State of the Garden in August : The Jungle Month

[bunn]

It's been hot and wet in the Tamar Valley, and everything has grown huge and monstrous. We still have this patch of lawn, but behind that the Jungle starts.  These are 'before' photos - we were out yesterday hacking and mowing, so it's slightly less wild now, but...  That's an apple tree all over apples on the left, and if you look at the big version you can see another one at the back all over red apples.  The rose bush that is still flowering at the front is a very dutiful scented one that really works hard for its living.  It's called Big Purple.


Just in case you can't see those apples, here is a closeup.  This is the earlier of the two eating apples, and the apples are now just about ripe.  They go red before they go really sweet.  I don't know the variety of any of my three big trees, but I think they must be oldish as they are obviously not on modern dwarfing rootstocks.


The nasturtians that I just popped in opposite the strawberries on a whim after the slugs ate the planned red cabbage have gone mad and swarmed everywhere.



Nasturtians in the foreground, squashes and pumpkins behind them.   The pumpkin is fleeing the invasion of nasturtians and has leapt over the back and started galloping about among the Lonicera nitida, and a tomato has volunteered into the middle of it all.  I've left it there to see if it actually produces tomatoes outdoors. 

I do have some other tomatoes in the greenhouse - not deliberately, I had some that were given me last year, and they seemed to like it and came back.



The squashes are starting to make squashes - look!


Rosebay willowherb.  A fabulous 'weed' this one, and an example of 'be careful what you wish for'.  I've always loved this plant, and a few years ago I posted on usenet that I liked it but didn't have any.  Approximately a week later, this came up on an old bonfire site and has lived in my garden ever since. (Rosebay loves old burnings).     I don't know how it accesses the internet...

Sadly, I had to cut this back yesterday as it was all leaning forwards and making it impossible to mow the paths, but I'm glad I photographed it first.   Definitely an example of 'if this were harder to grow people would pay large sums to buy it in expensive pots'.



And this photo really illustrates the problem!   This is all about 6 feet tall - mostly full of raspberry canes.  It should be a lawn and beds!    I urgently need to Take Action!  (Horse people, do not fret!   I have already removed and composted all the ragwort, I yanked it as soon as I'd taken this and it's right in the middle of the heap so should be well cooked.)


 The trees at the back are the early apple in the middle and the eating apple on the left. You can see the apples in the big version if you click through for the full jungly experience...



I did have another photo of a clematis climbing over the old twisted willow that I was going to put in here. I've planted clematis at the bottom of the willow and another by the apple tree and this is the first year that those plants have produced a good crop of flowers. But Scrapbook has decided it doesn't want to play.  And I'm hoping that the clematis will be even bigger and better next year, so have decided to wait.

Comments

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

I didn't think composting ragwort got rid of it. I'm writing from a very hazy old memory, so could be completely wrong.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I too love Rosebay Willowherb! First you get great banks of pink flowers, then wonderful smoky seedheads, and then when the plants start dying back, scarlet leaves...

And then, of course, it entirely takes over your garden.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

It's a seedsown biennual, so nothing will totally get rid of it, it drifts all over the place. I do pull up the whole plant, roots and all.

If mine were the only plant in the whole area, then I might burn it, but the stuff pops up everywhere, and I can at least confident that mine isn't adding to the problem by sending seeds to drift on the breeze. My compost heap often gets hot enough to char in the middle, so is probably quite a bit more effective than most.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Hah, if it wants to take over in my garden it will need some ninja moves. It will have to fight for its life with many other plants that all have the same idea!

It is fabulous though, there were nettles in that spot, and I definitely prefer it to those!

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

It all looks so green and lush compared with here. I love the willow herb though I'm probably glad it doesn't grow in the garden.

If horses can't get at your compost heap then I'm sure it's fine. I put ragwort in the recycling bin as I've not heard you can't do that though I do wonder where it ends up.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

LOL, no, I don't think any horse has ever got near the compost heap. Deer, possibly, but I am pretty sure by the time it's wilted and palatable, it will have rotted to vanishing point: when it's this warm and this wet as well, my compost heap is terrifyingly efficient and just eats stuff.

I became curious and checked the DEFRA guidelines, which say small scale rotting is fine as an alternative to burning. However, they do say you shouldn't put ragwort in with green waste unless your council specifically says you can, as it needs extra careful rotting. I don't know how seriously to take that, I think those huge council composters are probably pretty efficient.

Mind you, they also say that one should wear long sleeves and a facemask to handle it,which seems a bit alarmist. OK, it's a bit toxic, but surely not that bad!

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Umm, perhaps I ought to check with the Council. It's been so dry though this year that we haven't actually had that much ragwort.

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

I understand the long sleeves and facemask is recommended when handling a lot of it and or handling it for extended periods of time. So dealing with a few plants in ones garden should be fine, but if you're going on a local ragwort binge then wear your protectives.