Elderberry

17.08.2014

 I need a thick bushy cover to act as wind breaker for the North wind which runs loose in the field behind my garden and I prefer an edible hedge. I plant elderberry trees because they are invasive and both flowers and berries can be turned into delicious syrup.

My boyfriend did the hard work of digging in the backyard hedge amongst old tree roots, forest shoots and old ceramic debris. I cleared many branches from the various trees and bushes that are growing wild in between our apple trees and red currants, then I planted 'Samyl' (right) next to the neighbors garden and 'Sambu' (left) in between my compost bunks.
Now both trees are low and looking more like bushes, but they are bearing berries.

There is a wild elderberry tree growing tall on my acid bed, near my neighbors garden, on the west hedge of the house. There is also pink rhododendron that bloomed after I cut many dead branches last winter. Last month I added rhododendron sphagnum when I planted one hydrangea (birthday gift) and a lingonberry to this bed. I also watered once with aluminum sulfate hoping to get blue hydrangea flowers next year. If they turn pink, my soil was too alkaline and further amendments would be made.

Caring for blueberries, planting bushes and collecting herbs

19/08/2014

Yesterday I bought 2 new blueberry plants, green and lush from the nursery, with few fruits on them.

1. a climber, 'Goldtraube'
2. a bush, 'Elizabeth'

Elizabeth is a mid season blueberry, as well as Bluecrop. As my Bluecrop failed this year and is reddish I transplant it under a pine tree (left) and add Elizabeth as a companion (right) for cross fertilization. Hopefully the soil at the bottom of my neighbors pine tree is acid enough due to many years of  pine needle natural composting. I placed both bushes far enough from the trunk so they get plenty of sun.

Therefore I replaced Bluecrop with my new climber blueberry 'Goldtraube' in the front yard.

I added generous amounts of 'rhododendron sphagnum' in all of the holes, well mixed with the original soil. I didn't have to water because it rains heavily these days.

Now my blueberry row in the front garden is as follow, from North to South:

- North country, planted in May from nursery, produced few small berries in july, red leaves (24/04/2014)
- Duke,  planted in May from nursery, late blooming, very delicious big berries in July.
- Goldtraube, planted in August from nursery with small ripe and green berries.
- Darrow, bought at the supermarket in June, dried before summer, no fruits

Except 'Duke' my blueberries suffered terribly from the dry sunny summer we had this year. In addition my soil wasn't rich enough (too sandy despite added sphagnum+pine mulch) and the tap water used to avoid total dessication is too hard.
Hopefully rain or collected rainwater will be enough until next summer. In order to further acidify my soil I plan to fertilize my blueberry bushes with home made compost (too fresh atm), seaweed (abundant on the beach in late summer) and more pine mulching over winter.

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Sheltered by the hedge, and rather close to a giant lilac bush I planted a dutch white currant 'hvid hollandsk ribs'. I had been looking for white currants for a while, because there area few red currant my garden.

I planted a 'Rose de Recht' low bush with pink fragant roses in front of my house (south facing) near some existing roses (unknown varieties). I may try to propagate it through cuttings next year if it thrives, but for now I'll wait and see.

I bought also 2 Hippophaë,or sea-buckthorns, a male 'Pollmix1' and a fruit bearing female 'Frugana'. One male tree can fertilize a bunch of female trees, but I start with one because they are rather expensive and I'm curious if I could grow some from seeds. I could also add one 'Orange energy' female later, if I'm satisfied with these fruits.
I placed both trees along my shriveling sea facing hedge of unknown low bushes, as wind breakers. I live only 60 m away from the coastline and the wind from the Baltic sea is sometimes very strong.

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I potted herbs from the nursery instead of planting in the garden because autumn is approaching and I would like to keep fresh leaves a bit longer.
I am collecting mint and sage varieties and today I added "mentha rotundifolia" (æblemynte broget) and "calamintha grandiflora"(rosenynte) to my mint list. Both pots are on the terrasse outside, but I kept 'salvia grahamii' (solbær salvie) indoors on a west facing window

Finally I re-potted 3 pink flowered strawberry plants in a barrel with our garden soil

Building a summer guild around potted citrus trees

17/08/2014

I re-potted my lemon and kumquat trees into bigger pots with nursery soil and watered with citrus fertilizer. Due to an ongoing storm I decided to shelter both plants in the hall, where they are now likely to stay over the long danish winter.

I plan to  take my precious potted citrus trees outdoor again when flowers are blooming next spring so that they can be pollinated naturally and enjoy as much sun as possible.

 Here I gathered ideas to build a beneficial summer citrus guild. These guidelines will help plan my sowing calendar over winter and spring.

1. Plant a few pea seeds directly into the pot because lemon tree is heavy feeder and needs nitrogen fixing plants.

2.  Keep potted herbs such as mint, lemon balm, parsley and thyme around my citrus in order to attract pollinators, caterpillar parasites, and enjoy fresh teas in season.
I already have a peppermint and thyme pots on my stairs in front of the house.
I should take a cutting of lemon balm from my backyard bush in order to have one ready next spring.
I have to sow parsley in containers during the winter so I can I enjoy fresh parsley in my morning fruit smoothies even when it's snowing. Then I can take them outdoors as soon as citrus bloom in late spring.

4. Sow beautiful useful flowers such as marigolds, nasturtium, petunia and borage who do double duty, deterring pests while attracting pollinators. I could grow them at the bottom of the hedge opposite to the house.

5. Grow a row of lavender because they keep aphids and whitefly from infesting citrus trees. I'll start from seed indoors in winter and wait until may (no frost) before planting them on the sunny side of the house.
I shall alternate white and purple flowering lavender for a more dramatic effect.

More information,
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-can-used-companion-lemon-tree-63757.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_8381176_plant-lavender-under-citrus-trees.html

Sage and carot

The little (shriveling) sage grown from seed in a small pot on a north window was re-potted in a bigger pot and placed outside in order to get more sun.

I found a very small carrot in the organic veggie basket, so I cut the browning leaves, but not the stem and planted it in a very deep but narrow pot, that stays outside.


-- Update on aloe: the baby aloe that I severed from its mother at only 3 leaves has now 4!
It seems that plenty of sun (south facing window) and little water (dried soil in between sparse watering) saved the small plant.

14th August - Mints and stevia tea

- 'Moroccan' green mint was re-potted in a big pot with a mix of garden and flower soil.
 Few branches were cut and leaves were used in tea, along with 'chocolate' peppermint leaves and stevia leaves. All the leaves were plucked from their (cut) stem, then cut at least in two and placed in a tea pot. I boiled water and poured it over the leaves and let it simmer at least 10 minutes.

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- Parsley and root parsley grown from seeds in small pots on east window were planted outside in the shady and wet corner near the violet and lily. Brussel sprouts were placed nearby.

- Pineapple sage was transferred in the parsnip/carrot/parsley guild. Other salvia officinalis was already protecting the guild. One shoot of pineapple sage was kept in a pot in the kitchen.

More aloe, more fertilising

Today I watered with the organic fertilizer for grenhouse all my indoor and outdoor potted plants.

While tying upwards tomatoes I found a cut branch which I prepared as a cutting.

The seeded violet petunia is blooming again.

I have 2 big aloe vera growing on a south facing window. Recently I cut  leaves from both and they yielded some nice gel. I used the blended gel into a homemade shampoo, along with organic lemon. This is the best shampoo I made so far. It gave me super smooth and dandruff free hair for over 4 days. Therefore I couldn't resist an offer and I bought a new aloe vera (aloe bardanensis). Now it has to heal from supermarket bad lighting on the south facing window...

I also got a new sage (salvia elegans 'scarlett pineapple') and another Moroccan mint. They are temporarily on the kitchen window.

---Ginger update: the two sprouts are visibly greening.

Ginger trial

Today I planted in a pot 2 ginger roots that had sprouted in my cupboard shelf while desperately waiting to be eaten.

I mixed flower mulch and some of my garden ground and watered thoroughly.