Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / June 2008

While moving my orchids outside for the summer, I broke a  catt
budstalk with multiple buds, the first one just open.  I decided to
put it in a small vase rather than just pitching it.
Two weeks later the third bud is opening and the first one has finally

In the aftermath of a 4,000 acre fire that spent the last week
scorching through the local mountains
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/google/2008_0
5_27_a_web_summit.kmz
I thought I'd do a bit more thinning out of primarily bay laurel on

I have taken on an allotment this year and it's really starting to tak
shape. I am slowly getting things to look how i want them after year'
of the plot looking like a pile of rubble.
I would like to move my Rhubarb as it is right in the middle of m

...wiped out my garden today.  Tomatoes and peppers that I had grown
from seed are totally destroyed.  The storm was a couple of hours ago,
and the lawn is still white.  I saw folks shoveling their decks like it
was snow.

I am wondering if you can tell me where I can obtain these plants' seeds as
listed below. I would appreciate some answers as to find them. I am using
these to make my own QR Compost Activators as I could not buy some from UK.
So I am seeking these seeds so I can grow my own ...

I had very poor germination from a row of peas.  On other allotments
people have had trouble with mice eating the peas.
My father-in-law used to soak peas in paraffin before planting.
On enquiry our local Handyman's shop only sells paraffin in 4 litre

A friend has a cotoneaster hedge which has fireblight. Its total demise
in the affected parts seems inevitable since it is opposite the gates of
a secondary school and miscreants hit the hedge with sticks on a daily
basis so the bruised bark is easily infected. I am not sure if ...

My sump pumps discharge onto the lawn outside the house.  I notice the
grass there is very lush and green.
I have a feeling that the lush growth is due not just to the grass
getting more water.

I was on holiday recently (6 weeks ago) and found a broken cactus arm
lying in the pavement so I brought it home.
I planted it, and it's certainly straighted up (it was very bent) and
now it's flowering! (a single red flower).

Bring some Antipodean extravagance to your garden with Hebe plants. We
found out more in an interview with Tony Hayter, Secretary of the Hebe
Society.
1. Can you tell us, what exactly is a Hebe?

I was tilling my vegetable garden this afternoon and I broke the forward
 drive belt. I'll be needing a replacement. Fortunately, I was close
enough to done that I can go on and plant when the time comes. (It was
25 degrees this week on Wednesday morning. We have kind of a short ...

from BBC website...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7428376.stm
damn I wish they had kept it quiet !
Jim

I bought my new house in July last year, in the front garden there are
rose bush which are really tall - approx 6 foot plus. When they wer
flowering last year they looked lovely. I am used to having roses an
am aware of how to care for them and prune them.

For detailed information on this newsgroup you are recommended to
read the charter for uk.rec.gardening at:
       http://www.usenet.org.uk/uk.rec.gardening.html
There are a number of FAQ files (answers to Frequently Asked

Got a dead stick of a lemon tree sapling in an 18" tall pot.  I thought the
entire structure, roots and all were dead.  Believe the few freezes here in
S. Texas did the deed as it was outside.
I watered it anyway to see if anything would happen.  Now I got lemon tree