Recent content by Oliver Buckle

Box blight and moth have both been affecting British box bushes lately, I don't know much about the fungal blight. The moth caterpillars pull the leaves together and make 'nests' for themselves, so probably not that. It looks fairly light there, probably not that My box bushes can take fairly...

The rain from my back roof used to drain directly into the drain and from there into the septic tank in next doors garden, we are at the end of a down hill cul-de-sac and just too low for the main sewer. There was a diverter that fed some of it into two 200 liter butts, but they wouldn't always...

I was reading recently that the environmental transportation costs of imported out of season Spanish tomatoes are considerably smaller than those of heating English greenhouses.

On word of warning, not literally. Back in the 70's my hippie friends would go on about how wonderful it was to be natural and eat beans and carrots as they picked or pulled them, they all got worms.

Do you also do smiling?

You got better germination than me. I tried it a few years back and got nothing, so I am not experienced, but Google says between eight and twelve inches apart

Sow March to Sep. Flowers May to Oct. So it takes about four weeks for them to get to flower, Those sown in March will flower in May. Missed that but it is nearly July so the should come into flower at the end of July, nearly August. Sow a few regularly every week and you will have flowers...

Those little engines go on and on. There is no huge strain on them, my mowers usually go when the plate the engine is mounted on finally rots through. I never do get round to cleaning out the bottom every time I use it, and I always mean to paint it with something heavy duty before I use it, but...

How is your slug control? They love 'em. I usually sit down to this in the morning, so it's what i did yesterday. Night before last we had a sudden downpour, so yesterday I didn't worry about the watering can, put the hose on the tap of the water butt and gave the greenhouse a proper all round...

My missus was like "He's got grass growing in his lawn? He's having a laugh" In case you didn't get the 'keep mowing' reference, https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/know-any-gardening-jokes.25678/

Not super clear, but it looks like meadow grass to me. Keep mowing.

The way him who 'does' down the road every Wednesday has a fire and smokes the place out if the wind is in the wrong direction I must have plenty in my soil already. Mind you he is more careful since the day the missus had sheets out on the washing line, she is a force to reckoned with. :)

Wise, it probably isn't worth it, I just thought I would give it a try. There is now a tray sitting outside the North end of my greenhouse. I couldn't find any gravel instantly, but I have used small bits of terracotta from burnt clay on the surface.

I am finding this all slightly confusing, I think it might be a case of "Two countries separated by the same language". In agricultural terms , to me a farmer who runs a harrow over a ploughed field, breaking up the larger clods ready for planting, is tilling the soil. On the other hand one who...

Carried water, watered, watered greenhouses, picked broccoli mange tout and courgette (guess what we are having for dinner). Tied up tomatoes, planted out last two tomatoes in pots. When I dug the hole the ground was really dry a full spit down, so carried a couple more cans of water for them...