**Newbie Gardener Thread** support, advice and ideas swap shop!

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

this is a thread for people who have just started out with gardening, in pots or ground, that wish to swap ideas, share stories of triumph or sorrow!

everyone is welcome! so introduce yourself and get chatting.

[DevilsAdvocaat]

oooh

i'm me and i have a garden for the first time. i have dug out a raised bed for veggies but am a complete newbie to the gardening world.

i love veggies and will eat any except celery.

errr... oh yeah i have a herb planter for my patio and would like to plant an apple tree somehwere but haven't decided anything else.

all suggestions welcome!

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

welcome DA!
i was thinking about making a raised bed, but i might just sod it and plant straight in the ground this year.
ive never grown anything before myself, so this is going to be great fun and a very steep learning curve. im lucky my mum has an allotment so i quite a good sorce of advice sometimes.
what herbs have you put in you planter?

[DevilsAdvocaat]

i just have a herb planter so far, no plants!
i got it for christmas from my db and dsil, waiting for it to warm up

i think he gave me chives and basil seeds.
love basil, rosemary, thyme etc. it's quite big so hope i can get them all in!

ooh i also have a bay tree thanks to pil.

do you have any consumables planted yet?!

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

no mum said tis far to cold yet.
cant wait tho!

[DevilsAdvocaat]

does she say when is good to start?
please pass her gems of wisdom via mn!

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

she just said spring. not very helpful lol
will ask when i see her for more info

[DevilsAdvocaat]

great

added the thread to my watch list!

[OhBling]

Hello all! I'm on. Although have taken a winter Hiatus from the garden as frankly, it's depressing out there. I think I probably killed my hydrangea - only got around to cutting off the heads a few days ago!

I've never really done any gardening before, but have been trying. Garden is just concrete with pots. I know how a lot of pots but all my bulbs are just sitting in the storage container as I didn't get a chance to sort them out this year. I'm a abit annoyed with myself. Not least because I also haven't got rid of all the annuals that I planted in the summer for some colour.

So... although this is a bit of a long story, I'm in. Although I might not have much to contribute until spring when I'm starting again.

One question though - I did cut all my roses back. Will they survive this cold?

[Starbear]

I'm in. The next sunny day I'm off. I'm clearing, and cleaning getting ready for spring. We've got a tree that needs to be cleared as it's dead. Hops that have gone brown and yukky. Bulbs dug up by squirrels I want to plant an apple or pear tree. Anyone find tips, pass them on to me.

[DevilsAdvocaat]

hi bling and starbear, welcome!

natty's mum's got an allotment and she's going to give us tips!

i planted my bulbs and a few other bits like bamboo (seems ok) and japonica (looks bad) but only time will tell!

am keen to get out there, hope it warms soon.

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

lots of newbies on here then

welcome to you all!

[Sibble]

hi all. We put veggie gardens in about 6-8 weeks ago. Am in NZ so seasons different as summer here but we've had spinach, lettuces and courgettes coming out of our ears. All sorts of herbs from pots. We've also planted tomatoes (have heaps but are waiting to ripen), chillis and peppers, red and normal onions, sweet corn. Last week planted beetroot, brocolli, cauliflower and rock melon. The only disaster we had was the peas - died straight away and some of my butternut squashes were eaten by next doors chicken (argh) dh has blooded knees from chasing it today when he fell over...........

Anyway agree it's very addictive. We just dug straight into the ground rather than raised beds and bought some good quality soil as ours was not that good.

[snorkle]

choose carefully if you are only planting one apple or pear tree & there are no others around. Most varieties need another (different variety) to pollinate. What's more, they can only be pollinated by another variety which is in a compatible pollinating group.

[Sibble]

oh also meant to ask. we have at the moment a lemon and grapefruit tree which were here when we moved in. they do very well so have planted a clementine, satsuma and another lemon. dh planted the lemon in the middle to 'make it look nice' but a friend has since said that the citrus will make the oranges sour if planted close - anybody know if that's true?????

[DevilsAdvocaat]

ah! i will get two apples trees then!
good, i love apples

have no idea if it's true about the lemon tree, sorry!

[twoluvlykids]

I'd like to join - I've been trying to grow veggies for 2 years now, so still a newbie. Had a couple of successes, but mostly failures, but I'm not giving up yet!

Failures due, I think, to 2 dreadful summers.

For me, spinach has grown well, purple sprouting broccoli was quite good but I had to fight off the caterpillas, raspberries were good for about a month (June) - everything else rotted in the rain.

I haven't attempted to even weed my veg patch yet, it's too cold to even consider it.

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

Hello all, having finished doing the house up and not being pregnant it is now time to concentrate on our garden, we do have some big landscaping plans to do next winter but this year will be keeping the beds weed free, planting and getting round to clearing the veggie patch for next year as I don't think I will manage to get round to do it this year.

[Starbear]

snorkle Good point. We only have a small garden. I've had a chat with our neighbours and they plan to plant an apple or pear tree too. I didn't know they had to be different but the right one. Thanks for the tip. I will chat with my neighbour over a cup of tea.

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

I have a question.

Does any one know of a nationwide company that drops of and picks up those skip bags for garden waste?

[Starbear]

Oh My DH was talking about that last week I'll ask him when he gets in.

[constancereader]

Hello
I am a newbie veg grower too and am lucky enought to have moved to a house with a lot of growing space. Sadly it is covered with bindweed atm and I have a toddler and a 3 month baby so am a bit tied to the house. I have tried to do a bit but it isn't really happening! I feel like I have been given the best toy in the world and I don't have time to play with it....I know this will change given time but it is frustrating.

Still, I will read this thread and plan!

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

Think I have found one, will give them a call tomorrow.

[HelensMelons]

Hello everyone,

I am also a novice gardener. I have some herbs growing in a little patch, bay tree, rosemary, garlic, parsley. Some raspberrys which I cut back and a small vegetable patch - covered with carpet to keep out the weeds.

Not very successful last year - most things bolted with the rain. Had some nice spuds and not really much else except strawberrys.

Need to keep on top of things a bit more, do some more weeding and am not sure what to grow this season.

I am perhaps going to do spuds, peas and scallion(?). Any suggestions welcome - as constances says, I will also read this thread and plan!

[snorkle]

You can get some apple varieties that are self fertile, but even they do better with another one around. Liasing with the neighbour sounds like a good idea. I have just planted 2 trees (James Grieve and Sunset) on my allotment .

I used this table for the groups, though apparently they are changing slightly with the climate. Avoid the triploid varieties unless you have room for 3 trees!

[littlerach]

WE have raised beds (dh made them last year) and we managed ot grow courgettes, peas, beans, pumpkins and radishes.

Broccoli and cauli was a disaster, as were all the tomatoes (blight I htink).

This year I hope to do potatoes and leeks also, and garlic.

WE also have a blueberry bush which has huge crops, a cherry tree, strawberry plants and some raspberry canes.