Hello Blossom

 

 

Once the blossom bursts into life and is dripping from the trees it begins to feel as though the spring has really hit its stride and is starting to mean business.  The early season bulbs; snowdrops, followed by the daffs and tulips have really

given of their best and are beginning to look decidedly lack lustre and then all of a sudden the trees burst into life and suddenly:

 

 

      It’s all whey hey hey,

Summer’s really on the way

 

 

This is the time that the first trays of tender young bedding plants start to appear in the shops. 

 

Tempting, I know

 

But you must

Resist

Resist

Resist

Unless you have a greenhouse, conservatory or somewhere to protect them under glass, they’re so vulnerable and it’s never a good idea to snatch them up too early and risk an unwelcome late harsh frost.

 

 

 

 

 

Another good reason to hold back is that as the weeks go on they’ll be a lot more variety and choice everywhere. 

So it's probably just as well to keep your powder dry in these early weeks before you’re ready to plant out.

 

I used always to make a point to have everything ready and raring to go on Cup Final Day.  This was the perfect day to plant out bedding and containers.  The garden centres were usually quite quiet during the morning and later with everyone inside, glued to the footy, there was always a deliciously tranquil atmosphere of calm spread across the afternoon in the warming May sunshine when it was absolute heaven to potter about among packages of compost and delightful little daisies smiling happily as they’re potted up all ready to give of their best all summer long. 

 

 

 

One thing you could be getting on with though before you're ready to get going properly is to ensure that all your tubs are emptied of last year's detritus and any unwelcome guests which may be lurking so they (and you) are all ready and waiting for a new and stunning blaze of colour in the coming weeks.

 

 

 



 



We've Turned a Corner

 

 

Setback #2.  The expectation was that to prepare this extended flowerbed would be the work of 10 days - 2 weeks.  But between rain delays, visitors and life in general intervening the best part of 3 weeks on in this project and we're still only about two thirds of the way complete and would prefer to now be getting on with enriching the soil and starting the planting out.

 

And on we go ................... But at last we've turned the corner and are now moving fast along the second channel.

 

Before acquiring the gardening bug I used to find any excuse to avoid going out and doing whatever chores needed tackling.  But for the last 20 years since I've really enjoyed creating, planning and planting I just love the whole vibe of working outside.  Even when it looks cold and gloomy if you layer up and force yourself out, I don't know, somehow it's just nice to be there enjoying nature and the air even if the jobs you're engaged in aren't necessarily the most scintillating somehow the time just flies away.

 

The idea here is to develop two distinct beds.  One for herbaceous perennials and one for annuals (seasonal bedding) which can be changed, redesigned and replanted every year to get the best variety and summer colour.

 

The border along the bottom is 30' and the shorter one along the path will eventually end up as 20'.

 

All told this will involve the painstaking removal of approx. 350-400 individual clods of earth.

 

You probably don't need to know this but somehow it wants to be stressed as it's been such an intensively arduous process. 

 

No pain - no gain, right? 

 

 

The payoff of course will come a few months on when all this hard work combines to reveal a riotous kaleidoscope of colour, alive with buzzing bees and dancing butterflies.

 

 

Sowing & Growing



 

 
 
 It typically takes around 10 days for your seeds to germinate.  So stick them in on a Saturday before Britain’s Got Talent and by the following week’s episode the compost will still most likely be bare, but, (always assuming you’ve remembered to keep them snug and watered) by the Corrie double bill on a Monday you should start to see some signs of activity.

 

And, we have lift off - some tiny sprouts of life developing for you to cherish

 

 

For the purposes of our blog we've stuck to, reliable, readily available and easily recognisable flowers.  So these are Antirrhinums (Snap Dragons - OK I know you knew that).  There's always Snap Dragon fun to be had.  Right back to when I was 4 or 5 I can always remember removing the odd flower head and pushing the sides to give the impression of the little dragon talking - and all bets are off that we can resist doing it again  all these years later??

No idea what colour ours' are going to be as they're just from a mixed pack - but hopefully something like these.


Later revision:  This is the actual

And that, in a nutshell, is what really inspired a love of all things gardening and getting out and growing.  This is an enduring love that one never tires of, taking a tiny anonymous seed, planting it, seeing the tiny seedling sprout appear and then in a matter of weeks enjoying lovely fresh veg and/or even better in my opinion is watching a plant develop to maturity and produce wonderful colourful blooms that are truly a miracle of nature and a never ending source of pleasure and wonder.

And just to inspire you to getting busy with the compost our other annuals from seed for this year will be:

 

THE STARS OF OUR SHOW




All virtually fool proof varieties that always produce and never fail to please.

These together with other bedding bought as plug plants and some existing hardy perennials will be what go to make up our finished USG-Plot in only a few short months.

What’s not to like???

So ................................ Let's get planting?


NOTE:  This post was subsequently edited (31.08.15) and now includes only
            images of subjects we grew ourselves.  All this year and all from seed.

 

 

.



A Worm's Eye View

Preparation

The probability is that you already have some flowerbed/s or border/s of some description.  But over here at the USG-Plot we’re not going to have much of a garden without the odd bed; so the last few weeks have been spent busy digging the ground in preparation for planting.

Having always been of the opinion that I refuse to pay anyone to do something that I can quite easily do myself for free it was pretty much a no-brainer that I’d get stuck into the spade work and have everything lickety-split in no time. 

So, time to set about digging a border.  Phew.  A little way into this I had to wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier to have hired a rotavator.  However, having  always taken a belt and braces approach to most, well everything, I have no knowledge of rotavators so am unsure if this would have just turned all the grass roots back into the soil awaiting a re-emergence with a vengeance at some future inopportune moment.  So maybe the hours of backbreaking digging were the best long term solution to ensure the ground prep was done to achieve the best result in the long run. 





 See slow daily progress as flowerbed develops along fence panels

 

 
 



 





It's probably a good idea to set a plumb line to avoid any weird deviation from a symmetrical course.  There is actually one on all the above pictures (honest) but from the distance it's not showing up, you can though see it on this pic reproduced from  the 'Welcome' page.

 

 

Were any worms harmed in the making of this blog?

No, no worms were harmed in the making of this blog.

Progress would doubtless have been far quicker had we not spent endless time endeavouring to repatriate every single worm that could be wiggled or coaxed out of each clod of earth.  But still we patiently waited and cajoled each one to ensure its safe passage from discarded sod to fresh and lovely pristine new bed. 

A safe worm is a happy worm.

 

 

 

And finally success.

At the end of the 30' long dig 






 









Time for a nice cuppa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Better to have plant and lost than never to have plant(ed) at all

Setback #1 by way of demonstrating that things don’t always work out as planned. 

  

Here are the tomato seeds and the cucumbers that were planted together at exactly the same time. 

The tomatoes have all germinated and are thriving; cucumbers meanwhile are a total ‘no-show’.  Wozzup little guys???

Watch these widgey tomato seedlings though because in a few months these will be fruiting enough to contribute cherry tomatoes to our salads every night for months during the latter part of the summer.





Both sets of these seeds were seeds taken from my own plants (2013) which I dried in the hope that they’d be viable.  Seems like the toms survived while the cucumbers shrivelled away.  What's with that??
   

The cucumbers were from a packet of ‘lemon cucumber’ seeds sent by my Californian friend. 

When I mentioned courgettes she didn’t know what they were as Americans of course call them zucchini. 

She refers to her courgette/cucumber crop as “cukes & zukes” which somehow sounds way cooler than courgettes and cucumbers. 

I have since re-planted the lemon cucumbers, using, not my own dried seeds this time, but seeds taken from the original packet, which OK are out of date, but you can but try. 

Together with, a few cucamelons which I discovered this year and bought from e-bay.  Not really much point in mentioning them as all of which, so far it seems, have not the least intention of co-operating. 



NOTE:  Post update 2 weeks on and all have now produced seedlings

 

We'll readily admit that we're not the most experienced when it comes to veggies but there's no harm in having a dabble because it's always good to learn and you never know, you could end up with a nice bit of grub.  So for the purposes of our USG-Plot project we've decided to include what we can to extend the range of planting and demonstrate what's achievable from your garden, even when starting from scratch.

We're always in two minds as to whether you’ll get a better outcome by starting from seed or to wait until the garden centres and supermarkets have their small hardy plants available, which are always incredibly difficult to resist even if we've already started off some of our own.  A distinct benefit of growing from seed is that you’re not limited to quantity, you can raise as many as you’d like. 

 

The next point to consider is when is too early or too late to start planting.  Of course you want to give them a head start if you’re using your own seeds but there's a danger of a deceiving blast of early spring sunshine encouraging you to believe the time is right to move your seedlings out, (which are rapidly becoming too leggy and spindly), to their final planting destination, only to be rewarded with gales or torrential rains through May which then effectively destroy your plants rendering all your efforts useless.

Let's hope that that doesn't happen and maybe jump the greenhouse to the top of the 2015 wishlist.
 

 

Welcome

 

 

 

 

Thanks for joining us. 

 

Hello our project here is that we're going to be developing a 'starter garden', mainly for summer colour, but also experimenting with a few veggies for good measure.  So, if you're new to gardening and not really sure where to start, or if you'd like a little bit of motivation and inspiration to get you kick started, or if you'd just like to join with us and see how things work out, then, welcome. 

 

Perhaps you're new to gardening, finding it all a bit daunting and the TV gardeners a little bit advanced then we'll be starting here right from scratch with a small to medium urban/suburban garden (or Urban Small Garden Plot = USG-Plot) just like millions of homes around the country.  We've just moved here and so have pretty much a blank canvas and plan to plant and develop it and weave some horticultural magic over 2015, to take it from this..............

 

 

 

 



To ............................

 

Well we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, so let's just wait and see how we get on. 

 

The eventual outcome will be determined not only by which plants we choose but how kind the weather will be this summer, as despite all the best laid plans and extravagant outlay on plants, non-stop rain will prohibit crop development and restrict prolific flowering.  Even with an abundance of enthusiasm and the benefit of a lifetime of gardening knowledge and expertise to a large extent we are always at the mercy of the elements.

 

So - fingers crossed come and join us every week in our USG-Plot and let's get planting.