Over the garden fence

Idle chat

miranda — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 09:18:00 GMT

I thought we could have an idle chat thread, for the quiet moments on the board when no one is thinking about gardening. Tell us a bit about yourself, say what you did at the weekend, what you ''do'', or admit that you spend w*rk time surfing, rather than what ever it is you're supposed to be doing. I'll start - live in a village in north Lincolnshire where nothing ever happens. It's quite nice, there are woods directly over the road that catch the morning sun, and this morning there are seven pigeons sitting high in a tree warming themselves in the weak sunlight. The garden is small, but a nice size for one person to do plenty of pottering about in. For the last week, it's been covered in frost, some of which never thaws, so I haven't done any more than go outside to look at the patterns on foliage. There are shrubs flowering - Mahonia, some Viburnums, Elaeagnus and Jasmine nudiflorum - which is pretty. The weekend was taken up with a Big Tidy Up, as the house has been a complete tip for weeks. That and sitting in front of an open fire, watching the flames and feeling drowsy. For work, I run a small mail order business with my partner which takes up nearly all our time. It's tiring but we enjoy it. How about you?

Garden pictures November 2009

sue1002 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:02:05 GMT

My garden pics for November from sunny Suffolk

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d134/Sue1002/Garden%20November%202009/

back to study

gardenhoe — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:34:09 GMT

hello all, im new to this lovely site and just wanted to introduse myself...ive passed the city & guilds cert in gardening and am now studying a btech award in plantmanship and also the rhs....i'll have alot of study and assignments to do over the next couple of years and am excited and nervous about how im going to fit it all in...( ive 2 young children and work night shift) ...but all in all its a great opic and my only regret is that i didnt think about doing this in my younger years....

i have a small garden service where i cater for woman , primarily ones on they're own and i enjoy every second of my time in they're gardens...

mybe persons here who have completed the rhs course could give me some tips on how they got on..

cheers

gardenhoe

Labelling plants.

clare — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:49:54 GMT

Am I alone in being driven absolutely mad by the lack of identification labels on plants in the premier gardens around the country?

Hidcote Manor is beautiful and full of interesting plants but all you can do is guess from the frankly pretty inadequate plant list they are happy to sell to you. The larger shrubs and trees have numbered labels on them, presumably for identification by the staff so would it be so hard to give them names too?

The RHS gardens are the only ones I have visited where labels are in evidence and it makes such a difference.

weeping willow tree

leigh — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:21:46 GMT

hi, when is the best time to trim a weeping willow tree?

can anybody help a complete novice

jjay — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:31:30 GMT

Hi everybody, I've just inherted a small(21'x13')weed trap,I'm currently digging it over and removing the 50Tonnes! of brick etc. I would appreciate ANY advice on starting a lawn from scratch so as to try and give it the best start in life.

pruning a mature oaktree?

val — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:29:49 GMT

I have a mature oak tree - probably 150 years old - in my garden to the north of my house. We have had the canopy raised and it it is gently thinned every 2 years to keep its size under control and to let some sunlight through but we have to chase the sun around the perimeter of the garden as it does cast such large shade and growing anything is a constant challenge. We have lived here 11years and do adore our oak tree....but.......

We are well into discussions to build an ecohouse on land to the north of the oak tree and so the tree will cast shade over the new house. (by dint of title deeds and the fact that our current garden is made up of 2 plots of land we will retain the oak tree in the garden of the new house). so the issues are: given the principles of the ecohouse: lots of natural light, lots of southfacing windows, solar panels and PV roof to face south etc etc there is potentially a problem with the oak tree. But it is beautiful, supports loads of wildlife, appreciated in an urban area etc etc.

I could not bring myself to cut it down...so... could its canopy be severly reduced and thinned? would the tree survive such drastic pruning? is the idea just ridiculous and the poor tree would lose all its integrity etc?

comments very welcome please val w

Garden pictures for October 2009

sue1002 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:43:45 GMT

These are my pics for October, still lots of colour about in sunny Suffolk

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d134/Sue1002/Garden%20October%202009/

Getting there and interesting finds!!

patiopal — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:24:26 GMT

raised bed was denuded of the first two feet of soil and vegetation. a heck of a lot of glass was found, but also oyster shells, old coins, all english. the last two has me wondering, do we have a swash buckling oyster eating englishman here in this garden in times past? I do live on the coast but i would not have thought a raised bed in social housing would have produced oyster shells! the english money was just a few pence pieces, so i didnt make my millions. this area was once a farm, then an orchard and finally land for social housing. tis might explain the uncanny friendliness of the natives - that is, the wee birds! of the feathered kind. i was seriously worried that for some reasons the starlings and sparrows were picking on me by dropping by for more than their fair share of food and leaving behind more than their fair share of droppings! but in past three days i have had two robbins, seen a wren, a dunnock and a blue tit and great tit have visited. I think maybe cos it has dropped a few degrees in temperature. Now, gardening matters. Had a visit from a garden designer of some note. Being very sick really and getting tired easily i couldnt seem to er, get rid of her! I was shattered by the time she left, and left with not a great deal to really say, bar one or two minor tips. I just bawled when she left. I felt my beginnings of dropped pots, silly little gnomes which i bought simply because it is my first garden and i did go buy a gnome for fun were critised. She told me before anything could be done everything had to be cleared, eg pots off ground and she demonstrated with a pot with a cutting just given to me! I am sure she was very well meaning but I think, well i think i will do my own designing! I want some water features eg. well do you want soft sound or harsh sound,huh? then barrel ponds with a lily or two, "stagnant water can cause..." I could add a fish or two.." "fish cause.." and such. see, i will design my own garden!!!1 so's the woes of a beginner and a loser! patio pal

Photo's of my garden in September!

maryrose — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:44:44 GMT

My garden photo's as I am so proud of some of my plants for doing sooo well!

They survived so well with the old adage of regular deadheading and feeding.

here is the link so hopefully you can view them writing and all!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40204752@N06/3697460746/in/photostream/

I have just tried to download them from Flicr: But not sure I know quite what I am doing!

Maybe someone will be able to help me thanks so much

Maryrose

Sowing your Mangold Wurtzel

BB — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:13:12 GMT

A sowing guide including Mangold Wurtzel from a newspaper of 1874.

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=MEX18740822.2.19&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-all

indoor chilli plant

richardpeeej — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:23:02 GMT

I've brought my chilli plant indoors out of the colder weather. There are two chillis on it and 3 flowers.

Does anyone know if I need to take the plant outside for a while in the day so that the other flowers get pollenated or would it be OK to leave it on the windowsill?

Garden pictures for September

sue1002 — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:12:28 GMT

I usually take pictures of what's in flower each month in the garden which is interesting to compare year on year to see how things fare. I've found a lot of plants this year have come into flower later than in previous years and put it down to last winter being colder and wetter than usual for us here.

These are my pics for this month http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d134/Sue1002/Garden%20September%202009/

Has anyone else got pictures of their gardens they would like to share?

MY Garden seems to have shrunk

M&MBM — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:26:33 GMT

.... The magazine, that is, not my actual garden. There seem to be fewer pages in this issue. What's missing?

What are you doing in the garden today?

sue1002 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:49 GMT

I know a lot of people are at work but what are you doing in the garden today?

Me - am going to pick a load more tomatoes and some runner beans and maybe even do some weeding while the sun is out.

taken the plunge !

rustic rose — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:59:12 GMT

I dont know if I am crazy but,I have decided to start my own little gardening part-time buisness !I have worked in parks,incuding the botanical gardens in b'ham,and on farm estates,and for the past 25 years in our big garden at home.I cant get enough !

Has anyone else taken the plunge? I am really excited,and only wish I had the nerve to do this years ago....I am only going to do the things I feel confident at and be honest and say I cant do some jobs...like high pruning and tree stuff.I feel like a new chapter of my life has suddenly opened,and I am really happy !

ELITIST RHS

Aging Misery — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:41:46 GMT

Many think the RHS is elitist, others think they just don't care or have their heads in the clouds Many members and staff think that RHS management are people who do not know anything about horticulture, ruining a fine organization to encourage the interest of people who don’t care!

What do you think?

Pictures to share with you.

Arrem — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:31:31 GMT

During a (rare) sunny spell this morning I took a few pictures in my garden which I recently re-designed. I'd like to share them with you.

green manures

plum — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:36:58 GMT

i am complete new to all this and was hoping foe a little help regarding green manures. i have read that they are good for the soil. my question is when should i sow them? i am not ready yet as i am still digging over the veg plot area. are they better than horse manure? will it be too much to do both? and finally how lond do i need to do it before i start planting?

please help

plum

seeds

plum — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:00:40 GMT

just wondering if there is a quality difference between seeds from say B and Q and wilkinsons. i just want to start off right with as good as possible.

please help

plum

Hello all

Lorna — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:08:23 GMT

Hi,

Another newbie !

I am really chuffed to have found this site - I'm hoping that it'll be a great learning and info exchange forum among like-minded people ...

I 'inherited' a pretty big garden (100+ ft) when I took over the house after my father died, and after the initial feelings of panic at the task of taking on a pretty wild and uncontrolled patch of land, I took a deep breath and got stuck in.

I admit (hangs head in shame) that I got professional help with the new layout, clearing, and terrace/summerhouse etc, but the basic framework was always there, and I have since discovered that my one time fear and denial that I could do anything with a garden on my own has given way to a real love of gardening.

I have sooo much to learn, and will probably ask some daft questions from time to time, but even just spending hours researching what plants I wanted to put in and the kind of 'feel' I wanted was a revelation.

So, I am now doing my painting the Forth Bridge impression with Ground Elder and Bindweed aswell as enjoying seeing the plants I have chosen starting to establish themselves ...

One question - I have a recently planted White Lilac which is not looking happy - the leaves are browning in patches and curling - is this a mite of some sort or something else ? Any help would be very welcome.

Thanks,

Lorna

Bamboo Poles

gtrekker2003 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:28:48 GMT

Anybody know where I can purchase bamboo poles that are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter and 4 to 8 metres in length? Preferably near Croydon, South London, or Greater London. Cheaper the better!

Thanks!

Grass Snake?

Hilary — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:39:34 GMT

Hope this is a better pic of the snake in my pond...

A visitor to my garden!

Hilary — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:30:56 GMT

The chap took up residence in my pond this year. The fish don't seem to mind.

Mushroom circles

Carolyn — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:34:10 GMT

Does anyone know a good way of getting rid of mushroom circles, I have two massive circles on my front lawn they come back every year and the only solution I have used so far is mowing them, as I dont want to damage the lawn around them.