Tag: dublin landscaping

Snails…

Some may call the mollusc one of the greatest pests known to mankind the plant world. I’ll give them one thing…. they’re not the prettiest looking fellas on the planet.

Famed for eating anything thats green leafed, the damage they cause can often be confused with that of bird damage. The difference is birds will eat through the veins of the leaf where the snails mouth eating parts will not allow them eat anything greater than just the leaf matter. ie the damage they cause is considered interveinal only.

For controlling snails once must start at the very start and that is with good garden hygiene; ie. a good cleaning, pruning and removal of debris regularly from around plants. There is also the use of ‘slug pellets which burns the belly of the mollusc when they move across it. Personally I like to pick them up and throw them into the hens.

What I find facinating is the varied and so many methods of controlling snails I have heard on my travels…. from copper wire placed in a loop around the base of the plant to a cup of beer placed near, which I personally find an awful waste 😉

How do you do it….?

Tags biology, bird, control, diseases, dublin landscaping, Flora and Fauna, garden, garden problems, gardener, gardening dublin, landscaping in dublin, leaf, mollusc, Mollusca, My Ireland, pest, plant, Slug, Snail

All Posts People, Business

Autumn Colour…

Can you imagine if every house in Ireland planted just one tree, how beautiful would this country look….

I really do love this time of year.

Last week I was walking down Griffith Avenue and being honest it almost brought me back to my childhood days of not that long ago…

I used to love the leaves on the ground and absolutely hated it when people swept them all up and made the place look tidy. When I saw the piles I was one of those ‘little terrors’ who kicked them all over the place and most likely got an ear clipping for it 😆

Sidetracking slightly, Jane Powers who does the Irish Times garden column, this weekend wrote about the beauty of autumn colour. A great read. Bulaidh bós Jane.

You see, landscaping, well more the trends [?] took a turn for the worst in my opinion over the last few years. Trees, if not all then most definitely the larger members of the family were not allowed. They became surplus to requirement. Some, quarantined them in the high maintenance category. So much so that I find it hard to find [for example] a ‘conker tree’ in North County Dublin…. which is why I went to Griffith Avenue 😉 [I also visited my older brother who lives just off and had some home made chocalate pie and real coffee….]

But its not until, maybe, one sees a tree in its finest splendour through a season that one thinks…. well maybe I would like one of those. And with that in mind tree planting season is almost upon us…. Now is the time to decide that you would like.

Can you imagine if every house in Ireland planted just one tree how beautiful this country would look. If you don’t plant one…buy one for somebody you like to brighten their day up… then go and admire their one… or rake some leaves up and allow the kids to kick them all over the place…. 😆

As a by the way…. autumn colour is brought about by a build up in sugars from warm temperatures during the day and then a cold night where the sugars are held in the leaf.

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Tags autumn, autumn colour, biology, brighten, child, coffee, colour, dublin landscaping, family, gardeners, gardening, gardening in dublin, grow, landscaping in dublin, leaves, My Ireland, plant, rake, smile, tree, Treeplanting, trees

All Posts Garden Talks and Events with Peter Donegan

gardeners charity poker classic in ballyboughal

Post author By Peter Donegan
Post date October 12, 2009
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are you going...?

***Tickets can be bought behind the bar in The Village Inn from Kevin or drop by my house or give me a call 🙂

From Yes folks 7 tables of 7 people will battle it out for the title of Ballyboughals best poker player Friday 16th October.

The gig won’t take place in O’Connors pub exactly as the people wont really all fit in… rather it will take place in the old school opposite… but systems are in place that a lounge person will run back and forth constantlty from one to the other with your beverage in case your taste buds dry out 😉

The reason… well of course the trad session is on so when you finsh your game of cards… simply walk the far side of the [very narrow] road and have a listen to some of Ireland finest musicians.

Sandwiches will be provided on the night and the trad session [as always] is free in.

All money raised will of course go to my trip to South Africa with the Niall Mellon Township Trust. Click here to see how much I’ve raised so far.

Never been to ballyboughal [just outside Swords btw] here’s how to get here

Tags business, dublin landscaping, events, greet, horticulture, landscaping in dublin, meet, niall mellon township trust, people, Poker, Public house, social, Society and Culture, south africa, Travel and Tourism, Travel Guides

All Posts Gardens by Peter Donegan Garden Design

building repak recycle week 09

Post author By Peter Donegan
Post date October 8, 2009
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Its a little of a crazy one when given a one day build time for any garden… everything must go perfectly according to plan…

Unknows to most preparation for this garden started about 7 weeks ago.

‘The greenhouse effect’ was intended to be a full and proper garden but as things do change… the ‘fail to prepare’ cliché definitely lent itself to this one. Once again it is only by working alongside such amaing people that everything runs so smoothly and it [some may say 😉 ] appears to be so easily done.

There are people involved in this short time frame build who where given literally hours notice, there are those who would have been on the phone to me on their weekends and/ or well into the wee hours of the night. In fact there was at one point 2 wheelie bins being cut up at approximately 11pm at night… once again at an hours notice [thanks John 😉 ] To those who did make life that little more enjoyable rather than work stressful. Thank you. It is also because of you that I love so very much what it is I do. 🙂

For more information on repak recycle week 2009 visit www.recycle more.ie

All Posts Garden Advice

october in the garden…

The Sepember in the garden post seemed to go down quite well so… here’s your monthly bit for October. And a little music to read with…

Now that your bedding plants have just about gone to pot and the garden [in some cases] maybe lacking a little inspiration… it’s time to take down those hanging baskets and planters, identify those blank spots in your beds and get the place spruced up. 😉 Believe me you’ll thank me for it.

While you’re there… don’t forget spring bulbs are on sale now. If you want some spring inspiration year after year… this is a ‘right now’ must do. Chose not to do so in advance and what one finds is that the left over bulbs are planted in pretty pots and come January, sold with a big bow wrapped around it… and a price tag to match.

Next up… the evenings are getting that little bit darker so I’ve decided I’m gonna get started on some early winter chores. I’ve started with the lawnmowers. The problem has been that even when the sun did shine, the grass was still wet and the blades took the odd bit of hammering. I’ve got all the undersides cleaned out and out with the angle grinder to give the blades a bit of a sharpen. Apart from that usual service rules apply, but nothing a good drop of oil can’t solve. If you’re not into that, book it in for its annual service… before everyone else does that is!

From a weed control point of view… once again the weather has played absolute havoc. Assuming you have a couple of hours dryness, the grass/ weeds are dry and you use a translocated spray…. whilst teperatures are around the 12-14 degrees celcius, I’d make sure you get the place tidy[er] for this coming winter a little sooner.

The lettuce crops are still trying to bolt into seed. I’m still fighting it… nature will eventually take over. That said I’ve not been as reliable on my sorrell plants and as a result their green leaves will carry me easily through December. Next after that is a good tidy up of the greenhouse. I need to get ready for some spring crops….

If you fancy building your own BBQ check out this post. Other than that… a good clean up of the entire set is necessary and store it away until next year.Yes that’s right wash it… not leave it out to rust like you did last year 🙄

Don’t forget your wild berries. Just because they’re not in a plastic container… they’re exactly the same thing. Go pick. Make jam. Bake cakes. Free food season is on. Before the birds get it.

Passing through some garden centres recently, Now is the best time to buy your garden furniture, benches and tables for next year. It is the end of the season and some ranges – If you want to get some kind of garden together for next year and need those few bits. Take my advice – the real bargains are on now

For the moment there’s not a whole lot else – but in garden terms always remeber that preparation is everything and forgetting this month may leave you in mild despair for next year.

With all that hard work done… 😆 You’ve a great excuse now with the evenings closing in – go ahead grab yourself a glass of wine, sit back and relax.

As I said last month… if you see something thats not here – just leave a comment – I’ll know the next time I also dropped in a little music from Paulo Nutini, because I find I can read better with music when the article is a little longer. Personally, I dislike the ever copy and pasted 5 pointer one liners that reappear in the usual gardening columns so I’ve tried to make this a little different[ish]. I just hope you enjoyed it.