How Does Your Garden Grow ?

[mirry]

Hello Friends, Ive been trying to make an effort today to get myself out of this dark cloud :) , so decided to think about my garden (which is horrible)
I have sown some mixed lettace leaves in a tub, they are the cut and come again ones (really easy) and am thinking about sowing some tomato plants next week. Have any of you started making garden plans ?

[Piglet]

Well I started by mowing the lawn last week for Karens visit - grass was getting scarily long.

I love sitting in the garden with a brew and watching the squirrels - it's a nice safe place to be :D

If its nice this weekend then I may get into some serious weeding! :D

Piglet x

[rosebud]

I think gardening is very therapeutic.
Haven't done any lately but i love to get out there when the weathers nice and i always sleep like a log after a good days gardening ! All that fresh air.

Traceyxxx

[jodie]

hi mirry

i like doing the garden this time of the year i dont like it when it is hot and i dont like wasps lol i have started to tidy arond from all the winter weather and winds .

jodie x

[Piglet]

I wonder if any of you watched Monty Don's prog on BBC2 tonight about people and their allotments!!

Every single one of them said how theraputic it was to work on them. Also a film is coming out later in the year with allotments as its background theme.

Piglet xx

[kazzie]

Hi Mirry

Well I took the cowards way out and had my entire garden slabbed over 3 yrs ago!!!

That said i had sown 3 lawns that my labrador wrecked......

So now I do all my gardening in pots!!!

At present I have loads of spring bulbs coming up!!!

I have fairy lights strung round a tree outdoor lighting and a chimnea and an otter water feature!!!!

I grow tomatoes and mini cucumbers and lillies mostly!!!!

Ahh roll on the hot lazy days of summer..........

Luv Kaz x x x

[Karen]

Well I started by mowing the lawn last week for Karens visit - grass was getting scarily long.
And how lovely it looked too :D

Does anyone know if you can grow strawberry plants in pots indoors - I live in a flat so don't have a garden? And when you can get the plants?

Karen xx

[kazzie]

Hi Karen

You could grow them indoors but not that well they need bees to pollinate them

How about a window box or balcony

You can get the plants from april in garden centres!!!!

Or a sunny windowsill and leave the window open sometimes maybe????

Hope this helps??

Luv Kaz x x x

[Karen]

Thanks Kazzie :)

I have a balcony they could sit on at the moment but then I am looking to move to somewhere cheaper so might not have outside space then.

Maybe I'll have to make do with going to the local farm and picking strawberries instead :sign20:

Karen xx

[Evie]

We used to live in a rented farmhouse with an acre of garden, half of which was rough paddock. The snowdrops and wild daffodils were wonderful but what a lot of work. What the rabbits couldn't reach the hares could, and what the hares couldn't reach the deer could. I only wish they'd preferred the grass as goodness knows there was too much to keep mown, even when we just mowed paths through the padddock.

Now I have a teensy weensy garden with a small, diamond of slabs surrounded by triangular corner beds and a tiny area set off to one side for tomatoes. I too grow a lot in tubs. I have a Rhododendron Fragrantissima - huge white heavily scented flowers - in a pot next to my chair, and a white jasmine, a heavily scented rose and a wisteria also in pots close by. Everything has to smell exquisite to earn it's keep here as the area's so small. Lots of David Austin roses, a Clematis Armandii along the trellis atop the wall will provide early scent, to be followed by Rosa Albertine and Rosa Heritage, and a Passion Flower twined amongst them for later in the summer. I tied in all the roses last weekend and got scratched to ribbons but I like to tie them in as low and as flat as possible as it encourages the sideshoots and I get masses of flowers as a result. I have a double Lilac, a semi-dwarf apple tree (Tydeman's Early Worcester) at the top right, and a dwarf Victoria Plum top right. Rosa Gertrude Jekyll bottom left with a lavander (pretty battered, needs replacing) and lots of ferns in the shady bits. On the right, in front of Rosa Albertine are Rosa Queen of Denmark and Rosa Mundi. I have a few self-seeded foxgloves and evening primrose, and forget-me-nots and alpine strawberries between the flags and stones which line the beds. Iris at the back, where they get most sun, and Dame's Violet (Hesperis Matronalis, also known as Sweet Rocket). The garden's south-facing and has excellent soil so I'm very lucky. I had great luck with a tomato called Sungold last summer - I will buy two plants from the local garden centre a little later in the season when the frost risk has passed. I have a large strawberry pot with normal strawberries but prefer the little alpine ones - much tastier! Slugs got my snowdrops (toads still hibernating) but daffy and narcissi bulbs coming through and my wild primroses are out. I have also got some "wanda hybrid" primulas to plant out today - oh, and I bought a lovely double-pink Camellia for only £6.99! Spot the girl who loves gardening. Better get that Camellia into its pot (lime-free soil, of course!) H :-)

[Granny Primark]

Kazzie my garden sounds like yours. Slabbled with 2 water features and loads of pots and garden knomes.
I love the spring and getting in the garden really does seem to help with anxiety.

Take care
LYNN XX

[mirry]

i have enjoyed reading all about your gardens, they sound absolutely fantastic, which makes me feel more determined to take on my garden "fully".

The problem we have is this;

our house is raised higher than our garden.
Our lawn is in a terrible state cos we have the 2 dogs (1 belongs to my mother in law).
We have a ugly looking garage at the end of the garden.
Our outside wall isnt rendered so looks yucky and then will need painting.
A lack of money to spend on the garden.
Also our garden is north facing .

lol, sounds lovely doesnt it.....bet your all really envious ?

[Evie]

Hi Mirry

I'd concentrate on the bits you can see from the house as it'll encourage you. Does the garage sit length-wise to the garden? Does that end of the garden get any sun at all, even in summer (when the sun's high enough the clear the house)? In any event I'd get a trellis up it (made from roofing lats) and plant the following: white jasmine for summer fragrance, rosa Albertine (very vigorous growth, dark pink buds opening shrimp pink), and possibly a clematis Armandii - fragrant, coming into flower about now, vigorous growth and evergreen so good for covering ugly walls. If that end of the garden is damp, put in ferns and some euphorbia, which have lovely sulphurous yellow bracts. Very forgiving and spread well. Also brunnera - blue, forget-me-not flowers in spring and tolerate shade. The variegated ones are nicest and it will spread quickly and tolerate being lifted and divided in early autumn. Lily of the valley - likes shade and spreads well.

For the house wall, hydrangea petioralis loves a north-facing wall and is self clinging. Honeysuckle likes a bit of shade and the fragrance is lovely. Also self-clinging and an excellent fast grower is Boston Ivy, although this would be better on the garage as it likes a little sun. The leaves turn a beautiful red in autumn. Cotoneaster also does well against a wall and the berries attract the birds.

All the above are pretty hardy and dog-proof although you might consider planting a few prickly shrubs such as mahonia and berberis down the bottom by the garage to add a little substance and deter the doggies!!!!

The most important thing is to concentrate on where you sit. Choose the point where the sun catches (!) and then turn the chair around until you find the best (or potentially the best) view. Then you just concentrate on making that as good as it can be, using planters and tubs if necessary to make sure that something always smells nice (especially important with the dogs!). Lemon Balm is great as it spreads like wild fire and is lovely to brush past. Apple Mint is good too. I usually try and throw a handful of bulbs at the bottom of everything I plant, whether in tub or garden, as it helps protect them from being accidentally dug up and/or trampled all over or stomped on when they're pushing through.

If you decide to dig some beds make sure that you dig a really deep (the depth of the spade blade) trench to define the edge between the bed and the lawn, giving a 5" vertical drop off the edge of the grass and the heaping the soil back upwards towards the back of the bed. This gives good drainage and, more importantly prevents the lawn creeping into the beds which makes weeding and mowing difficult.

Let us know how you get on - it sounds a great challenge!

P.S. steer clear of ivy, leylandii and russian vine!