Its been a while since my last update And Boy have we been busy!(Well, Them We, was mostly me, but boys did help when spare pair of hands where needed)
It will sound simple when I say that it came mostly to repainting, building new planters and propagating seeds and cuttings. But there was a lot of those involved. You will get and idea soon
part 1 Building planters
As usual all the things i build are either recycled, upcycled or repurposed. And last year i had and idea to create wooden boxes for "rail planters" on the fence for annual climbers(classic ones for window sills are just to small and shallow for many plants i want)
After some research i found old army 20mm ammo boxes that fit the purpose and dimensions almost perfectly 26cmx60cmx18cm (would have liked if they where deeper but...)
Plus side was that i didn't need the lids crates came with and I could use hinges on the boxes a mounting points. And also I used the lids to make some additional 60cm deep planters for two new group 3 clematis (Star of India and Rouge Cardinal).
I also repurposed two old wooden barrels from my late grandfathers vineyard. I used them for soft fruits (local unnamed elderberry in one, and red and white currant in another both underplanted with strawberries,
Old discarded wicker trunk became deep bed for onions and carrots +companions
and finally i used last of the leftover materials from old pergola to build another deep wooden planter at the right corner of the sitting area(instead of blue barrel with campsis that was just to large for that spot.) It is now planted with red Grape vine called "Moldova" and will have more tender sun loving annual climbers like cobaea.
part 2 Propagation
it all started innocent enough with the first warm days of march and just 3 seed trays and some pots on the radiator. Soon it was evident it was still to cold outside even in new improved (HOT)cold bed. So i brought two CFL video lights from my photo studio and although not being strong enough(barely 200-300umol/m2sec) they worked as a charm for most seedlings.
Yup u are correct, 3 seed modules equals almost 200 plants and all they want to do is grow(U can guess i suck at math )
As soon as seedling grew they where potted on and moved to the cold frame (now equipped with two huge cfl bulbs as both additional light but more importantly a mild heat source) or planted directly if they are at least hard-ish (dill, coriander, nepeta, snapdragons, marigolds...)
After several vacations outside (it was almost 20c for more than a week at the end of March) I started permanently potting semi tender annuals
Disclaimer : i know i sown to much, but give me a break im a seed raising rookie. At least all my friends with gardens and terraces will be getting free plants if we manage through this (hopefully last) cold spell Finally when most plants where potted in their final positions and we had a "full dress reversal" for two 22c+ days. Weather gods decided we need more frost in middle of April...(i know what you Brits will say! But its supposed to be continental climate here, hello Atlantic is a full continent away...) Now all tender stuff in big pots is all over the staircase while smaller stuff is back in hotbed. and annual flowers sown directly will have to survive the best they can.
Part 3 NEW Plants
Since this promises to be a huge chapter and i bored you to death already I will leave details for the next update (hopefully soon). But just to tease you a little, this year we are going Big and among other it will include names like: Macrorrhisum, Magnolia, Marigolds, Mints, Milion bells, Moldova, Monarda... to use just one letter and name a few.
Officially I'm out of seedlings or should I say: Finally everything is planted and in situ !!! ...My work is done!!!... yeah, sure...
One thing is certainly true i love the way its going... time will tell if my attempts at color combinations and and timings will come out the way i planned them...
First leaves parthenocissus
First flowers
Cotoneaster
Geranium
First fruits
courgette Cayenne Strawberries
That's all for now we will be back, as soon yellows and reds start...
I planted two grafted bare root grape vines 6 weeks ago White one("Lasta" an old SFRJ hybrid) sprouted first bud yesterday
But red one ("Moldova" old SSSR hybrid) is still to show any sign of life
everything i read said it takes 4-6 weeks for bareroot grape vine to start growing...
how long should i wait before going for a potted plant????? (...its to late for bare roots, and since i moved campsis that was there i need a perennial climber established there asap)
also all the buds on the white one seem to come from the graft itself is that normal?
Boris, it's all very far from boring. It's hugely inspirational and it all looks great. You should do a little vid for Gardeners' World. You have eyes full of wonder and we can share in that too. Thanks so much for posting.
As we go into summer(and multiple daily watering ) Its looking great. Some things are early and some are late, some surprising but mostly thriving.
there are of course few poor sensitive souls that are going to flower(coriander and fennel). Pests where abundant, but now so are the predators
And yeah, we have been eating from the garden for some time now. there are purple and green peas, green been, radishes, onion greens, celery, nasturtiums, mizuna and little gem + plenty of herbs for a nice family salad almost every other day. still waiting for the first ripe tomato . But some fruits on plants in full sun will be ready soon.
and for desert so far just an armful of spring strawberries. Alpine ones are still to start flowering
For me 2021 is the year of tomato i have almost 30 plants in diferent places (tiny red currant(local heritage)in hanging pots and f1 hybrids in big containers.
Im also doing a small trial with tomatoes this year but i will make a separate post with more detail about it
Question is: Should you prune "suckers" from cordon tomatoes,
Last year despite the known wisdom I didnt prune and had plenty of fruit on both "suckers"(i HATE that term) and main branch (would have there be more if i did?? After all the research i still dont know...
So this year I'm using 3 30l containers with 3 plants each Italian early cherry cordon: Lucciola F.1 Two pots are in half sun and sheltered location while one is in full sun but also exposed to wind they have same companions (onions, marigolds, basil), same feeding and watering and few lower leaves removed so companion plants get some light And i also plan to prune leaves as needed for fruit to ripen on all of them.
of the two main pots in half sun(pruned are in the right pot, ignore the middle one), plants in one get all of their suckers removed, while in other all are left in place. I dont want to be premature(since none are still ripe) but unpruned plants are bigger (over 6ft, 1ft more than unpruned)) more vigorous and have more flowers/fruit (lower "suckers" are already producing second bunch)
Full sun plants on other hand are only "semi pruned"(I prune them selectively, as i see the need or they get damaged) They grow compact (less than half the size) and look sad compared to others. BUT have best fruits so far and plenty of...
More in separate post as soon as there are some results to show.
And finally after all the boring vegetable blah blah... here's the thing you been waiting for Bunch of pretty pictures:
You should do a little vid for Gardeners' World...
@Fire Thank you for kind words Do you really think they would play it?????
I've been filming this year (that's the main reason there are not more updates with pictures) I'm currently in the editing phase, just waiting for few more key drone footage once everything is in flower
"problem" is that im a professional photographer and when im filming for my self(or BBC ) it has to be done right, also i plan to send a finished and fully edited film not just bunch of footage and all that takes time
also i still dont have the "main theme" (there where plenty of edible balcony gardens lately ) and without clear and original theme and story to go with it i dont think they would consider the film no matter how good it was.
Maybe climbers in pots or diy containers or pollinator friendly urban planting im just not sure.
Any and all ideas any of you might have are deeply appreciated
Also has anyone's garden here been on GW? What where your experiences? Any advice?
I have no idea. They probably have thousands of submissions, but you should go for it. A beautifully made film from a professional photographer would be a special thing to share. Lots of people grow on balconies and need inspiration.
Posts
Hope you are all well
Its been a while since my last update
And Boy have we been busy!(Well, Them We, was mostly me, but boys did help when spare pair of hands where needed)
It will sound simple when I say that it came mostly to repainting, building new planters and propagating seeds and cuttings. But there was a lot of those involved. You will get and idea soon
part 1
Building planters
As usual all the things i build are either recycled, upcycled or repurposed. And last year i had and idea to create wooden boxes for "rail planters" on the fence for annual climbers(classic ones for window sills are just to small and shallow for many plants i want)
After some research i found old army 20mm ammo boxes that fit the purpose and dimensions almost perfectly 26cmx60cmx18cm (would have liked if they where deeper but...)
Plus side was that i didn't need the lids crates came with and I could use hinges on the boxes a mounting points. And also I used the lids to make some additional 60cm deep planters for two new group 3 clematis (Star of India and Rouge Cardinal).
I also repurposed two old wooden barrels from my late grandfathers vineyard. I used them for soft fruits (local unnamed elderberry in one, and red and white currant in another both underplanted with strawberries,
Old discarded wicker trunk became deep bed for onions and carrots +companions
and finally i used last of the leftover materials from old pergola to build another deep wooden planter at the right corner of the sitting area(instead of blue barrel with campsis that was just to large for that spot.) It is now planted with red Grape vine called "Moldova" and will have more tender sun loving annual climbers like cobaea.
part 2
Propagation
it all started innocent enough with the first warm days of march and just 3 seed trays and some pots on the radiator. Soon it was evident it was still to cold outside even in new improved (HOT)cold bed. So i brought two CFL video lights from my photo studio and although not being strong enough(barely 200-300umol/m2sec) they worked as a charm for most seedlings.
Yup u are correct, 3 seed modules equals almost 200 plants and all they want to do is grow(U can guess i suck at math
As soon as seedling grew they where potted on and moved to the cold frame (now equipped with two huge cfl bulbs as both additional light but more importantly a mild heat source) or planted directly if they are at least hard-ish (dill, coriander, nepeta, snapdragons, marigolds...)
After several vacations outside (it was almost 20c for more than a week at the end of March) I started permanently potting semi tender annuals
Disclaimer : i know i sown to much, but give me a break im a seed raising rookie. At least all my friends with gardens and terraces will be getting free plants if we manage through this (hopefully last) cold spell
Finally when most plants where potted in their final positions and we had a "full dress reversal" for two 22c+ days. Weather gods decided we need more frost in middle of April...(i know what you Brits will say! But its supposed to be continental climate here, hello
Part 3
NEW Plants
Since this promises to be a huge chapter and i bored you to death already I will leave details for the next update (hopefully soon). But just to tease you a little, this year we are going Big and among other it will include names like: Macrorrhisum, Magnolia, Marigolds, Mints, Milion bells, Moldova, Monarda... to use just one letter and name a few.
Stay safe
Keep on gardening
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
or should I say: Finally everything is planted and in situ !!!
...My work is done!!!... yeah, sure...
One thing is certainly true i love the way its going... time will tell if my attempts at color combinations and and timings will come out the way i planned them...
First leaves
parthenocissus
First flowers
Cotoneaster
Geranium
First fruits
courgette
Cayenne
Strawberries
That's all for now
we will be back, as soon yellows and reds start...
I planted two grafted bare root grape vines 6 weeks ago
White one("Lasta" an old SFRJ hybrid) sprouted first bud yesterday
But red one ("Moldova" old SSSR hybrid) is still to show any sign of life
everything i read said it takes 4-6 weeks for bareroot grape vine to start growing...
how long should i wait before going for a potted plant?????
(...its to late for bare roots, and since i moved campsis that was there i need a perennial climber established there asap)
also all the buds on the white one seem to come from the graft itself is that normal?
thanks in advance!
B.
Its getting there!
As we go into summer(and multiple daily watering
there are of course few poor sensitive souls that are going to flower(coriander and fennel). Pests where abundant, but now so are the predators
And yeah, we have been eating from the garden for some time now.
there are purple and green peas, green been, radishes, onion greens, celery, nasturtiums, mizuna and little gem + plenty of herbs for a nice family salad almost every other day.
still waiting for the first ripe tomato . But some fruits on plants in full sun will be ready soon.
and for desert so far just an armful of spring strawberries. Alpine ones are still to start flowering
For me 2021 is the year of tomato
i have almost 30 plants in diferent places (tiny red currant(local heritage)in hanging pots and f1 hybrids in big containers.
Im also doing a small trial with tomatoes this year but i will make a separate post with more detail about it
Question is: Should you prune "suckers" from cordon tomatoes,
Last year despite the known wisdom I didnt prune and had plenty of fruit on both "suckers"(i HATE that term) and main branch (would have there be more if i did?? After all the research i still dont know...
So this year I'm using 3 30l containers with 3 plants each
Italian early cherry cordon: Lucciola F.1
Two pots are in half sun and sheltered location while one is in full sun but also exposed to wind
they have same companions (onions, marigolds, basil), same feeding and watering and few lower leaves removed so companion plants get some light
And i also plan to prune leaves as needed for fruit to ripen on all of them.
of the two main pots in half sun(pruned are in the right pot, ignore the middle one), plants in one get all of their suckers removed, while in other all are left in place. I dont want to be premature(since none are still ripe) but unpruned plants are bigger (over 6ft, 1ft more than unpruned)) more vigorous and have more flowers/fruit (lower "suckers" are already producing second bunch)
Full sun plants on other hand are only "semi pruned"(I prune them selectively, as i see the need or they get damaged) They grow compact (less than half the size) and look sad compared to others. BUT have best fruits so far and plenty of...
More in separate post as soon as there are some results to show.
And finally after all the boring vegetable blah blah...
here's the thing you been waiting for
Bunch of pretty pictures:
sweet peas
nasturtiums
Nasturtiums
Ipomea lobata
unknown Campanula
Clematis "Star of india"
Hops in Kegs
RED?
White
Self seeding petunias
Sempervivum arachnoideum
Thank you for kind words
Do you really think they would play it?????
I've been filming this year (that's the main reason there are not more updates with pictures)
I'm currently in the editing phase, just waiting for few more key drone footage once everything is in flower
"problem" is that im a professional photographer and when im filming for my self(or BBC
also i still dont have the "main theme" (there where plenty of edible balcony gardens lately
Maybe climbers in pots or diy containers or pollinator friendly urban planting im just not sure.
Any and all ideas any of you might have are deeply appreciated
Also has anyone's garden here been on GW?
What where your experiences?
Any advice?