Weekend gubbins

A quick update this weekend as it has been a quiet one on gardening front. I cut back the buddleias with a saw I bought and I have put up some bird food now that the colder months are here. I buy from  my local supermarket and it is distributed by RSPB; birds seem to like it and I have already seen beak marks on it :) we used the same style back in the old house and I often saw robins, blue tits and other small birds have a got at it.

I also brought in the geraniums earlier in the week. I pruned them in early September and they have remained mostly healthy, I think only one of them might have died. I will keep them as they are over the winter and I might separate them into different pots come next spring. I have noticed they might come out with yet another bloom (also, note the cure little spider which I'm hoping will help me out with some little green squishy bugs that we all know), which surprised me. I was also surprised, and subsequently unimpressed, to find aphids on a couple of the plants! I put together a solution of water and weak washing up liquid and sprayed those pesky bugs. It took me several attempts but I think, and hope, I have got rid of most of them. I spotted one or two this morning that I promptly sprayed and have seen nothing since then.

I am also going to keep track of how the sun travels around the garden. I want to invest in a cold frame eventually, but I think I might need to put it against the garage, next to the trellis, instead of the house; although the house would let off more heat... I need to mull over that one.

 

Favourite gardening books

Over the last couple of years I have managed to amass and curate an array of books on the topic of gardening. There are some that I would like to get in the not to distant future and are currently in my basket on Amazon, but for now here is my gardening reference bookshelf.

The current set up is as follows. We have this little utility area with some cupboards etc. Most of our stuff is in the kitchen and we just keep bin bags, meds, light bulbs and the like. So, I thought I could use this space for my green fingered area. Boyfriend has a man cave, so this counter and the garage is my space!

 The first book is The Urban Wildlife Gardener written by Emma Brady. I picked this one up this along with the next book. It has loads of great ideas for making your outdoor space as wildlife friendly as possible. One of my future projects is making a mini pond in the spring, and I also like the bug hotel!

Cost-Effective Self-Sufficiency, by Eve & Terence McLaughlin. I purchased this book because I am interested in this way of life. I am fully aware that we can't keep chickens or have a small holding, I very much doubt we will be able to afford a house with that my land, ever. But I want to do it to a certain point within our means. The book is a reprint, and it does not have photos; what it does have is drawings and, get this, the print is in green ink. All of it. 

This little number came up on my Amazon recommended books. When we knew we were moving somewhere without a garden (with soil), I decided this might come in useful. Patio Produce, by Paul Peacock is smaller than I expected, but it has quite an extensive list of fruit and veg that will and can grow in pots, and it also lists specific varieties.

This was the first ever gardening book I bought. I got RHS's How To Garden on a whim when I was a lodger about 3 or 4 years ago, thinking I would maybe one day own a house and would have to learn to tend to it. I suppose it was on offer...! But it very handy if you know absolutely nothing about plants. It explains what everything and, having looked through it today, I had forgotten that it also lists plants that do well in specific conditions, so I will definitely spend my winter days peering into it for inspiration.

 I discovered Alys Fowler randomly on Youtube. I watch a couple of people who showcase their garden or allotments on a regular basis and I think one Alys came up on my "recommended videos" list. In one of my first blog posts I talk about the programme in question, a fan must have uploaded it to Youtube, and I am so glad they did. So far I own two books by Alys Fowler, but this one is my favourite. Garden Anywhere is great to feel inspired and motivated on your gardening journey. If I am totally honest, the last couple of weeks I have rather lax with my plants, I don't know why. I just didn't feel like gardening. However, I flicked through some of the pages in this book a couple of days ago and it got me excited again and I am excited to plan for next year. The book is very comprehensive and doesn't assume you know things, it also shows detailed photos of how to do certain things such as thinning. She was also, in part, my inspiration to literally, garden anywhere. I like collecting old buckets etc because I can fill the bottom with grit and I know it will almost certainly work - except for one.... more of that at a later ate.

I must admit I have not studied this book, but I am a sucker for old books. And if you pair old books with gardening... if you know me you know I needed this in my life. It was actually Katie over at Lavender & Leeks who photographed it on her blog, I sceptically looked for it on Amazon and was astounded to see someone was selling it. Gardening and Outdoor Work is a 1935 copy and part of the Household Reference Library array of books. At the time of writing this there is a copy for sale on Amazon!

New Beginnings - Update October 2015

Sorry about my silence in the past few weeks. We moved and then did't have internet until a couple of days ago. We're happy in our new house, and the job is going swell. Life is much less stressful, which is great for my well-being and my different interests.

Here are some shots of our back yard. Quite different from the garden we have come from, but I am excited. I managed to bring a selection of plants I wanted to keep, but I am not sure how I want to arrange them. I would like to have a couple of iron tables maybe, to have some height. I would also love a cold-frame to put against the wall under the kitchen window. We are renting the house and so we can't alter the layout to gain more space.

 I haven't decided what I want to do with the space or what I want to grow yet, I know I want to make it as wildlife-friendly as possible, grow some patio produce and also have some nice colour in the warmer months.

For now, though, I am just planning on cutting back that buddleia and investing in some stands to raise my pots so they don't crack over winter. We are, however, going to Tatton this weekend... I need to restrain myself, but sometimes you just can't resist!

The bins and boxes annoy me. The boxes I can keep in the garage, but I suppose I will need to leave the bins in that corner, much to my chagrin. 

I have taken up some space in the garage for my gardening storage. There is a window under which I have put my potting station; it also needs some organising, but we need to get rid of the empty cardboard boxes first!

 This trellis is sadly broken. I would love to grow sweet peas up here in the summer, I might empty it and simply put plastic pots in there as the new soil would only pour out of the holes.

We have a tiny bed, but I doubt I can do anything other than underplant it with shade loving plants. I will clear it out if no wildlife seek refuge here. The only "wild" life that likes to pootle around my yard are neighbourhood cats. One even sleeps in the far corner for most of the day. 

I have some smaller plants that I am considering bringing into the house over winter. The geraniums will also have to come in this weekend I think. However, I think I might have sowed the viola seeds too late as this is how they currently look... Hopefully I'll get some bloom over winter! They all come from seed I collected in the summer.

In the meantime, however, here are some snaps of colour to brighten the colder days.