure if they will bloom this year.
This glad spot is doing ok, as they were planted earlier. (not a good photo)

This are the other plants, they should be much bigger.
untidy as always, until the plants get growing ;o)

Hi Zest, You look to have lots growing. I love the colour of that Canna. What varieties of beans are you growing? The ones that have grown again are called Black Magic and I'm also growing some salmon pink ones called Sunset that I have not grown before. I've also planted climbing French beans Poletschka and Cherokee Trail of Tears. The Poletschka were very good last year, flat podded ones, nice and tender and very prolific and the Cherokee Trail of Tears are new to me so I'm looking forward to trying them.

I've just picked my first sweet red pepper today which is from a plant I kept in the conservatory over winter. It has made a very large plant and is flowering and fruiting very well. The Alberto Rotoco chilli peppers I also over wintered are smothered in fruits and flowers and have also grown really large. I don't know if I really want hundreds of hot chillies - I suppose I can always give some away. I'm not complaining though they look very pretty with their little purple flowers.

I've noticed something rather strange with my potatoes today. All the Kestrel's leaves have turned yellow and are dying down. It isn't blight. The plants I have lifted have small to medium tubers, but aren't as large as they usually are when they are ready, so it looks like they have died off with all the wet weather. The ground is quite well drained and not waterlogged, so I'm a bit puzzled and I can't think of anything else that could have caused it. The other nine varieties are all growing well. Has anyone else had any problems like this this year?

Hi Pat :o)
You are right, here are many different plants there, but they are hardly growing.
Today is hot (hurraaaaa) and do hope it continues for a week.
Oh what some nice beans you are growing! You have many different ones. The beans I have are runner beans Desiree, Prizewinner and Painted lady. Desiree is not growing well though, maybe because it was planted directly into the ground when it was not warm enough?.

Was wondering if you can freeze some of your chillies, and that way you can have something to keep you
flaming warm over the winter ;o)))
I have no experience with potatoes, but can it be because of all the rain?
At least this little spots looks like little something worth looking at

This is my first Canna (Wyoming). Planted it last year so I hope it gives flowers this year.
Made a combo planting with lobelia and a green and a red oxalis.

Those are lovely colours Zest, I do like the wine coloured plants. Your Canna looks very healthy. I'm afraid the slugs have eaten holes in mine.

I'm starting to harvest more tomatoes this week, but they are very slow to ripen. The courgettes are cropping nicely and sugar snap peas have a huge crop and I'm pleased to say they are staying sweet and juicy without going stringy.

I've lifted the Shetland Black potatoes that I've grown from the ones I saved from the little micro propagated plant I got last year and there is a good carrier bag full of medium sized potatoes. They taste good too, quite floury with high dry matter.

Here is a picture of the Garden Pearl tomatoes:

Thanks :o))
Wow that is a nice tomato, I gave up growing them, can´t grow tomatoes at all :o((
There has been some commotion here regarding the slugs (iberian). The government is planning to introduce that everyone actively go gathering them or else there will be fines!
I find the idea to be good, but there can be lots of problems with this.

How are Iberian slugs different from all the usual ones? Has the government said what you should do with all the slugs you catch? Perhaps there will be a bounty on them and you can take them in and claim your money!!! I would make a fortune if I could do that. I have a slug hunt at least once a week in wet weather and catch hundreds every time. Also how can the government fine someone for wild creatures turning up in your garden, I can just imagine neighbours throwing the offending slugs over the wall and then there would be slug wars. I'm going to look up Iberian slugs now.

Exactly! One of the problems would be neighbouring war!
And even if you remove the ones you have in the garden, there will always come new ones. The problem with this species is that it is very resistant and is breeding with the black snail that is our natural one (sorry don´t know it´s English name). Well the thing is that it is becoming a terrible pest.
The fine are not to receiving money but a punish if you don´t collect them actively.