Comfrey As A Weed Barrier

I've posted before about dividing up comfrey and using root cuttings to make new plants and the other night I decided to make another huge number of plants with one purpose in mind. 

Plastic down to suppress weeds. 

The idea is to grow a 4ft strip of comfrey (boking 14) down the side of my garden to create a "weed barrier". The idea being that if these plants are established it'll leave far less room for other plants to take hold (like the nettles that are there now), I'll also under sow the plants with clover as a ground cover. 

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98 root cuttings to make some more plants.

I'm not sure how well this idea will work but it seems like a good idea on the surface. It should stop the buttercups creeping their way back in and with the plastic cover this summer it should get rid of the nettles. 

On top of this I'll be growing a hugely beneficial plant right next to where I need it, I can use it as a mulch, a plant food or to go in the bottom of trenches to grow beans on top of. 

I wanted more comfrey plants and this seems like a good area to plant them.

What do you think? 

Will it work as a weed barrier?

Rooting Hormone From Willow

This is part self sufficiency, part being tight and part forgetting to buy some rooting compound when I went to the garden centre! 

Crack willow

I'd got back from the garden centre with compost, grit and sharp sand and had plans to do lots of cuttings in the afternoon, then I realised I forgot to buy rooting compound, so I decided to make my own and see if it works.

The idea is simple, willow roots so well because of the indolebutyric acid it contains in its branches, this is a plant hormone that simulate root growth. By steeping branches in water this acid, along with Salicylic acid which cuts down on infection into the cuttings, leaches into the liquid. In doing so you create a liquid that can be used as a rooting hormone. 

Well that's the idea at least.

Here's the stages in pictures:

Child labour stripping leaves

I got both of them working!

Stripped branches - leaves for compost.

Cut up small

Boiling water added

The liquid 24 hours later, strained and ready for use

Some of the cuttings - now I have to wait.

To use the liquid I stripped some leaves off each cutting, then cut each to the right length, then left them for ten minutes to soak in the liquid before putting it in a gritty compost mix in my root trainers. After I finished I diluted the remaining liquid and used this to water the cuttings in.

Hopefully the cuttings will root easily and I'll have lots more plants in a few months.

Has anyone else done this and what result have you had?

Grafting Success and Failures

I grafted more fruit trees this year than the year before and I had a fair few more failures.

This years tree nursery - a little weedy maybe...

 The apples did relatively well although I only had a success rate of around 75%, I think this is down to a number of factors: I used some "grafting pliers" for some for the grafts and the majority of these ones failed compared to the ones I did traditionally with a knife. I also stored the scion wood differently, some in the fridge (this all took well) and some in the shed, as it was much more mild than the year before, I don't think the shed was cold enough and so some of the wood wasn't alive enough to be grafted.

One of the many failed cherry grafts

 Some for the other fruit didn't do so well. Only two cherry grafts took and much the same with the plums and pears, although the two apricots I did as an experiment are both doing well. 

A successful graft with apricot wood

In total I've still got over a hundred fruit trees growing in the nursery with successful grafts and the root stocks that had failed grafts on can be used this next spring so no money lost. Next year I will trying budding some trees in the summer (although there never seems time in August) as I think stone fruit like the cherries and plums do better that way.

Has anyone else been propagating fruit trees or tried their hand at grafting?

Comfrey Root Cuttings

As I've been try to be more organic and contained it's made me realise that comfrey is a pretty valuable plant with loads of uses from making comfrey tea to using it as a mulch or filling the bottom of a trench to grow beans on.

thee roots of a small clump of comfrey

 I've got two patches in corners of the veg garden but this is nowhere near enough. I looked on the internet at the prices and decided that I could probably propagate it myself for a fraction of the cost. I did divide the roots in early spring and doubled what I had, but I need a lot more of this herb to be useful. Looking on the internet I saw that one of the best ways to propagate it is to take root cuttings. 

Root cutting

 In essence, dig up a clump, cut some of the large roots into 1.5-2" lengths and plant this into compost.

Plant in small pots of compost

Cuttings done, now just got to wait!

I did this 26 times so we'll see how many of them will work. If they do I'm going to add a few patches around the smallholding, in the orchard and the coppice so I should always have a supply and be near to where I need it.

How does everyone else use comfrey and how do you propagate it?

Ground Layering Fig Trees - Part 2

Back in July last year I did a post on ground layering fig trees and today I dug them up to see how they did.

 The first one came up with good roots growing where it had been in the soil, so I was optimistic about the others.

 However that optimism was misplaced as the rest had either a tiny bit of root on or none at all. Only a 40% success rate with just two showing roots out of a possible five.

In future I think I'll stick with taking cuttings from fig trees as they worked well in the past (see my two other posts here and here) and it's less work as once the cuttings have taken they're already in the pot so no need to handle them twice.

Ground layering works well with some plants (like hazel or blackberries) so I'll use this method with other things and I might give air layering a try later in the year as another method of propagation. What methods of propagating trees and bushes does everyone else use and do you all experiment with new methods?

Rootstocks Have Arrived

My "big" order of fruit tree rootstocks has arrived.

A big bundle of rootstocks

 For me this is quite a big order of 100 MM106 apple rootstocks, 15 Quince A rootstocks, 10 "gisela 5" cherry rootstocks and 15 plum root stocks. I have heeled them into the veg garden to leave until the end of winter when I'll graft them.

I was pleased with the qualitity of the stock as I took a gamble and ordered online from a supplier I hadn't used before. The plants all have good roots on them and look healthy which is a good sign

All heeled in

The only trouble is I ordered a little scion wood to go with the order (Apricot and a couple of different plums) and I'm not sure the best way to store this until March. Some research needed unless you guys have some advice?

Ground Layering Fig Trees

We've got some friends in the village who live on a beautiful old estate full of amazing trees and buildings. When we first went round a year or so ago I noticed a huge fig tree/bush against a shed opposite their house and asked if I could try an make a fig tree or two of my own from it.

A lrage fig tree with loads of fruit

 The cuttings I took from my mums last year are doing well but I thought a few more fig trees won't hurt (and if it comes to it I can always sell them if I have too many!).

Stripping the branch

 The first thing i did was to find some low down branches with no fruit on. I then stripped away some of the leaves, leaving around three on the end. Then I scrapped away some of the outside layer of the branch, the plan being that this is where the roots will start to grow from.



Pinning the branch in the ground

I dug a little hole and pinned this branch to the bottom of it. Filled up, the plan to leave it for a few months at least to create some roots. The bamboo cane is so I can find them and to stop the mower from cutting them off

Covered over - waiting for some rain on it now!

I did five of these so I'll let you know in a few months time if any have taken!

The next tree I want to propagate from is their mulberry tree, so any advice for that one will be appreciated!

Fig Cuttings Have Taken

Back in August I posted about taking some cuttings from my mothers large fig tree

Well out of the four cuttings I took, two seem to be sprouting new leaves. A 50% success rate for a first try is pretty good I think. I'll leave these in this pot for a while longer yet to get established before I move them on.
I've also found a massive fig tree/bush at a friends house so I'm going to try air layering (as suggested by Texan) later in the year with those - Anyone have any advice/experience on air layering?