The local grocery store had some really lovely live herbs. They were in little pots and wrapped in clear plastic like flowers. I grabbed a couple of rosemary plants. After carefully teasing them from their pots I transplanted them only to find them all flopped over like limp noodles the next day. They cannot stand up on their own. They don't have any water issues except for possibly being too wet. Should I stake them? Just leave them alone?
Paul
Do they have roots or are they just cuttings?
D
I believe I wrote they were in pots. They are seedlings which were grown in the pots. They are about 8 inches tall. They are fully hydrated with no signs of wilting.
Paul
The teasing has probably removed most of the soil in contact with the root hairs so they aren't taking in water very efficiently now. The new growth is soft and relies on turgor pressure to stand.
They will need time to re-grow the root hairs, staking will not do much. I would advise patience and a sheltered spot with strong light but not sun for a while. Don't over water, wet feet will kill rosemary quickly. Those that perk up can be moved into the sun.
D
The problem with grocery store bought plants is that they tend be be wrapped up and transported for sometime long periods and great distances and upon reaching their destination, they are then put on to badly lit shelves or racks where they don't get enough natural light.
This makes the plants grow rather leggy and weak, and upon removing the plastic wrapper, they will flop about and look awful for a few days. Usually after about a week, if they are given good light and air flow, they start to stand back up and look alot healthier.
Also if they are grown as seedlings in pots, the above problems also occur along with general overcrowding. I wouldn't worry too much, as given a little time, they'll start to stand up and look better.
I staked them with some bamboo rod and loosely tied them with some plastic ties. So far they seem to be building up a more woody stem. Looks like they'll eventually stand upright on their own.
Paul
I agree with Drobium 3 plants are ample, too many and they will not flower as well. Last year I had a red and a white each in a clay pot and they flowered non stop until the frosts.
Incidentally I read that when planting tubs etc you should always plant three never 4 or 2
Mohli
True! Trouble is, if you put 4 into a round container/basket, the thing just turns out looking unnatural, 3 just seems to go better.
However, if you have a square sided pot or basket with four corners, then you'll either have to use 2 and 4's. This does make planting easier though as the baskets are more symetrical.
Thanks. So I take it the best route for the lawn is an old-fashioned sprinkler. I have found sprinklers that range from as low as ?11 (I live in Luxembourg) to well over ?30. I need to water two stretches of lawn - one around 5m x 5m and the other 15m x 3m (adjacent to my next-door neigbor's garden). Can I do this with two bog standard sprinklers.
A somewhat unrelated question - I am planning on using a G...a automatic watering timer while I am away on holiday in July. Theft is not a big problem out here but nevertheless I am wondering if this range of timers comes with some form of lock to prevent theft.
Any help would be much appreciated.
I've posted a couple of messages today but one on this thread with some photos and a video appears to have got lost.
Here's the post that seems to have got lost.
I?m in favour of ?leaky hoses? the only problem can be if there is any likelihood of damage if they are above ground. Mine are mostly a couple of inches below the surface, but I leave the ends slightly exposed so I can check they are working. Mine feed the whole of one side of a garden from this tap under the kitchen window, via an ancient mechanical Hoselock water meter.
I can set the number of gallons (yes that old!) and it will shut itself off when it has passed that amount.
[image:My biggest indulgence is my ?pop up? sprinklers on the lawn. I bought them new on eBay for a few pounds and they are connected to ?speed fit? pipe from a tap on the side of the garage, controlled by a recycled heating valve. I re-maid the path where the pipe work passes under it with some spare materials I had. So the total cost was only around fifty quid. It covers the lawn the bed adjacent to the pool, the bed at the bottom of the garden and most of the bed between my tea-house and the shed.
This was my ?dry run? or should I say ?wet run? to make sure the mains pressure was enough to make them work. The supply goes to a point mid-way between the heads to ensure an even pressure at both. I took six inch deep wedges out of the lawn, laid the pipe work and replaced the wedges in the same order. Half a day?s work.
[image:You can see them working (if you're still reading this) at the end of this video.
'YouTube - ‪Our Garden, April 2011‬‏'
Thank you! The sprinkled water is not easy to see on the video - it took me a while to realize that I was actually looking at it!
Yes, the heads produce quite a fine spray, you can get throughly soaked just walking past them! I can adjust them to cover from 10 to 360 degrees, so I created a narrow "dead spot" where the control is situated so I'm not watering much of the shed or the garage and a 45 degree quadrant with the far one to ensure our tea-house doesn't get watered.
I can turn them on and get out of the way before they come up, so turning them off only involves getting wet once. Or if I'm really bothered, I can turn on the tap under the kitchen window so the reduced pressure isn't enough to overcome the springs that keep the heads in the off position and then I can turn them off without getting wet at all.
I'm not sure if the mains pressure would be enough to power more than three.
This is a link to the vendor on eBay where I bought the heads last year.
'Pop Up Garden Sprinkler - Adjustable Spray Arc | eBay UK'
Installing such a system as mine is well within the capabilities of the average DIYer.
I used "speed-fit" pipework and connections, as they are pretty much indestructable and are unaffected by frost.
I bought a roll of pipe and the surplus came in handy to protect some low voltage cable that feeds a couple of my outdoor lamps.
As you can see the scarring was minimal and the lawn recovered in a couple of weeks.
[image:
Just tried googling for Sprinkler/Soaker hose review. It came up with reviews for a brand called Gilmour (which I assume is American). Every single reviewer has said that the hose works for starters. The the holes at the start of the run get bigger and no water reaches the end of the run.
I may be a gardening newbie but I am an engineer and I had a tough time understanding how it could work. By the looks of it - it does not.
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