Gardening thread

[allthingschocolate]

Thankyou for replying, hard to tell but I really did not expect the amount of weeds I have got, trouble is I’m on a new build estate so who knows it could be a combination of everything either way it’s frustrating as I wanted low maintenance but now it looks like a mess, I have used the blowtorch thing in the past and managed to burn myself so may not be a viable option, I will look at getting weed killer and maybe go back to the landscape gardener to see if he can offer any solution appreciate you responding

 

[Doodlebug005]

Vine weevil …. anyone got tips? have used nematodes for years and they make no difference. found grubs in a pot of rhubarb yesterday I hate them … evil little b@stards

 

[coconochanel]

I want to grow some Potatoes just need to get a tub to grow them in . Also want some new garden furniture this year so will be shopping around for that.

 

[coconochanel]

Ive been busy buying pots and getting things ready to plant my carrots and potatoes etc. Do you rake the leaves up on the grass or leave them?

 

[CallMeHollywood]

Right you lovely lot, I know there are some green fingered tattlers living amongst us.

I’m hijacking my father in laws empty greenhouse next week and sowing seeds ready for spring. Are those little paper pots worth getting? I had some breakages last year by turning out plastic trays when planting.

What’s everyone planting this year? I’m going for a blue theme as we’ve got quite a lot of lavender, which I’m hoping will survive the frost we’ve had recently.

 

[coconochanel]

What bulbs is everyone planting for spring?

 

[Al Fresco]

Are buxus balls good to put in borders?

Yes, I got quite a few two years ago and they all took very well. They were on offer in Tesco for £10 each and Home Bargains for £8 so couldn’t say no to that. They’re £40 in most places now. I’d recommend you get a pack of Buxus Feed when planting them. The only downside to any box hedging etc is the clippings, it goes everywhere. I’ve tried all sorts of techniques for catching the mess but I just resort to raking it up and sifting them through a garden sieve then cover over the soil with a top up of compost to make it look tidy.

 

[MavisBeacon]

I feel your pain. We ended up surrounding the garden with spikes, getting gorse clippings and leaving them in the beds where the cats jump down, putting high trellises with thick cover on the fences etc

The asshole option is to put down chili powder in your garden. I did that in our old place as we were absolutely plagued by cats shitting multiple times every day.

 

[YetAnotherObsessionx]

the unknown wildflower mix...

I planted one of those mixes once. It went feral and not at all how I expected. I didn't think hard enough about exactly where to plant the seeds. Won't make that mistake again!

 

[Lionessarising]

I've got this dream of having a little patch of ground covered in snowdrops with them spreading each year. So every year I go the garden centre and buy a few pots of snowdrops to plant in my mini woodland area, never to be seen again the next year. Does anyone know why. I could understand if I planted them as bulbs in the autumn but I plant them in the green as I'm told they are likely to keep coming back but they never do. Same with cyclamens. Could it be mice?

 

[DanDanTheIceCreamMan]

Does anyone recommend a plant can can stay in a large pot all year in the shade?

Japanese Maple? Need to be sheltered from the wind but they do well in dappled shade (or mine are still alive after a few years anyway - which is saying something as I'm not good with containers).

 

[CallMeHollywood]

Oh, and you could also try everlasting sweet peas. They are perennial and die back completely in winter. The flowers don't have any scent unlike annual sweet peas. Or just grow a bunch of annual sweet peas from seed the year you want to move, if you just want the effect

Thanks for all these! Will investigate

 

[DanDanTheIceCreamMan]

I paid to have my garden landscaped last year it looked fabulous when it was first done, I’ve had part gravel/part circular lawn, they put double membrane down at the time but now I have tonnes of weeds growing though is this normal? I really don’t want to pull each one out as it would take forever but any tips please on how to get rid of them and stop them coming back? I Don’t know if its me being naive but thought I would have very little or none at all any tips gratefully appreciated (I’m not a keen gardener so went for what I thought was low maintenance) and it now seems like more work then when I just had a lawn to mow

Tonnes of weeds seems like the landscapers may not have done a great job quickest way of getting rid is weedkiller or even getting one of those blowtorchy things(which scare the crap out of me personally although you'd probably still have to pull them eventually to make it look tidy and they may still come back).

Do you think it's weeds coming from underneath the membrane? rather than seeds being blown in or dropped (which would be less of them).
of course, we didn't get a dry summer which won't have helped.

I hate weeding...

 

[MavisBeacon]

Oh, and you could also try everlasting sweet peas. They are perennial and die back completely in winter. The flowers don't have any scent unlike annual sweet peas. Or just grow a bunch of annual sweet peas from seed the year you want to move, if you just want the effect

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Anyone got any ideas on what I can do?
I have a tree in my garden which we are going to cut down as it gets too big and hits my neighbours house. We cut it down the last two years but it’s so much work and we just read that it’ll keep growing to that size as you’re meant to leave it to grow then it’ll stop. But it’ll be too big hitting the neighbours house. At the moment it had a barrier and stones around it. But we’ll be left with the tree trunk there.
I’m thinking maybe a bird area on-top of the stones, a bird bath, bird boxes and maybe a few plants in plant pots. But does anyone else have any other ideas?

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Japanese Maple? Need to be sheltered from the wind but they do well in dappled shade (or mine are still alive after a few years anyway - which is saying something as I'm not good with containers).

Thanks I'll have a look

 

[CallMeHollywood]

Ive been busy buying pots and getting things ready to plant my carrots and potatoes etc. Do you rake the leaves up on the grass or leave them?

Rake them as it causes bald patches.

I need some recommendations for decent climbers. We’re selling the house in two years but the garden is pretty bare. Need some fence climbers that are relatively cheap and grow fast.

 

[SoulDestroyer]

I follow some IG gardening accounts and feel a bit inadequate when I see their seedlings. I can get seeds to germinate ok, but when it comes to growing things on mine always go leggy or don't grow any bigger. I know it's lack of light but there's not much I can do about it other than pray for sun on my window ledges.
Also, I was delaying sowing because people kept saying it's too early, then the end of March comes and somehow they have big seedlings with tons of roots - like they appear from nowhere so quick!

 

[DanDanTheIceCreamMan]

I planted one of those mixes once. It went feral and not at all how I expected. I didn't think hard enough about exactly where to plant the seeds. Won't make that mistake again!

Oh it's definitely going in a pot...

Having said that I've done seed mixes that just never appear at all..... all or nothing isn't it

I've still got mexican fleabane coming up from a plant that I bought a few years back (luckily I love it so I'm not bothered... but I do have to pull loads of it up every now and again

 

[allthingschocolate]

I paid to have my garden landscaped last year it looked fabulous when it was first done, I’ve had part gravel/part circular lawn, they put double membrane down at the time but now I have tonnes of weeds growing though is this normal? I really don’t want to pull each one out as it would take forever but any tips please on how to get rid of them and stop them coming back? I Don’t know if its me being naive but thought I would have very little or none at all any tips gratefully appreciated (I’m not a keen gardener so went for what I thought was low maintenance) and it now seems like more work then when I just had a lawn to mow