My garden makes me so happy

[HumphreyCobbler]

I wanted a garden all my adult life, and for the last three years I have had one.

To begin with I was worried it wouldn't be as much fun as I thought it would be, but I soon discovered it was even better.

It was an overgrown, tangled mess when we moved in and slowly we have transformed it. I am still a beginner, but I already know so much more than I did.

Today I came home to find a massive pile of well rotted horseshit waiting for me. It was brilliant.

I don't really know what the point of this post is, I just wanted to share

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I agree with you. Gardening, they say, is the new rock and roll.

[HumphreyCobbler]

you have a good name, especially for this thread

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Thank you. I'm a frequent name-changer but will keep this one for a while, I think.

So. What are your favourite plants then?

::plant porn::

[IlsaLund]

I love my garden - when we viewed this house the garden was the thing that made me want to live here.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the size of it but ultimatley it gives me soo much pleasure.
DH has just put paths and raised beds into the vegetable garden for me so I'm looking forward to using them this summer. My flower beds need weeding and sorting but I am looking forward to the lighter evenings when I can spend time outside

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

Me too! My garden is TINY but lovely. It's a small decked area at the back of our house, surrounded by huge beds, that's it, but there is plenty of room for things if I'm imaginative.

There is so much I want to put in it, but have to be careful that I don't overcrowd it. I have a herb bed, there is room for growing lettuce and peas, but the huge back bed is ready for lots and lots of flowers.

[Pkam]

Ooooh. Garden appreciation. Friend of mine convinced me to grow veggies last year. Put two raised beds in to try it. I now have an 8m square, completely netted (lots of wildlife) enclosure with gravelled paths and fantastic raised beds. Love it love it love it. Had home-grown curly kale for tea tonight. Can't wait to get sowing....

[IlsaLund]

I'm trying to be more restrained this year as for the past 3 years I have overplanted - too much stuff for the greenhouse/pottingshed and every year I have put stuff in the borders that has been swamped and killed by the perennials which come up later in the year.

DH has built me a herb bed today which I am looking forward to filling.

Roll on Saturday so I can spend time in the garden and potting shed

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

I'm going to get garden envy at this thread, aren't I

[IlsaLund]

PotatoesOfTheCarribean - your garden sounds great - what have you got in your herb bed? looking for inspiration

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

You'll understand when you see this

We had a crappy paved area at the back our our house, and DP did this to it, and blogged about it. Iignore any ranting, the entire time he was working on it it pissed down with rain.

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

x posts.

I have thyme, lemon thyme, mint, basil, oregano, chamomile, rosemary and something else that I've forgotten. Will attempt coriander when it warms up a bit,. but I always fail at that. I've also put in some lavender and a couple of plants I can't remember the name of, but will attract the butterflies

[hellymelly]

I love my garden too,eevn though it looks pretty rough right now,as we did a big clear in the Autumn and it has suffered in the cold. I have a wasp-sting allergy which is a right pain as I can't enjoy my garden in full bloom,I am too stressed watching out for wasps .
I've just been planting climbing roses today.

[HumphreyCobbler]

I have a new herb bed too - just got the soil today. Cannot wait to plant it up. It was in the wrong place before, too far from the kitchen. It is now under the pear tree outside the back door. DH built the raised beds from stone that was lying around, so it didn't cost anything.

My plant porn weakness is old roses. Last year we put in a rose walk with Madame Alfred Carrier, New Dawn, Rambling Rector, Blush Noisette, William Lobb, Blush Rambler and Constance Spry. It will start to look a little more settled this year, I can't wait. I have been underplanting it with Aqualegia, catmint and geraniums.

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Ooooh, lovely. I have New Dawn - I swore I wouldn't do roses but they thrive on the clay. I love the sound of a rose walk ::secret fellow-ponce-recognition salute:: and am contemplating getting a rose arch as we don't have room for a rose walk. Better still, I think I might try that swags of rope slung between posts thing.

Aquilegias are fab, too. I have just dug up about twenty seedlings that have popped up in odd places.

[HumphreyCobbler]

The rose I was really impressed with last year was the Blush Rambler, it went on and on and faded really nicely too. I get excited when I think of June in five years time, it is all going to look so nice. I also got excited when Gardeners World came on and it was from Monty Don's actual garden. How I have changed.

We have a clay soil too, at least on a lot of the garden. What do you find grows really well for you?

I stole all the aquilegias from my friend, and the geraniums. She has got loads (I did ask first). Have also got a good haul from Lidl lately, mock orange, gooseberry bushes, agapanthus, cherry tree and lots of geraniums. I want to cut a circular bed in the middle of the front lawn for the agapanthus, but DH says it is too old lady-ish.

[IlsaLund]

Your rosewalk sounds lovely. We've got some lovely roses planted by a previous owner but I don't know what they are.

I've got a huge ground elder problem in my flower beds. I'm planning to tackle it this year.

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

Aww.. someone look at DP's Garden Blog and be astounded?

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

....astounded at the size of our garden (badoom, tish)

[IlsaLund]

PotatoesOfTheCarribean - sorry, I looked earlier and forgot to comment got sidetracked
Your DH worked so hard to lay the decking (I love the cooker too) it all looks so professional.
Are you southfacing? It looks lovely and sunny, I can imagine it's a great space to sit out in on a sunny evening

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

Sorry, was just vying for attention
We are NE facing, unfortunately. It'd be perfect otherwise. It's a total sun trap in the middle of Summer though

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I had meant to start a thread to alert everyone to the gardening bargains in Lidl - I just got a plum tree, some new garden clogs for about a third of what I paid for last year's pair and my Lidl coldframe is still going strong from last year.

Humphrey - I love agapanthus but think a lot of mine have been zapped by frost. I wish I'd seen them in Lidl but ::snob and ponce:: really want to get some of the very dark ones rather than the bog standard blue. Did you know that they flower better in pots, because of the root congestion? What have also done well in the last couple of years are japanese anemone, crocosmia, heuchera, hardy geranium, vinca (now officially a weed), hemerocallis and the few euphorbias that I didn't grub up when dd was little and I was worried about the risk of skin irritation. Oh and clematis - I think I now have 16 in my pocket handkerchief-sized garden.

Dare I ask what size the rose walk is, let alone the garden?

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Potatoes - I am in awe that your dh spent a week labouring in the garden. Mine will do 10 minutes at a stretch if I nag can persuade him.

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

Thanks, I shall pass it on :)

It was actually 2 full weeks, and he shifted 3 skip-fulls of heavy clay, by himself, through our tiny terraced house!
I just re-read the blog and had forgotten just how hard it was for him (please ignore the Jesus/JC references - it's just him venting)

I need to get him to post a final picture now all the side sleepers are in. I know it's crap and tiny, but I love it

[ChristinedePizan]

He really does need to post a final picture. I did something similar once for someone in my previous life as a gardener and by god I've never been so bloody tired in my entire life. It was that project that made me realise that I should stick to planting rather than hard landscaping :o

I've dug up a huge (about 2mx3m) area of grass in my new garden and have got my planting plan all ready to go. I'm very excited.

[hellymelly]

I love old roses too.I'm a bit rose obsessed.Today I was putting in Paul's Himalayan musk. I don't know Blush rambler,what's it like? I've got my agapanthus in pots,as apparently they flower better if their roots are crowded. I have acid soil (fairly near the sea).