Thyme To Garden - March 2019

[ABSpareEditor]

Last month's thread is here.

With a new season just around the corner, what are you doing to get your garden prepared for spring?

[TonyV]

I maybe able to upload monthly gardening tips for month ahead if anyone's interested?

[spathiphyllum]

I'd be interested Tony

[Maydup]

Yes, I'd be interested too Tony.

With this lovely weather I feel all set to go, unlike last year when it was bitterly cold and snow on the ground.

Its just a waiting game now before I can start planting, the potatoes are chitting in the shed and a seed buying session is planned for later this week.

[woofgang]

Nothing yet. I keep a wild garden and won't be tidying and pruning until it really warms up and anything hibernating has a chance to get warmed up and moving. There is also the thing that most of the garden is a bog and will need to dry out. My cherry plum has been full of bees so assuming I can keep the bloom there should be a good crop this year The daffodils are full of buds and the other blossom trees are starting to look really exciting. Sadly my mimosa is over for this year but the camellias are starting to look impressive which is amazing considering the dry summer we had. More importantly the weeds are starting to show which means by the time the tortoises can leave my spare room to be outside, there should be plenty of natural food for them. Plan this year is for much repotting of year end bargain fruit trees and grape vines into 30l tubs. I was going to do it last year when they were delivered but had nice workman here most of the summer which meant I had to supervise the dogs a lot and much of the garden was out of bounds while he built me a new shed and stripped out two bathrooms.

[Old_Geezer]

Planning on putting some raised beds together and seeing if I can do better growing veg in them than I've achieved previous years.

[melv16]

I've started chitting my first earlies. Bought onion and shallot sets. Put old water tubs over the rhubarb and I'm going to buy a bigger poly tunnel.

[Old_Geezer]

Ok, a question. I've had some raised bed kits delivered. Both types are wooden, and both had some bright green, I assume fungal or mildew, staining. Not exactly impressed about that.

Is this harmless to any plants I might choose to grow in the bed, or do I need to treat the wood somehow first ? The more expensive ones were meant to be already treated.

(Wet and miserable today so just slotted the bits together and left them on the patio. I will nail the top bits one has supplied, when the weather's better. Difficult to be enthusiastic about much when the day's this grey.)

[Chipchopper]

just a wild guess OG, but could the green spots be from the tanalised wood treatment ?

[Old_Geezer]

Wouldn't any treatment be regular across the surface ?
This is in blotches and spots. Very clear near knots.

[Chipchopper]

That would seem to back up to what I was thinking. the preservative may have congealed around the knots, where there is a higher volume of natural resin and therefore has not penetrated evenly across the whole surface area.
Hope you get some favorable weather to finish the job.

[Old_Geezer]

Ah, ok. Maybe I won't take them apart and bleach everything then.

Braved the wind yesterday when the rain had stopped for a bit, and nailed the top bits on. Nothing split !

But the already slotted in side bits when received must have a small issue. Won't be major but one end of it wasn't down fully so I hit it with a hammer, and the other end sprung up. Think that side piece must be bowed down in the middle.

Looks ok. Roughly in their final locations. Will fill them later this month

[Tilly2]

Isn't it lovely when plants you thought were dead and gone suddenly spring back to life? For example, last year, I bought an expensive but very beautiful Japanese Acer which had pride of place on my patio.
By September it was just a dried up stem with a few branches sticking out at the sides. Suddenly, in the last week, it has sprouted new leaves and is beginning to look as beautiful as it was when I bought it. I love Spring.

[Tilly2]

...and my dried up Jasmine seems to be doing well, too. :-)

[Old_Geezer]

Sure is. Planted a few bulbs last year. No sign yet but hoping something will sprout in the summer.