Wednesday, 22 April 2020

Pottering in the sunshine

My smaller damaged Olive is doing so well, I decided to give it a new bigger pot, it should be happy in here for years. I have a 2nd pot the same for the lemon tree, but it's far to early to pop any of my citrus out, even if we are getting record temperatures at the moment, the risk of frost has not yet passed. 
Large pots in the garden do not stay empty for long, I have already popped my Pomegranate in the spare pot from the Olive, the smaller empty pot is earmarked for another plant. The new larger pots are plastic, they match the pot I have our Olive tree in. 
 I am finding the bigger clay pots are heavy before I plant them up, so I am matching the much lighter plastic ones, plus they won't crack with age. I do like these plastic pots to match in our seating area, I love this one planted with Lemongrass and Lemon balm, which helps covers the smells from next door. 
Years ago I got these huge matching plastic tubs for my fruits, I have 4 large and 1 smaller tubs, they work well as I can ensure each fruit bush has the best environment to grow, we do get a good crop, so it is working.  
Most of my pots and covers are years old, they work well in my greenhouse
 All my expensive staging has plastic grow-bag trays on, this stops water damage. 
Whilst I was working I decided I would add to my gardening tools, trays, tops and plant stakes, I wanted to ensure I would be able to do my gardening and propagating, most of all the items purchased were from Wilkinson's and B&Q, and almost always in the end of season sale. Now I only have to pop to my shed for any garden needs, and through the summer almost all of it is in use.

Most of it heavy duty plastic, but it is lasting very well, I ensure it's cleaned and stored in my dry shed, even though it's years old, I will have many more years use, I am not expecting to have to purchase any more. 

I also purchased loads of clay pots, I do love pots, our heavy clay soil has killed off far too many plants, plus I do love to purchase small plants and grow them on.

I have also been given some lovely pots, I have clay pots and heavy duty plastic seed trays from Win's garden, her nephew passed loads to me, I love to see them in my garden, it reminds me of a great gardener. My sister Lena and youngest daughter have both given me lovely pots, so my garden is my own history.

The total plus for all these pots, is once I no longer want them, they can be offered locally and passed on to other gardeners, I know my daughter will want a few of them.


My final photo is my beautiful Acer, another bargain, purchased years ago for 99p, in September, the leaves had fallen off and it was in the half dead bin, it was tiny, but I do love to watch plants grow.
I was hoping to get a smaller acid green Acer this summer, but I can wait.
The plant in the front pot is a white bleeding heart, it did not grow in the garden, this is it's second year and it's much stronger.

This post started with a photo of my Olive in it's old and new pot, and like my garden it grew, I've been on here far too long, but I planned a lazy day, now off to enjoy the sunshine. 



12 comments:

  1. I have serious pot envy here as I didn't get a chance to get any pots before this all happened as too much time was spent dealing with the fallout from the move (aka terrible removal company owner & damage). I've scoured the garden for useful things, but sadly no pots...apart from a few small plastic ones behind the shed which will be okay for seeds and seedlings. I had so many wonderful pots at Rose Cottage, but left all of them behind, not intentionally, the removal company rushed and left some things behind that I'd asked to be packed, and hubby was going to bring some down but of course that hasn't happened.

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  2. What a beautiful acer! I have sadly run out of bigger pots. An olive tree on my patio is on my wish list when all this madness is over.

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    1. I would wait, I've, rosemary and lavender are all suffering disease and have restrictions to their import this year. Any you see are going to be expensive or possibly diseased.

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  3. You obviously have seriously green fingers as you are able to nurture the weakest plant into healthy growth. Your potted plants and trees look amazing.

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    1. It's a case of trying, often I'm not sure what to do, but if you don't try you will never know.

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  4. Your acer is beautiful, such a gorgeous colour. I used to have many more pots than I do now, I just got a bit fed up of having to water them all the time as they do tend to dry out in record time, but I do love how they look.

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  5. Many of my clay pots are breaking and so this year I will purchase a few more of the large plastic pots. I wish we could have fruit trees in pots but there is no room in the house to keep them over the winter.

    God bless.

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    1. It is a problem on winter storage, my greenhouse is always full through the cold months. I think hubby would be most upset if I tried to bring more plants inside.

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  6. Your Acer is beautiful …

    All the best Jan

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  7. Stunning acer.
    We purchased a small acer one from Morrisons last year at the end of the year, its was pennies as it was a bit battered, doing well now though.

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  8. Your trees in pots are an inspiration as well as attractive, and obviously happy with how you are caring for them :)

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  9. Our Acer is my husbands favourite, It's not my favourite and I hate the mess when they shed, I do love the colour though, ours is red like yours.

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