This blog is in memory of our beloved Border Collie Tippy who died on July 28th 2010. Every Sunday over the course of the next few months I will post memories and pictures of her life with us, both as a working farm dog, family pet, best friend and work mate.







Sunday 20 March 2011

Tippy's Top Tips.

Those of you who read my blog will often see Tommy getting involved with the gardening work. Tippy was never an enthusiastic gardener but there were a few occasions when I could get her to pay attention for a few moments. This week’s picture is one such moment. I’ve included the post that the picture was taken for so you can see what it was all about.

Tonight Tippy is going to show you a little something we put together the other day. Me and Tom went to the garden centre as Tom wanted some bonemeal so while we were there I decided to buy some pots to do something I've been thinking about for a while now. I was just going to get three ordinary clay pots, it doesn't really matter what the pots are like as long as each one is smaller than the other, the reason for this will become evident in the next picture. As it turned out there were three pots that both fit the bill and that took my fancy.

If you start off with the biggest pot and fill it with potting compost and then take the next size pot and just put it on top of the one you just filled and lightly press down, this will both firm the compost in the lower pot and also mark where the pot will eventually sit. There should be a part all the way around the lower pot that the second pot didn't touch and this is now where you need to put some plants, I used Busy Lizzies but you could use begonia's or sat Petunia's, trailing Lobelia would be good too. When this is done then you do the same thing again with the second pot first of all filling it with compost as with the first. If you planted the first pot right you should be able to just sit in down on top of the first pot without damaging the plants. See the picture below.

For the third pot you can finish off with the same sort of plants if you choose, I decided to put a Fuchsia in the top pot as I felt it would just give it that bit more height. Below is the finished article although I'm thinking I might see if Vicki can get some some trailing Lobelia from the shop as I think it would be better with something flowing down a bit although in time the Busy Lizzies will grow up and fill out.
This next picture was taken later on in the summer and shows you how it all worked out.
All the best,
Bob.

4 comments:

  1. Tippy gave some fantastic Tips!

    The planter is gorgeous. I've seen similar pots sold for a lot of money, but if you stack your own, I'm sure it is much more economical.

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  2. Gorgeous! Very clever! And Tippy was kind enough to supply "tips!" What a sweet dog she was.

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  3. That's gorgeous! I never would have thought of that!

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  4. What a great and novel idea...it really turned out beautiful and so well balanced. Good work Tippy ...you had quite the eye!

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