We have had a couple of days of reasonable weather. We did not waste the opportunity. We planted beans on their wigwams. We began with only thirty plants because we wanted to see if the hare would break into our garden. The following day we put in more. We still have thirty more plants to pole-up. Perhaps tomorrow. Then it was time to remove the netting from over the sugar snaps. That was a bit tedious carefully removing the tendrils from the netting. After getting that net off was the first thing, then we found some medium length twigs to insert in the ground in the pea bed. It is for them to climb-up and hold onto. Those peas are just beginning to bloom now. One of the best things to do with the good weather is to clean perennial plots. We did two. One of the plots had an ever advancing stand of Crocosmia lucifer. Into that knotted mass of bulbs had crept my old friends, ground elder and mares tail. The only way to address this was to remove the patch, or should I say, it’s contents. We have another patch in another part of the garden…so, all the bulbs were removed. In their place went some Pink Cosmea. That was a hellish job with a third constituent— red ants. Lovely. I managed getting a couple of welts and my Bride got only one, but between the fingers. We made them angry and there were hundreds running this way and that, some anxiously carrying eggs or larvae. There was another patch of mature ground elder feeling very smug in-between the Nepeta and Persicaria. These were planted to the right and left of the Wisteria. The ground elder was obscuring my beauties and choking them out actually. It looks much better now, but it will take time for the stems to stiffen up a bit. They had become dependent upon the ground elder for support. That Wisteria is coming right along. Last year’s massive display was frozen to death before the buds could even open, but this year it is over-producing. The Weigelia is a nice accent. Of course not all is peaches and cream at the lottie— I have mentioned cutworms in the greenhouse. In total, five plants were destroyed. Look at these hufters: As Jane so correctly suggested, toiletry cuffs were added. There are more toms to plant; however, we are carefully waiting to see if other worms will come before planting the rest. Taking full advantage of the weather, we planted five rows of parsnip. We still have broc’s and courgettes at home. The last thing we planted right before going home was a mini cucumber. I will end this report with a pic of our dwarf Rhodi: ……no, like the biblical lady, I just had to look back at the sitting area one more time—
@Sjoerd I did that tepee style last year with the pole beans. This year doing bush variety. Your flower garden looks beautiful.
Sjoerd Great tour of your amazing garden. All the flowers filled in nicely with the veggie section of the garden. You are talented with growing vegetables and flowers showing in all your pics is a pretty amazing sight.
Hiya Clay— good luck with your beans. I grow the climbing beans so I do not have to bend or squat. Haha. I am a lazy gardener. Gôh Pac— thanks. It is so nice that you like my garden. Of course it is important that I like my own garden, but when another has nice things to say, it is a great bonus.
What a beautiful and peaceful piece of paradise you have there Sjoerd and Sjoerd's Bride. So gorgeous. You tugged at my wisteria heart strings. That is a space that is good for the soul.
Ta Mel— we agree with you. It was really nice of you to say those nice things. It is a cool and private place during the summer. The piccy above was taken from the main path, so you can see that passers-by cannot see us sitting and relaxing when they are passing by. Why, if they saw us, they might think we were malingering instead of working. Thank you Netty. I am glad you like the looks of the sitting area. That is a wonderful compliment.
Sjoerd I was wondering if you could inoculate the garden area with milkyspore to eliminate those pesky grubs. I have done many areas in my garden it really works and it’s not harmful to pets, kids . https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/pesticides/what-is-milky-spore.htm
Sjoerd not sure if you use natural methods or predators to control pesky insects. Milkyspore has been around for decades it only works on the Japanese beetles. There is also another way to control grubs it comes in a fine dried mix that is mixed with water and contains good nematodes that help prevent grubs when sprayed around the garden . I use a lot of natural beneficial insects and some are predators to only bad insects. I also use a predatory dry mix spray mixed with water that is a natural predator to horse flies. They leg eggs in horse dong and when hatched the larvae eats the fly eggs. During the summer this is especially helpful for the horses. Also even special snails that don’t eat plants can be purchased that eat the eggs of those other nasty slugs that eat our plants. Very helpful especially in this rainy climate.
My pest control is usually manual or nothing. I like to try and prevent pest infestation. It is a lot of extra work but I do not use chemicals except for soapy water. It is cool that you think with me on this. In the fall, the parents of this larva are all over.
Sjoerd For sure…I am on the same page … to many animals kids and peoples around here. Even for a known poison - tansey ragwort - a killer of pasture animals cattle -horses ..I import a special larvae that eats the tansy down faster than the pasture weed machines.
