The Canny Gardener

how to grow, cook and use plants, plus some philosophy!


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watering plants

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Plants need watering the summer. I have been using my bathwater (cooled down) for watering and this is economical and eco-friendly. I use bio-degradable and organic soaps so I am guessing that the water should not harm the plants in any way. In fact, soapy water kills off certain bugs and pests so this is a double benefit.  Here is a wiki article-

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Soapy-Water-Garden-Spray

Street plants need water too although their roots absorb a lot of water from underground.  In the summer, the watering pipes stuck into the soil help the local council to water trees as the soil may be very dry.  However, lately I have been finding people putting rubbish into these pipes- sweet wrappers, paper, cans and here in this photo, a plastic bag full of dog poo.   This is so silly and selfish.  If you see anyone doing this, please explain the reason why the pipe is there- they may not know.  Already plastic is choking our seas and killing animals, now we are choking plants with plastic too.


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A year later!

I started writing this blog as a diary of transformation of my garden.  See my first post from May 2013 and this photo of how it was-

Starting out

This year I have managed to put some effort into the garden which is what you will see below.  Many of the pots were got from street, some from charity shops, some given- only one was bought.  Most of the plants were either grown from seeds, rescued from somewhere or given and a few were bought as ‘baby plants’.  I have used wooden pallets found on the streets, tyres, home made compost and bits of furniture to create a container garden.  I love the fact that not everything grows all at once- there is always a new surprise all year, especially summer.  There is a bit of everything- things to eat- herbs, salads, tomatoes, potatoes;  things to look at- ornamental cultivars; and wild things- nettles, wildflowers, dandelions- all of which I use for cooking or decorating.  Someone once said that they spend about one hour each day, on the garden and from this experience, I concur.  A lot of the work is upkeep, rather than simply planting.  Again, I think, container gardening is harder than conventional gardening- the amount of moisture in the soil, the nutrients and the placement of pots are very important and take planning and time.

 

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