Q&A's
Occasionally the NUGs are asked to answer a few questions about gardening...some days we invite colleagues’ to our shed to drink tea and discuss all matters NUG...if you have any questions or thoughts you wish to share with us...then drop us a line.
So...NUGs when are you going to go and do the RHS Chelsea?
Roger Andrews
June 5th 2013 at 12.15pm (Nr. Asda Hyson green)
We informed Roger that the NUGs would love to do a gig at the Chelsea Flower Show...if anyone wishes to suggest us to the management then please do so...may be we could mark our fifth anniversary by doing Chelsea.
Traditionally gardeners wear an apron as well, no?
Rosemarie Finke
March 21st 2011 at 16.08pm
The Nu Urban Gardeners do subscribe to the wearing of aprons. Aprons will be adorned on very special occasions...such as the Chelsea Flower Show and meeting her majesty the Queen. The NUGs have seen some very fine aprons in the Tate Modern shop (although we like the idea of having some aprons tailored to our own specification).
Hi DL,
Great that we have been of some use...good luck with the Blackmore's Tights.
NUGs
March 21st, 2011 at 3.55pm
I'll follow your instructions. Thanks for prompt response to my horticultural conundrum. I've just planted some Blackmore's Tights in my raised beds. It's a miserable looking thing, I can tell you...
DL
March 21st, 2011 at 3:44pm
NU Gardeners Question Time!
…Although standards are not slipping at BBT recording sessions; if anything they're at their zenith. However, as you are a Gardener, could you recommend any suitable vocal booth hardy annuals? Gainsbourg, sartorial elegance and booth tips! All in one day! Marvelous.
D L
March 21st 2011 3.02pm
Dear DL,
Thank you for contacting the NUGs for a gardening tip and advice...we will Endeavour to do our best to be of assistance and hopefully find ways to ameliorate the BBT vocal booth so you can accommodate hardy annuals. This is a complex question because of the potential for changes of environment and climate for both annual and vocalist...do you create a micro climate whilst in the booth and is it a confined space? Do you/they provide enough room for you to a) a swing a cat and b) room to rock? If the answer is both A and B then the NUGs feel that foliage in the vocal booth is both advantageous to you the performer (something nice to look at) and agreeable (to the plant as it has space to grow). Miss April Shines (not her real name...it is actually Julie from Hull) is sitting on the gardening panel this afternoon...she informs us that she as a former groupie that she knows a thing or two about plants in vocal booths and she reliably say’s that a plant aided her own performance.
It is possible that you may not wish for a plant that is either too odorous or one that is distracting to others ((it is possible they, engineers, recording musicians (excluding the drummer) and others)) may wish to spend too much time in the booth with you...admiring the plant). The plant we wish you to consider will offer to you the following benefits, improved air quality, a sense of well being, give you something to do (shaping and tweaking) whilst waiting in the booth, a plant that is stimulating to look at, a plant you can talk with...ultimately we are looking for a plant that fits with your lifestyle.
The hardy annual ‘Festoon Delight’ (Hybrid) is a native species to the UK. It can survive indoors (for short periods in summer only) but we recommend that after flowering you prune the delicate flower heads right back (a job that is very therapeutic and can be undertaken in the vocal booth) TIP: we suggest taking into the booth with you a brown paper bag and some small pruning scissors so you can collect the seeds for next year’s plants (If you put the plant outside it will self sow). The plant is non toxic so you can digest the seeds. TIP: try sprinkling the seeds on Greek yogurt. The plant requires minimum watering (once a week with a drop of Baby Bio added into the water). The flowers vary in shades of apricot, orange, primrose and cream. Depending on the variety, the blooms are either a single small delicate flower or a robust double head when the Hybrid seed permits (the flowers in this case are deep purples and crimson pinks). The plants range in height from 15 to 30 inches and the flowers between 2 and 5 centimeters. Festoon Delight is a low-maintenance plant that grows in full sun or part shade (good for Booths and lives in pots). The plant in ancient Roman times was seen as a herb and used to treat inflamed skin and to help heal wounds from the marauding hordes (The Republican Era).
NUGs
March 21st, 2011 at 3.20pm
It all sounds fraught with fetishism to me but then most things do.
Kenny
March 21st 2011 at 11.32am
Hi Kenny…And what is the Fashionable Set wearing now? Standards in one way are slipping…blue denim jeans with arse hanging out of the rear…old t-shirts supporting some slogan or image…footwear; usually a worn out pair of shoes or slippers…hat a base ball cap (nike) reversed…one could go ‘Albuquerque’ and garden in linen pants...which has some style…there are some who wear fishing tops with lots of pockets for seed packets and tools…all very Beuysian. For those into ‘Torture Garden Ware’ I suggest you look elsewhere.
NUGs
March 21st, 2011 at 12.01pm
Dear NUGs; perhaps you could establish a page called gardeners’ question time and answer some questions. I for one need advice on the following…Q: "My plot keeps getting knocked off my trestle table. I've tried blu-tack but it leaves a stain…Any suggestions?"
Arthur Kellick
March 21st 2011 at 10:39am
Dear Arthur…as you can see…we are responding to your request! …this is an interesting problem you pose to the NUGS and one that the panel has come across before. We understand the problem is manifest in areas specifically at risk of earthquakes, however not exclusively so. We are aware that a Mrs and Mrs J Manning of Hunstanton solved the problem by using a ‘specialist compost’. The recipe developed by Mr & Mrs Manning is a 65% spittle mix...with 4 part John Innes compost No.2, This has proved to be highly successful in areas prone to tectonic shifting. Mr & Mrs Manning developed this mix for their daughter (who lives in California) and who wrote to her parents wondering if they could assist her in coming up with a solution that could secure her Mary Dish Garden to the table without leaving a stain (The table top in her case was a laminated surface and not prone to stains). Mrs Manning had been a compost specialist for a well-known compost manufacture…If anyone has other solutions to this problem we would like to hear from you.
NUGs
March 21st 2011 at 10.50am
Perhaps there should be a separate page on Fb for Nu Urban Gardeners’?
Sarah Gibbons
March 21st 2011 at 10.12am
Most certainly Sarah both Chris and I will certainly be working towards that...but first we seek to establish this as a specific dedicated website to NUG projects...a NUG presence on the ‘book of Face’ would be very agreeable.
NUGs
March 21st 2011 at 10.20am
I'm lost as to what people are receiving awards for?
Jeremy Fillmore (in reference to the Certificates presented at the Hampstead Heath Festival 2010)
March 21st 2011 at 9:44am
Good Morning Jeremy,
The large postcard certificates are ‘Certificates of Participation’ and everyone who cultivated a plot received one of them. We are obliged to undertake the following sequence*(1). (Firstly, having informed us that they have completed the task of creating an ‘active plot’) we shake the hand of the person/persons who worked the land/plot. Secondly we award them a certificate of participation and thirdly we invite the audience to share (with us) in a round of applause.
There were four additional (special merit awards) presented throughout the afternoon. The award for the most Hopeful Habitat, the award for the Most Surreal Habitat, the award for the Most Creative Habitat & the award for the most Ecologically Sound Habitat. These certificates were awarded by the management team when they, (the judges) felt that the cultivators demonstrated commitment above and beyond normal probability. (I may add here that NUG really does need to develop a specific vocabulary and will go seeking R&D to update the handbook (our manifesto)....our existing rule book is a little antiquated & dog-eared and its contents appears not to be consistent with contemporary progressive NUG thinking).
* From, ‘The Efficient Gardener’ – Thompson Bancroft (Reprinted - 1959)
(1) ‘Rules and engagement for the miniature horticulturalist’ Home Grown Publications (2010)
NUGs
March 21st 2011 at 9.59am
So...NUGs when are you going to go and do the RHS Chelsea?
Roger Andrews
June 5th 2013 at 12.15pm (Nr. Asda Hyson green)
We informed Roger that the NUGs would love to do a gig at the Chelsea Flower Show...if anyone wishes to suggest us to the management then please do so...may be we could mark our fifth anniversary by doing Chelsea.
Traditionally gardeners wear an apron as well, no?
Rosemarie Finke
March 21st 2011 at 16.08pm
The Nu Urban Gardeners do subscribe to the wearing of aprons. Aprons will be adorned on very special occasions...such as the Chelsea Flower Show and meeting her majesty the Queen. The NUGs have seen some very fine aprons in the Tate Modern shop (although we like the idea of having some aprons tailored to our own specification).
Hi DL,
Great that we have been of some use...good luck with the Blackmore's Tights.
NUGs
March 21st, 2011 at 3.55pm
I'll follow your instructions. Thanks for prompt response to my horticultural conundrum. I've just planted some Blackmore's Tights in my raised beds. It's a miserable looking thing, I can tell you...
DL
March 21st, 2011 at 3:44pm
NU Gardeners Question Time!
…Although standards are not slipping at BBT recording sessions; if anything they're at their zenith. However, as you are a Gardener, could you recommend any suitable vocal booth hardy annuals? Gainsbourg, sartorial elegance and booth tips! All in one day! Marvelous.
D L
March 21st 2011 3.02pm
Dear DL,
Thank you for contacting the NUGs for a gardening tip and advice...we will Endeavour to do our best to be of assistance and hopefully find ways to ameliorate the BBT vocal booth so you can accommodate hardy annuals. This is a complex question because of the potential for changes of environment and climate for both annual and vocalist...do you create a micro climate whilst in the booth and is it a confined space? Do you/they provide enough room for you to a) a swing a cat and b) room to rock? If the answer is both A and B then the NUGs feel that foliage in the vocal booth is both advantageous to you the performer (something nice to look at) and agreeable (to the plant as it has space to grow). Miss April Shines (not her real name...it is actually Julie from Hull) is sitting on the gardening panel this afternoon...she informs us that she as a former groupie that she knows a thing or two about plants in vocal booths and she reliably say’s that a plant aided her own performance.
It is possible that you may not wish for a plant that is either too odorous or one that is distracting to others ((it is possible they, engineers, recording musicians (excluding the drummer) and others)) may wish to spend too much time in the booth with you...admiring the plant). The plant we wish you to consider will offer to you the following benefits, improved air quality, a sense of well being, give you something to do (shaping and tweaking) whilst waiting in the booth, a plant that is stimulating to look at, a plant you can talk with...ultimately we are looking for a plant that fits with your lifestyle.
The hardy annual ‘Festoon Delight’ (Hybrid) is a native species to the UK. It can survive indoors (for short periods in summer only) but we recommend that after flowering you prune the delicate flower heads right back (a job that is very therapeutic and can be undertaken in the vocal booth) TIP: we suggest taking into the booth with you a brown paper bag and some small pruning scissors so you can collect the seeds for next year’s plants (If you put the plant outside it will self sow). The plant is non toxic so you can digest the seeds. TIP: try sprinkling the seeds on Greek yogurt. The plant requires minimum watering (once a week with a drop of Baby Bio added into the water). The flowers vary in shades of apricot, orange, primrose and cream. Depending on the variety, the blooms are either a single small delicate flower or a robust double head when the Hybrid seed permits (the flowers in this case are deep purples and crimson pinks). The plants range in height from 15 to 30 inches and the flowers between 2 and 5 centimeters. Festoon Delight is a low-maintenance plant that grows in full sun or part shade (good for Booths and lives in pots). The plant in ancient Roman times was seen as a herb and used to treat inflamed skin and to help heal wounds from the marauding hordes (The Republican Era).
NUGs
March 21st, 2011 at 3.20pm
It all sounds fraught with fetishism to me but then most things do.
Kenny
March 21st 2011 at 11.32am
Hi Kenny…And what is the Fashionable Set wearing now? Standards in one way are slipping…blue denim jeans with arse hanging out of the rear…old t-shirts supporting some slogan or image…footwear; usually a worn out pair of shoes or slippers…hat a base ball cap (nike) reversed…one could go ‘Albuquerque’ and garden in linen pants...which has some style…there are some who wear fishing tops with lots of pockets for seed packets and tools…all very Beuysian. For those into ‘Torture Garden Ware’ I suggest you look elsewhere.
NUGs
March 21st, 2011 at 12.01pm
Dear NUGs; perhaps you could establish a page called gardeners’ question time and answer some questions. I for one need advice on the following…Q: "My plot keeps getting knocked off my trestle table. I've tried blu-tack but it leaves a stain…Any suggestions?"
Arthur Kellick
March 21st 2011 at 10:39am
Dear Arthur…as you can see…we are responding to your request! …this is an interesting problem you pose to the NUGS and one that the panel has come across before. We understand the problem is manifest in areas specifically at risk of earthquakes, however not exclusively so. We are aware that a Mrs and Mrs J Manning of Hunstanton solved the problem by using a ‘specialist compost’. The recipe developed by Mr & Mrs Manning is a 65% spittle mix...with 4 part John Innes compost No.2, This has proved to be highly successful in areas prone to tectonic shifting. Mr & Mrs Manning developed this mix for their daughter (who lives in California) and who wrote to her parents wondering if they could assist her in coming up with a solution that could secure her Mary Dish Garden to the table without leaving a stain (The table top in her case was a laminated surface and not prone to stains). Mrs Manning had been a compost specialist for a well-known compost manufacture…If anyone has other solutions to this problem we would like to hear from you.
NUGs
March 21st 2011 at 10.50am
Perhaps there should be a separate page on Fb for Nu Urban Gardeners’?
Sarah Gibbons
March 21st 2011 at 10.12am
Most certainly Sarah both Chris and I will certainly be working towards that...but first we seek to establish this as a specific dedicated website to NUG projects...a NUG presence on the ‘book of Face’ would be very agreeable.
NUGs
March 21st 2011 at 10.20am
I'm lost as to what people are receiving awards for?
Jeremy Fillmore (in reference to the Certificates presented at the Hampstead Heath Festival 2010)
March 21st 2011 at 9:44am
Good Morning Jeremy,
The large postcard certificates are ‘Certificates of Participation’ and everyone who cultivated a plot received one of them. We are obliged to undertake the following sequence*(1). (Firstly, having informed us that they have completed the task of creating an ‘active plot’) we shake the hand of the person/persons who worked the land/plot. Secondly we award them a certificate of participation and thirdly we invite the audience to share (with us) in a round of applause.
There were four additional (special merit awards) presented throughout the afternoon. The award for the most Hopeful Habitat, the award for the Most Surreal Habitat, the award for the Most Creative Habitat & the award for the most Ecologically Sound Habitat. These certificates were awarded by the management team when they, (the judges) felt that the cultivators demonstrated commitment above and beyond normal probability. (I may add here that NUG really does need to develop a specific vocabulary and will go seeking R&D to update the handbook (our manifesto)....our existing rule book is a little antiquated & dog-eared and its contents appears not to be consistent with contemporary progressive NUG thinking).
* From, ‘The Efficient Gardener’ – Thompson Bancroft (Reprinted - 1959)
(1) ‘Rules and engagement for the miniature horticulturalist’ Home Grown Publications (2010)
NUGs
March 21st 2011 at 9.59am
