Allotments 4 All

It pays off.

I got chatting with a new neighbour the other day while hobbling back from the shops with an ice cream. A few days later I saw the two of them clearing out their front garden and bagging up lots of plants. So I asked if I could have it all for the compost.

I have two compost bins - one is full of half rotten stuff. The other, I've only just started filling. Well - by the end of the day, the second bin was full. I had another bag full of weeds and a few new plants that I'd rescued.

A few days later, I hobbled out to the garden and found another 10 black sacks full of plants outside the door. There is enough to fill at least another bin. If not one and a half. But I don't have room for another one, so it all went into old compost bags until I've used the oldest stuff. I've also got a load of thick woody stuff for my insect wood pile, loads more new plants (the ivy with the golden centre, a (I think) varigated wigiella, loads of bluebell and daf bulbs, cuttings of honeysuckle, a tiny oak (squirrels must've burried an acorn which germinated this spring - I figure if I keep it well pruned and in a pot it'll keep small!), and loads more.

Later on, when I was sorting this lot out, they came round again bearing more gifts - this time a bin bag full of big pots and hanging baskets.

I love my neighbours!

Lucky you.  It always amazes me what people think of as rubbish.  What do you think they are planning to do Aqui..... pave or tarmac over the lot? :(

Aqui, I'm intrigued - I've never heard of someone having a woodpile specifically for insects - is it as a sort of refuge for them or to keep them concentrated in one place?

Good Lord, it's like mother always said - "Some people have more money than sense." Not that I'd be complaining if I was the recipient. Note to self - take hanging baskets when you move. I'd already planned on digging up the rose before I put the house up for sale - that bugger cost me eight quid in M&S and is the only rose that hasn't died on me.  ;D

What great neighbours Aqui - it's amazing what you can salvage from other peoples rubbish.  I remember my daughter-in-law throwing out a very tired looking pelargonium. I rescued it, potted it in fresh compost and it grew into the most beautiful plant.  Oh, and Wicker, I have a wood pile for overwintering insects and possibly hedgehogs :)

Wicker, are you not watching Bill Oddie on his wild about britain program?  :o  I lurve Bill Oddie...don't ask me why.... :o :o.  They were telling us gardeners to get a log pile in the garden for all the creepies to live happily in.  Monday was nesting boxes, (we have one), Tuesday log pile, (we have several), what will tonite bring!?!?!?  ;D

EJ this is the first Bill Oddie series we haven't managed to watch all of - Mr W especially likes him so if he suggested a log pile then I'm pretty certain we will be giving be setting one up! Just logs and wood bits in a corner then is it?

That is pretty much it Wicker.  Ooo, and apparently a compost heap is very important for wildlife, so no probs for us lot there then!  Tonites little gem was to give over a patch of your land to a meadow....well, just let a patch get overgrown really - don't be too neat and tidy.  I haven't cut the grass around our willow tree this year, so again, I am there with Kate Humble and Bill!  ;D :P ;D

Surprisingly they still have quite a few plants in their garden. It must've been hideously overgrown before, especially as it's a really tiny garden, even smaller than mine.

Wicker - I don't have any logs in my wood pile, it's mostly thick, woody prunings. There are also some really twisty old bits on the top that make it look quite sculptural.

I really must remember to watch Bill Odie tonight - keep forgetting about it.