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Quote: That fabric only retards existing weeds in the soil, otherwise the weed seeds lay on top, under the gravel and grow through, the only good point is that they are easy to pull up.
absolutely - we just rake the gravel, remove the bad guys and take care not to disturb plants that look interesting. It's actually quite a useful source of 'free' plants!
Quote: Cutting grass is cruel........It's very upsetting to hear grass moan
oh dear 
Quote: It's actually quite a useful source of 'free' plants!
absolutely, my wife is a propogation freak and spends hours bringing on self-seeds that she has removed from the shingle, then even longer trying to find someone she can persuade to re-home them
The only weed that we get that we can't easily control with membrane and deep shingle cover is that nasty little purple wood oxalis, it spreads on a matt of fibrous roots and always comes up in the middle of plants like thyme where you have to destroy lumps of it to stand a chance of getting at the oxalis root. I hate that stuff with a passion
Lovely shot Brian, Hope you are well.
My style of planting.
Favourite perennial geranium "Anne Folkhard" (the bright pink one) with what looks to me like the blue geranium "Roxanne" Like the use of the pink lychnis and the red crocosmia looks like "Lucifer" with the Nigella. I can just see the variegated leaf of the sorrel (oxalis tetraphylla) its a lovely plant but can spread if not watched. Have a look out for Verbena "Polaris"only grows to 18 inches tall and its not a thug like the Verbena bonarienisis.
The Lesser Half, and I were watching some Bats flying around the garden tonight.
So I thought I'd have a go at getting some pix, (I'm always optimistic when it comes to trying daft projects).
Set camera up (Sony A100, Sigma 28-80mm) on 28mm setting, manual, 1/20 at f8 + flash, manual focus set at about 8 feet (all settings sheer guesswork )
Waited for Bats to appear and fired off in the general direction of the Bats, no point in using viewfinder, but the rectangular hole under the flash makes a reasonable guide/direction finder.
I was quite surprised to find that I had actually got some pix (4/12 attempts), these shots are not visible in camera and have been tweaked somewhat to bring them up, hence the grain(noise).
Images cropped about 1/10 of frame area.
Made a major C-Up, I forgot to set the ISO and it was on 100(DOH), will try again tomorrow night, if they appear.
Hopefully I'll get better results on ISO 400 or 800.
Hi Jacqueline, yes we are both well thanks, still ridiculously busy for two old retired people but having a lot of fun
Well spotted, that is Lucifer, haven't they done well this year, I reckon ours are the best they have ever been. There's a Bowles Mauve hidden in the geraniums somewhere.
When I started building the garden I kept a planting list and we had something like 500+ different species / sub-species.
I reckon that the Darwinian approach has probably culled that back to 150 - 200 that really thrive (given up the list as it seemed a bit anal for something that was supposed to be fun 
)
Quote: Have a look out for Verbena "Polaris"only grows to 18 inches tall and its not a thug like the Verbena bonarienisis
That's a species we would love to grow but for some reason they only last one season then die back (we've tried lots of different culitvars). A bit like Phygellius, looked promising for a couple of years then they all turned their toes up.
On the other hand Penstemons grow like weeds and I reckon Pam has a secret plan to take over my garden design and turn it into a national penstemon collection
Agapanthus.
Acanthus (Bears Breeches)
Agapanthus has done well this year, as have Digitalis, assorted thistles, Lupins, Hollyhocks, Day Lilies.
Hostas have larger than usual flowers, and the Acanthuses/Acanthii? have gone bonkers with masses of 4ft flower spikes.
A couple of this year's 'fun' plants (?)
annual Aster with Lobelia Cardinalis just getting going
Quote: Agapanthus has done well this year, as have Digitalis, assorted thistles, Lupins, Hollyhocks, Day Lilies.
Hostas have larger than usual flowers, and the Acanthuses/Acanthii? have gone bonkers with masses of 4ft flower spikes.
On our Acanthii (I don't know either) the flowers look good but something has been eating the leaves.
That Agapanthus is really good.
Seems like it's earwig time in my garden shed and bird feeders. I hate them. When you get a nest of them they rustle as they all move around each other. Shudder! And I've never had so many daddy long legs as this year. I don't mind them, but they've taken over my shed and are gradually moving into the house.
For the earwigs; if you suspect where their nests are, mix up some water and Sunlight kitchen soap in a spray bottle with water. Or try any other brand if you have it, a capful to a normal size spray bottle of water. Earwigs have gills, and the soap coats them and they suffocate. Works like a charm.
Quote: For the earwigs; if you suspect where their nests are, mix up some water and Sunlight kitchen soap in a spray bottle with water. Or try any other brand if you have it, a capful to a normal size spray bottle of water. Earwigs have gills, and the soap coats them and they suffocate. Works like a charm.
Oh no. I couldn't possibly do that. I might not like them but I'd never be cruel and kill them. They don't last long anyway. 
Tonight's best Bat effort, I'm slowly improving my techunique, but the little beggars won't slow down so that I can get a bead on 'em.
Sony A100, Sigma 20-80mm (20mm) Manual mode, 1/10 @f8, iSO 800, focus 8ft app.
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