A Members' Posts

Free: Verbena bonariensis seedlings (Hatfield AL10) Get your orders in! Probably these are too small right now, but I have essentially unlimited seedlings of this ever-popular plant at this time of year - if only there is motivation to pot them up and nurture them. Highly recommended, these been my most popular giveaway on here in the past. The majority will have to end up on the compost heap, but how many can we save to enjoy their flowers? Good in containers and quick to grow, these baby plants will establish quickly and flower for you this summer. Leave the flower heads next autumn and they will seed for you too if you're lucky. Verbena bonariensis is a beautiful hardy perennial with purple flowers on tall wiry stems over a long flowering season. Comes back from the base stronger every year and will self seed around if it's happy. Flowers beloved of bees and butterflies. Watch goldfinches try to balance on the seed heads next winter. It wants sharp drainage and full sun to be truly happy, but I have sticky clay and a fair amount of shade and it does fine.

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13h

Free: Tradescantia/purple heart housplant (Hatfield AL10) One for the inside gardeners. Tradescantia has other names including "purple hearts" (probably because of the pretty purple back to the leaves) and "wandering dude" because it grows on long trailing stems. They are perennial houseplants, very easy to grow and root very easily from cuttings. They have interesting variegated leaves, almost sparkly in the sun and contrasting purple backs. I think they cope quite well with relatively low light and for me they don't get any pests. Theses individual plants are from stems rooted in compost earlier this spring. People grow them as houseplants. You could probably put them outside in the summer, but they would definitely not survive the winter, so you would take them back inside in autumn. Or just keep them inside all year round. I also have a few copies of a cute tiny-leaved version, which if anything is even easier to propagate. Similar pretty backs to the leaves. (Not as many to spare and no photo, sorry.) I may limit to one (each) per person if there is demand, but honestly you don't need more than one - if you want more, just chop off a bit and put it in a jar of water.

13h

Free: Chain link fencing (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Reposting since I gave some of this to a lovely allotmenteer freecycler, who was able to stretch it out nicely and cover her young plants - which gives me renewed hope someone will help me save the rest from landfill. It wasn't really doing anything at the back of my garden so I pulled up this old chainlink fencing a little while ago. It's flexible with heavy duty wire inside. Some bits are a bit rusty and it will need to be rolled out or stretched out to make it go back to the right shape. I think it's too ugly to use in a garden situation, but it may do a job on an allotment - e.g. keeping pigeons off or stopping cats/foxes/squirrels digging stuff up. I can investigate it/measure etc if there is serious interest and if you want more information.

7d

Free: Blue hardy geraniums (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Hardy perennial blue geranium, variety I believe is "Johnson's Blue". These are divisions from autumn potted into new pots this spring, so no huge rush to plant. (Actually, my labelling system broke down and there may be a 15% chance these are pink, but it's the same idea.) This hardy geranium or cranesbills is tolerant and easy to grow with blue flowers from early summer. Compact plants with smart mounds of soft downy green leaves. Cut back after flowering in mid summer for a fresh flush of foliage, and maybe once again going into autumn. It will die down in the winter and come back year after year. Fully winter hardy in the uk. Not troubled by slugs or other pests. Doesn't mind my sticky clay or a bit of shade, but wants a bit of sun to flower better.

13d

Free: Bluebells in the green (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Bluebells - they are beautiful but they also come up in silly places and I'm constantly digging them out. "In the green" so plant as soon as you can, but they'll be ok for a weeks or so - best if you keep them under damp soil/compose meanwhile. (Actually bluebells are incredibly tough so they'll be fine if you mistreat them.) Photo is from May 2021. Happy in wet sticky clay in partial shade but should be fine on almost any soil and ok in full sun. (Also, if you are a fan of bluebells, go and visit the ancient woodland bit of Heartwood Forest this weekend if you can.)

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13d

Free: Spare kale seedlings (cavolo nero) (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn I potted on more than enough kale seedlings this week, so I have some small pots of spares. "Black Magic" is a variety of cavolo nero or black Tuscan kale. Kale is a fairly strong growing plant and produces a lot of tasty leaves throughout the year if you can keep it happy. Main problems are pigeons and caterpillars at certain times of year. It will grow all through the summer and autumn, stand through the winter, start growing again in spring and then run to flower. It's fully frost hardy in the UK. You can eat the flower heads like purple sprouting broccoli and any you don't will open to masses of cheery yellow flowers loved by bees.

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14d

Free: Bugle plants (ajuga reptans) (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Passing on some bits of a nice ground cover plant originally given to me by a fellow freecycler a few years ago. Bugle or ajuga reptans is an easy going low growing spreading hardy herbaceous perennial (leaves die each winter, but it comes back and flowers every spring). It likes a bit of shade and damp ground. It seems to do well on my sticky clay in a dark corner. It has nice shiny bronze/purply leaves with dark flower spikes opening to pretty blue flowers beloved of pollinators. It spreads by creeping over the ground and it can spread quickly, but it's not really a problem because it's easy to pull out since it has shallow roots. Then you can give away chunks...

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14d

Free: Carrot seeds 'Nantes 5' (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn Fresh unopened carrot seeds. Variety "Nantes 5". Sow any time from now. (Other seed packets may be available.)

16d

Free: Cornflower "blue ball" seeds (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn Cornflower "blue ball". Fresh unopened packet. Sow any time from now. I may have other seed packets to offer while you're here.

16d

Free: Chainlink fencing (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn Reposting since I gave some of this to a lovely allotmenteer freecycler yesterday, which give me new hope others might want the rest. It wasn't really doing anything at the back of my garden so I pulled this old chainlink fencing up a few weeks ago. It's flexible with heavy duty wire inside. Some bits are a bit rusty and it will probably need to be stretched out for a while to make it go back to the right shape. I think it's too ugly to use in a garden situation, but it may do a job on an allotment - e.g. keeping pigeons off. I can investigate it/measure etc if there is serious interest and you want more information.

19d

Free: Red veined sorrel young plants (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn Easy to grow herb with leaves that taste salty/lemony. It has pretty red veins/splotches so you can easily recognise the seedlings. Mine are originally from a named variety "Red Lava" these plants are several generations on. You can eat the small/young leaves in salad and cook the stronger leaves e.g. with fish. Easy to grow, not troubled by pests and will seed itself around if you let it flower.

20d

Free: Bugle/ajuga plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Passing on some bits of a nice ground cover plant originally given to me by a fellow freecycler a few years ago. Bugle aka ajuga reptans is an easy going low growing spreading hardy herbaceous perennial (leaves die each winter, but it comes back and flowers every spring). It likes a bit of shade and damp ground. It seems to do well on my sticky clay in a dark corner. It has nice shiny bronze/purply leaves with dark flower spikes opening to pretty blue flowers beloved of pollinators. It spreads by creeping over the ground and it can spread quickly, but it's not really a problem because it's easy to pull out since it has shallow roots. They you can give away chunks as I am doing...

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21d

Free: Verbascum / mullein young plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted These photos in flower are from previous years - what you would get is healthy young plants - more like the last photo but a bit smaller (sorry I don't have current photos, but I can take one if you like). Great mullein aka verbascum thapsus is a large native biennial producing strong, long lasting impressive spikes of yellow flowers in the summer, beloved of insects as you can see. It also has velvety soft downy leaves. Self seeds, but not a problem. The flower spike is very strong and doesn't need staking. Wants full sun and sharp draining stony ground, but I have wet sticky clay and it does fine. I have at least 4 youngish plants to be given away (will check if there is demand). I believe they transplant well at this time of year.

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21d

Free: Two frying pans (Hatfield AL10) Large one is 26cm diameter, small one 20cm diameter. Pre-loved and not really non-stick any more (probably the small one never was). Perfectly usable but I have others and I realised I never use these. Thoroughly washed for giving away.

21d

Free: Clean plant pots (Hatfield AL10) Gifted I use a lot of pots, but these medium size round ones I have way more than I need and the square ones don't stack very well with the others I have. They are all cleaned thoroughly for your convenience. About 20 round ones and 6 square-ish ones. Spring is in the air. What could you grow?

43d

Free: Fixable LED Christmas/fairy lights (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 10m lead + 18m lit length. 300 lights. Warm white. These were brand new this Christmas and they worked fine outside for a week until they didn't. When I took them down I saw that the problem was a squirrel (I assume) had bitten through the wire in one place (I assume). Probably fixable and I was going to, but realistically I probably won't. Will you? I've marked the point with masking tape for your convenience. I am not an electrician, but I assume there is no safety issue because they are powered by a low power, low voltage transformer. Originally IP44 for outside (or inside) use.

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43d

Free: Flat grater (Hatfield AL10) Clean and sharp. Giving away because I use a box grater. Non-slip silicone foot comes off for cleaning.

43d

Free: Old chainlink fence (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn It wasn't really doing anything at the back of my garden so I pulled this up a few weeks ago. It's flexible with heavy duty wire inside. One section will come pretty straight and flat - I guess 10ft x 3ft but I can measure and/or take better photos if there is interest. There are some smaller non-flat pieces that have been in a heap for a while and may be less useful, but you'd be welcome to have a look if you're interested.

48d

Free: Spiral tree guard (Hatfield AL10) This came off a street tree that blew down in December. People planting trees in the landscape use these to protect them from rabbits which like to strip off the bark. So far there aren't any rabbits in my garden, so I have no use of it. Like these:

48d

Free: Pulmonaria young plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Pulmonaria plants from a bed where I need to remove them. Mostly small plants that should move easily and hopefully flower this season. Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive.

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48d

Free: Forget-me-nots (Hatfield AL10) Gifted I have to dig up some forget-me-nots that grow in silly places like by the lawn edge and where they will grow too much over smaller plants. If I do it nicely, you can have some bare root plants to plant straight away. They should not notice the difference if you water them in well. Forget-me-not are beautiful clear blue flowered easy going, biennials beloved of pollinating insects. One you have them you should let them seed at least once and then you will have them forever: they will seed around freely. They are not a problematic weed because they are very easy to pull up and have distinctive soft hairy leaved seedlings. I weed them out during the summer and start moving them to where I want them in autumn or spring. Very tolerant, of garden soil and aspect.

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48d

Free: Used chainlink fencing (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn It wasn't really doing anything at the back of my garden so I pulled this up last weekend. It's flexible with heavy duty wire inside. One section will come pretty straight and flat and usable - I guess 10ft x 3ft but I can measure and/or take better photos if there is interest. There are some smaller non-flat pieces that have been in a heap for a while and may be less useful, but you'd be welcome to have a look if you're interested.

76d

Free: Old chainlink fence (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn It wasn't really doing anything at the back of my garden so I pulled this up this weekend. It's flexible with heavy duty wire inside. One section will come pretty straight and flat - I guess 10ft x 3ft but I can measure and/or take better photos if there is interest. There are some smaller non-flat pieces that have been in a heap for a while and may be less useful, but you'd be welcome to have a look if you're interested.

80d

Free: Sedum plant (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Sedum spectabile, probably "Autumn Joy". I took some divisions in the autumn and one pot remains. By now it should have rooted well and the new shoots are full of energy for spring. Extremely drought tolerant, fully winter hardy and untouched by slugs or other pests, it has pink flower heads from late summer into autumn beloved of bees and butterflies. Leave the flower heads to stand over winter and cut down each spring. Will come back reliably every year. Very easy to propagate from division or cuttings. Probably you can split it as you plant it out if you want more plants straight away. Wants full sun and sharp drainage (or else it will tend to flop over a bit). But I have clay and it puts up with it just fine.

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91d

Free: Sedum spectabile young plants (Hatfield AL10) Expired Sedum spectabile, probably "Autumn Joy". I took some divisions in the autumn and these two pots remain. By now they should have rooted well and the new shoots are full of energy for spring. 2 pots, but probably will offer one to each person if there is demand. As you plant them out, very likely you can divide the pot and make at least 2 plants anyway. Extremely drought tolerant, fully winter hardy and untouched by slugs or other pests, it has pink flower heads from late summer into autumn beloved of bees and butterflies. Leave the flower heads to stand over winter and cut down each spring. Will come back reliably every year. Very easy to propagate from division or cuttings. Wants full sun and sharp drainage (or else it will tend to flop over a bit). I have clay and it puts up with it.

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96d

Free: Pink hardy geraniums (Hatfield AL10) Gifted This hardy geranium or cranesbills is tolerant and easy to grow with pretty pink flowers from late spring. Cut back after flowering in mid summer for a fresh flush of green leaves and more flowers if you're lucky. It will die down in the winter and come back year after year. Fully winter hardy in the uk. Not troubled by slugs or other pests. Doesn't mind my sticky clay or a bit of shade. Two pots of divisions from a bigger plant taken last autumn and established over winter. Plant now and they will grow away and should make decent clumps. Will give one pot per person if there is demand, but you may find you have 2 plants per pot.

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97d

Free: Pulmonaria young plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Two pots of 3/4 small plants each, which have established since autumn and can be planted individually now. Will give one pot per person if there is demand, but you'll get at least 3 plants. Early colour when not much else is in flower. (The first 2 photos were taken today.) Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort, is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotched with silver/white, with stalks of blue/pink flowers late January to May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive.

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97d

Free: Loganberry mature plant (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Loganberry is a hybrid between blackberry and raspberry. This is a vigourous thornless variety that produces long dark red fruit in summer. Probably clone Ly654. Definitely from Ashridge Trees and that is what they are offering now: I'm digging it up because I want to plant other things there. I also didn't have it in an ideal place (too much shade). Very tolerant and easy to grow. Happy in clay if that's what you have. You need to give it a fair amount of space. Plant it in the next few days and water it in well and it won't notice what happened. Water it through its first summer and it won't need it ever again from autumn.

97d

Free: Tree peony (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Hard to propagate and fairly slow growing, tree paeony are expensive to buy, so you're in luck here. I've had this for a few years and it always seemed healthy and vigorous, but it didn't flower for me. Did I put it in too much shade? Did I plant it too deeply? Who knows, but it's time is up for me (though I broke off a small young part which I'm keeping to plant elsewhere). You can see in the photos it has lots of fat red buds, so it's very much alive. The fleshy roots are white, juicy and healthy looking. Dug up today, ideally you will plant it in the next few days and it won't know anything happened. If you have a better spot for it than me it should produce yellow flowers in spring/early summer. Hardy deciduous (supposedly) shade-tolerant woody shrub.

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97d

Free: Nigella/love-in-a-mist seed packets (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Nigella aka love-in-a-mist is a very easy to grow, self-seeding wildlife friendly annual. They make pretty papery round seed heads and copious seeds, which are edible. (Why am I giving these away again??) Unopened packets; in date. "Miss Jekyll" 2025 "Persian Jewels" 2028

103d