How's your day?

[benjamin1945 15,560]

One of my son's also loved it in Rwanda Lizzie when he was there a couple of years ago.........and he's really looking forward to going back....

[DJ360 6,391]

Today turned into a 'nearly' day.

First off, the boiler wasn't working. It showed 'flame failure or blocked condensate drain'. Nothing I can do about the flame, but the condensate drain runs behind the bath so is accessible I j.j.j.jiggled it a bit. System pressure had fallen to zero, which was puzzling, but I reset it to 1.5 bar.

After a couple of tries boiler fired up, but now showing very high pressure at about 3.5 bar. Also water running out of a drain on the outside wall, but not the condensate drain. Weird.

Let some water out of  radiator to get pressure down to 2.0 bar again.

Despite the thermostat set to 20 degrees, rads kicked in and took display temp to 22 degrees. 

Curiouser and curiouser..

So my plans to get stuck into gardening nearly happened, but not quite. 

I did however establish that two Delphiniums and an Achillea died over the winter, which is actually a good excuse to dig over that part of the border, improve drainage then replant.

[MRS B 331]

DJ360 I hate “nearly days” when you have plans and something obscurely becomes more important. Hopefully your heating will be ok as we’re in for a cold snap by all accounts. How are your knees? My left one with osteoarthritis diagnosed has gone from intermediate flare ups to being constantly aware of it so not sure where it will end up. More of a problem with swelling on the inner side than anything.

[DJ360 6,391]

Hi Mrs B.

The heating seems to be behaving, but I'm mystified as to what happened.

Sorry to hear about your knees and I hope you can get sorted. I found in the past that doing properly prescribed exercises can help, but in the end I needed the knee replacement. It has made it possible for me to walk properly for the first time in years, but recently its been giving problems and I have a pre op booked for the second op, though I'm still waiting for a review of the first surgery.

And meanwhile I'm trying to sort the garden.

[MRS B 331]

Unfortunately DJ360 mine has been caused by years of kneeling doing gardening, guess like the old fashioned housemaids knee. The physio gave me some exercises which I’m doing and have also found a chair/standing pilates class once a week which really helps. Annoying though as you well know.

[DJ360 6,391]

Indeed. I can't really kneel properly, so have to either bend, or sit down to reach borders for planting and weeding.

Little got done last year so it's a real mess. Plan is to get rid of worst weeds and then thickly mulch with bark or similar.

I made the mistake of bringing Welsh Poppies, ( Meconopsis Cambrica) into my garden decades ago. They are all but impossible  to eradicate and develop deep tap roots which need to be dug out completely to get rid of plants. Next mistake was introducing Creeping Violets which are if anything worse. It's an annual battle.

[DJ360 6,391]

P.S. I bought loads of Gladiola bulbs. Not grown them for ages. My RHS book advises using a 'fungicidal wash' before planting. I think we have either Cheshunt Compound or Bordeaux Mixture somewhere. Wonder if they'd do?

Also recommends planting on a layer of sand, which is simple enough.

[benjamin1945 15,560]

Breakfast in Bulwell again where i bumped into my lovely cousin (same age as me. but looks 20 years younger)...introduced her to some acquaintances on the next table as my Ex Wife......made her laugh anyway...growing up and thru life she has been the nearest thing to a sister ive ever had...

[IAN FINN 605]

Thats Boolwell where nobody ages.

[MRS B 331]

DJ360 Gladioli bulbs - you can use bleach (1 part to 100 parts water so very mild) or yellow sulphur powder. Bordeaux mixture will work just as well.

[DJ360 6,391]

Thanks Mrs B. I'll see what I can find, or use bleach.

Today, closer inspection of my flower borders revealed much more damage than I expected, resulting from my enforced suspension of hostilities after surgery . Grass among perennials  and shrubs, hordes of creeping violets, meconopsis and other weeds.

I took an executive decision and sprayed all weeds with glyphosate. I believe the violets are very difficult to kill, so  hope it works. I tried my best to avoid wanted plants, but nothing is irreplaceable and I'd sooner repair collateral damage than have this annual battle with persistent invaders.

When I win, I'll mulch as previously  stated and get more plants in.

[MRS B 331]

Oh no not the g word, that stuff should be banned. I have been weeding today and have a new knack - using a very long handled fork to dig the weed and then twisting the handle round like eating spaghetti and it just lifts out of the soil and on to the fork. Very good with couch grass and bittercress but for deeper rooted stuff you would have to use a proper fork to get to the bottom of the root. Up till 18 months ago I would have been on my knees with a hand fork!

[DJ360 6,391]

I doubt the amount of glyphosate I'm using even registers compared to the way it's used in agriculture. They don't just use it as a weedkiller, but also as a dessicant, where it is sprayed onto cereals to dry them.

It's generally regarded as having low toxicity etc c.f. many other horrors such as DDT, Malathion etc.

[MRS B 331]

Yeah you’re right, I just hate the stuff. DEFRA have been threatening to ban it for a number of years and I thought that the exit from the EU would help but agriculture has a big say and use a lot of it as it’s effective. There is a problem with horse manure and weed killers as it doesn’t necessarily harm the horse but is still present in the manure. We lost a whole bed of roses putting manure in that had pesticides remaining in it a while ago as it lasts for years. Try the long handled fork approach.

[DJ360 6,391]

Issues certainly, but I have my own issues and I'm not prepared to lose my garden just yet. I'll offset my minimal chemical use against my meticulous recycling, low flight miles, low car mileage etc.

[DJ360 6,391]

Back to the Gladiolas!

@Mrs B, I can't find the Bordeaux Mixture, so I'll probably use bleach to treat them before planting.  However, I also have a couple of hundred grams of Copper Sulphate, which I know is a major componenet in some fungicides, so I wondered if I could make use of that, in solution?

Either way, what is the method?  Do you just dump the corms into a bath of your chosen fungicide?  Do you leave them for any time span or just 'in and out'? I'm going to use my Blub Planter to plant them, and I'll put fine grit, then sharp sand below them and a bit of sand on top. After that..they're on their own!

 

I also got some Anemone De Caen, one of my fave plants for their briliant coloured long lasting flowers.  I bought some a few years ago and they did well in pots but despite care and re-potting have slowly died off so only two plants left. So, I have another 25 of those which I think I'll keep in pots.

I have Anemone Blanda (Windflower) in the borders. They are fairly well 'naturalised' now, so that they can cope with the occasional accidental disturbance when planting other stuff etc . Speaking of disturbance, I'm trying to get to a 'no dig' situation in the borders. I think that once I see evidence of the Glyphosate working, I'll clear off the worst of the weeds and get a mulch down. The weeds should continue dying if they've absorbed enough of the herbicide.

 

Meantime, I cut the grass front and back yesterday, which was a PITA, but despite being totally wiped out when done, I felt better for it. That said, I'm seriously considering getting a Ryobi cordless mower from their 1+ range. I already have a drill and multi tool from their range, so have two batteries and a charger already, which get little use.  I've had enough of messing about with, and getting tangled in,  wires, extension leads etc.

The grass doesn't look bad considering I did two cuts yesterday. Dire warnings about 'shocking' the grass go unheeded here. I laid the back lawn from seed 45 years ago, after spending months double digging and clearing the plot as the house was a new build. It still looks decent, though it's not poncy 'fine' grass. Just a utility mix.

Next up, It'll get its annual scalping with the scarifying machine, as that seems the only practical way to keep moss under control in this damp environment. It will look a bit sorry for itself for a week after that, but a feed and a dose of Weedol will have it weed free and smart in no time. Every year I tell myself I'm going to spike the lawn with a fork, but that is really hard work and doesn't always happen.

 

 

[trogg 1,786]

DJ I brought myself a battery powered self driven mower it is one of the smartest things I have done. I can control the speed at which I stumble along with it and no cables to trip over or cut , with my last mower being petrol no worry over if it will start. Altogether it makes a pain in the butt task a lot easier, I said easier not easy. 

[LizzieM 9,272]

Col, my husband loves his lawn and is forever seeding areas but where we are the Mapperley Park enormous London Plane trees are a real issue with regards to light on certain areas. (we have 6 around our boundary)  Before we came away to Poole last week my husband scarified the entire lawn, initially deciding he’d do just half but then carrying on …..  it’s an electric scarifier so not too strenuous.  Next day he  raked it all up and then suffered with his back for a few days, mind you he’s had lower back problems for about 40 years.  Then the next day lawn feed went down and a few areas were seeded.  We’ve had the rain but now need some warm sunshine to make the lawn look like a bowling green again!  
At our property in Dorset the ‘Management’ decided we should have a robotic lawnmower.  It crawls across the lawn every now and again like Brian The Snail and the lawn is looking really good now. 

[DJ360 6,391]

Lizzie, does Hubby use a 'shade tolerant' seed mix?

My electric scarifier is quite efficient. In fact too efficient if set too low. However its main weakness is that the basket which catches the moss etc., is too small and needs to be emptied after a single run of about 20 feet.  Doing the back lawn, which is only about 25' x 20', produces enough stuff to completely fill our green bin.

[philmayfield 5,513]

I have a moss problem on a side lawn and I do have a petrol driven scarifier. However it’s not been used for some years and won’t start. I’ve stripped and cleaned the carb and I’ve got a spark. I’m just in the process of disconnecting the drive pulley to the scarifier as this is a direct drive from the engine and is vey stiff so it’s not spinning up fast enough to make it start. Now the grub screw to the pulley is rusted in and I’m in the process of drilling that out. Then I’ve got to pull off the rusted on pulley. All the bending and stretching is not good for me!

[siddha 803]

Oh dear! Phil I have a number of different sized pullers should you need one.

 

[philmayfield 5,513]

Many thanks for the offer but I too have a large selection of pullers.

[siddha 803]

You will be OK then

[philmayfield 5,513]

We'll see! 

[LizzieM 9,272]

@DJ360he’s spent hundreds on lawn seed and lawn feed and he’s turfed areas in the past.  Never mind, it keeps him busy!  
In other news, there’s a big oil leak in Poole Harbour, but we’ve seen no ‘emergency’ activity and we haven’t been into Poole where the great unwashed eco-warriors have been demonstrating today.  
We did see our place on an BBC News aerial shot of the area though! 
In more other news, well this is ‘How’s Your Day’ ……. I nipped to the local Co-op for a few bits this afternoon and saw a black lad (am I allowed to say that?) nicking items.  Twice he put things into his tracksuit bottoms pockets and he knew I’d seen him. He then sauntered out the door and ran off.  I told the lone assistant at the till and he’d wondered about the lad when he raced away but he couldn’t do anything about it.  I paid for my shopping and went by a Tesco convenience store, I popped in and asked the assistant if the ‘black lad’ had just been in, she said yes and she thought he’d stolen things!  I was then standing chatting to a friend outside her office next door to Tesco and the lad was wandering back and forth across the road, he saw us watching him so I waited until he’d disappeared before I turned the corner to head home.  10 minutes later she rang to say he’d just barged into her office yelling and swearing and wanting to know why we were watching him.  This is why criminals get away with things, it’s not worth making eye-contact, saying anything or calling the Police.  Glad he doesn’t know where I live!!