Laurie Manser's Garden Hints

Update

2012-01-22T11:28:00.000Z

Updated January 22nd

If any of the Slide shows fail to start please click on the title.

my new plot

2012-01-22T11:24:00.000Z

I have just been given another plot on the allotments so I thought I would try and show what I do with it as it is in a rather poor state at the moment,so I start with a picture before I do anything. I think the previous owner had sen a tele programme about raised beds and had put a lot of wooden surrounds in but no extra soil?

Garden Hints for January

2011-12-16T09:50:00.000Z

Garden Hints for January
Vegetables.
It really does depend on the weather as to what we can do in the vegetable patch this month, any digging can be completed provided the soil is not frozen. Crops like sprouts and leeks etc. continue to be harvested. Any yellow leaves should be removed so as not to lay and start creating hiding place for slugs or spreading mildew etc. Some early sowings can be done in the greenhouse provided you have protection for the early plants before planting out.
Fruit
Winter pruning of apples and pears could be completed again if weather is suitable.
Lawns
Apart from clearing any remaining leaves the lawns are best left alone with as little walking on as possible.

Best thing to do in the cold days is sit in the warm and study the catalogues.
Laurie Manser

Doing things in a different way

2011-12-16T09:43:00.005Z

A different way of gardening.
As I have mentioned before now we have had to move I have no real garden but I still want to grow my sweet peas. I got permission when we came here to have a row at the bottom of the grass area in front of our flat. They did ok but I had very good plants to start with as I then had my greenhouse etc. to do the job properly. I have no greenhouse now but sowed the seeds as I always do on October 8th, from 50 seeds I have 49 plants, so far so good. The problem then came what to do with them, they were on a garden table but in danger of getting blown over in the strong wind. I have now planted them in the row where I hope they will grow and bloom. I have never planted this early before so will get some fleece to cover them should we get severe weather. I have taken a picture of them so you can follow their progress or failure as the case may be.

2011-12-14T11:56:00.000Z

Amaryllis.

The bulb in this pot is about 12 years old if they are fed well after flowering for around 6 months and you leave the leaves to died back then they should flower and increase each year.

Changes in Gardening

2011-05-25T19:57:00.009+01:00

My gardening life has changed rather recently, I have spent nearly all my life as gardener in private service. This has meant living in a tied house and when you change or lose your job you also change or lose your home. Thus happened to us in October 2010 when the person we had worked for for 25 years passed away. This has meant that from having as much garden as I wanted to having no garden at all.This has made me think of other ways to grow my begonias etc. Near our flat is an area of ground close to a very large pine tree, the area is full of large roots and could never be cultvated so I now have all my begonias in containers and made a feature of them on this unused ground .
To grow some vegetables I have taken on a small allotment which is in rather a bad state. Over the next few months I will post pictures to show progress, if any, with these ventures

It starts to look better as the plants grow but I will have to change the edging as the strimmer rips it part

So that we can have some vegetables I have taken on a small allotment which is in a very poor state but will try and follow through the year with both events.

Things are getting better. After I had planted the sweetcorn I am told that the badgers love sweetcorn, they wait until it is ready to harvest and then help themselves. I have put wire netting round in hope of getting some to eat. Have had good lettuce and fair potato crop so far but there is bad blight on one plot and nothing is being done to it so I exoect it will spread to all our plots.

Container grown potatoes

2011-02-21T20:30:00.000Z

There seems to be a lot of interest in growing potatoes in containers. I did have details here a while ago so I am putting them in again.
I used a large plastic bin we had used for chicken food, I out a small layer of general purpose compost in the bottom. As the seed potato was fairly large I cut it in half and planted them a little way apart in He bottom. As this was in the greenhouse to start, as they grew I added more compost as you would if earthing up outside.Once they got too tall I put them outside but with fleece ready should we get a frost, at this time I had to support the foliage. We had almost a gale which damaged the foliage so I harvested earlier than I intended but you can see I got a very good crop from the one seed potato.

start of new season for sweet peas

2010-06-27T21:29:00.000+01:00

I sowed my sweet pea seed on Oct. 8th ten seeds in each pot. They were given a good drink and will not be watered again until all seeds are up. This picture was taken 12 days after sowing and shows 100 p/c germination.

These are my Ann's and my exhibits in the Bidborough flower show on June 26th 2010

planting a hanging basket

2010-03-23T14:39:00.001Z

These pictures show how I plant a hanging basket. I use moss from the lawn and add a small sheet of plastic just to prevent the water running straight through. I mix some slow release fertiliser and water gel with the compost.By moving the wires you can plant in the sides.
I have included a picture of last years basket.

Colour through the year

2010-03-23T14:30:00.000Z

I am going to try and feature one or two shrubs each month to illustrate colour in the garden through the year.

container carrots and parsnips

2010-03-23T14:18:00.008Z

These are this years carrots and parsnips that I am growing in containers. The carrots are fairly thick but as they grow I will be able to thin and eat them. The parsnips I did sow on the thick side as it was last years seed and I will have to thin them as they get bigger.

Long Tailed Tits

2010-02-14T13:00:00.002Z

I managed to get a few photos of the tits through our window , I hope you enjoy

Cucumbers 2009

2009-07-22T20:48:00.004+01:00

This year I have grown my cucumbers in large pots rather than growbags and they are doing much better. The variety is Unwins "Tasty King" and they are cropping very well. It is an F1 hybrid so no male flowers to worry about.

2009-06-29T18:48:00.000+01:00

My first planting of runnerbeans are now in full cropping, I have two later plantings to follow on and these few were planted on July 27th hopefully to give a late crop in September. As there are only a few I am doing them in a wigwam rather than a row.

runner bean progress

2009-06-29T18:46:00.005+01:00

This photo shows the progress of the last planting of runner beans back in July provided the weather stays reasonable we should get a crop from about mid September.

This last photo was taken on Sept.22nd when we returned from our annual weeks holiday so we have a good crop to look forward to.

We have had a good feed Sunday 27th September

Picked the last good feed on November 1st.

Starting begonia corms

2009-06-25T08:14:00.001+01:00

lt is 2nd March and I am starting my begonia corms. With them having several growth buds you can if you want cut the corms so that each section has a growth on it and increase the number of plants. I do not like doing this as the cut area cannot form any roots, so you get a reduced root system and it is possible to attract fungal disease . As you will see I cover the corm with compost, this is so that any water collecting in the hollow that is often on the top of the corm will be absorbed and not lay to start rotting the corm but more important it means that all the corm can form roots giving a much better plant.

Now April 23rd they are growing and ready for potting up, at this stage you can take cuttings as in picture. I root them in a mixture 50% compost/50% perlite.

Begonia cutting rooted

2009-06-25T08:07:00.002+01:00

The begonia cutting I took has now rooted and I have poted it up to grow on. By the winter it should form a nice new corm. I prefrer to do this rather than cut tubers up as yoy get a much better root system with a complete tuber .

2009-06-25T08:06:00.001+01:00

A view inside my greenhouse on 1st August 2009 they are being fed twice a week with Phostrogen I have just watered them with Pravado against vine weevil.

Some of my begonias 2009

2009-06-25T08:00:00.001+01:00

I grow Blackmore & Langdon begonias, they are exspensive to buy but once you have one you can propogate by cuttings as I have shown.

Parsnips in container

2009-06-03T21:07:00.002+01:00

As well as growing the carrots and potatoes in containers I am also trying some parsnips in an old kitchen refuse bin .

parsnips from container

2009-06-03T21:05:00.001+01:00

We had the first few parsnips from the container today Sunday 23rd August. They are small but very tasty and are really only thinings which I can get out using a can of water to loosen them first.

photos from Lamberhurst Spring Show

2009-04-22T19:26:00.000+01:00

Fuchsia Cuttings

2009-04-22T19:20:00.001+01:00

May 10th

When moving plants ready to plant out I took a few fuchsia cuttings. These root very easy in the sand of my propagator, they do not need any special treatment. You cut with a sharp knife put them in the sand and they root. When taking fuchsia cuttings however it is worth having a good look at the plant because sometimes you will find the odd stem with 3 leaves against the normal 2. If you use these stems you get more stems to form the plant when you pinch the tip out to make it break. The photo shows the cuttings in the sand. I will take other photos when they root.

"white" Black bird

2009-03-24T14:59:00.000Z

This bird has been around the garden for about 2 years but with it being so nervous this is the first reasonable picture I have been able to get of it.

carrots making good progress

2009-03-14T14:53:00.008Z

May 20 th The carrots are growing well , they look crowded but in previous years I have found if I water them just before pulling the largest,they come out without disturbing the others. There are some that I could pull but just waiting to get enough for a meal

Now June 2nd carrots still growing well. Pulled a few today.

It is now 23rd August still pulling carrots from container, I did sow thick so that I can thin as I go with most getting to a useable size.

Amarylilus

2008-12-23T15:14:00.000Z

I have for about 20 years grown amaryllis from a bulb bought in Holland . Most years I have given bulbs away in flower to charity raffles and such. I still have four bulbs growing, they flower each year. The most important thing in my opinion is to feed for a long period after they have flowered, leave all the foliage on, give them a dry period of about 3 months then cut the foliage and restart. I feed with any high potash feed but only after they have flowered. There is now thoughts about growing them green all the year round but I have not tried that yet.