Gardening journal

09/04/2017

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12/03/2017

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03/05/2015

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  2. Panorama video

18/04/2015

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30/03/2015

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15/03/2015

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12/06/2014

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16/05/2014

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27/04/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. These pics are:
    1. new basket for front balcony
    2. pumpkins and unknown (front right) added to old raised bed
    3. watercress waking up
    4. leeks and chillis added to old raised bed
    5. five rows of potatoes, two rows of lettuces, two spitzpaprika, three rows of tomato seedlings (some which were accidentally planted when compost added to soil)
    6. another turkish poppy
    7. new something grassy (was of height sought to fill a few gaps)
    8. new lupin
    9. physocarpus …
    10. … and its label
    11. unknown
    12. two more raspberries
    13. new balcony pots (including lemon cutting)
    14. lavender, basil and dill added to herb bed
    15. ferns pruned (as recently done at the beer garden)

29/03/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. These pics are:
    1. assembled and deployed pheremone-based appleworm traps
    2. raked the lawn of leaves and moss and scrubbed the patio flagstones
    3. deployed patio pots properly (left)
    4. deployed patio pots properly (right)
    5. dug compost into the vegetable plot and deployed polytunnel
    6. dug compost into raised bed #1
    7. weeded herb bed
    8. weeded area where wire fence had previously been
    9. planted nasturtiums in front of raised bed #2
    10. planted nasturtiums in front of trellis (up which is growing clematis, and behind which is compost heap #1)
    11. planted watercress
    12. took cutting from lemon
    13. transplanted olive to bigger pot, adding mix of compost and soil
    14. the Moroccan poppy, planted last year, has come back!
    15. roses? tree peony? something else?
    16. tree peony looks very healthy!
    17. hydrangea waking up
    18. forsythia in bloom
    19. grape #1 (in fruit bed) shows signs of life
    20. grape #2 (in pot) shows signs of life

23/03/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. These pics are:
    1. a small wire fence that was along ‘our’ side of the line between our garden and our neighbours’
    2. how that line looks now
    3. raised bed number #2 (finished last weekend)
    4. cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, chillis and basil (all to be sewn at this time of year) in propogator
    5. potted plants are returned to the patio in a sorry state
    6. blackcurrent (pulled up and put in a pot last week to make space for vine from danish friend Jens)
    7. small rhododendrons in bloom
    8. herbs waking up
    9. beech hedge waking up
    10. fake raspberry (?) and forsythia in bloom
    11. bulbtastic!

09/03/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Hoping to avoid the ant-farmed aphids on the blackcurrent, and seeking to make a space for one of two grapevines from friend Jens, we transplanted the blackcurrent to a pot and planted the grapevine in its place.
  3. We put the second grapevine in a pot, which may be trailed over the tiefgarage railings.

23/02/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Planted more primulas around the border.

16/02/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Pruned the blueberry (this is the right time of year)

12/01/2014

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Transplanted the hydrangea from the back plot to in front of the compost-heap-obscuring trellis.
  3. Planted primulas.
  4. Weather has been very mild; no snow since mid-December and only a day or two then.

17/10/2013

  1. Münchner Baumpflege to prune apple trees.

06/10/2013

  1. Tomato harvest finished; plants dug up and earth onto the compost heap
  2. Cucumber harvest also done
  3. Cut back dead leaves on the pumpkins. Three small pumpkins show signs of turning orange
  4. Cut back the raspberries
  5. General tidy

28-29/09/2013

  1. Alexis finished off the hedge trimming, started previous weekend, by cutting back the hedge behind the veg plot.
  2. Dug up the finished peas and beans. Beans were rather successful.

06/09/2013

  1. Bought a juicer!

15-16/06/2013

  1. Pics from today:
  2. On the patio, we repotted the bamboo and we add some soil to the ginger pot
  3. In the vegetable plot, we planted some Buschbonen and we transplanted the tomato seedlings and we planted spring onions from seed
  4. In the herb garden, we replotted the mint and we staked up the giant (edible!) horseradish leaves
  5. In the fruitbush bed, we pruned the blackcurrant
  6. Up against the shed, the watercress is going beserk (But in expectation of getting through quite a lot, once we have some cheddar, we’ve planted more!)
  7. In other places around the garden, we added an Albrecht Durer rose.
  8. We planted a clematis.
  9. We planed the delphinium, which is in bloom.
  10. We transplanted the cucumbers into the raised bed (this worked very well!) and planted five pumpkin seeds.
  11. We staked up the raspberries
  12. We also transferred the tomato seedlings to growbags
  13. There are a couple of things I/we can’t identify (turned out to be sunflowers)
  14. In the “butterfly meadow”, we added some more seeds
  15. In the end, it looked pretty good!

04/05/2013

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Next spring, remember there’s no point in clearing the beech leaves out of patio grate earlier than this; I recently emptied it but it is full again.
  3. As we are going on holiday at the end of this week, I wanted everything in the ground, rather than on the patio in tiny pots that dry out very quickly. The watercress seedlings and some new seeds were planted in a balcony pot and pot in the shade of the shed.
  4. Everything else was moved to the polytunnel.
  5. Cucumbers look healthy.

28/04/2013

  1. Pics from today:
  2. The cherry tomatoes have had two weeks of spending the daytime outside and the nighttime inside; they have stopped growing. Judith says this is normal.
  3. We spruced up the patio by scrubbing it with a new metalwire broom potting margarites, sunflowers and some rubbery plants with orange flowers.
  4. Last time we planted small things in the flowerbeds; this time medium things (peony, turkish poppy, hyacinth, “heavy metal” grass) and large things (forsythia, ???) and cut the “bracken” down to the ground, as we had seen done at the beergarden.
  5. To hide the compost (which is ridulously full after recent digging/planting), we put up a trellis and planted a clematis to grow up it. (We have a second clematis but don’t know where to plant it yet.)
  6. The azaleas in the front plot are covered in buds!
  7. Cucumbers and peas (grown from seed) and leeks and lettuce (grown from seedlings from the garden centre)

21/04/2013

  1. Pics from today:
  2. The tomatoes and coriander are a bit spindly.
  3. But the cucumbers are doing much better; we’ve hardened them off, erected the polytunnel and planted the cucumbers in it.
  4. Alexis dug out the second pointed bed, Suzie filled it with compost and planted “hebe” in it.
  5. The overlapping circles pattern starts to emerge.

14/04/2013

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Alexis dug out the first pointed bed, Anna and Suzie filled it with compost and planted transplanted lupins, a primula and some small unidentified plants from a balcony pot in it.
  3. Suzie and Anna planted three recently bought azaleas and one that had over-wintered in the guest room in the front plot.
  4. Alexis planted one recently bought azalea in the fruit plot
  5. Alexis planted sage and arranged patio pots.
  6. We need to remember where the daffodils are because they are a bit too sparse and we should plant some more later.
  7. Then we drank well earned radler (shandy) under the awning.

30/03/2013

  1. Pics from today:
  2. It’s still snowing!
  3. Finally did soil test.
  4. The was a woodpecker in the garden!
  5. Alexis erected the parking plot sign on recently creasoted posts

23/03/2013

  1. scattered one and half 1Kg boxes of grass seed and two boxes of lawn fertiliser
  2. staked the avacado

17/03/2013

  1. We measured the garden!

11/02/2013

  1. Bulbs are coming up!

14/10/2012

  1. Pics from today:
  2. As first frost is imminent, dug up horseradish, which had developed 5mm thick roots, but not produced any more horseradishes.
  3. Dug up the nearer half of the vegetable path and worked in the remaining compost from the compost heap we had started using.
  4. Replanted the horseradish and the sage and parsley from the other end of the vegetable path, in order to make a more convenient kitchen garden.
  5. Weeded the front border of mushrooms.
  6. While digging the vegetable patch, Alexis got bitten by one of the many small flies that live on the hedge and had the usual reaction:
  7. Suzie used some of the fallen apples for making chutney.

07/10/2012

  1. Radical hedge trimming!
  2. Suzie makes apple strudel from garden
  3. Apple harvest was not as good as last year; we discussed buying a juicer but probably less than 30 apples left on the trees.
  4. Brought olive and ginger in the for winter (night time temps just above threshold 5 degrees)
  5. Put a bottomless plastic bottle over the avocado that had by chance grown in the garden.

30/09/2012

  1. sprinked grass fertliser (supposed to last 3 months and we got enough for 100m2 so we just used a third of the packet)
  2. sprinkled more slug pellets
  3. planted a variety of bulbs along the back hedge and to the left of the shed (crocuses, dwarf tulips)
  4. rolled up irrigation hose (after leaving it out for a week for rain to wash it) and tied it up with cable ties
  5. inserted longer screws in shed door to keep bolt on

27/09/2012

  1. mowed lawn (it didn’t need it but we wanted to help it lift up as much as possible)

18/09/2012

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Tomato harvest appears over; saved some green ones to ripen in doors, then dug up the plants.
  3. Two decent green chillies and two small green peppers have grown.
  4. Sage is a big success.
  5. An avocado tree has grown, presumably from a stone in the compost.
  6. Planted winter pansies from Louise in a trough.
  7. The Daphne has died.
  8. New buds on the blackcurrant.
  9. The trailing rosemary is flowering.
  10. The basil has flowered; we considered cutting it back to get more leafy growth, but it was only a couple of leaves before it flowered, so it did not seem worth it.
  11. The daphne is dead; Judith suggested that we collect the seeds but we forgot.
  12. Removed the “holiday irrigation” hose (which had watered flower/veg/fruit plots during our absence).

03/09/2012

  1. Radishes are up already.
  2. The potted plants all doing well.

??/08/2012

  1. Scattered poppy seeds brought back from holiday (picked flower heads in the Czech republic).
  2. Dug in compost from the first compost heap.
  3. New seeds planted: radishes (in strips) and mairuebchen (?).
  4. Potted peppermint had sprouted so cut back to the ground.
  5. Raspberry harvest was very poor – a handful of fruit.
  6. Black and red currants both did well.
  7. Blueberry also produced fruit, but not bountiful.

??/07/2012

  1. Pea harvest amounted to 50peas.
  2. Dug up shallots, which had just rotted.
  3. Cucumbers never germinated.
  4. Broccoli only very small plants – no harvest.
  5. Chillies and peppers continue to grow slowly.
  6. Spring onions never came to anything.
  7. Made a second compost heap.
  8. Brought plants from near the u-bahn line to augment the Schmetterlingswiese.

21/06/2012

  1. Various scenes around the garden:

13/05/2012

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Dug up the patch at the front of the house. Removed the soil and replaced with blumenerde.
  3. Washed the stones from the front and replaced them. Big difference.
  4. In the front, planted: Azalea, two begonia and two small lupins.
  5. In a trough on the upper balcony, planted two fuschia
  6. Planted another trough for the back patio
  7. Moved the daphne, so not as far behind the acer.
  8. Lupin doing well following its move – one big flower stalk and more to come.

12/05/2012

  1. Pics from today:
  2. Went to Seebauer and bought plants for the front of the house and some more things for the back, two long trough pots with water reservoir.
    • Vexier nelke (lychnis coronaria)
    • Nacht viole (hesperis matronalis)
  3. At Seebauer, indentified the unknown bush as likely to be hibiscus
  4. Planted flowers in the back garden flower bed
  5. Planted tarragon plant in the herb garden
  6. Move the tall flowers with red blooms (cytisus boskoop ruby) from the back of the flower bed to the middle
  7. Put up the canes for the tomatos and for the peas and attached them with gardeners wire

10/05/2012

  1. Finalised the irrigation scheme – now extends round the whole garden, finishing with a loop in the veg patch
  2. Grass starting to look quite green
  3. Horseradish, shallots, peas, tomatoes all thriving
  4. Cucumbers visible, but being eaten.
  5. Ginger not showing up, basil (from seed) maybe.
  6. Spring onions coming, but very spindly. Broccoli similar.
  7. Chilli peppers and other peppers – very very slow growing, though still looking heathly
  8. Schmetterlingsweise coming up, as are nasturtiums from seed, sweet peas and sun flowers.
  9. Head got knocked off the one giant onion that had a flower head
  10. ginger beer batch #2: bottled half into 3 1.5l plastic bottles; put 2, 3 and 4 heaped teaspoons of sugar in bottles for fizz; added 500g sugar to remaining 4.5l in hope that yeast would alcohol-poison itself and be sweeter

09/05/2012

  1. Ginger beer batch #2: sieved into the other 10l bottle in preparation for bottling tomorrow; volume down to about 9l

01/05/2012

  1. Sprayed underside of blackcurrant leaves again with dilute clothes washing liquid
  2. Some leaves appearing on the unidentified bush; pruning hard on one side has not adversely affected it

28-30/04/2012

  1. Pictures from today:
  2. Very warm, sunny Saturday (30deg) and continuing warm spell
  3. Judith visting and advising
  4. Identified aphid damage on blackcurrants and later (29/4) sprayed underside of leaves with diluted clothes washing liquid. Not expected to spread to other bushes.
  5. Transplated best of the tomato plants to the growbags (x2) and stacked with twigs
  6. Tomatos must have side shoots removed as they grow to maintain strong plants (advise from Judith)
  7. Remainder of tomato plants moved to the back of the bed or composted (lots of leave damage from ants??)
  8. Removed the PT from the vegatable patch, noting that peas, shallots, chilis and horseradish very successful ’til now; broccoli, spring onions slow to come up
  9. Transplated herbs (rosemary – almost dead, parsley) to where the sage was.
  10. Ameisenkoerder placed at both ends of veg patch, on front step (moved daffs off step – serious ant infestation in kitchen and hall) and on patio
  11. Transplanted lupin to shade near pieris and moved one pieris.
  12. Fertilised the lawn
  13. Put canes for the peas
  14. Watercress to shade by hedge at end of veg patch
  15. Planted cucumbers
  16. Potted bamboo directly into larger pot
  17. Filled in dip in lawn between end of flower bed and vogelbeere
  18. Started to water the compost heap
  19. Noticed that one of the new hedges has not produce green leaves
  20. Apple trees in blossom, but not as much as next door
  21. Improved edging of the lawn for drainage
  22. Noted how well the pansies are doing in the troughs and that the primulas are also doing well, but a bit dwarfed
  23. Pruned the rose in the lawn and the heather dead stalks
  24. Bought and experimented with irrigation hose from Dehner (130euros!)
  25. Ginger beer batch #2: made using 10l water, twice as much ginger as recipe specified (1.4Kg for 10l), 1Kg sugar; chopped ginger and blended

07/04/2012

  1. Planted shallot bulbs (10-12cm apart, 0.5cm deep, plant after last frost, ready jun-sep)
  2. Planted Sprekelia bulbs in schmetterlingswiese
  3. Transplanted nasturtiums from propagator to flowerbed
  4. Transplanted spring onions (incl. the many not up yet; others all very small and thin) from propagator to PT
  5. Watered vegetable plot in PT

02/04/2012

  1. Made wermut tea and used it to water in PT, as a ant deterrent (wormwood, as recommended in Dehner)
  2. Pruned lavender – cut back dead wood
  3. Ginger beer batch #1: made using bierhefeflocken and kaltgaerhefe liquid (apparently not working? too cold? )
  4. Prepared shredded horseradish for with debreziner using handheld blender and vineger (white wine and rose) (very firey!)
  5. New house video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5CSP__2vJY (part 1) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2B0fFjuwqs (part 2)

01/04/2012

  1. planted kamille in schmetteringswiese
  2. planted out chili pepper and pepper seedlings into ground in PT
  3. planted horseradish in PT
  4. planted ginger in terracotta trough
  5. dug up two HV17 fruit bushes (blueberry, redcurrant) and dug in ericaceous compost (rhoddedendronerde)
  6. dug up pieris and dug in ericaceous compost
  7. planted marguerite and forget-me-not in flower beds
  8. filled in holes in lawn with earth
  9. noticed ants had eaten tomatoes in PT
  10. in pots on patio: bamboo, mint, bay, broom, lupins, olive tree, trailing rosemary (olive care info: water regularly, fertilize in growing period, prune long shoots regularly, bring in to protect from frost)
  11. tried to propagate peace lily seeds from house plant
  12. watered lawn every couple of days
  13. azalea on the small balcony (care info: frost hardy, dead head )

24/03/2012

  1. Dug plot in the shady part of the garden.
  2. Planted:
    • lily of the valley
    • pieris
    • daphne
    • two rows of peas
    • two rows (6plants) broccoli under the PT
  3. Put the remaining tomato seedlings under the PT
  4. watered things in PT
  5. Pruned sage (quite lightly) and rosemary back to the ground (Woody herbs should have been cut to the ground in Autumn)
  6. found that some chives had survived and grown since digging over the patch
  7. watered the lawn
  8. made garden video

23/03/2012

  1. Planted blackcurrant, hedge, raspberries
  2. watered the lawn
  3. watered things in PT

22/03/2012

  1. From Seebauer, purchased:
    • raspberry bushes (2 varieties),
    • blackcurrants,
    • 3 x lily of the valley,
    • 2 x pieris,
    • daphne,
    • another piece of hedge

    (by now, around 2 weeks of clear, sunny weather 3deg-20deg.)

21/03/2012

  1. transplated tomatoes, kirsch tomaten in bigger pots and put some in PT sunk in earth (seedlings straggly – should have planted later/planted out after shorter time)
  2. planted nasturiums and spring onions in propagator
  3. watered the lawn

17/03/2012

  1. dug flower bed
  2. planted new hedge
  3. planted gaensecress, primula other bedding plants
  4. planted vogelbeere (mountain ash)
  5. planted acer
  6. spiked the lawn
  7. watered the lawn
  8. planted basil seeds in pot
  9. about now, planted watercress in balcony pot in PT

10/03/2012

  1. planted balcony pots
  2. sowed schmetterlingsweise
  3. first half lawn spiking

03/03/2012

  1. planted tomatoes, green peppers, chilli peppers seeds in bio pots in propagator

26/02/2012

  1. dug vegetable plot, erected polytunnel
  2. partially pruned the unknown tree in garden (wrong time to prune, but an experiment)

06/08/2011

  1. After moving in the garden looked like this:

See also