Tomato growbag frame

While I'm waiting for the last frost date to arrive I decided to get the framework ready for the outdoors tomatoes. Have treated myself to a decent quality growbag, and the trays are half-price (£4.99) at Homebase at the moment. Started by knocking together a frame out of decking to enclose the growbag.

Then made the frame out of timber off-cuts. I'm sure roofing lathes would do the same job. Very cheap too.

Added a few cross beams for extra strength, then cut holes for grow-pots and fixed canes to eyes with cable ties.

Pretty sturdy at the moment, but fully laden with fruit may collapse, so will lash it to a hanging basket frame screwed into the wall later in the year. The wall is south-west facing and releases a lot of day-time heat overnight. Tommies should love it. May need to protect from winds and heavy rain, but the frame should hold fleece or polythene well. Job done!

April showers

We've had a lot of rain in the past few weeks. Lots of heavy showers in the afternoons, and a heavy persistent load today. I never thought I'd be happy to see rain, but being a gardener puts a different perspective on things. There's actually not that much to do at the moment except sit back and watch things grow, and occassionally get some successional sowings of peas, beans and herbs in. So, most of the action this week has been indoors...

There is still the slight risk of frost, so have kept the potatoes under horticultural polythene on some evenings, just in case. The planter in the foreground has some parsnips in it, which I germinated on tissue in the kitchen to see if the seeds we still viable. I carefully planted them out and saw nothing for a few weeks. Thought the worst, but the seedlings have started to show. Parsnips are VERY slow, but worth it.

The greenhouse staging is creaking under the weight of the seedlings in gravel trays. Hope it doesn't collapse on me like the last lot did.

Vine is coming on well. Laterals have been tied in to sticks and will need pruning at 5 leaves, then sub-lateral off at 1 leaf. No sign of any fruit yet. Invested in some sticky fly-traps that have caught all sorts of bugs. Useful to know what's about to eat everything. Indicates when to take evasive action...

 Shallots, Chinese Cabage, Kale and Beetroot are all marching on...

 ...as are the Leeks. When these early crops are out of the way in a few weeks it will be the turn of Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Butternut Squashes.

 Marigold seedlings have gone outside to harden off.

 Finally, my experiment with shop-bought fruit seems to be working. Clementines, Lemons and Kiwi Fruit have all germinated. Yippee!!!

New flower bed under pergola

Had a few terracotta floor tiles left over, so decided to make a little flower bed under the pergola. Marked out distances and cut turf to marker.

 Removed turf and dug out some of the top soil...

 Laid tiles, refilled with top soil...

 Planted up with Delphiniums, Limnanthes, Nasturtiums and Rudbeckia. Have sown some Morning Glory in the greenhouse which will climb up the pergola later in the year.

Another job done!

Spring cleaning the pond

Another one of my Easter holiday jobs ticked off - cleaning out the pond. Removed old netting and plants.

 Removed gungy old water with a bucket, being careful to filter out all the wildlife. Gave the liner a good scrub and rinse.

 All 9 golfish survived the winter...

Tidied up plants and replaced them in better positions...

 As well as the goldfish, discovered 3 frogs (but no frog spawn, yet)...

 And 2 newts! There was also a large cockroach like larvae - I suspect it might be a dragonfly.

 Refilled and covered with new net from Aldi, cutting holes for plants to grow through.

Job done!

April round-up - Flowers

On the plant ladder the Witch Hazel and Wisteria (second row down) and in leaf, but the trailing geranium has been hit a little by the frost. Might take some cuttings as a back up in case she bites the dust.

 Lung-wort is in flower. The early bees enjoy this and it does well in the shade. Very reliable.

 Will get round to finishing the path on the Victorian garden this week, weather permitting.

 Wallflowers are starting to come into flower. Bought these in January. Very hardy fellas. Bees like them too.

 Rambling rose is coming on well. No sign of the dreaded green fly yet.

 Sweet peas sown in the autumn and overwintered in the greenhouse are very strong. Heuchera next to it seems to have been battered by the frost though.

 Foxgloves are doing well. Not sure about the little fella in the middle. Bought these from a car-boot sale at the end of last summer, so not sure what variety or colour they will be. I guess we'll soon find out!

Pond needs a good lean out. Hope to get this done this week. No signs of tadpoles yet, which is a bit disappointing.

 Marsh marigolds are doing much better this year.

 Bog-garden is actually very dry at the moment, so good that we're having some rain at last. Aubretia is in flower and lilies are doing well.

 Managed to get the trellis up behind the clematis a few months ago and paint a few fence panels.

 Should have a good show this year. I think this clematis is a Montana. Not sure which group it is in. Will probably need a bit of a prunes later in the year.

 First Anemone's planted last year are beginning to show.

 The flower seller on the local High Street was packing up and giving away boxes of daffodils. They were past their best, so chucked them on the compost heap.

 Next door's cat is doing a good job of keeping the Heron away. Keep it up Theo!

April round-up - Veg

First shoots of the Rooster spuds in the bulk planter have started to appear. I earthed them up afterwards to protect them from frost.

Have still been sowing seeds in pots in the greenhouse. This week I've sown: beetroot, Little Gem lettuce, Pak Choi, Red onion, spring onion, coriander, mange-tout and courgette. Plan to grow many of them on in planters outside.

Shallots are coming along nicely, as are celery and brassicas.

Chinese cabbage is doing well. Picked a few leaves to thin them out a bit. Quite an odd taste - will see what they're like in a stir-fry.

Beetroot are starting to come through. Also sowed a row of lettuce but only two germinated. Have replaced them with more beetroot. There's a thin line of spring onions at the end too.

First beefsteak tomato seems to be enjoying life in the grow-pot.

Rhubarb will need moving outside to give the leeks some room.

Peas are coming on well, and some signs that the Maris Piper spuds are about to break the surface. no sign of the early carrots though. Will give them a few more weeks then so again if they fail.

Next... flowers.

April round-up - Fruit

The other week I was looking through the older posts and realised there were some things I haven't posted about for a while. Also, I haven't done a general round-up for a few weeks, so with the bad weather (and the mother-of-all hangovers!) keeping me indoors I've got some time to catch up. Let's start with the fruit...

The grape-vine in the greenhouse is romping on. No sign of any fruit yet. Need to keep an eye out.

Raspberries seem to have benefited from a good manuring. Next year's fruiting stems have started to appear at the base of this year's already.

The Morello cherry is nearly in blossom. I think I should have planted it much closer to the fence and trained it as a fan. Probably too late to move it this year. Might have to leave it until next year.

Bramley blossom is starting to form...

...and the Elstart seems to be kicking into life too. Forgot to take piccies of the red and white vines on the pergola, but there's no sign of life on them yet. Hope they survived the winter. The fig is also slow to come into life, one or two new shoots, so some positive signs.
Have also planted lemon, Clementine and Kiwi Fruit seeds in my propagator in the house. Should be quite an exotic scene in the summer.