Gardening Page 2

Quote: zooo @ 29th April 2023, 6:55 PM

I hesitate to ask if it's... a humane trap...?

Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

Doesn't really matter, does it?

...as long as he eats what he kills.

I await the squirrel stew I'm sure he has planned. :D

Quote: zooo @ 29th April 2023, 7:40 PM

I await the squirrel stew I'm sure he has planned. :D

In case he needs a recipe:

https://honest-food.net/squirrel-stew-recipe-paprika/

Quote: zooo @ 29th April 2023, 6:55 PM

I hesitate to ask if it's... a humane trap...?

Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

Very much so.
It's a wire cage contraption with a series of 'one-way' flaps.
You leave it with the flaps fixed open for a couple of days to establish a pattern and, ideally, what the best bait is.
Then you let the flaps down and pray.
Turns out Aldi Garlic & Herb crackers are the thing.
And I don't blame him - they're tip-top.
Once captured it's off to the woods with him.

Quote: Lazzard @ 30th April 2023, 10:08 AM

Very much so.
It's a wire cage contraption with a series of 'one-way' flaps.
You leave it with the flaps fixed open for a couple of days to establish a pattern and, ideally, what the best bait is.
Then you let the flaps down and pray.
Turns out Aldi Garlic & Herb crackers are the thing.
And I don't blame him - they're tip-top.
Once captured it's off to the woods with him.

Aww, yay!
I quite fancy some of those crackers myself.

Quote: Lazzard @ 30th April 2023, 10:08 AM

Very much so.
It's a wire cage contraption with a series of 'one-way' flaps.
You leave it with the flaps fixed open for a couple of days to establish a pattern and, ideally, what the best bait is.
Then you let the flaps down and pray.
Turns out Aldi Garlic & Herb crackers are the thing.
And I don't blame him - they're tip-top.
Once captured it's off to the woods with him.

"Disposed" of a number of the pesky varmints to the woods this way - I got totally fed up with them taking the peanuts and burying them in the "lawn", so I had little holes all over the place.

Was recommended, and worked for me, was chocolate choc drops as a bait, which worked well with mice in the smaller trap too.

I expect they are all having a jolly now around the old cemetery where the woods are.

Very disappointed with my Wild Primroses this year, and I don't know why they have put on such a miserable show. Plants look healthy (apart from an early attack of slugs) and they are fed once a year + regular watering, but very little of those lovely little lemony yellow flowers that I love so much.

Mine too - both wild and cultivated.
Plenty of leaf - but not so many flowers - and all tucked well into the rosette of leaves.
It was a funny April this year - very cold & wet earltyon.

Quote: zooo @ 7th April 2023, 12:46 PM

I love moss. If I could have a garden full of moss I'd be happy.

.

You do love the IT Crowd.

Quote: Lazzard @ 11th May 2023, 5:55 PM

Mine too - both wild and cultivated.
Plenty of leaf - but not so many flowers - and all tucked well into the rosette of leaves.
It was a funny April this year - very cold & wet earltyon.

Well that's a relief it's not just mine - it's weird though as normally in the early spring they put on such a lovely display

Quote: zooo @ 7th April 2023, 12:46 PM

I love moss. If I could have a garden full of moss I'd be happy.

Moss lawns are the way to go, they don't need cutting or much maintenance. The problem I've got is grass keeps growing around it.

My azaleas have been in full bloom for a couple of weeks now but in a forgotten corner, is my peony bush/plant
It sits there all year doing nothing but being plain green.
Then it transforms that corner into glorious ruby red blooms. They are delicate things and any wind or rain makes them shed.
This photo is pre-tidying-up the corner. A 2nd will appear here when it fully flowers.

peony
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 13th May 2023, 10:31 AM

My azaleas have been in full bloom for a couple of weeks now

Ericaceous (lime haters - unlike peonies) - you are doing well, or have exactly the right soil, unless in a tub of course

To be honest, you can try your luck with azaleas (and rhodi's) - especially the more vigorous, less fancy ones ,on a lot more soils than they reckon.
As long as you're not on pure chalk you've a good chance of them establishing.
They do well here on our Herefordshire Clay.

Hmmmm, but not so sure abundance of flowers if they are struggling.

I would say if you're not sure and want the best, then put them in a tub with ericaceous compost and feed iron - either sequestered or sulphate of.