The palm tree has landed!!
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Meconopsis Jimmy Bayne. This one is new to me, so wasnât 100% sure of the exact colour to be expected. Advertised as sky blueâŚwell the purple pink tinge looks great anyway. The soil ph and temps make a difference to colour. Apparently a particularly hard blue poppy to grow, but itâs going ok atm.
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Just an update ⌠the wormery is coming on fine. I can now get to their food as Iâve invested in a new brushcutter (electric). Those nettles donât half grow fast!
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Today visited the Kingâs Nursery at Montgomery.
Purchased a shopper truck load of mixed shrubs for 85 quid.
Pieris japonica âLittle Heathâ x 2
Cotinus Coggygria âRoyal Purpleâ
Kniphofia Flamenco
Liatris spicata âForistan Violetâ
Juncus Spiralis
Escallonia âGlowing Embersâ
Euphorbia âSilver Edgeâ
Rhododendron âWine & Rosesâ
To be planted out in the new plot as soon as the drystone walling is complete.
Not sure about the Rhododendron in this plot - may pot it for the while.
Probably need some ground cover to get along with.
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Great bargain Debs, Iâm off to the garden centre later today as we need some extra plants (actually we always need extra plants)! Hopefully I can snag a few bargains.
Happy planting,
Tim.
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Looking good, hope Mr Tux appreciates what you are doing for him.
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Looks great. Always nice having a blank canvas ready for planting.
You probably already know this, but watch the euphorbia. If you break the stems or roots, the white sap is pretty nasty. Definitely keep Mr. Tux away from it. I got some euphorbia sap on my hand once and after a few minutes my skin was irritated. Before I had chance to wash it, I accidentally touched my eye area. The next 24hrs was very uncomfortable. My eye throbbed progressively worse and worse and I thought I was going to have to go to hospital 
And Juncus Spiralis is a bog plant. It needs constant moisture to the point where if it was in a pot, youâd stand it in a tray of water.
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Mr Tux is merely a visiting grump who stays long enough to grumble about everything while scoffing down a few Dreamies.
However the boss cat around here is Disa the minx.
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Thanks for that, itâs a weird looking thing, probably not good to plant that out in the new plot, although the label doesnât warn - just says plant in full sun with moist soil, the soil is clay loam but undeveloped, recently double-dug it, but could really do with some additional organic matter. It dried out quick in the sun.
Itâs basically undisturbed ground since the house was built almost 40 years ago, iâve dug out load of bricks, broken roof tiles, bits of polystyrene, and will be picking up stones and small bits of concrete or brick for years to come⌠
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It will cope with full sun in the right conditions, but if that causes the soil to dry out it will not do well, so a shady spot would help. They also prefer acid soil, so digging in loads of organic matter with low pH will keep it happy. Better still, if you have a pond, plant it at the margin to keep it moist.
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I had one years ago and it is a lovely different looking plant. I had ideas for it in a bog area, but never got round to do it. It eventually withered away, as I left it in a pot with a tray of water that kept drying out and I didnât look after it.
There are ways to plant it in your raised bed, it just needs a bit of thought. You can place a 2ft dish 10â in the soil under it, so it retains water. This would work as long as one of your routines is to give it a water couple of times a week to top up the tray. Youâd only have to do it April-Oct. Another way is to put pond liner or pvc in one of the corners and make that a bog area. You can then have fun buying some fascinating bog plants.
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Trip round Sheringham Park this morning. Never seen so many foxgloves before, it must be a good year for them. The odd rhododendron still blooming and great views to the coast.
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Last year was a bumper year for foxgloves here, perhaps because of the sunny weather. This monster grew on rough ground in the bottom of our garden and almost made it to 3 metres tall.
This year is looking pretty good too, although less sunny. There must be loads of seeds from last year.
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I bought the Makita mini hand chain saw last year but havenât had the need to use it.
Today I had to clear away a lot of stuff in preparation for some building work.
Wow what a little marvel all that stuff that is just too much for the loppers is the bread and butter for the mini chain saw.
Highly recommended.
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Yes it is great. Iâm pretty sure I recommended it here at some point. I use it for loads of work and particularly good for climbing trees. I was cutting through 5â thick branches high up this spring. Only slight disappointment is that it mine leaks oil in storage. It seems ok if itâs kept vertical (battery at the bottom).
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It could very well have been your post then that prompted me to make the purchase. Thanks for the tip. As with all the Makita gear once you have made the investment in the batteries the bare units are reasonably priced.
Yes I noticed after use a small amount of oil at the bottom and was sure I screwed the oil cap on tight enough. Iâll it check again this morning
Iâve been wondering about one of these - do the chains need a lot of maintenance?
Perhaps the issue is that these battery powered saws need quite a lot of lubrication to operate smoothly as they have a tiny amount of power compared to a regular petrol powered chainsaw. Those Iâve used tend to use oil quickly and leak a bit. They are still great tools though - much safer and easier to use than petrol powered saws.
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Chainsaws need very regular sharpening regardless of how they are powered. Watch a pro at work and he will stop and sharpen them every few minutes throughout the day. Get into the habit of doing this and the saw will be easy to use. Buy a sharpening kit when you buy the saw and learn to use it.
