Anyone for Gardening?

charleeh

I started the garden in my new house this month, it was a right mess with bits of plastic pegs and small cheap toys trodden into the dirt (the perks of the previous family having 3 small children lol!)

My husband dug me one flower bed the first week which I planted up with a raspberry, blueberry and blackcurrant for the fruit. And for ornamental plants I planted lupins, solanum, ceanothus & pyracantha.

He was watching the football the following week so me in my infinite wisdom decided I was feeling great so i'd dig the next flowerbed myself I was doing great - I dug the whole thing (carefully with my framed kneeler that I can sit on and flip over to kneel on) I had took my time, taken breaks (popped plenty arcoxia and tramadol) and done great until I decided I would try and pull a stinging nettle root with my hands without cutting it :roll:

I have not been right since, I felt my back go and have been having mini flares since. I did so well with our move too! (I also had a chewed ear for not waiting till someone can help from the mr!)

However, I did get my garden done, so while I am inside in my straight backed chair looking out the window I can at least admire my garden . . . . must see the funny side of it. I planted more lupins, x2 roses, forsythia, x2 budlea, bleeding heart, chinese lanterns & honeysuckle.

Poundland have some amazing plants in!! I got lots from there! - has anyone else been able to get out to have a look what they have in??

best wishes,
charleeh x

applerose

Charleeh, you have done really well with your garden. Stupid nettle. Bet you think it was worth it though. I have often bought plants from Poundland. My son completely covered his very small front garden with plants from there and it looks fabulous. I've just bought lupin, gladiolas and liatris spicata bulbs from Aldi. Not sure when I'll get them in though.

charleeh

hi applerose,

yes I do feel like it was worth it typical of me I guess but I still struggle with wanting to do everything myself!

I don't think you can beat poundland for value really, I know the plants are often dry rooted but they are good if you know how to treat them

I had some beautiful years of home made jam from my poundland plants in the house before we moved.

just wish poundland would have some david austin rose varieties in LOL I have got my eye on one called comt de chambord but it is quite expensive! I saw it (smelled it) at a national trust garden I visited with my cousin a while ago - absolutely beautiful scent!!

best wishes,
charleeh x

dreamdaisy

Right, we're a few weeks on now and I have a question. Our star magnolia is fading fast and shedding petals everywhere - do I leave them to rot or should I clear the majority? DD

daffy2

Depends on how much they bother you and whether they are covering up anything that matters, such as lawn or small plants. Otherwise the worms will deal with them in due course - or if this drying wind continues they'll shrivel and take themselves elsewhere.

dreamdaisy

A sensible reply as always, Daffy, thank you! I shall sweep away the petals which litter the path and step into the garage because they are rather slippery - I will leave the rest.

The daffs are now over but the tulips and hyacinths are going great guns, together with an azalea, the camellia and the mahonias down the drive: my neighbours' (which is drooping beautifully over our fence) is full of purple berries and the ones further down the drive (ours) have glossy green leaves and yellow flowers. The plum blossom has nearly all gone (most of it shed over Beatrice which is parked underneath). The white lilac has gorgeously fat buds on it - I can't wait for that to come out! DD

dreamdaisy

I've managed to dead head the camellia with the aid of a walking stick to hoick the higher flowers towards me - it's on a raised bed and I cannot climb onto it! There are many fat buds still to come so I hope it will continue to flower for a little longer. My bluebells are out - the bulbs were sent to me by my father many years ago - they were in a pot which I brought with me when we moved. Now they are scattered around the borders and I hope they will spread. DD

applerose

A few photos. Only done most of the weeding over the last couple of weeks.

Kerria and can't remember the name of the red one.


celandine patch.

applerose

Pink cherry blossom and white morello cherry.

Grape hyacynths.

tkachev

Lovely pics Applerose.

Our garden is looking quite nice having been tidied up by the OH.
We have both apple and cherry blossom and it looks beautiful, plus bluebells and little white bell shape flowers which could be snowdrops?

But best of all my hollyhocks are starting to flourish. I've waited 3 or 4 years for them to get established.


Elizabeth.

dreamdaisy

What lovely pictures, applerose, thank you! We too have grape hyacinths - I love their colour. The tulips are now going over, the daffs have gone completely but the roses are budding left, right and centre. DD

dreamdaisy

Dug up for Scottie Pam.

PS SP? There is a guide at the top of the page about how to post photos.

Airwave!

I have a couple of trips to the dump organised for today, if the gc let me, we need to get the garden ready for a busy summer, it aĺl continues to grow despite what I do to it. At the moment the clay is waterlogged and doesn't dry out till April usually.

mig

I saw our lovely tillytops name and thought she had come back to the forum.Think of you often Tilly hugs (((()))) Mig

applerose

I have a clay garden too Airwave so don't get anything done during the winter. I've just noticed my daffodils are about a foot tall now and have flower buds on them. I planted them over 2 years ago and haven't had anything more than a few leaves.

Airwave!

Christine, yep, April 1st and it all goes rock hard. I should dig the daffs up and plant some more varieties, they'll come out at different times and give you a longer time to appreciate them.

Well I did two trips to the dump with the trailer, I need to do another one at least. I have spent the last fifteen years shredding everything and now it's come back to haunt me, the remains have to be cleared before we can reseed the grass.

Our plan is to put some boards round the flower beds and lay some black mat down and fill with different types of shingle etc etc, not so much gardening in the end. Might put some large pots in then and fill them with flowers (oh's job!). Then put some decking on the larger grass levels ( I know I know!), but less work in the long run.

dreamdaisy

We have acquired a fox. I know it's been around thanks to three large deposits of vomit on the raised flower bed and a puddle under our silver tree. I'm wondering if it's been eating poisoned mice and rats or - worse - whether someone is trying to finish it off. It has also dug out a little scrape, presumably for a snooze! I heard one barking last night, when I google earth our address we look as though we are living in the middle of a large wood thanks to all the greenery around here! Large gardens surround our house on three sides plus the neighbours with the biggest patch keep beautiful chickens just over the fence from ours: no wonder we have vulpine company. DD

dreamdaisy

We have more vomit. I reckon this is a very poorly beast so I will ring the Council for advice. DD

daffy2

It isn't a cat is it?My garden is the favoured dumping ground for a raggedy neighbourhood tom, and also next door's cat if something's disagreed with it. Annoyingly it's always on the lawn where it's impossible to clear up so the grass is littered with a selection of pots covering the evidence until various small creatures have cleared it up, just leaving small clumps of hair sometimes.
At this time of year pampered moggies are prone to upchucking their scavenging of bird food(which is the origin of next door's transgressions).

Airwave!

We do suffer with a dog fox marking his(!) territory with faces, I generally move it and after a week or two he gets fed up and leaves it in someone else's garden. It does stink!

The Fox's mating season should now be behind us unless the changes in the season have altered it? Usually its just before Xmas when all those thick hoar frosts are about, which didn't happen at the end of 2015. They are a noisy lot round here, between them and the deer its enough to make you pull the covers over your head!

As for moggies don't get me started!

dreamdaisy

I found a film of a fox vomiting and what it left behind looks like what we have on the flower bed - surely faeces have some sort of form to them? This mess is just large puddles - think the average British high street on a Sunday morning and it's like that - but minus carrot.

The local cats stick to depositing their rear-end efforts mostly on our gravelled drive. :roll: I agree, Airwave, don't get me started either! If I ever had a moggy it would learn to use a litter tray because others should not be affected by my pet's toileting habits. DD

dreamdaisy

My star magnolia is blossoming! About half a dozen of the fat, furry buds have split open and the white flowers are a lovely splash of light in a darker corner of the garden. Bulbs are springing up everywhere too which is most encouraging! DD

applerose

Magnolias are beautiful. I like all of them. Plenty of snowdrops flowering now, the daffodils are ready to burst open and the leaf buds on the cherry blossom tree are opening. And I have a new greenhouse on it's way. A birthday present from my son and daughter. Never had a proper one before, only a plastic cover one.

Airwave!

I took my life in my hands and gingerly went down the garden, very slippery! The greenhouse is spread round the garden, I had replaced some of the glass with plastic panels, the wind pushed some out and managed to lift the opening window, slide it along the roofline then dump it over the other side of the greenhouse (it fits in the channel)???? How?


Very frustrating not being able to do much work, I would soon ruin the ground by going up and down. No matter how I feel about getting and doing something after a winter indoors I can't bring myself to do more housework!

It's a grin, honest! 8)

dreamdaisy

Joan Bakewell once likened gardening to outdoor housework; I think she has a good point. DD