Topic: The RAWK Gardening Thread. (All Questions Answered)

[Cruiser]

Best way to stop English Ivy (hedera) growing everywhere?

It grows all over the fences and now curling itself up the tree branches. Its annoying as fuck. Is there a quick way to get rid of this shit?

[Red-Soldier]

Has anybody been doing the "no mow May" campaign?

When we moved here I wanted to create a wildlife section for bees and other pollinators but after reading up on all the different packs of wildflower seeds, bee bombs etc and seeing all the complaints about nothing, or very little growing after all the hard work prepping the area I had a change of mind.

I had already just scattered some seed with no prep onto that part of the lawn then read someone suggesting to look at the wildlife trusts ideas and this is what they said to do.

My garden looks amazing now.  All sorts of different grasses, flowers and plants have appeared and now I get to watch goldfinches, chaffinches, siskins, linnets, sparrows and other seed eaters tucking into fresh food and bees buzzing everywhere.

Ground ivy, wild strawberries, common vetch, ribwort, daisies, buttercups, mayflower, red sorrell, herb Robert, chickweed and birds foot trefoil to name just a few.

The idea is to let them grow and flower as natural grassland is one of the habitats we are losing quicker than any other due to people wanting pristine gardens. 

The wildlife trust suggest not mowing an area until August when everything will have seeded but leave the cut grass where it is to dry out and allow the seeds to disperse before putting it in the compost.

If you can't do that then don't mow throughout May which is generally breeding season for most wildlife.

I'm delighted to read your post Debs.

I've been Wildlife Gardening for about 11 years now.

I cut my lawn in Autumn, then one half late June, followed by the other in late August.

I sowed some wildflower seeds a couple of years ago and now it's starting to look amazing.  I've got about 10 different species of grass and many numbers of wildflowers.  I get grasshoppers singing every year.

[reddebs]

I'm delighted to read your post Debs.

I've been Wildlife Gardening for about 11 years now.

I cut my lawn in Autumn, then one half late June, followed by the other in late August.

I sowed some wildflower seeds a couple of years ago and now it's starting to look amazing.  I've got about 10 different species of grass and many numbers of wildflowers.  I get grasshoppers singing every year.

It looks fantastic as it mirrors the hedgerows and verges here.  So much of the land is grazed by sheep and looks really barren but the roadsides are bursting with variety and colour.

We aren't the type of gardeners to have pristine grass so it made sense to have it as easy as possible to manage, plus it doesn't fit in with our surroundings. 

There's a section which is really wet and I was going to leave it as a bog garden but this works better as I don't need to dig it, lay pond liner or gravel the edges then plant it with marginals.

We've let the whole lawn grow till yesterday then cut only the parts we'll use as garden and left the rest.  Everyday there's something new to discover including wild rose and honeysuckle in the hedge.

I'm outside now and all I can hear is birdsong, sheep, bees and other buzzy insects.  The birds visiting the feeders are flitting from them to their young waiting on the fence to be fed.

My idea of paradise 🥰

[Sarge]

Best way to stop English Ivy (hedera) growing everywhere?

It grows all over the fences and now curling itself up the tree branches. Its annoying as fuck. Is there a quick way to get rid of this shit?

Cut it at ground level, all above will die off in time, keep at the sourse and keep chopping away and diig out at ground level.

[Red-Soldier]

Best way to stop English Ivy (hedera) growing everywhere?

It grows all over the fences and now curling itself up the tree branches. Its annoying as fuck. Is there a quick way to get rid of this shit?

Hedera helix (wild ivy) is incedible for wildlife.  Try and keep some if you can.  It's a vital source of food during the winter months for pollinators and holly blue caterpillars feed on it.  I have lots in my garden (including holly), and I get holly blues every year.

[reddebs]

My garden continues to throw up surprises.

As we moved in late March we had no idea what plants, trees or shrubs were going to appear apart from the evergreen ones so after tidying up and getting rid of brambles the plan was to allow everything to grow.

Every day we do a tour round to see what's happening, what's coming into flower or getting buds etc and we've identified a few new things the last day or two.

Hedges that we thought were just hawthorn are a mixture of wild rose, elderberry and this morning we've discovered we have damson trees amongst them, with fruit!

Happy days ... Damson gin, jam and crumble this winter 😁

We've also got two huge clumps of poppy's either side of some steps close to where I've put the sweet peas and today, what I thought were perhaps lillies or more likely, iris are actually red hot pokers!

Looking along the hedgerow we've got a mixture of honeysuckle, pyracantha, cotoneaster and fuscia.  There's a couple of different types of weigela, a pale pink variegated one and a deep pink one and snapdragons are popping up amongst the rockery.

There's still a few shrubs that I'm unsure of until they flower but it's all starting to look naturally lovely 😁

[Sarge]

Loving your garden Debs, nature has a way of hiding until its time to just out at you.

[fowlermagic]

Any tips on lawnmowers are very welcome as mine is buggered so looking to replace with a self propel option. Three quarters of an acre to mow so will be a good workout and due to the size of the lawn I cant just go with the cheapest as lawnmower will be under pressure / so will I. Was looking at the brands Weibang, Castlegarden or Stihl so any mowing expert here? Yes I should buy a goat

[Red Raw]

Any tips on lawnmowers are very welcome as mine is buggered so looking to replace with a self propel option. Three quarters of an acre to mow so will be a good workout and due to the size of the lawn I cant just go with the cheapest as lawnmower will be under pressure / so will I. Was looking at the brands Weibang, Castlegarden or Stihl so any mowing expert here? Yes I should buy a goat

Haha - a goat (or sheep) will probably cost you more in the long run - great fun, but can be a right pain in the ass!

I bought our Honda about eight years ago having spent far too long struggling with an ancient Briggs and Stratton engined machine that we inherited. It was an utter pig to start and my missus hated the thing.

Eventually I went to a local specialist garden machinery place for advice and came out with a Honda (push along rather than self-propelled). I asked if there was anything I needed to look out for regarding maintennance or faults and the bloke said: "Hard to say, once we sell them we never see them again..."

I have to say the Honda has been great, the soft pull start was a joy after knocking myself senseless with the old one. It works every time, even when it has been in the shed all winter. The height adjustment and grass collection is really well designed, it never clogs up and takes a lot of the effort out of mowing. Maintennance, as promised, has been non-existant.

Everyone seems to love Honda petrol engines - I've had them in different generators and motor bikes and can't really disagree. I have used Stihl and Husqvarna chainsaws and brushcutters, and have my own Stihl hedgecutter and they have all been great. I do believe get what you pay for with this kind of kit, and while don't like the asymmetric handle on some of the Stihl mowers, there is no reason to believe they aren't every bit as good, even if they do use B&S engines.

Can't comment on Weibang or Castelgarden as I haven't used either - perhaps speak to local contractors if you see them around, if a particular machine has a weakness they will find out about it pretty quickly.

With 3/4 of an acre, and if you haven't got too many fiddly bits, I would say get the biggest deck you can sensibly afford, even if it means dropping down a model and skipping some of the add-ons.

[Lawnmowerman]

Came across this bee hive out in the open in a customers garden this morning. Was a busy garden. I'm working away and so were they. Quite enjoyed working alongside them

[Lawnmowerman]

Any tips on lawnmowers are very welcome as mine is buggered so looking to replace with a self propel option. Three quarters of an acre to mow so will be a good workout and due to the size of the lawn I cant just go with the cheapest as lawnmower will be under pressure / so will I. Was looking at the brands Weibang, Castlegarden or Stihl so any mowing expert here? Yes I should buy a goat

Im using masports 15 years or so now. Rarely have issues with them bare the bits and bobs like new wheels and bushes for the front axil which is down to the amount of wear and tear i'd put them through. If you get one it would last you a decade! You're in Dublin arent you?

[Filler.]

Best way to stop English Ivy (hedera) growing everywhere?

It grows all over the fences and now curling itself up the tree branches. Its annoying as fuck. Is there a quick way to get rid of this shit?

Napalm. Trying to remove it from Damson tree atm. Any other tree and I'd just rip it all off (I need an axe in some places), but Damson are a bit delicate.

Despise Ivy. It's endless trying to get rid, but you have to do it regularly.

[Trada]

For a few years now, I've been trying to turn my front lawn into a Wild flower meadow

Every year it fails, and I just end up with waist high grass and the neighbours looking at it in horror.

At least this year around the edges of the lawn I have some Buttercups and forget-me-nots and a couple more that I'm not sure what they are growing

So tomorrow I'm going to strim down all the tall grass, leaving as many of the flowers I can,  then rake all the cutting up and then cover it will Weed  Control  fabric and hopefully by the Autumn when I remove it a lot of the grass will be dead, so I can seed some Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds that will come up in the Spring hopefully 4th time lucky.

I wish a TV would do a 4 part series or something on growing a wild flower mesdow from start 

[cormorant]

For a few years now, I've been trying to turn my front lawn into a Wild flower meadow

Every year it fails, and I just end up with waist high grass and the neighbours looking at it in horror.

At least this year around the edges of the lawn I have some Buttercups and forget-me-nots and a couple more that I'm not sure what they are growing

So tomorrow I'm going to strim down all the tall grass, leaving as many of the flowers I can,  then rake all the cutting up and then cover it will Weed  Control  fabric and hopefully by the Autumn when I remove it a lot of the grass will be dead, so I can seed some Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds that will come up in the Spring hopefully 4th time lucky.

I wish a TV would do a 4 part series or something on growing a wild flower mesdow from start 

Giving this my first attempt this year. Decided to try it in a 1ft X 1ft pot and a small patch of bare border as I share a garden with my upstairs neighbour. Only planted my seeds last week (a bit late as mid-May is supposedly the latest for a spring sowing). Went for a grassless seed mix. Packet said 14-28 days for the first seedlings to show and I've got about 100 through in the pot alone already, the highest being about 2-3 inches in height. Got my fingers crossed they end up flowering.

[RedSince86]

Courgettes coming along nicely.

[reddebs]

We've had my big sister, who's a gardener staying with us this weekend and she brought loads of seeds, plants, cuttings and veggies to put in the garden.  Thankfully we had beds and borders ready prepped.

She's given us loads of advice on what to plant where to give us a bit more protection from the wind and how to take cuttings off existing plants, trees and shrubs.

We then went for a forage down the lane to add to the wild section and to find some saplings to use as the base for the new hedgeline.

We got oak, gorse, hawthorn and a wild rose for the hedge then foxgloves, red campion, clover, tansy, thistle and periwinkle for the wildflower garden.

The spuds and tomatoes are finally flowering, the raspberries actually have new shoots appearing.  I thought I'd bought duds 🙄 and now we have caulis, cabbage, leeks, peas, marrow and dwarf beans.

Let's see who eats most of them, us or the slugs 😂

[reddebs]

For a few years now, I've been trying to turn my front lawn into a Wild flower meadow

Every year it fails, and I just end up with waist high grass and the neighbours looking at it in horror.

At least this year around the edges of the lawn I have some Buttercups and forget-me-nots and a couple more that I'm not sure what they are growing

So tomorrow I'm going to strim down all the tall grass, leaving as many of the flowers I can,  then rake all the cutting up and then cover it will Weed  Control  fabric and hopefully by the Autumn when I remove it a lot of the grass will be dead, so I can seed some Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds that will come up in the Spring hopefully 4th time lucky.

I wish a TV would do a 4 part series or something on growing a wild flower mesdow from start

The problem with the bought seed packs is they're not all suitable for similar soil types or your location and some don't flower the same year they're sown so it feels like nothings working.  It's also important to know the type of wild flowers grow wild locally to you. 

Tell us more about what you've been doing?  It's hard to advise if we don't know what's not working so far.

[Red-Soldier]

For a few years now, I've been trying to turn my front lawn into a Wild flower meadow

Every year it fails, and I just end up with waist high grass and the neighbours looking at it in horror.

At least this year around the edges of the lawn I have some Buttercups and forget-me-nots and a couple more that I'm not sure what they are growing

So tomorrow I'm going to strim down all the tall grass, leaving as many of the flowers I can,  then rake all the cutting up and then cover it will Weed  Control  fabric and hopefully by the Autumn when I remove it a lot of the grass will be dead, so I can seed some Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds that will come up in the Spring hopefully 4th time lucky.

I wish a TV would do a 4 part series or something on growing a wild flower mesdow from start

Mine is 2 years on from it's first sowing, and it's starting to look great.  I know a lot about grassland management, so I'll try and help you out. 

[reddebs]

Mine is 2 years on from it's first sowing, and it's starting to look great.  I know a lot about grassland management, so I'll try and help you out. 

I love my grasses.  The wild variety as well as the cultivated ones.  We must have at least 20 different ones just on our lane, it's a joy going for a wander down there.

[Sarge]

We've had my big sister, who's a gardener staying with us this weekend and she brought loads of seeds, plants, cuttings and veggies to put in the garden.  Thankfully we had beds and borders ready prepped.

She's given us loads of advice on what to plant where to give us a bit more protection from the wind and how to take cuttings off existing plants, trees and shrubs.

We then went for a forage down the lane to add to the wild section and to find some saplings to use as the base for the new hedgeline.

We got oak, gorse, hawthorn and a wild rose for the hedge then foxgloves, red campion, clover, tansy, thistle and periwinkle for the wildflower garden.

The spuds and tomatoes are finally flowering, the raspberries actually have new shoots appearing.  I thought I'd bought duds 🙄 and now we have caulis, cabbage, leeks, peas, marrow and dwarf beans.

Let's see who eats most of them, us or the slugs 😂

Flying so you are.

[reddebs]

Flying so you are.

Thanks I just wish I could get pics up 😔

[Red-Soldier]

For a few years now, I've been trying to turn my front lawn into a Wild flower meadow

Every year it fails, and I just end up with waist high grass and the neighbours looking at it in horror.

At least this year around the edges of the lawn I have some Buttercups and forget-me-nots and a couple more that I'm not sure what they are growing

So tomorrow I'm going to strim down all the tall grass, leaving as many of the flowers I can,  then rake all the cutting up and then cover it will Weed  Control  fabric and hopefully by the Autumn when I remove it a lot of the grass will be dead, so I can seed some Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds that will come up in the Spring hopefully 4th time lucky.

I wish a TV would do a 4 part series or something on growing a wild flower mesdow from start

Right.  So, the first thing is to find out where you’re starting from.  Many gardens have high fertility and are dominated by course grasses, such as perennial rye grass (a very tall and vigorous species). 

You may be lucky like myself (and Debs), who start off with low fertility, acidic soil (my area used to be covered in heathland, and NW Wales is very acidic, due to its geology).
I remember where you are, you could have high or low fertile soils, so we’ll just crack on.  I would probably recommend another sowing this autumn.

Do you have a strimmer, a lawnmower that you can adjust the height of the blades and a rake (something to make furrows with)??

[Trada]

The problem with the bought seed packs is they're not all suitable for similar soil types or your location and some don't flower the same year they're sown so it feels like nothings working.  It's also important to know the type of wild flowers grow wild locally to you. 

Tell us more about what you've been doing?  It's hard to advise if we don't know what's not working so far.

I did buy a couple of seed packets one was Yellow rattle and the other was wild flower seed mix that is meant to be plants from this area of the Mendips, but I will have to recheck the seed pack just to make sure they are right

I think my problem is preparing the soil for planting the seeds, that's why I'm really going for killing a lot of the gtass down this time

[Trada]

Right.  So, the first thing is to find out where you’re starting from.  Many gardens have high fertility and are dominated by course grasses, such as perennial rye grass (a very tall and vigorous species). 

You may be lucky like myself (and Debs), who start off with low fertility, acidic soil (my area used to be covered in heathland, and NW Wales is very acidic, due to its geology).
I remember where you are, you could have high or low fertile soils, so we’ll just crack on.  I would probably recommend another sowing this autumn.

Do you have a strimmer, a lawnmower that you can adjust the height of the blades and a rake (something to make furrows with)??

Yes I have strimmer well its more of a bush Wacker really it has a metal blade or you can swap it out for a cord cutter

[reddebs]

You may be lucky like myself (and Debs), who start off with low fertility, acidic soil (my area used to be covered in heathland, and NW Wales is very acidic, due to its geology).

Funny you should mention that as my sister did a pH test on ours yesterday and it was pretty much neutral at 7.4 however our water is very alkaline. 

There is one part of the garden that has rhodedendron, camellia and pieris that are well established so that would confirm we're more likely acidic than not.

[reddebs]

I did buy a couple of seed packets one was Yellow rattle and the other was wild flower seed mix that is meant to be plants from this area of the Mendips, but I will have to recheck the seed pack just to make sure they are right

I think my problem is preparing the soil for planting the seeds, that's why I'm really going for killing a lot of the gtass down this time

Not all grasses are bad though as the seeds are food for birds, mice and other small mammals.  They can also have beautiful colour displays of silvers through to bronze and purples if you allow them to get that far.  Plus wildflower meadows always have grasses as well as flowers.

Preparing the ground is important in that the seeds need it to be "tilled" so that the new shoots can get to the surface once they germinate.

This basically just means, as Red Soldier posted, it needs roughing up a bit with a rake or scarifier if you have one before sowing.

Going back to your original post about something on TV to advise on wildflower stuff, there was a segment on something a few weeks ago, most likely countryfile or maybe gardeners world that explained a lot on how to be successful and I do remember them saying yellow rattle is notably difficult to grow.  I think they'd done theirs in a container or a hanging basket.

I'll see if I can find it for you and send you the link as it'll be on iPlayer somewhere.

[Trada]

My front lawn is about 20 ft x 20ft at a guess and here is a picture of it right now my 3rd attempt at a wild flower meadow

Looks more like a place wild beasts hide to attack passing people.

I will strim it right down either later or tomorrow and then put up another picture

Im embarrassed to put this picture up really

That's not my house in the picture, that's the rich people across the road

[Red-Soldier]

My front lawn is about 20 ft x 20ft at a guess and here is a picture of it right now my 3rd attempt at a wild flower meadow

Looks more like a place wild beasts hide to attack passing people.

I will strim it right down either later or tomorrow and then put up another picture

Im embarrassed to put this picture up really

That's not my house in the picture, that's the rich people across the road

There’ll still be some insect life in there, so I’d leave it to the end of the month at least, before getting the strimmer out.

After you do cut it, I’d keep it a lowish length until autumn.  Then use your mower (with blades on the lowest setting) to cut a very short sward across the plot.  After you’ve done that, get your rake and rough it up a bit.  The aim is to create some furrows and bare ground for the seeds to lay in and germinate. 

Thats the ground prep done. Now onto the sowing.  Obviously, you need to have the seed already before you prep the plot, so you can sow straight away 😊.

Buy the seed from here.  They are the most reputable and cheapest supplier I know.  Their smallest, cheapest packs will probably give you enough seed to do your front and back gardens many times over.

I bought yellow rattle, a basic wildflower mix, and cornflower annuals.  The annuals gave me a nursery crop that provided instant colour the first year.

Basic general purpose wild flowers  - https://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/23

Standard Cornfield Mixture - https://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/1

Yellow rattle - https://wildseed.co.uk/species/view/2

They don't have yellow rattle in stock at the moment, and I would definitely sow it in the mix with the others.  Many people have said to me that yellow rattle is tough to grow, but mine looks great.  The bees are all over it too, which is amazing!  It's definitely keeping the grasses down, and when it's in your lawn, it'll just keep seeding itself and spreading.

I would also calculate the amount of seed you need properly, grams per square metre etc, and also mix with sand too.  It's easier to sow then, and you get a more even spread. 

[Red-Soldier]

Funny you should mention that as my sister did a pH test on ours yesterday and it was pretty much neutral at 7.4 however our water is very alkaline. 

There is one part of the garden that has rhodedendron, camellia and pieris that are well established so that would confirm we're more likely acidic than not.

Not sure how close you are to Snowdonia, but during the summer, many of the hills are covered in the purple flowers of Rhododendron ponticum (they were a few years ago anyway)

[reddebs]

Not sure how close you are to Snowdonia, but during the summer, many of the hills are covered in the purple flowers of Rhododendron ponticum (they were a few years ago anyway)

We're north east Anglesey mate so we can see the hills but we're probably a good hours drive to the heart of them so not close enough to be able to see plant life.

[Trada]

There’ll still be some insect life in there, so I’d leave it to the end of the month at least, before getting the strimmer out.

After you do cut it, I’d keep it a lowish length until autumn.  Then use your mower (with blades on the lowest setting) to cut a very short sward across the plot.  After you’ve done that, get your rake and rough it up a bit.  The aim is to create some furrows and bare ground for the seeds to lay in and germinate. 

Thats the ground prep done. Now onto the sowing.  Obviously, you need to have the seed already before you prep the plot, so you can sow straight away 😊.

Buy the seed from here.  They are the most reputable and cheapest supplier I know.  Their smallest, cheapest packs will probably give you enough seed to do your front and back gardens many times over.

I bought yellow rattle, a basic wildflower mix, and cornflower annuals.  The annuals gave me a nursery crop that provided instant colour the first year.

Basic general purpose wild flowers  - https://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/23

Standard Cornfield Mixture - https://wildseed.co.uk/mixtures/view/1

Yellow rattle - https://wildseed.co.uk/species/view/2

They don't have yellow rattle in stock at the moment, and I would definitely sow it in the mix with the others.  Many people have said to me that yellow rattle is tough to grow, but mine looks great.  The bees are all over it too, which is amazing!  It's definitely keeping the grasses down, and when it's in your lawn, it'll just keep seeding itself and spreading.

I would also calculate the amount of seed you need properly, grams per square metre etc, and also mix with sand too.  It's easier to sow then, and you get a more even spread. 

With the annuals do they self seed at the emd of the growing season or  do you need to resow them each year?.

I imagine they self seed if you leave them to

[Red-Soldier]

With the annuals do they self seed at the emd of the growing season or  do you need to resow them each year?.

I imagine they self seed if you leave them to

Yes.  So the way it's managed after sowing is very important.  You need to give all the flowers enough time to seed, otherwise you'll be cutting them out.  The perennials also need to seed, as many are short lived, and the more they seed, the better it'll look year on year.

I've got a lot more ox-eye daisies this year, compared to last.

[reddebs]

My front lawn is about 20 ft x 20ft at a guess and here is a picture of it right now my 3rd attempt at a wild flower meadow

Looks more like a place wild beasts hide to attack passing people.

I will strim it right down either later or tomorrow and then put up another picture

Im embarrassed to put this picture up really

That's not my house in the picture, that's the rich people across the road

I think that looks beautiful.  I wish mine had such an abundance of meadow I'd be out there with a picnic every time we had nice weather.

Don't be embarrassed about what the posh neighbours might think, if they didn't micro manage their gardens and surroundings we wouldn't need people like us championing the natural look.

[Millie]

I think that looks beautiful.  I wish mine had such an abundance of meadow I'd be out there with a picnic every time we had nice weather.

Don't be embarrassed about what the posh neighbours might think, if they didn't micro manage their gardens and surroundings we wouldn't need people like us championing the natural look.

I agree it looks great.

[redbyrdz]

My front lawn is about 20 ft x 20ft at a guess and here is a picture of it right now my 3rd attempt at a wild flower meadow

Looks more like a place wild beasts hide to attack passing people.

I will strim it right down either later or tomorrow and then put up another picture

Im embarrassed to put this picture up really

That's not my house in the picture, that's the rich people across the road

I honestly quitr like that, tall swaying grass.

But I agree, for a wildflower meadow, it's lacking a bit in flowers.

[Sarge]

Best thing is cut it back, get a turf cutter skip the lot, lay new topsoil and reseed.

[Trada]

I honestly quitr like that, tall swaying grass.

But I agree, for a wildflower meadow, it's lacking a bit in flowers.

I don't mind the long grass but like you said for as wild flower meadow it lacks a lot of wild flowers

So going to start again going out soon to strim it down and then cover it until  the Autumn and then reseed it with Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds no grass and see what happens and hope the grass finds its own level then

[Red-Soldier]

I don't mind the long grass but like you said for as wild flower meadow it lacks a lot of wild flowers

So going to start again going out soon to strim it down and then cover it until  the Autumn and then reseed it with Yellow rattle and wild flower seeds no grass and see what happens and hope the grass finds its own level then

I personally wouldn't cover it.  You just need to create 50% bare ground before you sow in the autumn.  But it's up to you.

[Trada]

Started to strim the long grass, some of it is nearly as tall as me

I'm going to do it for 10 minutes then leave if for 10 minutes then strim again and keep on like that.

A bit worried when I strim the long grass, it releases big clouds of Red pollen and im right by the pavement don't want a cloud of that going into someone's face they may suffer from hay fever

Im wearing my mask when I do it

[cormorant]

Had my little wildflowers in a pot experiment going along quite nicely. Seedlings were coming on really quickly, all healthy. Got up this morning to find out they'd been destroyed overnight, more than likely by a cat. Gutted. Gonna start again and use mesh this time.