The Smallest Smallholding

Poorly Department Rescue

May 18, 2013 by Lucy

When it comes to all living things, I’m a bit of a champion of the underdog. That applies to plants, too. That’s why I’ve almost made a hobby out of scouring what my Mum and I refer to as “the poorly department” at garden centres and plant nurseries – that shelf of sickly, leggy, rather sad-looking plants that appear to be past their best.

How can I not give them a second chance, and grab myself a bargain at the same time?

Often all they need is minimal TLC. In fact, some of our top success stories have been via The Poorly Department. Last year, I found a reduced echinacea purpurea for a few pence. It looked a little scraggly and had already flowered. But I could see it wasn’t done yet; it just needed a bit of sprucing up, planting in the ground and some space. So we did just that, and it bloomed and bloomed and bloomed. This year, it’s already coming up and Rich, having been so impressed by its performance and the sheer volume of wildlife it attracted, has added a few more echinacea plants into the borders.

Another Poorly Department rescue I undertook this year was with these tulips below (see top image too). I don’t even know what they are, only that they looked a little sad, but had lots of unopened flowers and I had a space that needed filling.

When the flowers did open, they were spectacular, and have added some much-needed colour (and pollen) in an area of the long border that doesn’t otherwise get going until mid-summer.

My latest rescue was brought home just a couple of days ago; I spotted these mange tout looking very sorry for themselves, hidden away on a shelf at the back of the garden centre. My plan is to have these little guys scrambling up a small obelisk in the flower borders, as I have a new gap-filling plan that involves flowering vegetables. More on that, later.

Have you had any success stories with your own Poorly Department rescues?

Filed Under: flowers, garden, veg, wildlife Tagged With: cheap, flowers, plants, poorly, reduced, sale 3 Comments

Ducks

May 13, 2013 by Lucy

In the past week, we’ve had some surprise regular visitors to The Smallest Smallholding – a pair of Mallards. I’ve always hankered after having some ducky residents here, but the prospect of having to construct something to protect them from our local fox population, funding the feed and housing, digging out a suitable pond, the prospect of vet bills… yada yada yada… it’s just not something I think I could do at the moment.

The next best thing though, is having our wild visitors. They’re not too flighty – we can approach them from a reasonable distance and they don’t seem to mind us observing as they nibble and pick through the bird food, new grass shoots, slugs, and whatever else they’re happily foraging for.

The male mallard is the most attentive husband I’ve ever seen; he sits quietly, constantly keeping watch and his mate gentle pecks and picks away under the fruit trees. At the drop of a hat, she’s on a mission to have a drink and a wash in our make-shift shallow bird bath (a grow bag tray… favoured by many species of birds and mammals!), and he simply ups and follows her, taking her lead wherever she chooses to go.

Their daily visits are short – they arrive in the evening, and sometimes they’re out there for ten minutes, or they might stick around for half an hour or so. The female decides when it’s time to go; usually it’s just before sundown. She begins waddling at speed up the garden, before hauling her fat little body into the sky with surprising grace, followed closely by the male.

I look forward to the prospect of regular visits from this pair – somehow it makes my Smallest Smallholding feel a little more complete. It’s had a wildlife stamp of approval. Success!

Filed Under: sustainability, wildlife 4 Comments

Filling Gaps – Part Deux

May 13, 2013 by Lucy

I’ve been at it again – filling gaps in the long border in a bid to introduce more fragrance, colour, texture and more importantly – plants for pollinators. First on the list is tackling what Rich and I affectionately(!) term The Berlin Wall – a few years ago, our neighbours built another extension and we have been left with a large expanse of bare wall. Not particularly appealing.

On one side, we grow some ivy (which proves popular with the sparrows), and a sprawling Paul’s Himalayan Musk rose. But there’s still so much more wall to cover. I wanted something fragrant and attractive to pollinators, and trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine ‘Sunlover’) seemed to be the perfect fit. It’s an evergreen climber that, as the name suggests, produces an abundance of star-shaped white flowers with a heady, sweet fragrance with subtle vanilla overtones. Perfect for a warm summer evening.

trachelospermum jasminoides or 'star jasmine' from Spalding Plant & Bulb Co.

The star jasmine should grow from the 30cm plant quite quickly – it needs a bit of heat to get going, but being near a sheltered brick wall that receives lots of sun, it should get a good kick start.

After receiving two trachelospermum jasminoides from Spalding Bulb & Plant Co. we drilled in a few vines to help the jasmine cling as it ascends the Berlin Wall. Hopefully in a couple of years or so, the bottom of the wall should be shrouded in lush, dark green foliage and tiny white stars. Much more preferable to boring, bare brick!

Here’s what it could look like in the near future…