Our gardening diaries - from latest toys, flowers to wildlife .. Please upload pics

[alp]

Guess what? I have not one notification again on this thread.

@Zenj Just love the the photo above and below the iris. What is the name of that beautiful iris please? Can it withstand drought? I so want to have one or two of them. I will place another order with Kelways when they spam me again.

Such a lovely beach - pure golden fine sand. I wish I lived near one. Gorgeous photos, @Zenj so pleased that you have some sunny spells in amongst the perpetual rain. So nice to see photos like these here .. almost arty.

@johnny canoe - love the birdies and the grasses in the background .. so pretty they are that they deserve a place in a garden. Within 3 days, all my 3 feeders have been emptied and I have been attracting the wrong kind of clientele and the din has put me off refilling the feeders.

Been out collecting a water butt for free and hopefully I can chuck the leaky one and now I have another one which has such a weak base that it's slanting towards one side. Can someone manufacture a proper water butt?

 

[Logan]

@alp had a word with hubby, if you get them and then you don't, there's a fault in the forum software. You'll have to complain to them.

 

[alp]

I'm done with complaining. See what my last one got me to? Some overbearing people talking down to me. (not here in this forum!) It's just a means so I can chat to all chatterboxes - is that right, @Logan ? Watch some lovely seascapes and have a good tete a tete with good virtual friends..

 

[MaryMary]

I'm done with complaining. See what my last one got me to? Some overbearing people talking down to me. (not here in this forum!)

alp, you should start a thread in the "Feedback and Comments" forum, I've been trying to tell you that. Ian wants the site to be good for everyone, it's not just something I like to talk about!! If you are not getting alerts, it's possible others are not, either.


Read this thread!! When he updated the forum, one member, Sheal, couldn't handle the bright white background. (Post #5, March 2nd.) Ian went to work on it immediately, and had it fixed for her within four days. Frankly, most administrators wouldn't care about the loss of one member. These people have earned my respect and admiration.

https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/design-update.10712/

 

[BigC]

Exhausted!...Well its nigh gone eight o'clock and we've only just wrapped up for the day...

Pergola
I managed to get the trellis done to each side..It pained me to have to buy the wood for this due to my table saw blowing up..I already had all the wood but no tool to cut it with..bah humbug. I bought 8 strips of lathe..4 - 10mm x 10mm and 4 - 25mm x 6mm all 2440mm in length and cut them with a hand saw to my measurements then panel pinned them to the framework to make up the trellis.
Anyway that's a little more done...Now I have my thinking cap on again as I decide what do I want to do with the back to act as a wind break (bamboo woven trellis or carry on with the same as I used for the sides still undecided)

Yorkshire Stone Front Step..
Well its done and dusted and I have to say it looks fantastic....much much better than the old 3 slab effort...I'm chuffed with the result as is "er indoors"
It took four of us to lift it and to get it all lined up correctly for me to tap home, level and point up....super job....We were working against the clock with the rain and the quick drying cement, but we got there in the end.....

What a day, exhausted and having a well earned pint of Grog now.....today we made a difference.

 

[alp]

Successes, @BigC !

The pergola is made of hard wood? How long will they last, with a coat of what paint? Looks professional. Beer tonight!?

 

[BigC]

The pergola is made of hard wood? How long will they last, with a coat of what paint? Looks professional. Beer tonight!?

No its only soft wood but it will be coated with copious amounts of Cuprinol Garden Shades paint (green)..it should last longer than me that's for sure in any case it was made from spare lumber I had lying around apart from today's purchase...all in all it cost sub £30 to make if I hadn't had to spend an extra £20 for today's little escapade (and a little know how) ....it's still far from finished as I have more ideas floating around in the grey soup so we will see how far this creative juice takes me hahahaha.....been looking a some nice planters to put some small Acers in....but the price is putting me off ....so we'll see in the comming weeks how this evolves ...

 

[Logan]

I'm done with complaining. See what my last one got me to? Some overbearing people talking down to me. (not here in this forum!) It's just a means so I can chat to all chatterboxes - is that right, @Logan ? Watch some lovely seascapes and have a good tete a tete with good virtual friends..

Yes that's right.

 

[Logan]

Exhausted!...Well its nigh gone eight o'clock and we've only just wrapped up for the day...

Pergola
I managed to get the trellis done to each side..It pained me to have to buy the wood for this due to my table saw blowing up..I already had all the wood but no tool to cut it with..bah humbug. I bought 8 strips of lathe..4 - 10mm x 10mm and 4 - 25mm x 6mm all 2440mm in length and cut them with a hand saw to my measurements then panel pinned them to the framework to make up the trellis.
Anyway that's a little more done...Now I have my thinking cap on again as I decide what do I want to do with the back to act as a wind break (bamboo woven trellis or carry on with the same as I used for the sides still undecided)
View attachment 24836

Yorkshire Stone Front Step..
Well its done and dusted and I have to say it looks fantastic....much much better than the old 3 slab effort...I'm chuffed with the result as is "er indoors"
It took four of us to lift it and to get it all lined up correctly for me to tap home, level and point up....super job....We were working against the clock with the rain and the quick drying cement, but we got there in the end.....

View attachment 24837

What a day, exhausted and having a well earned pint of Grog now.....today we made a difference.

They both look great.

 

[alp]

You can easily knock out a planter and Japanese acer is not dear at all. Go around BQ and Homebase and you can get a decent reduced one under £10.. I have one finely palmated one for a fiver. It's so exciting to see your projects unfolding and evolving. I will get my son to make me one. Have you got paper work for this please, @BigC ?

 

[BigC]

Have you got paper work for this please, @BigC ?

@alp..If Only......Its all in my head hahahaha but its roughly the same as this (link below) but the measurements are different to suit my specific needs.. and the timber used (as I had different sizes laid around the workshop)..but if you use this rough template and adapt it you wont go far wrong
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Wooden-Garden-Arbor/

 

[MaryMary]

You can easily knock out a planter

@BigC, that is a wonderful idea!! You could even put "Tamiko" on it.
Or maybe "Garden of The Child of many Beauties."

 

[BigC]

@BigC, that is a wonderful idea!! You could even put "Tamiko" on it.
Or maybe "Garden of The Child of many Beauties."

it has potential lol

 

[BigC]

I am currently trying to locate in the UK a Japanese hanging lantern (cast iron) not too dissimilar to the ones below, to hang from the ceiling of the pergola..and I've also looking at the new type of solar flood lighting....dusk would really make this structure come alive...also an air of mystery can be achieved with a little fogging mechanism within the pond...spooky

My head is always full of daft ideas

 

[alp]

It might be more dramatic to get granite ones.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=g...8bHVAhUDUlAKHZgIBv4Q_AUICygC&biw=1229&bih=582

Summerhill used to do some lovely ones. But they are very pricy ..

To hang cast iron can be very dangerous.. What if they fell!? They surely look nice.