dottiesue

'What To Do Now'

Can anyone tell me how the list of jobs for the week is selected? Are they tailored to the current weather conditions or are they generally 'what one does at this time of year' in normal circumstances? Also - with significant regional variations whose climate/weather is taken as a baseline indicator?

(I'm just wondering whether to remove the snow 'blanket' from my Mum's Clematis' and cut them down to size this weekend or leave them alone for a while longer.)

Secateurs.....bin them or sharpen them

 If you're an 'abuser' your blades will end up with nicks in them in which case you'd need to have them put on a grinder (by someone who knows what they're doing) - or bin them. Shoe repairers often sharpen blades, btw. Finances and guilt about landfill have motivated me to be more careful in using the right tool for the job and I learned from the pros on the telly and in books how to sharpen them. I don't sharpen them every day but I do clean them every day that I use them. .

I've become rather emotionally attached to my little family of secateurs now that I've had them a few years and would be a wee bit upset if I (or anyone else) damaged them beyond repair.

Composting and wormery

just a point on the wormery 'thing' (which I no longer have): the compost is gorgeously rich but comes in such small amounts that most 'pros' will advise to treat like gold dust - mix with other stuff and treat your fav vegetation with it; the liquid is the 'main event' - you'll be surprised how much you get especially once diluted.

But my reason for gatecrashing your compost 'party' was - does anyone know of any published articles re the effects of different foodstuffs on the compost heap??? I ask because mine seems to be more of a tea(bag) heap at the mo and though it will get turned with whatever else it can eat from the kitchen and garden in due course, i was just wondering if you can guesstimate nutrition, acidity etc of the end product from its diet (beyond the broad 'food groups' of green, woody etc) - I haven't 'googled' yet as that usually ends in tears...  

Talkback: How to maintain a garden pond

'What To Do Now'