Inspired to grow after garden visit..

[goodlife]

I have noticed that when ever go somewhere to see a garden..or allotments some 'new' idea will always get court in my brain and I feel urge to get it done.
Yesterday's visit to Penny Barr allotments didn't disappoint me with it. I have been 'gardening' all night, so much so that today I'm utterly knackered I have been brewing some idea all day and finally 'the light bulb' is shining above my head and I know what I'm going to do..

It all started with cherries......MMMMMMM. First Galina brought bowl full of cherries for all to eat from her garden and then during the 'inspection rounds' I spotted this cherry tree with HUGE..no..ENORMOUS cherries. Smallish tree laden with plum size cherries OHHHH...feast to die for and now I just want to grow some of those too.

Plan is...get myself one of those trees later on the year...yes, I've already been searching and found few varieties that are specifically mentioned having large fruits...I was given some timber that used to big pergola so there material for sound frame work...I've got roll of netting too (another given thing)..and best part of it is that I've got spot for the whole lot available
I've got small area that I've been 'saving' for future project..now there is no stopping me tidying that up and getting it up and running  

Anybody else been inspired doing something that they've seen this summer?

[goodlife]

[Debs]

YES !!

I always get a surge of inspiration after watching gardeners world, or visiting a lovely garden.
Sometimes you need to be inspired by what others have achieved to give you fresh ideas or reawaken your green fingers!!

Debs

[pumkinlover]

I felt just the same that tree had a lasting effect on me
Mind you your peach has had a similar effect

[galina]

I liked the gooseberry bush arranged as a fan shape and wonder whether something along those lines can be achieved by pruning a mature bush?

[goodlife]

I liked the gooseberry bush arranged as a fan shape and wonder whether something along those lines can be achieved by pruning a mature bush?

Oh absolutely..there is always those new whippy shoots coming up from centre of the bush that can be easily bended on place, those older ones that fit into frame work, just tidied back and rest just drastically chopped off. It will be nice to keep some of the few older branches for fruiting for couple of years until the newer growth start to flower and fruit...and then take the old ones out and let others take their place.

[antipodes]

After seeing a friend's huge strawberry plants, I have been really wondering if I shouldn't change the way I grow fruit. My goosberreies are out of control and squashed next to the raspberries, the rasps are feral and the strawberries don't seem ideally placed. Also I was thinking of getting a small plum tree as they tend to grow quite straight and narrow (and I love plums).
I was thinking of digging up the gooseberries, keeping 2 bushes only and growing them on espaliers, as I can hardly pick the fruit as they are now. Then dig up the raspberries, keep only half and put them in a slightly different position, then plant new strawberries at the foot of the gooseberry bushes, on proper hillocks with enviromesh.

Except that this seems like a lot of work!!!

[pigeonseed]

It's lovely having a new plan  . I'm always being impressed by other people's gardens. It's a bitter-sweet feeling though!

My neighbours at the allotments have a lovely seating area which feels very private and not overlooked, inspite of us being on a steep hillside with tall houses behind and in front. It's the way they've placed their shed and tool store which somehow screens enough of their seating area that you feel hidden.

I'm trying to find ways to screen parts of my allotment for that secluded feeling. I love gardens which feel hidden and like you're discovering them.

... A 25x4m strip of hillside in between two terraces of housing provides a challenge there ;-)

[galina]

Thankyou GL,

have just picked mine and got nicely scratched, but had a look at the branches and how to do it.

[GrannieAnnie]

I like to slide garden pictures off the internet into my garden idea folder on my computer for future study and application to next year's garden. I usually Google "gardens" and then "Images" which gives hundreds of photos.

But before I do any changes I must get better fencing installed: the groundhogs ate all our pole beans right up to 5 feet high, stripped all the leaves while we were on vacation, left not one bean and knocked over some tall flowers. Grrr makes me so mad!

[Digeroo]

I liked the fan trained goosegogs too, mine seem rather floppy and the fruit is rather low down.  Though I had got some Pax which is thornless.

I saw some quite large onions growing very close together, looked as if they were grown in 100% compost,  though I do not produce enough.

Also Walsall Road always inspires me to source more biomatter to feed to the soil.

Pleased we do not have to cope with groundhogs. 

[galina]

I like to slide garden pictures off the internet into my garden idea folder on my computer for future study and application to next year's garden. I usually Google "gardens" and then "Images" which gives hundreds of photos.

But before I do any changes I must get better fencing installed: the groundhogs ate all our pole beans right up to 5 feet high, stripped all the leaves while we were on vacation, left not one bean and knocked over some tall flowers. Grrr makes me so mad!

I feel your pain.  I get mature tall bean stems chewed off a couple of inches above ground by voles.  Fortunately not all of them (usually).  Is it too late to start a second crop where you live?

[GrannieAnnie]

I like to slide garden pictures off the internet into my garden idea folder on my computer for future study and application to next year's garden. I usually Google "gardens" and then "Images" which gives hundreds of photos.

But before I do any changes I must get better fencing installed: the groundhogs ate all our pole beans right up to 5 feet high, stripped all the leaves while we were on vacation, left not one bean and knocked over some tall flowers. Grrr makes me so mad!

I feel your pain.  I get mature tall bean stems chewed off a couple of inches above ground by voles.  Fortunately not all of them (usually).  Is it too late to start a second crop where you live?

Just planted more (presoaked) Masai bush beans 2 days ago which might mature in time. The ground hog also stripped leaves off a medium-sized dahlia. Just another gardening challenge. We have voles around but I never saw the damage you've described.

[claybasket]

We went to Wisley last Sunday, I have a thing for Berry's  Tayberry Brambles Loganberry's  etc blow me they were only doing the trails for them all, they were amazing looking my OH kept saying about the sweatpeas and dahlias,I had to say I'd catch up soon,I was so loving them a bit weired but I hope to make a fencing out of the wonderfull things they don't take up much room, we did have a wonderfull day there  

[sunloving]

This is why gardeneing is such a social and exploratory thing, everywhere we go people are doing things slightly different and its inspiring. Those cherries were stunning and we all stood around the outside of the enclosure looking in like hungry children!!

I went to visit a freind at the gordon brown centre in Hook and their leeks had totally run away and were flowering,They looked like space aged pods as buds and the bees were going mad on them once they were open , I thought they looked so gorgeous that ive grown them as flowers ever since.

Ive been inspired a lot by photos from a4aers plots , its almost always the make do and mend type things that I give a whirl. and the best thing is on here lovely folks send you a cutting/seed some advice to help you along with it!!
x Sunloving

[GrannieAnnie]

I went to visit a freind at the gordon brown centre in Hook and their leeks had totally run away and were flowering,They looked like space aged pods as buds and the bees were going mad on them once they were open , I thought they looked so gorgeous that ive grown them as flowers ever since.


x Sunloving

Sunloving,
Thank you for the idea about the leeks as flowers. I have one leftover from last year that has been blooming, but lying down on the job when an animal trampled it. Next year I'll stake it and put it in the flower bed with others. They would make a interesting addition due to their strange and robust form.

[GrannieAnnie]

AFter Sunloving posted the leek idea I found this additional stuff on the internet: "Um, it's probably too late to harvest them as leeks per se if the stems are getting woody at this point. You can check and see -- it might depend on the individual growing conditions, like how moist or cool it's been. But, I suspect they might be kind of tough by now (he wrote in June in USA). Younger, more tender flower scapes could be picked and used, much as they use garlic scapes.
If you let them go, you'll get large, pale lavender, very attractive allium flowers. After that, the top will die down, and many seeds will develop from the flower heads. You can use these seeds to grow new leeks, if you like, or just let them self-sow (MANY will come up if you do this).

The old leek will die down for about a month, and then, about 2 to as many as 4 or 5 new leeks will start to grow from the base of the old one. You can allow them to just grow, or you can dig them up, separate, and replant if you want larger ones.

Also, during that time period when the old leek is dying off and maturing seeds, before the new growth starts, you can pull up the entire stalk and harvest the cloves from the base of it if you wish -- they look kind of like garlic cloves but have no "skin" or tunic. These you can use to cook with or replant. The flavor of the cloves is a little more "hot" than of the leek itself, but you can use it like you would shallots.

Leeks are really a versatile crop and you can use them different ways. They are true perennials in most climates -- I've got some growing in the same spot for 20 years now. They will multiply a lot, but the individual leeks are smaller if they get crowded."