Complete beginner - raised bed

[Binkybix]

Hello

I know absolutely nothing about gardening. Ive been feeling a bit down and think a bit of pottering in the small garden might help. We've recently moved and seem to have a raised bed thing - small, maybe 1.5 - 2 m long and 0.75 m wide. It doesn't get a huge amount of sun.

Could I grow something in it? I don't mind what really - veg, flowers. If so how would I get started and do people have any recommendations for what to grow, when to plant etc?

Thanks!!

[574ejones]

Start with some things that you like to eat (sounds obvious but it's easy to get carried away). Maybe some succession planting of salad leaves which can be cut and come again. I think strawberries might do okay in a bit of shade. Gardening can really lift your spirits.

[LooksLikeImStuckHere]

In the shady spots of my garden, Camellias do really well and they would probably be ok in a bed of that size, although it may depend on the variety.

A small rose bush would also probably be ok if the spot gets a little bit of sun. I love pottering around my roses and pruning them is very calming.

Pieris (sp) are good all round plants, new leaves are bright red and the plants are evergreen.

I'm always disappointed when I try to grow veg so I leave that to DM and FIL. They keep us well stocked!!

[Cakecrumbsinmybra]

I have made a small raised bed area in my garden for veg - I'm doing rhubarb, courgettes, lettuce and peas, which all look v simple. It's really important to prepare the soil well - we got some horse manure; if you live rurally there are always people giving this away! When you say it doesn't get s huge amount of sun, do you mean right now? What about in a months time?

If it genuinely is very shady then you should consider hostas - the front of my house gets very little sun and I have several pots of lovely hostas which come back each year. The only thing you have to watch is slugs, as they love them. There are so many varieties of hosta - I've come to really love them! Good luck.

[Binkybix]

Thanks all for your advice - gratefully recieved!

I didn't think I'd get replies after a few days so I took action and planted some seeds this very morning. Did some googling but it's very much an experiment so if I get anything at all I'll be pleased.

I dug over the bed which looks dry and found loads of old potatoes and roots so dug up all I could. I then forked 10litres of garden compost in with existing soil then planted a small row of carrots, two of radishes in half of the bed and some sort of cress in the other half. Gave a bit of water - not sure how much I should do?!

So now I shall see! If these fail I'll take up some of the helpful suggestions here :)

The bed gets direct sun for about 5 hours a day at this time of year - not sure how much in summer as first year here.

[shovetheholly]

Binky - for you feeling down. I started gardening because I have seasonal affective disorder and depression, and it has got me through some very bad times. There is something about making things grow that is really satisfying at a very deep and calming level.

I don't know if others will agree, but I think veg growing is harder than fruit or flower growing. Veg plants are more work and need more specific fussing - courgettes need to be treated differently from brassicas, which need to be treated differently from roots for example. Plants that need lots of manure really do need sackfuls too! So by starting with veg, you're going in at the deep end. There is nothing at all wrong with that- you can definitely do it, go for it! - but don't beat yourself up if not everything works first time. (My Dad, who is a brilliant gardener with about 40 years of experience still moans about his carrots failing some years, so there you go).

On my clay, the easier things that grow well in semi-shade are: rhubarb, raspberries, runner beans and climbing beans, spinach, swiss chard. They are all relatively easy things that tend to do well without too much effort on your part, too!

So things you can do straight away:

• Look out for a rhubarb plant. Plant it in a trug of well-rotted horse manure (free from a friendly local stable) and leave it for a year. You should get a good crop next year.
  
• If you move very, very quickly (we are a bit late, but you should get away with it as spring is late this year), you should be able to get in some fruit canes too. Look out for cheap ones in Aldi, or you can buy collections that give varieties lasting all season (there are two kinds, summer fruiting and autumn fruiting, and getting both means a longer season of lovely fruits for you).
  
• Start collecting all your non-cooked kitchen waste in a bin outside. After a few weeks, dig a trench, and slop it all into the bottom. Then, in May, sow runner beans/climbing beans/peas into the trench where you want them to grow. I realise this sounds weird, but trust me, they do like to be grown this way! Look out for seed varieties that have the 'award of garden merit' or 'AGM'. This means that they are specially disease resistant and productive, as judged by the Royal Horticultural Society.
  
• Sow spinach and swiss chard where they are to grow in the ground. Again, look out for AGM varieties. Rhubarb and rainbow chard are particularly beautiful plants, so will look lovely in your bed.
  

Was the cress you put in land cress? If so, it is quite tough and will probably work! Fingers crossed!

[Binkybix]

Thanks holly Loads of helpful advice there. I love the idea of growing rhyears and I have a big pot but manure can be tricky being in London!

I've checked - it is land cress :)

[ValancyJane]

I first started gardening when I was signed off work with stress, and I found it really helped take my mind off things and doing little things like weeding were quite soothing and satisfying.

I know you've already put some seeds in, but if you've still got room I'd recommend going to a garden centre and buying things you like the look of! If you have a slightly sunnier spot you could get a few pots and are then less limited for choice. For really shady spots hostas, ferns, bluebells, lily of the valley, busy lizzies and bleeding hearts are some of my favourites.

One of the things that really cheered me up when I was down was planting loads of sunflowers in pots in a sunny bit of the garden. I think I remembered growing them when I was little, and I don't know why, but when I was feeling very low the idea of planting those really appealed to me.

Hope the gardening helps!!

[Binkybix]

Thanks Valency. Back at work now so just concentrating on seeds for now, but when we have a bit more money we hope to remodel garden to have less patio and more garden (it is tiny though).

Good news - have started to see shoots! Instructions said to thin - what is this? Also, how do I know when I can get the vegetables up?

[shovetheholly]

'Thinning' = if you have too many seedlings in your row, they will compete with each other. Basically, this means they all get a bit knackered by having to put the effort into outgrowing each other rather than in shooting up. So you take out the weediest ones and let the big ones focus on growing.

How many you take out and what spacing you go for depends on the size of the final plant.

www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/seeds/thinning-seedlings.htm

[Binkybix]

Great - thanks. Will have a read!