How Does our Garden Grow?

Albus_Scope

That would make sense, our passionflower was growing out of gaps between the walls, in a few cms of dirt if it was lucky. 

onedayatatime

I go for more low maintenance gardening with the flowers. Ox eye daisy are good as they form large clumps, are perennial and stay green all year. Also penstemon and elephant ears. Nasturtium grow anywhere and Poached egg plants. They all self seed which is a bonus. Cosmos fill a garden and attract the butterflies. I started my herb garden off from reduced plants at the supermarket! Whatever I grow, I always make a point of collecting seeds from the flowers for the following year. I get a bit carried away and end up with large amounts so I can do the scatter and hope for the best approach now. 

Albus_Scope

I'm the same with collecting the previous years seeds! I'll try and de-weed as best I can, then scatter the seeds where I can.  It's always a bit hit or miss. But I usually end up with lots of fragrant sweet peas.  

Teigr

I like to let the garden do it's own thing(if that makes sense),I'm not one for planting everything in straight rows and making sure there's 36.5 centimetres of bare soil between each plant.

Teigr

A former neighbour had a passionflower growing out of a crack in their patio,it's gone now because the nitwit who bought their house has destroyed the garden.

The only things growing there now are brambles and weeds.

Teigr

I let the primroses,forget me nots and violets do their worst @Biblioklept,although I often transplant the primroses that pop up in parts of the garden where there's too much sun.

Sandy_123

I'm surprised the gardener hasn't offered to do my lawn after pestering all winter.

Teigr

We had a bloke pestering us last year about trimming some of our trees @Sandy_123,we asked him to trim the one next to our drive and he charged us £100.

We won't be bothering again.

Sandy_123

That was a rip off @teigr always use someone you know or who can be vouched for 

@ada we'd spend the time drinking tea 

Teigr

He admitted he'd overcharged us @Sandy_123,he said it was because he'd been overcharged for something (an ad in the local paper I think) earlier that day.

He knocked on the door last summer to ask me if I'd like him to trim the tree again and I said no.

My cousin's been using him for years,he must have money to burn.

Sandy_123

Forget that, that's his fault for using an ad it's free on face book.

JW77

Albus_Scope said:

Don't worry @Teigr once a passionflower takes off, it turns into a weed!  We were forever pulling chunks of it out in our old house haha. Beautiful magnolias there, have you seen the 'meganolias' they're selling now? The flowers are as big as a childs head! 

Beautiful colour choices there @JW77, the bees will thank you for the buddleia for sure.  

I have a small collection of around 12 Buddlia,  mostly the dwarf variety. Non of the 'common' feral types. 

Teigr

Anyway,here's what the rockery looks like at the moment.It's not finished but I wanted to make a start before we go away.There didn't used to be a line post stuck in the middle of it,we had to 'relocate' it when the deck was built.

Jimm_Scope

It's been a while since I looked through this discussion and I had to hand out a whole load of Awesome reactions!

So many wonderful pictures! 

I'm really looking forward to how everyone's garden does over this year

@WelshBlue I know you can get your garden back to the beauty it was! You still have that green thumb. 

@bookrabbit I love rabbits, I hope you get to do your garden up so it's a lovely bunny paradise. But that you still get to grow a few things too! Albus' raised planter idea might work perhaps?


I'll need to ask my partner what she does for her gardening. She has EDS so can struggle with the physicality of it sometimes. She tends to have a little stool she sits on, so she isn't kneeling in the dirt or having to bend over too much.

Here are some more pictures of what she grew last year I've spoilered it so they don't take up too much space! Just click or tap below to see them 

Albus_Scope

Wow, you've definitely got some green thumbs there @Ada Demeter is obviously watching over you.

I just ordered some veg seeds for the veg patch. I'll be growing purple peas, climbing strawberries and garlic this year.  Alongside the usual chillies and raspberries.

Teigr

Our next door neighbours grew strawberries last year @Albus_Scope,they had a decent crop but their four year old ate them before they had time to ripen.

Sandy_123

Took me ages to get rid of strawberries  they kept trying to spread around the garden, only the birds had them, as they were too quick to peck them once grown.

onedayatatime

I'd usually have started off lots of plants indoors by now and would use those clear plastic storage boxes with lids, stacked up on the sunny windowsill as propagators. Being strict this year though! I'm going more wildlife garden 👍 but will still do the staple beans and tomatoes. But am growing the mange tout because the sparrows and the dog are keen to help themselves to them 😂. Such a shame about Wilko! I used to get lots of flower bulbs from them. Where does everyone get there's from now? 

Rosie_Scope

I feel the same about Wilko @onedayatatime! So sad it shut down as it was my main stop for gardening bits and pieces and it was much cheaper than the garden centre. I found some bulbs in places like Poundstretcher or Home Bargains, but I'm not sure how good they are in comparison to Wilko. RIP Wilko!

I've had to build a chicken wire cage around my sugar snap pea seedlings so that my housemate's dog doesn't help herself to them. She loves a fresh pea pod!

rubin16

I would love a garden so much, only bad thing about living in a flat with no actual garden or grass. However I live on the ground floor with my own front door so when it gets abit warmer going to get some raised planters/flower pots and get some flowers to put outside my door and windows.