Your Garden 2022

bored_newbie · 04-12-2022 11:26pm

What is the syrup like? Something like maple syrup?

SouthWesterly · 04-12-2022 11:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119957425#Comment_119957425

It's sweet. Nice poured over deserts

MacDanger · 13-12-2022 1:07pm

Loads of my carrots got destroyed with carrot fly this year - planning to move them a bit this year and maybe cover them if I can but are there carrot-fly resistant varieties that anyone can recommend?

SouthWesterly · 13-12-2022 1:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990884#Comment_119990884

Resitafly is meant to work. Interplant with onions to mask the smell or plant something tall on the edge of the bed.

They fly at a certain height and can't get over taller plants.

The main thing is not to be at them thinning which releases the smell into the air

Igotadose · 13-12-2022 1:48pm

If ye don't need great numbers of carrots, grow them in large planter pots. Never a fly problem there, but grown in the ground nearby has had flies show up.

When you set them out matters, too. Not before 25 may. Also, I put 1 seed in a dirt filled loo roll and start them that way.reduces the need to thin

justmehere · 27-12-2022 12:40pm

Sounds like the ideal thread for this question! I've a 35-foot 'blank canvas' of a wall, facing South-South-West in Dublin. I would like gardening ideas please. I would like lots of colour and stuff that would attract butterflies etc. and smell nice. The picture was taken early in Winter. In Summer, the wall and grass is bathed in full sunshine. As the sun sets, the shadow starts on the left side of the picture, moving to the right.

At the moment I'm thinking of first building a slightly sloped bank of earth, maybe 6 inches or so high, from the wall down to a border of railroad sleepers. I'm open on what to plant, maybe even little trees etc. Let's assume money is not an obstacle at this stage :-P I'm not a gardener as such, so if you mention specific items, please give me a name I can Google :-)

I'll of course post an 'after' picture when done Thanks for your ideas.

looksee · 27-12-2022 1:02pm

There is likely to be a cement ledge at the bottom of that wall so you need to put your sleeper border far enough out from the wall to be able to plant in front of the ledge. Also you tend to get a rain shadow at the bottom of a wall like that so don't plant anything that needs a lot of watering. And avoid plants that prefer acid soil (azalias, summer flowering heathers etc.) as the cement will have a lime effect on the soil.

Having said that, you will need some support on the wall. I would avoid wooden trellis, it breaks up after a couple of seasons and if you put in a strong growing plant (honeysuckle, clematis montana) they will pull it down. A lot of the honeysuckles would not appreciate a full sun wall anyway, a few do. Put up a properly installed wires and vine eyes system before you start planting and it will last for years. Get the woven wire, its easier to manage than the fencing wire. Get it stretched really tight so it doesn't sag.

Having said all that...clematis would be good, choose plants that will flower at different times so you have a long display, there are spring, summer, autumn, winter (I have one coming into flower at the moment) plants. They mostly like full sun though clematis montana, especially the white one, is extremely vigorous and will be happy in part shade. I'd be inclined to avoid it. Do put something - a piece of paving slab for example - over the roots of clematis, they don't like to be warm, but the stems up will be fine. Roses would do well there. If you are prepared for a bit of actual gardening sweet peas would be lovely, lots of flowers and lovely scent but you have to be prepared to plant them every year and look after them a bit. You could put up an occasional panel of trellis for them, they are not heavy and need plenty of support, those decorative willow panels would be nice, maybe space four or so of them at intervals along the wall, behind the wire. Insects and birds love pyrocantha, flowers in summer, berries in autumn/winter. Very thorny so beware if you have kids with footballs. I'm sure there will be other suggestions, these are a few off the top of my head and dinner prep for visitors calls!

cobham · 27-12-2022 1:24pm

I have wisteria on similar aspected wall. Good advice to get decent support system on wall first. But wisteria can be 7 yrs 'settling down' before it flowers. It can be trained to go along the upper level and other things in front.

looksee · 27-12-2022 2:10pm

If you are getting wisteria get the Japanese rather than the Chinese version. The Chinese one has insipid flowers and is insanely vigorous.

macraignil · 27-12-2022 2:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120037526#Comment_120037526

Looksee made a good point about the foundation of that wall being worth considering. It is normal practice that the foundation of a wall is wider than the wall itself so if you dig down a bit right next to the wall you will probably have some concrete rather than soil. If you want to attract butterflies then one of the best plants you can put in is buddleia and these come in a variety of colours and sizes with some bred to be less strong growing. You can find them growing out of walls and old buildings on derelict sites so they are fairly flexible as to where they will thrive but I find the dwarf ones just not as productive. You can cut them down to a stump each year to stop them taking over too much space. Erysimum Bowle's mauve and Sedum also seem to be popular with butterflies.That setting would also be good for Mediterranean type herbs with rosemary, sage, thyme and lavender being plants I'd consider for in front of the wall here as well. Penstemon and rudbekia might also be good to stretch the flowering season.

Happy gardening!

cobham · 05-02-2023 2:03pm

Time for new thread... 2023?

Good gardening weather at the moment. Soft ground is a chance to pull out some established plants before they get growing. I am going to put in some roses, never bothered with them before

Igotadose · 05-02-2023 2:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120204667#Comment_120204667

What kind? The 'wild Irish rose' climbing rose appears to be bulletproof - grows vigorously here in a very maritime climate. Florist variety roses do pretty well as long as protected from the breeze and not too often drenched in salt spray. But, can't keep the climbing roses down. Or the shrub roses, which have a great fragrance though the thorny stems are brutal.

SouthWesterly · 05-02-2023 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120204667#Comment_120204667

There is a 2023 thread

cobham · 05-02-2023 4:59pm

I am planting a variety that was favourite of my mother (Just Joey). She had to replace a bed about 10 yrs ago and this was her choice. She died recently and new owner has stripped garden of all plants even trees and hedges 😥 I will pot up a couple to give to family in her memory. My garden seems to have associations with a lot of people. Yes I have a 'wild' rose taken from an ancestral home on side of a mountain. It seems indestructible. I think it will have to go this year.

Your Garden 2022

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