Fifi's Inbox

Good for you! Maybe you will get some peas late in the year after all, if the weather stays mild. They'll miss the longer hours of daylight, that's the only thing, but worth a try!

Fifi - I'd forgotten that you can actually plant sw peas in pots in autumn (or later in winter? it would b worth checking) bcos doing it that way, then planting outdoors next Spring may make for sturdier plants. So Jacque is right actually.
It's a bit strange though, what the G.C. lady told you is definitely not accurate, and also am intrigued by the labelling - do you have a latin name praps, so s.one here can identify them as sw peas, not edible peas? When u say you were looking forward to peas soon do u mean ones to eat, or did u actually mean the flowers?

Would be a bit worried about the word "Sweet" when combined with pea. Sweet peas, the flowers, are poisonous or at least the seeds are. They can be sown now onwards and wouls survive most normal winters outside in much of Britiain.
If they are edible peas then agree, it is far too late in the season for them to do anything outdoors. They need bees to pollenate and there are not many around in the cold!

Its not2late Fifi 2 plant some in2pots now & grow them on Indoors/Green house ready2plant out into your Veg Patch in Spring Nex yr then ul have them 4 Summer :)

Hello Fifi,
I think the only problem with this is that sweet peas want to be sown then planted out in the Spring, not this late in the season. Don't be too downhearted, and good luck with growing them next year!

You can start off again and you will find you will have a lot of young fresh growth in the Spring.

If you wish you can cut Buddleja to a stump and it will still come back well.

i think the books say prune to one third, but my wife has just pruned one of ours very hard indeed, down to about 2 1/2 feet , but it will grow back next year, they are very hardy.didn't see many butterflies this year.

Just dead head it and wait 'til flowers stop blooming , reduce it late Autumn then prune it hard in Spring, continue to enjoy it now.

Around for mild temps and cover when frost is predicted, use plastic also if a hard freeze is predicted!

I think the lady was talking about mulching heavily for cold protection with the straw and that is really popular here on strawberries. I use plastic for protection on my stuff in the early spring if a cold snap is predicted and as long as you keep it up off the plants with supports and remove it as soon as the temp gets high enough that should work just fine.

You can get certain types of onion sets that can be planted in the autumn and then you harvest them next spring. Good luck with your veg. patch.
All the best, Hywel.

Spritzhenry is correct there are still a lot of things you can grow in Fall and even Winter. Salad greens are a good choice and cabbages, Kale and Swiss Chard can even take freezing temps and still do okay.

great plan Fifi, the girls will love growing their own veg

You are still OK to plant spinach, turnips, radishes and 'cut and come again' salad leaves. Good luck!

why not add a pic of your pets fifi. most of us do, and im sure they would be appreciated

It's an excellent organic powdered fertiliser. It seems to suit lots of plants, shrubs and trees and give them a 'boost'. You'll find it at Garden Centres and DIY stores in large boxes.

buttercups can be a nuisance. they are hard to get rid of if you dig out the ones that are there then put a couple of inches of compost mulch over the soil it should hold them at bay for a reasonable time

Mulch around them in the spring with well-rotted manure if you can get some, or home-made compoat mixed with some chicken manure pellets. OR blood, fish and bone sprinkled round is good. Then feed 3-weekly during the growing/flowering season. You can buy rose food to water on, or just use the b. f. and b. again.

Don't forget to feed them in the spring!

If you prune them right back to about 4" for each branch you will be doing them a big favour and they should reward you next year with plenty of healthy growth and flowers.

Welcome Fifi
Although we have a tiny lawn in a pot (!) I have helped a friend who has re- seeded areas of the lawn in his garden and done some patching in early autumn when the soil is still warm and moist, and before any real frosts appear. I'm not sure where you are located but you can get way with it in the Southwest for small areas where there are bare patches, but its best to wait until the Spring if you have large areas to re-seed.

Welcome Fifi! You'll surely love this site. Friendly and informative. Look forward to pictures.

Hi Fifi, welcome to GOY,, i have two female dogs so my grass is in a bit of a state, plus having a mad whippet running around in circles doesnt help it either lol.

Hi Fifi. Welcome to GOY. We don't get moss but our lawn a year ago was more weeds than grass. We gave Autumn feed, and then reseeded once or twice over the past year. We also used Spring feed. With regular mowing, seeding and feeding it is much better now than it was.
Looking forward to seeing how your new garden develops.
I think there is special treatment to discourage moss. Raking it out is probably something you should do first, but I don't know since we don't have that problem.

Hello Fifi. I don't have a lawn so can't help you, but I want to give you a welcome to GOY. I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any photos of your garden we'd be interested to see them.
Best wishes, Hywel.

Hi Fifi! Nice to meet you! How lovely to have a garden now - you must be thrilled! It isn't really the right time to start re-seeding the patches on the lawn. Wait until the spring and then you can apply weedkiller and lawn feed according to the insructions on the packet, as well as re-seeding! Are you going to be making lots of changes to the garden?

Just to say, hello Fifi, and welcome.

Some nice pet names in your household :
Scooby the dog and Puss the cat. As you say on your page, not original, but may I add, very memorable. LOL

I'm guessing that Scooby the German Shepherd Dog is male. If the GSD were a female, that would be a very obvious reason for lots of lawn patches !

I hope you enjoy GoY.