In the Garden

[Contused]

<snip> BTW, is that an agapanthus in the blue pot? Mine seems to be late this year, plenty of leaves and a few tiny buds low down but hopefully it will be amazing in a week or two.

Yes, it's an agapanthus. My wife commented that it has thrived in a pot that constricts its roots, and pots are preferable to open soil. Here's a photograph she snapped last year…

Your fuchsia looks good too, and thanks for the hedge-trimmer tip. We've used secateurs up to now, which can take an awful lot of time.

 

[Northerner]

Can anyone recommend a hedge trimmer? I have a privet at the front and leylandii at the back. I'd prefer cordless because of the trickiness of trailing wires around. Not sure what stroke length and tooth size is appropriate - I've always just used shears in the past! 🙂

 

[trophywench]

One with a chainsaw attachment to fell the hateful CL.

 

[eggyg]

Yes, it's an agapanthus. My wife commented that it has thrived in a pot that constricts its roots, and pots are preferable to open soil. Here's a photograph she snapped last year…

Your fuchsia looks good too, and thanks for the hedge-trimmer tip. We've used secateurs up to now, which can take an awful lot of time.

Wow! That’s fantastic, we have had ours about three years and get about 4/5 flowers. Not sure we’ll get more than 2 this year. It’s been in the same pot.

 

[Ditto]

What is CL again?

I have the same Fuchsia grown at my daughters. I was going to take a saw to it come Autumn, it's taking over.

A young man and lady in visors came round selling broadband, they said "nice garden" I'm reet chuffed. Not finished tidying it yet neither. 🙂

That tree again. Somebody's got to know!

 

[grovesy]

What is CL again?

I have the same Fuchsia grown at my daughters. I was going to take a saw to it come Autumn, it's taking over.

A young man and lady in visors came round selling broadband, they said "nice garden" I'm reet chuffed. Not finished tidying it yet neither. 🙂

That tree again. Somebody's got to know!
View attachment 14636

If you are going to chop down but want it to regrow, I would wait to late spring.

 

[Contused]

Can anyone recommend a hedge trimmer? I have a privet at the front and leylandii at the back. I'd prefer cordless because of the trickiness of trailing wires around. Not sure what stroke length and tooth size is appropriate - I've always just used shears in the past! 🙂

We went for G-tech after buying some of their other cordless products. I can recommend their cordless hedge trimmer, which has quite an appreciable reach…

Cordless hedge trimmers

…which we use on our large pyracantha hedge at the side of the house and the smaller hedges in the front garden. There may possibly be some 'before & after' photographs tomorrow, if the weather permits.

 

[Ditto]

I don't want to lose stuff, I have a black thumb as it is so I think I'll start chopping bits off as I go along, nothing drastic. 🙂

So hungry yesterday trying to do this liquid diet thing so I chomped the lot when passing. Calories grown yourself don't count.

 

[SB2015]

The garden bumble bees are loving our escalonia

 

[trophywench]

Would that be Escalonia Pink Elle?

 

[SB2015]

Would that be Escalonia Pink Elle?

Well spotted.
It is just buzzing all the time.

 

[eggyg]

The veggies are coming on great. Just picked these today. Will use everything, except the courgettes, tonight. I have a thing about courgettes, as soon as they start touching the soil I have to pick them! Daughter number one will take them tomorrow. Tomatoes no where near, flowers on some. Shallots will be ready soon. Still got a couple of potato plants to go at too. Also got onions, red and white, already drying out and garlic. Lettuce has bolted, planted too many, as usual! Have had some use of it though. I love just going in the garden and picking the veg for that day’s meals.

 

[Ditto]

I'm dead impressed at the veggies. 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

Harvested my first apricots of the season yesterday.... the tree is trained against my south facing house wall and there are over 20 fruits on it this year. The fruits are at least twice the size of normal apricots and sweet and juicy but they don't keep very well and I can't eat more than a couple a week, so I am trying to pick just a few at a time without letting them become windfalls. Also harvesting courgettes and Swiss chard and sweet peas for my vases on a near daily basis and hopefully I will not need to buy any more cucumbers this summer as they are just starting to develop.

 

[brisr949]

I'm dead impressed at the veggies. 🙂

Me too x

 

[trophywench]

I'll never forget a good few years back travelling around France in our motorhome when for some of that time one daughter and her family were at a commercial fishing lake also on holiday, so we decided to visit, knowing there was plenty of room to park. The pegs they were on were in what Michel the owner calls the orchard, guess why

Anyway Grandma here was sitting shaded from the noonday sun under a handy tree, looking up at said tree I asked grandson if they'd been eating any of the the plums dangling off it? No he replied - mum says they aren't ripe yet so we shouldn't. So grandma said Do us a favour Tim and if you can reach, just pick me ONE please. Mission duly accomplished and handed to me, I squeezed it gently and took a small bite. Perfectly ripe greengages! - told him it was perfectly OK and gave the rest of that one to him to try and he passed the rest to his little sister. Having checked with their parents if we were allowed to scrump, we absolutely did, and also later used the Moho cooker to bake a greengage crumble!

'Prunes Reine Claude' - available at a French supermarket near you when in season, at the same approx price as normal yellow or red plums, though never seen in an English greengrocers since approx 1960!

 

[trophywench]

I like a fresh apricot too though ripe ones are hardly ever seen.

 

[Ditto]

I'd heard of greengages but never had one and wasn't sure what they were. Interesting. I hardly ever buy fruit now because it is always rock hard and nasty.

My sunflower. Agh.

 

[rebrascora]

I was gifted a greengage sapling a few years ago and it has fruit on it for the first time this year.... and a surprisingly large number for such a small sapling. Unfortunately it is seriously prone to some sort of aphid and I don't have the time to keep treating it, so I am not sure how sweet the fruit will be but they should stew for crumble, pie or fool. I have very fond memories of greengage pie at school and as you say, you just can't buy them in the shops so I am really looking forward to harvesting some of my own.
I was toying with digging it out due to the fact that it suffers so badly with fly strike and looks so unhealthy and I really don't have time to molly coddle plants and trees that don't thrive naturally but I am pretty gobsmacked at how much fruit has developed despite the foliage being so badly ravaged. I guess it has won a reprieve!

My apricot tree was a cheapy Lidl special about 7 years ago. Never dreamed it would fruit (especially this far north ourside) but it has produces a harvest for the past 5 years and I have never seen such huge apricots and unlike those you buy they are juicy. Wish I knew what variety it is as I would buy more. Doesn't suffer from pests, grows easily and produces early fruits. One of my very few gardening successes.

 

[rebrascora]

@Ditto I can't see what the problem is with your sunflower but guessing the stem may have got broken or bent over. If so, don't give up on it as that happened to mine about 10 days ago and it has recovered and is growing strongly now.