is it just me?

richard539 · April 2020

I've got into gardening or at least I thought I had because I have to find something to occupy my other half when she isn't working - so we started doing the garden together. It has taken us 7 years to really get started but it is looking a lot better now our second full wheelie bin full of weeds has gone. everything is looking much tidier, the blackthorn hedge I put in a couple of years ago was stunningly beautiful if a bit thin, the bird boxes that I put up six years ago has had their first visitors and now has residents but our newly plated rose is covered in greenfly, the slugs and snails think the cabbages have been installed as their local Mcdonalds alternative and the pigeons love the lettuces. If that isn't disheartening enough I subscribed to the magazine and waited and waited in sheer enthusiastic high expectation only to find that it arrived with no seeds and no 2 for 1 entry to the gardens booklet or card. I'm beginning to go off gardening altogether - the excitement has turned into rather a dissapointment.

nick615 · April 2020

Welcome to gardening!!

Greenfly - Boil rhubarb leaves. Allow to cool, Strain off liquid and spray on the fly.

Slugs/Snails - A light dusting of Doff's mini pellets around them should suffice.

Lettuce - Get 5-litre water containers, Cut off the bottoms. Sprinkle a few of the above pellets. Place said containers over each plant and insert stick or stout wire as support.

B3 · April 2020

Rub off the greenfly, cut the slugs in half with scissors and stomp on the snails. You'll feel much better.

Obelixx · April 2020

It's all about some for you and some for them and striving to get the balance between pests and predators. Squish greenfly with your fingers to reduce numbers until the blue tit and sparrow eggs hatch and the adults hoover up the greenfly and caterpillars to feed their young. ladybirds and lacewings will come along soon and hoover up any leftovers but spraying will kill the good guys.

You can use chicken wire to make individual protection for salads and cabbages which pigeons also like

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/vz/birpzckan1sx.jpg

or you could use proper hoops and insect netting which will keep off the butterflies and their eggs and caterpillars

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/us/akzokrab6pk6.jpg

Slugs and snails? Light applications of wildlife friendly pellets or else go out at nightfall with a torch and pick the perishers off.

As for the magazine - 1st world problem! Glitch at the suppliers cos of Covid problems?

Join the RHS! Free access for you and one other to all their gardens and many partner gardens. Monthly magazine. Free access to their experts and scientists. Seed scheme.

Lizzie27 · April 2020

I was a bit disappointed not to find any seeds with my GW mag which finally arrived this morning. Were subscribers supposed to get seeds or only people buying in SM's at the higher price?

AnniD · April 2020

@Lizzie27, the seeds were only available in the "bumper" packs, and not to subscribers.

Singing Gardener · April 2020

I wasn't expecting seeds in this month's edition. I did get my 2 for 1 card though.

AnniD · April 2020

@richard539, that's what gardening is like, for every success there is at least one disaster

Don't be disheartened, think about how far you've come from the beginning and what you have achieved.
With regard to the 2 for 1 booklet, contact the magazine and tell them. If you don't know your subscription number, they can still check their records.
https://www.gardenersworld.com/contact-us/

GemmaJF · April 2020

Only time I ever have 'green fingers' is after squirting aphids with soapy water and encouraging them to fall off. Tonight I have green hands, they totally infested one of our apple cordons in the past couple of days.

Slugs, carefully trained slow worms.

Pigeons, cats, black birds attacking veg plot, Contech Scarecrows, motion activated water squirters. Life wouldn't be the same without them.

richard539 · April 2020

Thanks folks - I'll try to keep positive and try a few of your suggestions. I looked at the forum before subscribing and saw that seeds etc were included with the posted magazine but perhaps not - I did use the contact form to tell the suppliers about the lack of 2 for 1 booklet but they haven't had the grace to bother responding. I guess they are only interested in signing you up for the subscription rather than solving issues once they have your money. I'm a member of the National trust so I get into many gardens anyway but I've bought the GW every year for the 2 for 1 card and of course got the seeds etc but thought during lockdown that it would be better delivered. Once bitten as they say

wild edges · April 2020

If the 2 for 1 booklet fell out then so might have the sheet of paper explaining how the magazine staff are affected by the virus and what problems it might cause. I suspect your email is just in the queue for reply as the staff are normally very helpful.

Have a read of 'The Garden Jungle' by Dave Goulson for a really good book about the ecosystems of gardens and how to work with them rather than against them. If you start out seeing every minor problem in the garden as a reason to quit then you're just going to miss out on the benefits. Gardening is keeping me sane right now with everything that's going on. It's just a matter of going with the flow of the garden and enjoying the challenge of the problems you face. I've had huge problems with vine weevils in the last year but dealing with them has actually given me a better understanding of the garden and the night time patrols to hunt for them have brought me some amazing wildlife encounters that I would have missed otherwise.

is it just me?

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