Garden Books

Having gone a little nuts recently and over excited about having my own garden AT LAST, Ive spent some money we didn't have and bought some rather gorgeous books.
They really are beautiful.


RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening (RHS) (Hardcover)
Hardcover: 760 pages
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd; 3rd Rev Ed edition (5 Sep 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1405322276
ISBN-13: 978-1405322270
Got this as it was recommended as one of THE resources for the gardener, and those who suggested it were not wrong. Truly, awesome. Maybe THE ultimate garden reference book?


RHS Gardening Through the Year (Rhs) (Hardcover)
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd (3 Feb 2005)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1405308923
ISBN-13: 978-1405308922
Really is great for those if us who need reminding of what needs doing each month. Really lovely book.


Clematis for Small Spaces: 150 High-performance Plants for Patios, Decks, Balconies and Borders (Hardcover)
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Timber Press (15 Jan 2008)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0881928518
ISBN-13: 978-0881928518
As these are a love of mine, its only seemed right to get this :-)

Garden Book

"Reader's Digest" New Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants and Flowers (Hardcover)

Hardcover: 864 pages
Publisher: Reader's Digest; 4th Revised edition edition (31 May 1997)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0276421914
ISBN-13: 978-0276421914

Got this as a wedding gift. What a Cracking book.
WELL worth the effort to get, and right up there with the RHS books.

New Plants

Got hold of Four lovely clematis....

Henryi

Inspiration.

Niobe

The President


Now to get some trellis sorted out and get them planted.
With the garden so heavily shaded, its going to be a bit of an experiment.
The House is timber framed, so not sure how to go about fixing the trellis yet.

Bird feeder

Added a bird feeder to the balcony.
Looks nice and has started to be effective with the blue tits.
Should be nice as we can watch it right from the living room window, and behind the house is a good natural area with mature trees and a stream leading down to the river. At night you can hear owls, and by day theres a lot of birdlife.
We shall see...

New Garden

Well, the house move is done, and so is the wedding. (although we're still climbing over boxes indoors.)

I was lucky enough that the house I grew up in had a fantastic garden and my dad was always out there when he wasn't away at sea, so I had a childhood of helping out with various things. Now I have my own to play with.

My good lady wife has a love of roses so I've potted up a whole bunch on the balcony, including a climber which should all start to look good next year and just get better. Hannah has also planted up about 10 small pots with various bulbs for the spring, so there should be a riot of color then. We also planted up 3 rhododendrons.

I have a love of Clematis, so they are on my list to plant on the lower garden and climb all over the place. This is handy, as the garden is small, and growing vertical plants should avoid it looking crowded whilst giving maximum numbers and space. The plot is also north facing, so clematis and roses are ideal as they apparently grow as well in shade as full sun.

The lawn has been a nightmare so far. After being guilt, the time lapse of us moving in, and then the gap of the last 2 months with us getting married, the lawn had gone crazy. Unfortunately, because its north facing, and very shaded behind the house and large fence, it became very high, but very 'stringy', with about 3 inches of thick moss in the under layers.

There was no way I could use a mower, so had to attack it with a petrol strimmer. Its taken 4 goes so far, and left me with 10 bags of grass cuttings and a sore back. Because of the height it got to and the inferior turf they built it with, after cutting it, there are many patches that look like a bad comb over, with muddy areas having just the remnants of the long stringy grass left or mossy bits.

Ill have to just keep using the mower now and hope it recovers. Not sure if its even worth reseeding as its so shaded. Maybe Ill dig up some areas for veggies (Hannah likes the idea). Hannah also wants to grow sweet peas, so Ill be building a cold frame soon no doubt.....

I also have plans to install a wormery. I have seen many online, but have been told that the bucket or bin types are not as good as there is not really enough air flow.

I'm now looking into the tray types.

I have found one that has very good reviews. Unfortunately its £70. The thing is, whilst this seems a lot, it should pay for itself in terms of the the waste it degrades, liquid feed it produces, and the fantastic supply of fresh worms it will supply for fishing! All good then - I just have to convince Hannah.

To Start

Well, Ive decided to write another blog, for all the non fishing life stuff.


This month, Hannah and I moved house and got married. The day was fab. :-)

Just for interest...
For wedding favours, we wanted something different and more fitting than sugared almonds, so being a traditional English country wedding, my best man was tasked with finding acorns, which his wife spotted and gathered, and he spent a year growing about 60 little oak trees. It was touch and go, but his green fingers brought them all on and they were brilliant. Each having its own little terracotta pot and handmade label. Here they are just before being shipped out to the venue.


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Older posts below here have been brought over from my fishing blog. Just did some tidying.

House Move

If you can avoid it, DONT move house. I just have and it was a nightmare. Still is.

However, having now bought our first little house, we now have a small garden, so at least we can sit outside, unlike the flat we just gave up.
Plus, its very peaceful - we now don't have the dozen screaming kids outside the front window all day every day with wet ineffectual parents looking on and doing SOD ALL as their chaotic offspring throw stones and have screaming competitions (no...really, I mean it, Ive heard them discussing volume over pitch).

So we are now in cardboard box chaos. Cant move and all my fishing gear is piled into a cupboard in the house (I no longer have my garage).
Hence the next fishing trip may not be for a while, but hopefully not too long !

Stormtrooper

Is it just me and the missis (who suddenly pointed this out as we drove along, and she ISN'T a Starwars fan), but doesn't the back end of this Renault Megane look JUST like a stormtroopers helmet ?


:-)

Im looking out for Darth Vaders 4x4 now.....

Tank Update

Added some more fish....

x5 Ember Tetras - small pale red fish, that become very red and striking as they settle in a new tank. Very active.


x5 Neon Tatras - because the missis loves the striking blue and red colors. Also very active.


x4 'Endlers' - A rather special male Guppy. Specially bred for thier stunning fluoro colors.


Pair of Opal Dwarf Cichlids. Very charismatic little creatures.



All x10 tetras like to shoal up together and dominate the mid to lower portion of the tank, with occasional mass-hiding round the back of the plants and heater, making it look like they've all escaped.

The minnows have taken to the very top of the water (feeling shoved out by all the tetras?).

Tank

I recently gave into my craving for another fish tank.
I used to have several, with all sorts of tropical fish, and a lobster (yes, I did say lobster, he was called Colin:-)
I havent had one for many years because of moving about and spending my time on bikes and in college, but being more settled now, and finding a tiny space to squeeze a little one in, I got myself a small 28 litre tank. I just thought Id share a couple pics of the White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Corydoras Catfish that are the current residents to date, (although its hard to see the Minnows in the pic).