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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 11, 2008 22:51:21 GMT 1
I just had a google and I think you're right, it might have been an early nesting bee - Sleepy thought so too. It was large with a red tipped bum I think..very beautiful. I wonder how close it would nest from where it was looking for food?
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Post by debbiem on Feb 12, 2008 15:33:16 GMT 1
We had a mega one last year too, meandering around, and that sounds just like your one - I wonder too what it is/was?
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 12, 2008 15:54:51 GMT 1
I see in the news that there are some serious worries about the bee populations.
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 12, 2008 16:30:20 GMT 1
Yes, that's true. They have been attacked by several diseases over the past few years and suddenly whole colonies will die for no apparent reason....it has profound implications for all of us. We can't live without bees to pollinate our food plants.....it's quite scary I think..
I saw a very large bee again today - that's 3 days in a row. I wonder if it's the same bee or 3 different ones??
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Post by madonplants on Feb 12, 2008 17:32:25 GMT 1
I saw a huge bumblebee yesterday, flying through the gap between our house and next door, quite high too. I had to check twice it wasn't a small bird, as it was that big. Not seen it today, but I will keep looking.
Keith
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 12, 2008 18:08:26 GMT 1
Monster Bees ay?...  I've seen a couple over the last 2-3 days whilst it has been mild...but it's really too early for them isn't it? |
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Post by dutchy on Feb 12, 2008 19:08:23 GMT 1
Depends on where you are.
I was at the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam this afternoon and there were huge bumble bees around.
Big fat City buzzers. Milder temps and lots of flowerpots and little gardens and of course the main course a hortus with lots of flowers available to them.
Maybe that is why these are so huge.
Haven't seen one in my own garden yet nor at the even colder allotment.
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Post by madonplants on Feb 13, 2008 17:50:52 GMT 1
Well, that's another border (albeit small one) cleared of those dreaded wild onions. I wonder how many I missed and will come up again in a few weeks time!!  Keith |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 17, 2008 14:25:39 GMT 1
I've just spent an hour and a half getting out 2 fence posts and a length of fencing and digging out those nasty yellow nettle roots which plague my garden.....the area I was working on is only about 2' X 7' but I have filled two wheelbarrows with the roots....Still, it means one less length of fencing to make and eventually that bit will be free of weeds so I can keep the rest of the veggie garden cleaner hopefully... I suppose it's pointless weedkilling in this weather. When the best time to spray? I've got no experience with the stuff so I dunno...
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Post by Sleepy on Feb 17, 2008 14:28:15 GMT 1
I've just spent an hour and a half getting out 2 fence posts and a length of fencing and digging out those nasty yellow nettle roots which plague my garden.....the area I was working on is only about 2' X 7' but I have filled two wheelbarrows with the roots....Still, it means one less length of fencing to make and eventually that bit will be free of weeds so I can keep the rest of the veggie garden cleaner hopefully... I suppose it's pointless weedkilling in this weather. When the best time to spray? I've got no experience with the stuff so I dunno... If you are using a systemic then the best time to spray is when the weeds are in young full leaf. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 17, 2008 14:37:07 GMT 1
Hmm, thanks Sleepy, that's tricky then cos I noticed I have a lot of young nettles growing in the shadier bits of my garden....p'raps I'd better go do them this afternoon. I am using glysophate btw, as it seemed to be the least harmful option (if you seem what I mean :  ) Will a hard frost stop the stuff working? I know you're not supposed to use it if rain is imminent. |
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Post by Sleepy on Feb 17, 2008 14:41:03 GMT 1
Hmm, thanks Sleepy, that's tricky then cos I noticed I have a lot of young nettles growing in the shadier bits of my garden....p'raps I'd better go do them this afternoon. I am using glysophate btw, as it seemed to be the least harmful option (if you seem what I mean : ) Will a hard frost stop the stuff working? I know you're not supposed to use it if rain is imminent. It really isn't the best time of year to be using a glyphosate based weedkiller. Better to wait until at least April/May Glyphosate IS a systemic weedkiller, as used in Tumbleweed and Roundup. It needs a weed in active growth to take the poison intothe leaf and down to the roots. If the plant is not in 'full growth' mode the effectiveness is compromised. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 17, 2008 14:45:02 GMT 1
The nettles growing under my double rose arch are already 4" tall though....grr....do you think it's not worth treating them then?
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Post by Sleepy on Feb 17, 2008 14:47:43 GMT 1
The nettles growing under my double rose arch are already 4" tall though....grr....do you think it's not worth treating them then? I would say not, no. The network of roots under the soil will probably be extensive, and you are hoping to poison them with very limited leaf surface area. Better to wait until they are 18" tall and you will get much more poison into their system to tackle those roots. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 17, 2008 14:49:51 GMT 1
That's next week then! ;D A pox on all nettles I say....still I have pulled out the mass of parent roots on the other side of the rose arch this morning so p'raps that'll slow 'em up....(she said hopefully) Thanks Sleepy X
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Post by Sleepy on Feb 17, 2008 14:51:29 GMT 1
That's next week then! ;D A pox on all nettles I say....still I have pulled out the mass of parent roots on the other side of the rose arch this morning so p'raps that'll slow 'em up....(she said hopefully) Thanks Sleepy X Hmmmm... probably more likely to have multiplied their number. I hear that in some parts of the world rats and nettles are teaming up with each other!!! |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 17, 2008 14:55:22 GMT 1
Don't........... If I had to choose between rats or nettles...I don't know which one I rather have........ |
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Post by maggyd on Feb 17, 2008 20:23:39 GMT 1
The nettles growing under my double rose arch are already 4" tall though....grr....do you think it's not worth treating them then? I wonder what is in the pens that you spot treat the dandelions in your lawn? its something systemic anyway! cant you treat nettles with it so it travels along the roots and kills them that way!! I think when you snap them off it must strengthen the roots!! By the way in the Frozen North where I live I have managed to keep my French Lavender going for about 4 years now! it surprises me every time I walk past and it is still there. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 17, 2008 20:32:33 GMT 1
That's amazing Maggyd - my French Lavenders have just shrivelled up and died every time I've bought one, apart from the one tucked under the eaves by the front door. Is your soil quite sandy? It must like something about your garden....
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Post by 4pygmies on Mar 2, 2008 16:05:27 GMT 1
We got a fair amount of stuff done in the vegetable garden today. OH has cleared enough ground for me to put the potatoes in when they are ready, which is a weight of my mind. I pottered about up the top end laying out exactly where I want to put up the new fence and trellis and marked it all out with old planks. It's quite a big area. I think it will end up being about 70' X 50' although I'm rubbish at estimating that sort of thing.... I hope it will mean we can grow most of our own food, which is something I have always wanted. Eldest wants to get involved too so she can legitimately come and help herself to the produce! I have a Tayberry, a thornless Blackberry and a Quince which I want to train up trellis across the top end - and hopefully some Clematis to pretty it up too. Then I can move Mum's currents, gooseberries and Rhubarb up there too. It's nice to have a clear idea of what's going where. I know some of you long for a bigger garden so I apologise if this makes you feel like I'm showing off. I'm not. I have always intended this garden to be more for growing food than for ornamental plants. Finally I feel like I might be getting there at long last...I do love flowers but when you have limited time you have prioritise - that means my veggies come first I just got to get it done now........ |
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Post by debbiem on Mar 2, 2008 17:22:23 GMT 1
It sounds as if it's all coming together nicely 4P, and lucky you in having a lovely big garden, don't apologize!!! I can well identify with feeling relieved about getting the area for the spuds sorted - yet again we didn't go down to our allotment and we've only got some beans planted there. There's SO much to do and get planted still! Of course, as soon as we got the allotment the car My OH uses for work broke down so he uses our other one so I can't get down there in the week, it's all down there waiting for us to plant/clear it.  |
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Post by 4pygmies on Mar 2, 2008 17:27:05 GMT 1
Hello Debbie, are you having a nice Sunday? It's gets a bit scary at this time of year when you sit down and work out just how much work there is to be done doesn't it? I think I have finally impressed upon OH and eldest that it needs to be done starting now! I think you just have to keep going, little by little, and what's left has to wait until next year.....for example - my flower garden is no more and probably won't happen again this year....ah well.....
Cars are such a pain....when they work they're great. When they break down, they drive you mad.....(as opposed to the shops, school....) ;D
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Post by debbiem on Mar 2, 2008 17:42:52 GMT 1
I'm having a nice Sunday too 4P. A lovely Mothers Day with strict instructions to the kids that Mummy isn't to do anything today - of course it doesn't work in practise but it sounded nice! ;D Hubby did dig a hole for me in the garden to put our last remaining conifer in. Digging a hole where he dug it is no mean feat, the amount of rubble in the ground there but he made short work of it compared to how long I'd have taken! Cars - I so agree! |
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Post by 4pygmies on Sept 3, 2008 9:39:07 GMT 1
It'sjust about the start of the Autumn work in the garden and I am full of good intentions....so I have revived this thread! I don't seem to have achieved much this year what with being so ill at exactly the wrong time and then going off to Brum for 2 weeks...I just never had time to catch up...... Still I am slightly further forward in as much as I have murdered the nettles (temporarily I'm sure) in the new area of the vegetable garden, so I am resolved to get that whole corner dug and cleared this month. Hopefully I can then start to put up the trellis, dig and move the raspberries into it and mulch the whole lot with tons of goat muck and bark. I would also like to finish clearing the flower garden and plant it up before the cold weather start to bite.....and get the hedges cut down asap. I'm trying to keep motivated........but it seems like an awful lot of work for an oldish lady with a crook knee, bad hips and a rather hard physical job 3 days a week.... P'raps I need to look pitifully at Eldest... ;D What has everyone else got in mind for their garden this coming Autumn? |
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Post by emseypop on Sept 3, 2008 9:50:21 GMT 1
Its good to hear you are making some headway with the nettles 4p. I hope eldest is willing to help you with you autumn plans. Its a case of what OH is going to get done in the garden  Hopefully this week he will be building the trellis fence and keeping the hens confined to the top 1/3 of the garden. Then we are going to rip the fencing down around the decking so open out the garden more. The hens have cleared the boarders of weeds (and plants) and turned them over nicely, I'll scatter the contents of one of my compost bins around ready for planting and nurse the lawn a bit. Cut back some shrubs, maybe not all, I like a bit of shape, but Sean hacks everything back into a tight line against the fence. |
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