@Busy-Lizzie I used the no dig method to make a new bed, a layer of cardboard, some straw and compost on the top. I planted into it straight away and it has been fine. The grass does occasionally come through round the edges but I just weed it out. It was done August 2018 when it was very dry and our clay soil was too solid to dig out to make the new bed. I googled "how to make a no dig bed", I think it was an American site whose instructions I followed, it was very simple and much more successful than I expected.
AWOL yesterday as I had takeaway orders to deal with and I wanted to give the kitchen and the fryers a good clean too whilst I was there. The heating engineer also came in the afternoon because I discovered a small leak, nothing serious but tricky to get to. I did manage a walk around the garden later but it was so cold it was impossible to do anything. I came back inside and found a nice yoga session on Youtube to do after my workout session with Joe Wicks, lots of stretches and breathing exercises, I feel better already this morning, only half an hour but certainly loosened up a few tight spots.
Today I have a mountain of i*****g to deal with, the tumbledryer (a new one too) had been faulty and finally got sorted yesterday, not entirely right though, you still have to give it a bit of a thump to get it going - the man has been called back again, but at least I managed to get a weeks' worth of washing done, now to i**n it. I must say I am not impressed with the dryer, we went for a top model, really well rated, big drum, heat sensor, economical lots of 'add ons' and it just seems to be so super sensitive it doesn't work. We'll see what the next engineer says. For close to 650€ it is really disappointing.
Sorry to hear about losing people, it really does seem to be someone we all know somewhere everyday. Extremely sad.
@Busy-Lizzie, when I made my two new borders last year, they were only small though, I just skimmed the top of the turf off with a spade and put fresh soil on top of that. They were slightly raised with sleepers to hold the new soil in, but I have had very little grass come through and it wasn't too difficult a job to do.
Off to look at seedlings now and plants in the (unheated) greenhouse, no frost today, wet weather forecast for later in the week, I might just have a tidy up in the GH and see if I can find/make a warm spot to use for the seedlings that will need potting on. I have been saving polystyrene blocks from parcels (namely tumbledryer), I think it might work as good insulation.
Have a good day all.
“Coffee. Garden. Coffee. Does a good morning need anything else?” —Betsy Cañas Garmon
Thank you for the suggestions. I can’t see how I can dig through cardboard to plant roses. @D0rdogne_Damsel that is how I made the new beds in OH’s Norfolk garden but the grass was shorter, less thick and the soil was lighter. Didn’t raise the beds though, just dug in compost. But I expect I will do the same here. Must deal with the unpacking first.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Good morning all 😊 ☕️ a bit late on parade today ... just been catching up on a few little odds and ends.
Hope all are ok today and that the gum’s a little less sore now @Pat E @Lizzie27 🤗 our sympathy for your uncle. As you say the links in the chain being severed can have a real impact. It’s just dawned on me that when my delightful Aunty B goes (and she’s 92 ish) I’ll be the second oldest in the entire family, and the oldest woman ... I really must work on developing a few matriarchal eccentricities 🙃
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@Busy-Lizzie - I'm currently trying to make a no-dig bed for the strawberry plants I ordered, using cardboard & compost over our heavy clay soil, but roses would be a different proposition I think. Are they currently in pots? If so, you could probably keep them there ok until you have time to prepare a bed, and in the meantime, the plastic covering should be weakening the weeds at least.
"Matriarchal eccentricities", @Dovefromabove ? That's a good description... my granny claimed, at age 100, she was entitled to lick her dinner plate clean if she wanted to.
Hope @punkdoc hasn't needed to use his bags of compost as sandbags...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
"Matriarchal eccentricities", @Dovefromabove ? That's a good description... my granny claimed, at age 100, she was entitled to lick her dinner plate clean if she wanted to.
I’ll work up to that one ... but I’m looking forward to it. 😋
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hello all, thank you for your kind thoughts. @Busy-Lizzie is your soil heavy clay there? When we created new borders here on the heavy clay we took off the turves and OH weeded as much as possible and we managed to plant roses even in the clay. We have then just added manure and any organic stuff since. I know it's a difficult for you as your OH is waiting on a hip op but maybe a little at a time? My daughter heard yesterday that the people who were selling there house to them pulled out at the last minute and they were just waiting for the moving date - it really shouldn't be allowed. So as not to lose their buyers they are fortunately able to rent an empty house from here OH's brother who has moved to Wales and at "family" rates with bills included, which is such a relief for them as they were so disappointed.
Morning all, the rain has abated here for a while but we still have occasional strong gusts of wind. I nearly had to put a call out for Dove to get the nets out yesterday, I was on the plots, take the netting off my fruit cage as it needs straightening up. I was on a step up platform and had to hang on a couple of times as the gusts of wind were getting started. 😄
Oh @floralies that is such a PITA. I’m glad they have found a viable solution but it’s very disappointing. Hope they find the place of their dreams very soon. 🤞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
I googled "how to make a no dig bed", I think it was an American site whose instructions I followed, it was very simple and much more successful than I expected.
AWOL yesterday as I had takeaway orders to deal with and I wanted to give the kitchen and the fryers a good clean too whilst I was there. The heating engineer also came in the afternoon because I discovered a small leak, nothing serious but tricky to get to. I did manage a walk around the garden later but it was so cold it was impossible to do anything. I came back inside and found a nice yoga session on Youtube to do after my workout session with Joe Wicks, lots of stretches and breathing exercises, I feel better already this morning, only half an hour but certainly loosened up a few tight spots.
Today I have a mountain of i*****g to deal with, the tumbledryer (a new one too) had been faulty and finally got sorted yesterday, not entirely right though, you still have to give it a bit of a thump to get it going - the man has been called back again, but at least I managed to get a weeks' worth of washing done, now to i**n it.
Sorry to hear about losing people, it really does seem to be someone we all know somewhere everyday. Extremely sad.
@Busy-Lizzie, when I made my two new borders last year, they were only small though, I just skimmed the top of the turf off with a spade and put fresh soil on top of that. They were slightly raised with sleepers to hold the new soil in, but I have had very little grass come through and it wasn't too difficult a job to do.
Off to look at seedlings now and plants in the (unheated) greenhouse, no frost today, wet weather forecast for later in the week, I might just have a tidy up in the GH and see if I can find/make a warm spot to use for the seedlings that will need potting on. I have been saving polystyrene blocks from parcels (namely tumbledryer), I think it might work as good insulation.
Have a good day all.
Thank you for the suggestions. I can’t see how I can dig through cardboard to plant roses. @D0rdogne_Damsel that is how I made the new beds in OH’s Norfolk garden but the grass was shorter, less thick and the soil was lighter. Didn’t raise the beds though, just dug in compost. But I expect I will do the same here. Must deal with the unpacking first.
a bit late on parade today ... just been catching up on a few little odds and ends.
@Lizzie27 🤗 our sympathy for your uncle. As you say the links in the chain being severed can have a real impact. It’s just dawned on me that when my delightful Aunty B goes (and she’s 92 ish) I’ll be the second oldest in the entire family, and the oldest woman ... I really must work on developing a few matriarchal eccentricities 🙃
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sympathy to @floralies and @Lizzie27 - I'm so sorry for your loss.
@Busy-Lizzie - I'm currently trying to make a no-dig bed for the strawberry plants I ordered, using cardboard & compost over our heavy clay soil, but roses would be a different proposition I think. Are they currently in pots? If so, you could probably keep them there ok until you have time to prepare a bed, and in the meantime, the plastic covering should be weakening the weeds at least.
"Matriarchal eccentricities", @Dovefromabove ? That's a good description... my granny claimed, at age 100, she was entitled to lick her dinner plate clean if she wanted to.
Hope @punkdoc hasn't needed to use his bags of compost as sandbags...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My daughter heard yesterday that the people who were selling there house to them pulled out at the last minute and they were just waiting for the moving date - it really shouldn't be allowed. So as not to lose their buyers they are fortunately able to rent an empty house from here OH's brother who has moved to Wales and at "family" rates with bills included, which is such a relief for them as they were so disappointed.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.