Topic: Winter plot

[Robert_Brenchley]

I actually took this a couple of weeks ago, but a cold plus teaching has pretty well floored me and I haven't got it posted. For once I'm actually keeping ahead, and should hopefully be able to get everything mulched as I go for once. If I can get that far I should be able to keep ahead of the dreaded weeds. Beehives on the right, and the horrible useless overgrown patch of raspberries halfway down the plot on the left is the next thing on the hit list. It never will be missed.

[redimp]

the horrible useless overgrown patch of raspberries halfway down the plot on the left is the next thing on the hit list. It never will be missed.

I have one of those as well Robert, especially if you look at my plot from an easterly direction.  I was hoping to sort it out this winter as well but I am now thinking it may have to wait until next year.  >:( I have a lot more to do to my plot than you appear to have to do.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've been putting it off for years; I had a large pile of soil next to it which really had to go before I could do much there. But it's right next to the path, full of nettles, suckering everywhere, and it's annoying me.

[wardy]

My plot was overrun with rasps and they'd spread on runners underground and they were everywhere.  We grubbed them out but they keep coming back.  I dug a healthy one up in November and I've planted it in a bed with a few new ones so hopefully some good will come of it.

[Garden Manager]

Once raspberries 'go wild' they are never much good again. You cant really tame them.

We had some old 'run wild' canes in our garden when we moved here. I tried to rescue them and organise them into managable rows, but they never acheived much of a crop.

In the end i binned the lot and after replacing the soil replanted with new ones that have done well (at least until i had to dig some up and move them to make room for a greenhouse!! ;D :o)

Besides i believe canes over a certian age get virus-ed anyway.

Best to get rid of the whole lot and start afresh with new canes in a new patch of ground.

[wardy]

The lotty chap told me that but they look in the rudest of health to me GC  :)

[Garden Manager]

The lotty chap told me that but they look in the rudest of health to me GC  :)

No offence, but some of these 'lotty chaps' really know their stuff, and their opinions are worth taking note of.

The fact that the canes had 'gone wild' ie rampaged over the plot is a good indication of virus in itself. Healthy, virus free canes are usualy better behaved!  Besides, some viruses arent obvious to the observer.

I am sure there are others on the forum better able to explain this to you than i can. Why dont you post a direct question on it elsewhere and see what response you get?

PS if you really do want to have a go at taming the 'wild' canes (perhaps you want to save some cash?) then keep them seperate from any new ones, so that any propbelms tht DO occur with the old ones arent spread to the new canes.

[Jesse]

I'm so envious of your beehives Robert :), something I'd really like to get but not allowed at our allotment and no space in the garden at home.

[the_snail]

Looks a nice little private plot you have there  :)

The_Snail

[Robert_Brenchley]

Decidedly private, as long as you pick one with decent hedges and maintain them. My front hedge was in such a state when I took over that I coppiced it, and it took about five years to grow back.There's still a weak section where the hawthorn hasn't grown well. Bees aren't allowed on our site either, but people have all sorts of ways of disguising them when necessary.

[Jesse]

How do you disguise a few thousand bees I wonder :o :D

[Garden Manager]

How do you disguise a few thousand bees I wonder :o :D

Hmm.. Interesting. Short of telling them to pretend they are wasps, cant see how. I suspect though Robert means the beehives and for those you could always claim they are fancy compost bins!! ::)

[Robert_Brenchley]

People sometimes put them inside sheds with the entrances up against holes in the walls, or one guy I cam across used a shed with no roof. Or something like a fence or hedge can hide them from a specific direction. One guy had a neighbour who kept making trouble, so he put a six-foot solid fence all round his hives, with a removable section which he used to get in. As long as the hive isn't noticed, the bees are actually very inconspicuous. You can sit ten feet from my hives at the height of summer and never notice a bee. That's because the hedge in front of the hives forces them to fly above head height. Another good ploy is to put the hive in your garden, and use it for tool storage or something. Let the neighbours make a fuss, complain about 'stings' if they want to, and demonstrate to all and sundry that the thing's empty. After a few months, quietly move the bees in.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Here's my wild raspberry patch, about half the size it used to be. I've only got one more day at school, so it'll soon be gone.

[RW]

The beehives look great - I have been thinking about these but don't know much how to get started - why is it not allowed?

I have the same problem with rasps growing where they should not and it is hard to get rid of all the roots. Has anyone tried growing rasps in large buckets to contain them?

Regards

[Robert_Brenchley]

There used to be a rule that you could have up to two hives on a plot; mine is double size, and far better than most for the purpose with the hedges to stop them flying low over the neighbours' plots. Some years ago there was a case of a very bad beekeeper with hives on a plot with no hedges. He did nothing to prevent low flight over his neighbour's plot, and keeps notoriously bad-tempered bees as well; when I started one of the first pieces of advice I was given was never to accept a queen from him. So the neighbour, who I know myself, got stung regularly. He complained, and was told to wear a veil on his plot! I've heard other complaints about the guy's behaviour on the site as well.

Eventually this went to the Council. The Allotments people were abused; councillors who tried to sort it out were abused. In the end they changed the rule, with the result that everyone loses out unless you keep illicit hives. It's been long enough now that I have hopes of eventually getting the rule changed again.