Archives: journal

Went out to dinner in brother and sister-in- laws house on Friday night. Arrived home yesterday with a new gazebo. Cleared the deck and cleaned it (Hubbys Job). Ruth and I treated ever inch of the gazebo with protective oil, then we spent the rest of the day putting it up. (just what you want to do after a bucket or two of wine the night before). Looks lovely now though!!! It has planters built into each corner so went off this morning and got them. Finishes it off well. I have uploaded some photos. All we need now is the weather to enjoy it!!!!!

Planted – Clematis Romantika – Lonicere Japonica Halliana – Clematis Elsa Spath and Rubens Montana – all in large pots and well burried.

New Gazebo

This Spring seems so full of false dawns. One day it seems the growing season has really started and the next day it’s cold again. I haven’t mown my lawns yet – I treated some badly mossed areas by raking, adding seed and fertilising and am waiting for some results. My greenhouse is filling up with seedlings, among them two trays of verbena bonariensis to replace those lost to the winter. Outside the tulips are getting ready to bloom and some nice anemones like the one pictured look striking in the sunlight. Bye.

Anemone.

I was given the day off at the last moment and decided to go out for the day. Where would we go and would the weather hold ?. I decided we would visit Dun Na Ri forest park, I had not being here since I was a child. What a day out and what beautiful walks. No money could buy the beauty and tranquility. It was a joy to be in the forest park this day. I have to compliment Coillte for a amazing park and picnic areas. I have put the photos up on the site for all to see the beauty of this park. I highly recommend in these days of recession, during the lazy, hazy days of summer, pack the car with kids and picnic and visit our forest parks. There is plenty to occupy the kids and plenty of ideas for the gardener to come away with. I am hoping for more glorious days in our national under-valued treasures

free to view and appreciate

~~~Happy Easter everyone~~ I decided to clear this bed of the Cotoneaster which had crept over the wall and rooted into it. ~~ What a job~~ it was so deeply rooted! This bed is in a prime location, lots of sun, shelter and dry, too good to waste on Cotoneaster. I replanted my one and only Canna back into it. I leave it in over winter but cover it with the plant pot for protection. I also tried out the new Flymo Garden vac (3000 watt motor) on the tarmac. Its better on the blower side and a bit disappointing on suction of damp material. I trimmed the wiggly Lonicera hedge which is the start of many trims as it grows so quick.

Bed for the Canna & other special plants.

Last year I divided my hosta and got 2 extra ones. I also came across these 2 mystery plants. They may be something Mary Waldron gave us to try but I’m not sure. Mary has loads of beautiful plants in her wonderful garden which she opens to the public in Mullingar.

Hosta and mystery plants

just popped in another 10 green privot, followed by 3 climbing roses, 6 escallonia and about a dozen new s hrubs into the long border. want to have all done come thursday, grass seed in yesterday the 12th……we will see how long that takes to green up.

Another rather desperate day with constant rain for most of the day.So much planned to do on the bank holiday in the garden,but lets hope that the rain will not fall much more,and only when needed during the summer months.[Fingers crossed]Spent most of the day getting to do some study about gardening and only in the last hour or their abouts i have gotten to sow some more seeds inside the house.Still even more let down by the poor show of the Leek seeds especially.The other veg has no problem.In the flower area the marigolds especially along with the nastur,are also showing well.[Two of the main defence forces in the veg garden for me among the veg]

I think i see the sun on the way.[Easter Sunday]

Monday 13/04/09. Dug up the last of the Leeks from last year, they were an amazing success Maura has made about 15 lts of Leek & Potatoe soup from this last lot. Overall we have made about 50 lts from last years sowing.

This was a first try with Leeks seed. Put down seed in May 2008 transplanted after about 7 weeks, 20cm deep in freshly dug section of extended Veg plot.

Most of the soup was frozen & given to our 4 children to take home on some of their visits.

My mother in law has been visiting us, she comes from Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire, and has very much enjoyed our spring garden, in all its glory, The Runner Beans which we had previously sown in invidual cell trays, are starting to germinate, each Autumn we collect our own seed, selecting the beans to be harvested during the growing season, Selected for straightness, uniformity, yield. and disease free, these seeds are allowed to dry naturally, before being stored in envelopes in the cottage.

I bought a polytunnel in Sept. ’08. Started to dig it straight away, couldn’t wait to get started. Had some salad leaves growing in no time, also some spinach, and bok choy. The bok choy (or pak choy) were absolutely delicious. Now in March/April I’m still cutting the same spinach leaves, and have planted shalotts, onions, mixed lettuce leaves, chinese broccoli, cabbage hispi, carrots, potatoes, beetroot, spring onions, calabrese, and perhaps more. (After a couple of glasses of wine, it gets hard to remember everything!) Anyway, I’m enjoying it so much, and recommend getting a tunnel to anyone who wants to garden, with limited time, and a good appetite!

I found the two ‘Crinodendron’ slips I took last year have successfully rooted in the pots.

Crinodendrons

cold and wet today so spent time armchair gardening, reading garden.ie profiles very impressed with lovely gardens all round Ireland. Wish I had more space

streptocarpus

Between heavy rain at times, with only just a slight appearance of sunshine left Tuesday a rather poor day.Nothing being able to get done in the garden this evening.Had a brief look at the seed trays in the house in the last few minutes and prepared some for the move to the greenhouse whenever possible. .

We have spent the day potting on the first batch of bedding plants which have been growing in six cell packs in the tunnel, they have been potted into 4" pots and moved into the cold frame, where they can grow unhindered into fine strong plants, with the frames open during the days, they will soon harden up ready for planting about the middle of May. Varieties moved today, dwarf cosmos, godetia,mesembryanthemums, french marigolds, we also potted into 5ltr pots the Chilean glory vines.

My seeds I sown in February are now lovely little plantlings!..

Beetroot, carrots, onions, Tomatoes, Basil and lettuce are all up and looking lovely!.. I have bought some Brussel sprouts, cabbage and strawberry plants that are also doing fine. The Potatoes are dug in and Peas and mangetout are peeping up through the soil, even though they were sown late!..

The flowers for baskets and window boxes are being feed well and showing great potential. I have also cut my new lawn for the first time, I so enjoyed it!… Cherry Trees and Pear tree in blossom.

After I dug out the lawn mower, cleaned it and yes, I did a service on it and it now runs better than it ever did. Mind you, I did have to get a bit of help to loosen some of the nuts and bolts!…

I am very impressed with my garden at the moment with the level of growth and have to say, mother nature and the weather is the most beautiful thing in these tough times!… breath taking!..

Well, thats it for the moment, please have a look at the pictures of my garden.

Just back from a two day trip to Wicklow. Visited Mount Usher gardens on the first afternoon – it rained for the duration of our stay – boy did it rain! Yet even this couldn’t destroy the magic of the place – water features a lot in these gardens anyway, designed, as they are, around the river flowing through them. Still, we have to return on a more clement day! On Tuesday, we visited Powerscourt gardens and the weather was beautiful! It’s a great time to visit, with the Magnolias and Rhododendrons putting on a great show. I had been there many years ago but had forgotten how magnificent the place is . They sure knew how to pick a spot for their humble abode in those days and there was no scarcity of cheap labour to mould the landscape into their grand designs – great that we can all enjoy it nowadays! Bought myself a cornus controversa variegata ( the wedding cake tree ) in the shop there. It’s an expensive plant so I must choose a location for it carefully – I’d hate to lose it, like those pricey acers I lost down the years! I think (hope ) it’s hardy. Anyway, back home tonight it’s chilly outside, so my precious new acquisition is over-nighting in the greenhouse. Also bought a Campanula trachelium Bernice – a nice non-expensive plant that I will try to grow some cuttings from. Bye.

Powerscourt.

hi everyone hope all are well, just when i think i am on top of things, i find more stuff to do. washed a load of pots in small barrel, better than wetting and messing in the kitchen floor and sink. i have my mums pots and window boxes planted up and in the middle of doing mine, feed them well and they will look nice when they go out. hubby put my bench together today so now i have somewhere to sit when i am tired after all the work bye for now

happy gardening

My visit back to my Kerry garden in March/April allowed me to add more pines to fill in the many gaps in the shelter belts. Once the shelter has been established in the 1 &1/2 acres in front of the house, I will be able to make much more impressive progress with the developement of the garden.

In areas where there has been good shelter established, the broadleaved trees are starting to really look great. There are now some really nice examples of Silver Birch, Ash (Fraxinus) and a sparkling Weeping Willow.

I had much of the areas where there are small trees sprayed with weed killer and I then added some fertilizer (7-6-17). This will give these trees a huge boost. By the end of this year I expect to see big changes in how the major shelter belt has progressed. Then it will be on to bigger and better planting schemes inside the rows of shelter.

Killing off the weeds around the small trees.

I adore Orchids although I don’t have any of the really fancy kinds. Love the Slipper Orchid photo on Rita D’s profile.

I am currently nursing four Orchids, hopefully back to flowering.

I noticed a few weeks ago that one of the three Phalaenopsis Orchids has produced a tiny red-tipped leaf, with two holes in it! Soon afterwards my Cambria Orchid produced a shoot, as pictured here. I am keeping them watered (but not sitting in it) and on the windowsill for full light.

This is quite exciting stuff as I’ve never had an Orchid come back from hibernation before and always thought they were too tricky for me.

I JUST NOTICED FROM THIS PHOTO THAT MY GLORY LILY HAS FINALLY PUT UP A SHOOT (see it in the pot to the right of the orchid – I knew taking loads of photos would prove useful one day!). I PLANTED THE TUBER ON 6TH FEBRUARY AND IT IS ONLY PRODUCING A SHOOT NOW!!!!!!!

Orchid Cambria

It has been really miserable and wet today but during a brief dry spell I photographed these tulips. I have a few tulips that put up leaves but no flowers. I think the soil may be too heavy and others are not in full sun, will have to investigate. I do need more tulips in the garden. I am so glad I cut the lawn and trimmed the edges yesterday.

Tulips

what a horrible day . but got out to check out garden . paulownia is in bud lovely blue colour will intensify over next few days . took a photo of a branch to show you . spirea the bride, just about ready to open.

in the greenhouse all dahlias i startedoff in pots are really doing well. echinacia , chinese lanterns are up andoff to be planted out later.

strawberries in bloom, cabbage and cauliflower doing well too.

first sowing of lettuce peeping up outside and potatoes needed earthing up.

pear tree in full bloom.

lawn slowly but surely coming on

hope to have both legs under me soon!!!!!!!

after the rain

Hi. I’ve just joined Garden.ie with the hopes of getting a few tips from fellow gardeners and learning a bit more about gardening in Ireland. I’ve posted a few photos to give an idea of my garden, but it’s always changing so I’ll keep posting new photos as I can.

When I moved to Galway, this garden was completely empty except for the oil tank in the back corner. We built a shed and have dug the garden over time. Still, the grass is mostly weed, but that’s how it goes.

I plant mostly flowers and veg, with no trees or shrubs really. The yard is not big enough for trees, really and I’d rather use the space for flowers vs. shrubs. Right now (April 2009) it’s just starting to sprout – the green house is full of seedlings and the pots are ready to be filled. I love this time of year filled with excitement for the summer to come. The veg is ready to go – the flowers will come when it’s warmer. I’ll try to keep posting photos, etc as it grows.

Hello!.. here I am.. commited to conquering my garden plans. I recently went for a flying visit to my Aunt and Uncles place in Mayo, not only was it fantastic to see them again (thankfully unchanged).. but their garden and their enthusiasm and obvious knowledge has spurred me on. I have been feebly digging my vegetable patch all through the early part of the year, hampered by weather and all the usual things and now have a patch just about big enough to do us for the summer. The plan is though to have a proper allotment sized piece of ground so that I can have allocated brassica, root and leaf beds which I can then rotate and have an area left fallow every year. I’m hoping to get to a point where I’m self sufficient in veg all year round.. no point planning if you don’t plan big!..*snort!..

Anyway, I will get some more pictures up soon of my little piece of heaven, cheers for reading! Vick..

Its one of those days, when the ground is too wet and the air is cold and damp to be doing much outside. its a day for the green house. The Beds in the green house still need to be sorted out. So today i am taking a trip to my local composting centre (place where our brown bins go.)and getting a few bags of compost. Here in waterford its a €2.50 tag for 2 x 20kg bags. i have used this compost before and found it excellent. once i have them, i will be preparing the beds in the green house.

I have’nt been slacking at all, every good day have out in the garden, planting and sowing, weeding etc. But really overdid it on Tuesday and paid for it big time yesterday morning, when my back went…ouch!!! so been laid up ever since….just taking it easy and hope to be on the mend soon…what I did on Tuesday was planted out hebe’s and lots of alpines…hard work when I had to cut into the membrane lining and condition the soil underneath, plant each plant, fertilise it and then cover up ….. we have the membrane lining and then bark on top…also did some hoe-ing and hand weeding in the veggie beds…potted on some asters and moved sweetpea and marigold seedlings out to the cold frame…as its been wet and windy ever since not feeling too guilty taking it easy….happy gardening and MIND YOUR BACK!!! Ciao

Archives: journal

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