The problem of Slugs and Snails

Slugs and Snails are the one of the biggest problems in the garden whether in the flower border or the veg plot. So here I will give 5 ways to get back at them and stop them eating your plants!

But a word of warning don’t pick them up and throw them as far as you can, as A, it’s not nice on who’s garden where they land, and B, they are territorial animals so they will come back to your garden.

So here’s my top 5 ways to keep them at bay organically :-

Plant with coffee grounds1. Coffee Grounds – Yes don’t throw your coffee grounds out or in the compost put them around the plants that get eaten the slugs and snails, they will not cross the grounds and the grounds will also fertilize your plant too.

2. Egg Shells – wash and dry your shells then break them up into 5-10mm peces and put them around your plant in a wide (2-3cm) band to stop slugs and snails getting to your plants and like the coffee grounds it will also fertilize your plants as it breaks down.

3. Cucumber and Aluminum – Cut up aluminum cans, and put a slices of cucumber on them and put in the garden. The cucumber will react with the aluminum to give off a gas, undetectable to humans, but will drive slugs and snails away!

4. Copper Wire – Wrap copper around pots to stop slugs and snails climbing into pots, the copper reacts with there slime and gives them a little electric shock.

5. Beer Pubs – Put small shallow saucer and put beer or grape juice, they will go to the beer and become bird food or you can pick them up and take them far far away!

There other ways of getting rid of them like standing on them (you find them best first thing in the morning and last thing at night) but this is my top 5, please let me know if you have any ways you find good here

Take Care

Fred

Posted in Flower Border, Pest Control, Veg Plot | 1 Comment

Things to do for end of may in the veg plot

With the weather better now (but not at it best) and things growing away, things need to be kept on top of, so here some of the things I will be doing over the next couple of days.

OnionsWeeding – I know I don’t like this one too, but for the veg to grow fast and big, weeds must go! Also they take water and nutrients away from our veg.

Potatoes

Potatoes – Time to start banking them up with all this rain they are growing fast so this is a must (although I’m doing mine with grass cuttings).

2013-05-30 11.26.35Peas and Beans – If you not done it runner beans need to go out if you started them in doors or plant the seed straight into the soil as well peas too! French beans to can be planted as it is now warm enough for them in the south of england. And don’t forget to keep the Broad beans supported.

Other plants – This week end I will be planting out my Pumpkins out as well (all of this family of plants marrows/courgettes can go out). Plant out sweetcorn too. Keep sowing Carrots, Radishes, Spring Onions, Peas and Lettuce for a succession of crops for the Kitchen.2013-05-30 11.25.40

And keep picking the Rhubarb for a great crop

Take Care

Fred

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New updates to Portfolio

New pics have gone up in our Portfolio pages feel free to have a look, there will be more going up soon so keep checking.

Take Care

Fred

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Sweet Potatoes – Start

I have been thinking about growing Sweet potatoes for some time, so with the weather slowly getting better I thought I give it a go.Sweet pots Start

So after reading a lot about this, this is the best way to go:-

First buy an organic Sweet potatoes (non-organic sweet potatoes have been treated with growth retardants) and cut in half and put into a dish with an inch of water. This will start to grow “slips” which is what we need to grow new Sweet pots.

So as they grow I’ll do the next post and do the next step.

Fred

 

 

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New site

Hi and welcome to the new site, we will be puting up new posts about your garden and what you can be doing in the coming weekend, as well things were upto and what we are trying out.

So please join in the chat and let us know what you think.

Take care

Fred

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New to Veg – Step 1

We looked at the three main types in my “New to Veg – Where to Start” post and as we seen there is three main ways you can grow your own veg, you can do one or all three if you like. But I will be going through each of them, so if you have a big garden and have lots of space or just a balcony with very little we all can grow some veg for our table.

 

Step 1

 
In the first place you need to choose what you want to grow, but that also depends on what you like to eat! There is no point in growing Tomatoes if you don’t like them. So in Step 1 we will look at each of the three main types in what you can grow in that way.

 

A Veg Plot

 

As this is the biggest of the three as it’s completely devoted to vegetables it just depends on size, but you can grow almost anything as long as you have the space.

 

In your Flower Garden

 

Within your flower beds you can grow many vegetables some you can hide in between other plants, with some like Beetroot with it’s Red leaves you can make a real striking statement with! But you can again almost grow anything with your flowers.

 

Pots, Bags and Hanging Baskets

 

With Pots you can grow all wonder of things from Tomatoes to Potatoes even root crops like Carrots, as well Beans and Peas. And with them in pots if you have a greenhouse you can start them off inside and bring them outside when it get hotter so you can get earlier crops, or at the end of summer sow them out side and move them into the greenhouse to get a late crop (I will tell you later in the year about how to have fresh New Potatoes with your Xmas dinner).

 

Grow bags are also good for Peppers, Beans as well as Tomatoes. But wait have you seen you can now grow your Tomatoes in hanging baskets now too! with a new variety that hang down over the sides.

 

And as we we all love Strawberry’s and so do the slugs, try growing them up out of the way in a hanging basket too, so you can have fresh Strawberry’s with out the slug bite. And like the pots you can take the basket in to your greenhouse for an early crop.

 

So as you start to think about what you would like to grow have a look at our Garden shop for inspiration in what to grow. And look out for Step 2. And don’t forget to ask questions if you need to.

  

take care

  

fred

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Mid-Jan in the Flower Garden

It’s Mid-January and its warmed up a little so it’s time to get some of those many jobs that need do in the garden as spring is coming,and its not long away now!

 

So what needs doing…

 

General Jobs

  

One of the top jobs,if not already done is to clear all leaves and other rubbish from around the garden,

 

With the warmer weather we get rain so don’t forget to set up protection for alpines from the wet weather as they can be damaged or die off if they get too wet.

  

Annuals

  

On wet days clean out the Green house so that is ready to start to grow the summer bedding as it almost time to start sowing those seeds. But don’t forget to buy them from our Garden shop here at The 5th Room.

  

Perennials

  

Time to finnish off cut down last years growth and clean out leaves from autumn, but time is runing out to lift and divide plants that have got to big.

  

Trees & Shrubs

  

Finish cutting back trees and shrubs in the garden when the weather is frost free. But remember that shrubs like dogwoods (cornus) that are used for winter colour can be left until March, as well as the spring flowering types such as ‘Forsythia’ can be left until they have finished flowering.

  

Don’t forget you can still do hardwood cutting of shrubs that you want from the off cuts.

  

Get any plants moved like trees and shrubs around the garden as time is running out to do this, so this need to be done soon.

  

Lawns

  

Warning! Don’t walk on your lawns when they are frozen as it can kill off patches that you stand on.

 

Even at this time of year grass can still grow when it’s above 5C (40F) so in warm periods you mite need to get it a cut. But don’t forget to cut it 5-8mm(1/4in) higher than normal.

  

Pest and Diseases

  

Now with the weather being warm this week look out for slugs, even at this time of year they can be around so keep an eye for them!

  

Birds too and be a pain as they get hungry taking buds off of plants so look after them as well as putting net over plants to protect them.

 

So it time to get out there in the garden have fun doing your gardening and let me know how you got on and what you did this weekend

 

take care

  

fred

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Mid-Jan in the Veg plot

With the warmer weekend ahead it possible to do many of the jobs that been out standing in the Veg plot, and with spring get ever closer it’s time to get out there!

 

So what needs doing…

 

 General Jobs

 

Make sure that your plot is all tidy, e.g. leaves and other rubbish to be cleaned up from around the plot,

 

Things to Plant

 

Start to think and plan what you are going to plant this year, working out your planting layout so you know where you are going to put them.

 

Also start to buy in your seeds and other things you need for this year (don’t forget you can get all your seeds, tools, ect. from our Garden shop).

 

You can now start to plant out on mild days Garlic, Onion sets and Shallots from now on.

 

Things to Harvest

 

Continue to lift Parsnips and Leeks as and when you need them. You can also pick some spring cabbage as winter greens too.

 

Fruit

 

Get all winter pruning of Apple and Pear trees as well as Currant and Gooseberries bushes, finished this weekend where the weather is frost free.

 

Don’t forget you can still do hardwood cutting of Currant and Gooseberries bushes that you want from the off cuts.

 

And finish any moving of fruit plants around the veg plot so this need to be done soon.

 

Vegetables

 

If not done lift and divide Rhubarb crowns now and prepare some for early forcing and well mulching them too.

 

Pest and Diseases

 

Even at this time of year and with it warmer this week, the slug can be around so keep an eye for them!

 

Mice can also be a problem at this time as they are short of food and will look for your stores to attack so keep an eye out and take action if you see signs of them.

 

Birds too and be a pain as they get hungry taking buds off of plants so look after them as well as putting net over plants to protect them.

 

Take a look for Canker in fruit trees.

 

So have good time it the Veg plot and let me know how you got on.

 

take care

 

fred

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New to Veg – Where to Start

Have you just thought about growing your own Fruit and Veg. Or may be with the economy as it is you mite be thinking about growing your own, to help out. But not sure where to start or how.

 

There is nothing like growing your own fruit and veg, they taste so good! And there’s so many ways you can do it too!

 

  • A Veg Plot
    This is the most popular way to grow your veg, either in an allotment, plot
    in your garden or a large border at the top of the garden.

 

  • In your Flower Garden
    Yes you can grow veg in the flower bed! you can plant veg as a contrast to
    your bedding, by planting things like Carrots, Beet-root and like, for colour and
    shape ect.
     
  • Pots, Bags and Hanging Baskets
    There is many vegetables and fruit you can grow in pots, bags and hanging
    baskets and that means you grow them anywhere even if you have little or no
    garden at all e.g. on the Patio, Balcony or anywhere you have a space.

 

So you can one or all three its up to you but I will be going through the steps in “How-to”s over the year step one soon

 

take care

 

fred

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Work on this site

With the work on this site I’m always try and bring you the best, but sometimes things sometimes don’t look right in all the different browsers that there are now, if it looks like there sometime not right in the way it appears please let me know by posting a comment here.

 

Also if you have any questions, ideas or comments please let me know, or even post what you are doing in your garden as well as your thoughts.

 

You can also follow me on my twitter.com which is linked to here.

 

take care

 

fred

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