NPR

Cheers

You could consider something like honeysuckle, needs a good clipping once a year but the flowers are popular with bees.

I used to have one of these until I had a new wall built which meant digging up the roots. It gives quite a good spread

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/68665/lon ... ma/details

tabascoboy wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 3:47 pm You could consider something like honeysuckle, needs a good clipping once a year but the flowers are popular with bees.

I used to have one of these until I had a new wall built which meant digging up the roots. It gives quite a good spread

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/68665/lon ... ma/details

Nice one. A couple of them with a few other things in between should do the trick.

Marylandolorian wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 4:31 pm Not sure about honeysuckles, it’s a very invasive vine that’ll take over everything, I’ll go with clematis, I’ve 3 in different part of the yard and even with our climate here ( 35 summer/ -15 winter ) they do well.

The one I had wasn't invasive, but the roots do grow very long - though not at the surface. The only problem with clematis is that they die back over the winter ( well the three types I have do) so you don't get the evergreen leaf cover. And if it's a solid fence then you need a trellis or some other support.

Marylandolorian wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 4:39 pm Yep, you are right it’s the draw back, the leaves look burnt early in the fall.

What about morning glory ?

I don't know it but apparently the seeds are extremely toxic so that's something to bear in mind with kids or pets.

Oh, can grow to 4 - 8m so maybe a bit overkill without pruning

Should have mentioned I've got a lab. He's not one for eating plants but something I'd shy away from.

Ymx wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:37 am Hoe problem sorted.

This thing is the bollocks



I bought it from Harrods but it’s Waitrose as well

https://www.waitrosegarden.com/product/ ... lsrc=aw.ds

Looks good. Does it feel solid?

Yep, it seems tough enough.

The head was a little smaller than I was expecting, but found that useful as the ground was hard, and it helped when I was needing to slice in to it.

Jock42 wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 4:06 pm

tabascoboy wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 3:47 pm You could consider something like honeysuckle, needs a good clipping once a year but the flowers are popular with bees.

I used to have one of these until I had a new wall built which meant digging up the roots. It gives quite a good spread

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/68665/lon ... ma/details

Nice one. A couple of them with a few other things in between should do the trick.

How long's the fence? If you're looking for something that covers it all year round I'd say star jasmine (Trachelospermum), albeit large specimens aren't cheap and need training up it. Clematis montana as mentioned would smother the bastard within a season or two, slightly less nasty would be C.armandii apple blossom.

If your newbuild soil's like the ones I used work with - topsoil layer over packed hardcore you can't get through without dynamite, might need it opened up. Clay over packed builders rubble=drainage problem. Few shrubs that do well in tough shitty soil - amelanchier, weigela, choisya and fuchsia riccartonii.

If you need other recommendations maybe chuck up a picture and/or direction the fence faces towards.

lemonhead wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 11:17 pm

Jock42 wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 4:06 pm

tabascoboy wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 3:47 pm You could consider something like honeysuckle, needs a good clipping once a year but the flowers are popular with bees.

I used to have one of these until I had a new wall built which meant digging up the roots. It gives quite a good spread

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/68665/lon ... ma/details

Nice one. A couple of them with a few other things in between should do the trick.

How long's the fence? If you're looking for something that covers it all year round I'd say star jasmine (Trachelospermum), albeit large specimens aren't cheap and need training up it. Clematis montana as mentioned would smother the bastard within a season or two, slightly less nasty would be C.armandii apple blossom.

If your newbuild soil's like the ones I used work with - topsoil layer over packed hardcore you can't get through without dynamite, might need it opened up. Clay over packed builders rubble=drainage problem. Few shrubs that do well in tough shitty soil - amelanchier, weigela, choisya and fuchsia riccartonii.

If you need other recommendations maybe chuck up a picture and/or direction the fence faces towards.

There's maybe 26 to 30m I'm looking to cover. The back fence, the longest area, faces south east towards the house. Will try to remember to take a pic when I'm up tomorrow afternoon.

Aye the drainage is shite.

Cheers for the advice folks.

I'm going to put up a small bikestore to clear out the toolshed a little.

I really hate the faff (not to mention expense) of putting paving down as a base, so keen to see if there's anything to shortcut this. Last time I put up a shed - well, the only time I've actually put up a shed - the base took days, assembling the shed a few hours. I'm also not convinced I did the greatest job with the base, a bit wobbly and up and down.

Has anyone tried Ecobase Fastfit? If the video's to be believed, just mark it out, dig up the turf, lay membrane and place the plastic sections on top. A bit of gravel around edges and all done. Not sure if it's quite that simple, and worry about membrane ultimately failing. It'll only be for a pretty small bike store so not that concerned by strength of it, although it does seem to be used for car parking so presumably can withstand a fair old bit.

I'd recommend watching the demo video just for the music.
https://swiftfoundations.co.uk/ecobase-fastfit/

I bought my last shed from tiger sheds and it was pretty decent, and it's them pushing this Ecobase stuff that piqued my interest - although may look more local for the actual shed.

inactionman wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 8:37 pm I'm going to put up a small bikestore to clear out the toolshed a little.

I really hate the faff (not to mention expense) of putting paving down as a base, so keen to see if there's anything to shortcut this. Last time I put up a shed - well, the only time I've actually put up a shed - the base took days, assembling the shed a few hours. I'm also not convinced I did the greatest job with the base, a bit wobbly and up and down.

Has anyone tried Ecobase Fastfit? If the video's to be believed, just mark it out, dig up the turf, lay membrane and place the plastic sections on top. A bit of gravel around edges and all done. Not sure if it's quite that simple, and worry about membrane ultimately failing. It'll only be for a pretty small bike store so not that concerned by strength of it, although it does seem to be used for car parking so presumably can withstand a fair old bit.

I'd recommend watching the demo video just for the music.
https://swiftfoundations.co.uk/ecobase-fastfit/

I bought my last shed from tiger sheds and it was pretty decent, and it's them pushing this Ecobase stuff that piqued my interest - although may look more local for the actual shed.

As far as I can see you still have to prepare a level base for the plastic sections which could be tricky. If you ask me you would be quicker doing it the old way with sand and slabs.

Planted my busy lizzies a couple of weeks ago and they all died off.
Gutted.
They pulled basically all the flowers from Morrisons soon after, so must have been a bad batch or summut.

Line6 HXFX wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 5:44 am Planted my busy lizzies a couple of weeks ago and they all died off.
Gutted.
They pulled basically all the flowers from Morrisons soon after, so must have been a bad batch or summut.

The next ones will die too. The problem is you.

Too much negative energy, maaaan.

Blackmac wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 9:41 pm

inactionman wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 8:37 pm I'm going to put up a small bikestore to clear out the toolshed a little.

I really hate the faff (not to mention expense) of putting paving down as a base, so keen to see if there's anything to shortcut this. Last time I put up a shed - well, the only time I've actually put up a shed - the base took days, assembling the shed a few hours. I'm also not convinced I did the greatest job with the base, a bit wobbly and up and down.

Has anyone tried Ecobase Fastfit? If the video's to be believed, just mark it out, dig up the turf, lay membrane and place the plastic sections on top. A bit of gravel around edges and all done. Not sure if it's quite that simple, and worry about membrane ultimately failing. It'll only be for a pretty small bike store so not that concerned by strength of it, although it does seem to be used for car parking so presumably can withstand a fair old bit.

I'd recommend watching the demo video just for the music.
https://swiftfoundations.co.uk/ecobase-fastfit/

I bought my last shed from tiger sheds and it was pretty decent, and it's them pushing this Ecobase stuff that piqued my interest - although may look more local for the actual shed.

As far as I can see you still have to prepare a level base for the plastic sections which could be tricky. If you ask me you would be quicker doing it the old way with sand and slabs.

One worry I do have is that we have a fair few trees ringing the garden and the roots can be quite shallow (in the back garden the roots actually show through a small area of grass - if they're in the way in the front garden there's no real chance of getting the Ecobase down into the ground, whereas sand I suppose offers a bit more latitude.

inactionman wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 10:56 am

Blackmac wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 9:41 pm

inactionman wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 8:37 pm I'm going to put up a small bikestore to clear out the toolshed a little.

I really hate the faff (not to mention expense) of putting paving down as a base, so keen to see if there's anything to shortcut this. Last time I put up a shed - well, the only time I've actually put up a shed - the base took days, assembling the shed a few hours. I'm also not convinced I did the greatest job with the base, a bit wobbly and up and down.

Has anyone tried Ecobase Fastfit? If the video's to be believed, just mark it out, dig up the turf, lay membrane and place the plastic sections on top. A bit of gravel around edges and all done. Not sure if it's quite that simple, and worry about membrane ultimately failing. It'll only be for a pretty small bike store so not that concerned by strength of it, although it does seem to be used for car parking so presumably can withstand a fair old bit.

I'd recommend watching the demo video just for the music.
https://swiftfoundations.co.uk/ecobase-fastfit/

I bought my last shed from tiger sheds and it was pretty decent, and it's them pushing this Ecobase stuff that piqued my interest - although may look more local for the actual shed.

As far as I can see you still have to prepare a level base for the plastic sections which could be tricky. If you ask me you would be quicker doing it the old way with sand and slabs.

One worry I do have is that we have a fair few trees ringing the garden and the roots can be quite shallow (in the back garden the roots actually show through a small area of grass - if they're in the way in the front garden there's no real chance of getting the Ecobase down into the ground, whereas sand I suppose offers a bit more latitude.

Yep, just skim off the top couple of inches of turf, 50 mm sharp sand base and 3 x 2 slabs. Old slabs are always going free on Marketplace as well.

Runner beans...Blackfly...Losing battle..

Dunno what's happened this year, but my runner beans crop is blowing out it's arse..

160 plants, probably got 20 strong ones left, Blackfly on nearly every leaf, flower heads, stems, etc. Really high up as well, gone through 4 bottles of spray, ant killer (I reckon those little black twats spread them for pleasure!) Really pissed off with the crop this year, normally fill a chest freezer with the crop and give away tons, sadly looking like end of harvest already. Had strong winds and heavy rain a week ago which stripped the flowers, but now, they're all dying back..Treated the ground for leather jacket, we have loads here, in good compost and horse shit as always, sprayed morning and night, watered daily through drip feeders..Still failing, plus my rhubarb was also covered in Blackfly this year. Which never seen before...

Climate change?

Only have 4 runners, planted over a 6 week period; first one produced a grand total of 2 pods hasn't really spread and now looks totally bored with life. Second one doing rather better - also suffered from strong winds 7-10 days ago stripping the flowers but seem to be in resurgence now - might even produce 10 pods...wow. The last two are late sowings and about 3 - 4 feet high.

Thought I was going to get blighted with blackfly but for now they have more or less disappeared without using any kind of spray. They are taking a hell of a lot of watering though and even then the top 2 - 3 inches of soil are like concrete with the sun and warm breeze. Only one properly wet day in the last 30! Some showers and light rain but any moisture simply evaporates quickly.

Outdoor tomatoes a bit of a fail despite the warmth and sunshine, very slow to grow after planting out in mid June. They have a reservoir with capillary mats so as long as it's kept supplied the compost doesn't dry out too much.

What I have noticed is a lack of bees even though there were plenty around in mid spring. There are a variety of flowers nearby to help attract them but see very few and rarely any on the bean flowers ( though the later ones are self pollinators so hopefully they might be more productive).

I'm SW Wales, had a few wet days but bugger all rain to make a difference, bought a new mower in the spring, used it twice!..
Have drip feeds for my beans, ground well wet. But they're dying..

not sure if you can get ladybug larvae in the UK but here I used them succesfully a few years back (cleared the mess and i got a more healthy ladybug pop that keep the blackfly in check.

Garden is in survival mode between heatwave and drought.

Sticking to perennials at the moment: herbs, lovage, rhubarb etc. Had a batch of rocket that germinated and went straight to seed in two weeks.

Main bugbear, and I'm kicking myself now, is buying a plant from a market stall that later found to have vine weevil in it.

Dousing the garden three times a season and checking at night during the summer but have the beginnings of another mini infestation. Just one of the little @@£%s can lay hundreds of eggs a year and even if my garden eventually gets clean it doesn't stop one venturing to neighbours and starting something there. Bane of my gardening life.

Had a few ladybug earlier on, laid eggs and had a few larvae, noticed the bloody ants attacked them soresorted to bug spray/soapy water wash, no real effect, Blackfly city tbh..

Only other thought is using some sort of insect mesh to cover the area.

Always tend to crush early arrivals on sight for about a week or two then as summer goes on there's enough diversity in the garden they just disappear eventually. Log piles, wild areas etc. Don't know what's eating them mind.

I've been having a bit of an online debate with a famous lawn care YouTuber who advocates watering lawns seven nights a week in the current conditions. Seems totally oblivious to the environmental impact and sheer selfishness of it. As far as he is concerned he won't stop or his clients won't stop until there is the inevitable hosepipe ban.

Have cleared 4 of the 5 raised beds ready to sow/plant out for winter. Stripped the first one down and have tweaked the watering system and need to dig in the heater, sown 1 row of carrots in a flat calm just started the second row and the wind kicked off with a big gust . Got some Leek and beetroot seedlings on order.

The whole plan is to make the raised bed covers as quick and easy to break down as possible. The whole idea of the growzone raised beds is good in principle but getting the best out of them takes a bit of working out but I think I'm just about there.

Courgette plant is just about finished but there looks to be some fruit coming on the biggest of the sweet peppers. Tomatoes are fruiting up nicely, we were given some plants which I'm really like the look of but no idea what variety they are, need to find out for next year.

Kale was looking really sick for a while but seems to be recovering nicely now.

Blackmac wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:43 pm I've been having a bit of an online debate with a famous lawn care YouTuber who advocates watering lawns seven nights a week in the current conditions. Seems totally oblivious to the environmental impact and sheer selfishness of it. As far as he is concerned he won't stop or his clients won't stop until there is the inevitable hosepipe ban.

Hosepipe/sprinkler ban starts here in one week from Friday - no rain forecast until then. I hope this doesn't just get people out there hosing everything like mental in the meantime. I use a watering can for the veg and some pots with more expensive plants, though its a small area - everything else can just suffer...

Expecting rain tomorrow evening however temps are still going to stay high....

We had a bit of a dry spell here but nothing desperate and now back to fairly normal. I'm still looking to set up some rainwater harvesting for the future. Looking at IBCs and butts, ideally gravity fed but also looking at pumps, ideally solar powered to get the water into a 'header' tank.

tabascoboy wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 8:31 pm

Blackmac wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:43 pm I've been having a bit of an online debate with a famous lawn care YouTuber who advocates watering lawns seven nights a week in the current conditions. Seems totally oblivious to the environmental impact and sheer selfishness of it. As far as he is concerned he won't stop or his clients won't stop until there is the inevitable hosepipe ban.

Hosepipe/sprinkler ban starts here in one week from Friday - no rain forecast until then. I hope this doesn't just get people out there hosing everything like mental in the meantime. I use a watering can for the veg and some pots with more expensive plants, though its a small area - everything else can just suffer...

This absolute cockwomble has now posted a video how to legally beat a hosepipe ban. Fill a barrel from the tap and pump it through the hose with an electric pump. He is confident because the hose is not connected directly to the tap, it's not illegal. He also doubts there is a water shortage because the earth is two thirds water.

inactionman wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 8:37 pm I'm going to put up a small bikestore to clear out the toolshed a little.

I really hate the faff (not to mention expense) of putting paving down as a base, so keen to see if there's anything to shortcut this. Last time I put up a shed - well, the only time I've actually put up a shed - the base took days, assembling the shed a few hours. I'm also not convinced I did the greatest job with the base, a bit wobbly and up and down.

Has anyone tried Ecobase Fastfit? If the video's to be believed, just mark it out, dig up the turf, lay membrane and place the plastic sections on top. A bit of gravel around edges and all done. Not sure if it's quite that simple, and worry about membrane ultimately failing. It'll only be for a pretty small bike store so not that concerned by strength of it, although it does seem to be used for car parking so presumably can withstand a fair old bit.

I'd recommend watching the demo video just for the music.
https://swiftfoundations.co.uk/ecobase-fastfit/

I bought my last shed from tiger sheds and it was pretty decent, and it's them pushing this Ecobase stuff that piqued my interest - although may look more local for the actual shed.

Used scrap roof beams (or rail sleepers). When I did the greenhouse, that had to be on the flat and absolutely level or any twists would break the glass. ****ing pain in the arse and same: longer to lay base and level than assemble the greenhouse.

Found the cause of my beans all dying off, I've been using an insecticide on the Blackfly, my 4 yr old grandson was watching and when my back was turned, he copied me..

With weedol.............

TB63 wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:36 am Found the cause of my beans all dying off, I've been using an insecticide on the Blackfly, my 4 yr old grandson was watching and when my back was turned, he copied me..

With weedol.............

Oops! Did you manage to be forgiving?

All bottles now out of reach, can't be harsh on a 4 yr old..

Very first tomato of the year is almost ready hope the others ripen too, might have some sweet peppers developing. I thought the courgette plant was over but it's got 3 fruits and a load more flowers coming.

Cleared a lot of and rejigged the sprinklers in the raised beds then planted some more Leeks and Kale, Carrots, Beetroot and Spring cauli. Picked up some Charlotte seed tatties to plant for Xmas, Garlic ordered, should arrive in October.

Got a water butt system arriving in the next couple of days, I'll set it up and see how it goes before ordering more.

One of the Romanesco plants is forming a head, I'm so chuffed, think this is at least the third year of trying. The covered raised beds and strategic planting of alliums seem to have done the job of protecting them so far

The other seedlings (Cauli, Kale, Beetroot and Leeks) I've planted out in the raised beds seem to be thriving so far and the latest carrot sowing have emerged sooner than I expected. If I had more room I'd put in some more of these beds now that I've worked out how to get the best out of them. I think there may be a couple more tweeks I can do probably, to do with some kind of heating/frost protection but that will take a bit of online searching to explore the possibilities.

Runner beans are coming into full production. Garlic is all lifted and drying out. Last of the spuds have been sorted and bagged. Van back from it's MOT so I'll go collect some more bags of compost and plant the winter/xmas tatties.

Now officially in drought, cue non-stop rain for months from a few days time...

TB63 wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:42 am All bottles now out of reach, can't be harsh on a 4 yr old..

Lucky it was only the beans that were harmed.

I spiked his squash....

Runner beans officially over, last crop, removed and mulched..
Some bloke on TV this morning said same thing, far too dry to set the fruit..Putting in a better sprinkler/misting system next year that'll wet them a few times a day automatically...

We currently have no kitchen while the old one (and the floor) is being stripped out and replaced, veg is in full production so harvested the latest 'must pick' this morning and will drop off at Dad's, anything he can't use will go to my son's brood. Still wish I knew what variety of tomato plants we were given, after I'd already planted what I reckoned we needed. Once I have time I'll build and fill the 4 covered raised beds I've got sitting in the van, the others have all been planted with their second (late) crop of winter/spring veg.

Any tips/advice for shite, patchy grass? I assume a combination of the dog pissing, a clay like soil and very poor drainage are all combining to fuck me over.