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Garden & Gardening Tips

Awhile back someone asked how I save my Dahlias from one year to the next. I have been very busy and forgot to post a reply.
For almost forty years I have followed the book and waited until they are hit by the first frost. If a frost is forecast but does not affect them, I leave them in. When they have been hit by a frost they will look all saggy and droopy. This is the time to cut off all the growth leaving about ten inches of stem/stalk. Dig them up after loosening the soil all around the plant. Without causing too much damage, wash all the soil away from the tubers with a hose pipe and store upside down in the greennhouse for a week. After a week any exess water will have drained out and you can now cut the stalks down to about three inches, cut off any damaged tubers with a sharp knife and wrap each set of roots/tubers in several thicknesses of newspaper with an open top, rather like a loose fitting bird nest. Alternatively, you can sit them on a bed of DRY compost in a deep seed tray or similar. Then sprinkle more dry compost around the tubers until they are 3/4 covered, making sure you get some compost into the spaces between the tubers. During the winter do not provide too much heat. They only need to be kept frost free, not warm. I check mine after about a month to make sure any damage has not started to rot the tubers. If I do find anything I cut it off with a sharp knife. You can also dust them with a yellow powder but I forget what it is called. In late Feb early April start to dampen them with tepid water and after awhile shoots start to emerge from around the stalk bases. When these shoots are about two inches long the clump of tubers should be cut into as many pieces as possible making sure each cut leaves you with one or two shoots on a whole or part tuber. I have in the past turnd one clump into ten new plants. These pieces should be potted up in three inch pots and when big enough transfered into four - five inch pots. Plant out in late May if you can protect them from late frost, otherwise plant out in early June. In recent years, because of climate chang it is possible to leave them in the ground in some areas. They will start to shoot then you should dig them up, cut them up and re-plant.
When I plant mine in the ground I first dig a hole about the same circumference as a bucket. I use pelleted fowl manure on my geggies and when a bucket is empty I cut the bottom off so I have a tube about eight inches long. I put this into the hole so the the top rim is standing about two inches proud of the soil. On a decent day in March, I half fill each bucket with compost and I trowel a handful of bone meal into it. When I plant the new plants I cover them so the soil in the bucket is two inches below the rim i/e the same level as the garden. This is because although I put four canes around each bucket, if a further one is needed, as long as you place it outside the bucket you will not damage the roots. Another bonus is when watering, this is required often in hot weather because dahlias do like water, I can give the plants a good drink and leave each one with a two inch puddle around it. This puddle can only soak downwards ensuring the plants get all they need.
If you choose to leave them in the ground, they should be covered with a couple of layers of heavy polythene and a large pot or bucket with soil or a brick on to stop it blowing away. When cutting them up, take a shoot with a small heel of tuber, dip it in rooting compound and plant into a three inch pot. It will have stunted growth but will be o/k. At the end of the summer it will only be a very small plant. Keep it frost free for the winter and it should start into growth again next year when you can take next years cuttings and put the year old plant into the ground whence it will mature like the original.
I hope this is useful to the person who asked.
 
HI Sticher, I alway used to store my dahlias like you descripe, however I saw Alan Titchmarch on TV saying that that as we dont get such cold
winters nowadays there is no need to go to all that trouble, and it is int it
he said to leave them in the ground and thats what I did this year or last
year rather. I cut open three old compost bags, laid them on top weighted
down with bricks, and they have come up.Percy Thrower always said if
you stored them they should be dusted with sulpha powder, is that what
you were thinking of? I love dahlias there so many shapes, colours and
sizes. I think the wet does more harm than frost, they dont like wet feet
do they. Bye for now, happy gardening Bernard67Arnold:cool:
 
Hi other half, is Birmingham not into this recycling lark then? we have got
three wheelie bins, a Black one for normal rubbish, aBlue one for cans and
bottles, and the all important Brown one garden waste, old plants, things
that will compost, also cardboard and shreeded paper we also have a big
blue bag for newspapers, the black one is collected on eweek, and the rest
on the second week, they collect as normal on bank holidays and binmen
get Christmas week off It seems to work pretty well. Quote; Time and Tide wait for no man! cheers now Bernard:cool:
 
Akf thank you for that link. It is only the one with varigated leaves and not the dark green one that gets ate. The one down the van has never had anything eat it but rarely flowers. The one at home that has holes all over the leaves throws up tall flowers. Can't win. Jean.
 
Norma, you little minx. There are several types of compost bin on the market and providing you don't purposely bash them about they will serve you for years. Do not put food scraps into it, it WILL cause a rat problem. All the green stuff from the garden can go in. If anything is a little thick bash it with a hammer to sort of splinter it a bit before adding it. I always add the used egg shells to my own compost. Shredded paper and torn up cardboard can go in. A useful additive is called GARROTA. This aids composting. After every six inches of green stuff add an inch layer of soil and a sprinkling of Garrota. The contents will need turning out and re- adding to the bin again. Never add any plant or foliage that has powdery mildew or any other disease.
Happy composting. Trevor.
 
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Norma & Wendy, I ommited to tell you to while the rubbish is composting in the bin it needs to be kept damp, not soaking wet so just check it every now and again. I put all our tea bags in mine as well. The little paper bag takes awhile to decompose but I only use my own compost to put beneath the garden surface when I am digging so it does not cause me a problem anyway.
Trevor.
 
Anyone know of a solution to the blighter in the Picture? I think it is called “Mares Tail” or “Horse Tail”. I have tried loads of commercial stuff but the bugger is back a few weeks later. It’s driving me nut’s!
 
Alf the first one [your link] looks like something we have in our garden it grows like a weed and has a beautiful purple flower. It fills gaps if you know what I mean. Don't know it's name but will ask my brother who gave me a load of it's seeds. Jean.
 
It's not like the one in the first link Alf, here is a couple of better pictures. This stuff grows like wildfire! I have tried various weed killers on it but it just wilts then springs back to life a few days later. Maybe its not mares tail or horses tail? If I could find out what it is then maybe I can find something to deal with it. I wish I could get all my plants to grow like this fellow!
 
Dave I googled Mares Tail and there is a load of information about your weed. Apparantly it should be treated with as much respect as Japanese Knot Weed, because of its ability to take root and grow. One thread I read also said that you should wear a mask when close to it because it gives off spores that can affect your breathing. I hope this is of some use to you. All the best with it
Trevor.
 
Many thanks Stitcher. So it is Mares Tail then. I will see if I can get my hands on some of that Glyphosate and give it a go. Thanks for the advice regarding wearing a mask also, I have been a bit out of breath of late, I put it down to all the exertion of pulling this bugger up! If the Glyphosate don’t work it’s going to have to be Dynamite!
 
Thanks for that fact sheet also, an interesting little critter isn't it! Googled it myself but I was not to sure if it was horsetail (marestail) or what. Thought I would get some help from the experts her first, many thanks again.
 
Hello Sticher, those plastic compost bins you were advising I got mine from Focas at £15.99, but just after when I got my water rates there was a leaflet in side and Severn Trent Water were selling water buts and the big compost bins at reduced prices, might be worth giving them a ring
cheers.Quote; An old gardener nevers dies, he just throws in the trowel!
Bernard
 
Hello again Bernard. I got two of mine the same way as you, I have four bins. When I had filled the first three, I emptied the first one and put it all into the fourth one. This mixed it all up and gave me a chance to remove anything that had not composted properly. By the time I have filled the first one again, the fourth one is ready for use. I empty it out and that bin becomes number one. Number three is then tipped out and mixed up as it is re- binned. I just keep mixing one and replacing it, as time goes by it is like a production line with the bin contents being moved along the line until used.
 
Leylandii Trees

I finally had to get one of my lovely Laylandii down, after 10 years:(

I got 5 plants about 10 years ago at a end of season sale 25p each

Reason it was blocking my Sky Signal well thats progress:crying:
 
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Hello Sticher, sounds as you trained at Longbridge? I think you have leave it at least a year to get that lovely crumerly home made compost, been
really hot today do you think summer come.
cheers, old gardeners never die, they just throw in the trowel
Bernard:cool:
 
Hello Bernard, yes it does take awhile to get it right but with four bins it is a bit easier. If I fill two bins in a year it is not long before those two are half empty. I then turn them out and re-fil bin No one to the brim then I have three empty again. This means that at the start of spring every year I have eighty litres ready to use.
 
Heard a good tip off Gardeners World Programme as regards tomato growing......
Get some Comfrey,put it in a bucket,cover with water,weigh it down with a brick,leave a week or two then use the liquid on your tomatos apparently they love it!!!!
 
Hello dennis, that is quite right. Comfrey is a great food/tonic for all normal plants. By normal I mean not eracacious. I used it for years because it was free apart for a bit of work. I always had a bucketful down the garden. I understood it was one measure of fermented comfrey to about twenty of water. I used to use it every other time I watered everything. Two problems, it smells dreadful when fermented but the smell goes away within a few minutes of putting it on the garden, the other problem is the plant is very invasive. It took me two seasons to get rid of all the roots from mine.
 
Hi Stitcher,
You are so right it is invasive, I have tried for years to get rid of it,
glad I did not manage it,i have tried it out some years ago but never until now on tomato's hopeI get a good crop
 
No Norma, I never put onions in mine. If you have a lot of leaves, put them in in batches so they are not all together. Same with Grass cuttings. It may all seem a bit like work in the begining but you will soon get into the habit of putting the garden rubbish where it is most useful.
 
Stitcher said:
Two problems, it smells dreadful when fermented but the smell goes away within a few minutes of putting it on the garden, the other problem is the plant is very invasive. It took me two seasons to get rid of all the roots from mine.
Click to expand...

Hi Stitcher

I've just drained my Comfrey press which I filled last year. I say 'Comfrey
press', but in reality a plastic bin from the pound shop, an upside down plate, and a crock urn filled with soil on top to squeeze the leaves. Oh, and an old keg tap I fitted at the bottom. I couldn't remember where I
had smelt that whiff before, then it hit me - a newly opened bag of
Miracle-Gro Multipurpose compost, - maybe they use it too, so it
should be good.

I've heard of various concentrations to be used, - mine looks like very strong tea, so I will probably use about 10 to 1.

The plants are endemic on the edge of my allotment, so I may as well
get something in return!!

Kind regards

Dave
 
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