Our Gardens

LollyJJ said:
Awww piggy 😍
I wish I could let my piggies out free range like that. Even if I blocked the gap under my back gate (which is just right to let the hedgehogs in) it would be dodgy for the pigwigs - too many big, dense shrubs, it would be a nightmare to try and catch them! Do you have to fence off any areas?
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My house is an old terrace in a muddle of other old houses so my tiny garden is surrounded by high walls all the way round with no access at all! You can see the end of my tiny patch in that first photo of George. The downside is they won't give me a wheelybin and one neighbour in particular grows lilacs high over the 10 foot walls so it's like a shady cave and any grass I lay doesn't last more than a year or two. All 3 neighbours have dogs. The upside is that I've never seen a cat in here in 20 years (occasionally one looks down from a roof but figures that it would be too hard to climb back out in a hurry) and it's been something of a haven in the heatwave. I didn't actually start free ranging my piggies outside but they kept escaping the run and eating stuff - so I gave up, changed the planting and just stopped trying to put them back in 😅

Of my current 3 only Flora goes in and out on her own. Old George used to venture out a lot but he likes his home comforts now so if I put him out with Flora he'll stay until she comes indoors then follow her in. Louise will only go out if I put her out but she doesn't like it and usually comes back in within a minute or so - she's definitely an indoor girl! If the grass was better they might be more tempted but the heat has nobbled it. They like sitting in their cages inside and gazing out the back door which is open most of the time. We have one of those magnetic fly screens that they can see through - they just push underneath to go out. I have to watch very carefully for signs of rats - the only thing we get round here. In such a tiny space it's easier to see (and hear and smell!) if anything is about. I also have a little flock of birds that bop around and if a rat is about they don't come down onto the floor. The blackbird also sounds the alarm for his mate! We had a little vole appear which I found reassuring - you don't see the tiny rodents if a ratty is about. My pigs would probably rather have a nice secure run with hideys in a garden where the grass is lush and green but they're stuck with me and my turf-laying efforts and our dedicated piggy dad who goes out every day foraging for grass in the dried up meadow 💕 We just have to make the best of it!
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
I'll bring some jam to the Birmingham meet-up in October 😋 You're not coming to Leamington/Warwick to help your son move house in the next week by any chance?
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That's great thanks! I am coming up to help my son move next Friday as it happens but unfortunately, we won't have the time to meet up. It's just a load him up and go to Milton Keynes as quickly as possible and get back before the traffic is bad on a Friday evening job.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
While we were away on holiday, the fruit trees went into overdrive. It looked like the wasps had finished off the early plums but the Victoria plums and greengages had started dropping ripe fruit.
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It took hardly any time to puck this lot, the ones in tubs came off the floor, I had to get a ladder to reach the others. I've made 11 jars of jam with the better ones and some others and been snacking on the less perfect ones (sadly they tend to split when they fall )
I've also had loads of figs to find homes for ..
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Oh yum, lucky you! 😆
 
I've put most of the pots in the garden to bed for winter. The fuchsia pots do their own thing and I tided up the geraniums and carnations as they still flowering. They survived last year so we'll see what happens this winter. I'm ignoring the grass though, it will stop growing soon right?

Now just to worry about my cactus collection over winter...
 
Sar said:
I've put most of the pots in the garden to bed for winter. The fuchsia pots do their own thing and I tided up the geraniums and carnations as they still flowering. They survived last year so we'll see what happens this winter. I'm ignoring the grass though, it will stop growing soon right?

Now just to worry about my cactus collection over winter...
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My geraniums are four years old now, and have over wintered outside. It’s the warmer winters
 
Sar said:
Ooh that's good to know. Do you just leave them be and trim them back in spring when they have new growth?
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They are covered in flowers at the moment. I put them in the greenhouse as it’s been so wet down here. I know very wet conditions are a geranium death sentence 😊

But yes I prune them back and leave until it warms up in spring
 
He/she's had a lot of my neighbours fish, she built a pagoda over her pond thinking birds wouldn't see it from above. Unfortunately this Heron sees round corners! I kept this pond covered because of the cats and sea gulls, wasn't expecting a Heron.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
My rhubarb leaves always get massive too, some could almost be used as umbrellas if it rains when I'm in the veg garden!
How long are the leaf stalks? You need to cut off the flower stalk if you want good stalks to eat.
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I've tried cutting off the flower stalk before but it doesn't grow more leaves just kind of gives up until the following year. Nearly all the leaves are attached to the flower stalk and the plant itself never spreads sideways
 
piggieminder said:
I didn't know rhubarb flowers! I've never had one that's done that.
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One of my 6 rhubarb crowns has flowered a couple of times since we first moved here in 2019/20. But producing flowers and seeds diverts energy from the leaf stalks.
@Pound Shilling & Pig , if you cut the flower off now, there's still a chance that the leaf stalks may grow enough to be usable. I harvest my last rhubarb at the end of June.

Edited to add: I just re read your earlier post and saw you said that the leaves appear to be attached to the flower stalk. I'll have to have a look at mine in daylight and see what it looks like.
 
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