A Gardening Thread for Complete Newbies and maybe some tips from experienced mumsnetters?

[letsjog]

Don't know if this is something worth starting.

We are finally in a house with quite a nice sized garden the previous owners had these big stone flower beds put in but never did anything with them so it's all just mostly weeds soil.

I have never as much as planted a single shrub and I'm currently barely keeping a couple of cacti alive so I could really use some advice and tips or even some friendly posters who are in the same boat and are working through these gardening conundrums one weed at a time 😅
It would also be amazing if some more experienced gardeners out there wouldn't mind giving a few tips or some handy advice!

Currently lost my mind and bought lots of bulbs from home bargains yesterday hoping to figure out where to plant them, the packaging says to plant Feb-June.
Also got some gardening gloves which clearly shows how much of a noob I am.
A local lady that used to own the house 13+ years ago said that the soil is fantastic for vegetables and they used to grow lots of their own when living here so I've designated a small patch I would like to use to try and maybe grow some basic veggies.

So any tips on planting seeds/bulbs, good and fairly easy to maintain plants worth buying/planting and also any beginners tips on trying a hand at some vegetables would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Hi OP I'm in but like you, for the advice and wisdom of others

Some wise words from my in-laws who have a small but gorgeous garden ... it can take years to get to the vision in your head. So have a vision but focus on one or two areas at a time and remember that unless you have ££ and time to throw at it it is a marathon not a sprint.

Thanks for starting especially with spring on the horizon and everyone's gardens looking like swimming pools. It's nice to look forward to evenings spent doing some pots etc.

ooooh exciting!!! I was never into gardening, but have been learning over the last few years and absolutley love it now. I'm no way an expert but have done some veggies the last few years, and some flowers from seed. My first step, once weeds are gone, would be to plant your bulbs and maybe get some perenials in. They come back year on year, so are a good investment. If you want to have some lovely flowers you can cut and bring inside, sweetpeas are fantastic and super easy. You'd want to get them planted in pots now, and they need some support when planted out (you can just make a wigwam out of bamboo canes and use that), and they produce loads of gorgeous fragrant flowers. As long as you cut the flowers off, they just keep producing more.

Strawberries are super easy. Don't fruit much in the first year, but a few plants will send out runners and you can pot them up, and end up with loads of new plants for subsequent years. They grow well in pots too. Think about what you like to eat. Courgette are really easy and one plant gives you loads of them. Also we grow lots of tomatoes - super easy, and they taste amazing! Most do need support, but it's easy to make a bamboo cane wigwam thing, and they also do well in pots. Runner beans are also soooo easy, and fast growing, and have gorgeous orange flowers. If you like blueberries, a lot of supermarkets will be getting the plants in cheaply soon. Our local morrisons have them for £2 at the moment. They grow best in pots, with acidic compost (ericacous), and you need a few plants to pollinate each other. Sounds a bit confusing, but honestly, so easy. Just get say three pots, bung the compost in, plant a bush in each, and let them establish. You won't get much for the first year or so, but then should get plenty (i'm hoping, we got ours in last year)

I find youtube great for tutorials on how to grow things. For fruit and veg i really like this channel www.youtube.com/channel/UC9r61qohBg1qgGty4_WzojA

There are some great facebook groups too. General gardening ones, and also allotment ones if you're wanting to grow more fruit and veggies.

If you've got the room, you could get some fruit trees. You can get dwarf patio ones nowadays as well, which don't grow too big if space is limited.

Good luck! It really is such a wonderful thing, planting seeds, getting muddy, watching them grow into lovely plants :) Enjoy

Whatever you do, don’t do too much in this first year. You should watch to see what is already there, and this can take four seasons.

Our new neighbours have ripped up all sorts whilst it looked dead.

Secondly, I’d visit all sorts of gardens to get ideas about what you’d like in yours.

Finally, and importantly, I’d encourage you to think about what kind of garden you want to have. I garden for wildlife

Also, do you realise that there’s an entire gardening board?

Miss we planted so strawberries from runners two years ago and to my utter astonishment not only did they fruit but they came back last summer and the runners are spreading out like crazy!

Could I put some in a big pot and grow them from runners that way? The latch is getting a bit too big now so I need to control it a bit but don't want to waste any. Plus they look pretty in a pot

Yes to thinking about wildlife. Our garden is mostly shrubs but birds seem to love all the hiding places the different heights and thickness provides. We have a squirrel that visits frequently too.

I really think spending time in your garden and enjoying what you've created is excellent for our mental health.

Do you know that there is a gardening section?

Oh can I join?
Complete novice here with a garden that looks abandoned at the moment.
I need to start pretty much from scratch

I'd want a place that's good for wildlife - especially the bees.

To the PP who said Do you know that there is a gardening section?
Last time I looked those sections were pretty quiet, so this thread might garner more responses

My advice after 50 years of gardening.
When buying tools, buy the very best that you can afford. Good quality will last a life time.
Don’t get bogged down by feeding, or seduced by feed for a particular plant. Experienced gardeners often find it difficult to understand feed labels. If in doubt, buy seaweed feed which will do for most things. Not many things actually need feeding though.
Bulbs are easy and it is good to concentrate on those in the first year.
Get lots of free garden catalogues so that you can actually see the individual plants. vanMeuwan, T&M and Parker’s will all send you Catologues. Never buy plants from Primrose Mail Order, they are dire.
If you have an independent Garden Centre, use them as they are very knowledgeable.
Wilkos are great value for plants.
Look at Pinterest ‘Landscape Gardens’ to give you an idea of the styles, colours and shapes that you like. Either make a pin wall or screen shot to build up an image of how you would like your garden to look.
Be patient, lots of things are underground or looking dead at present. You may find that in Autumn of winter they burst into colour.

Garden section is quiet at present, but will burst into life soon. If you have a specific question, you will find hordes of knowledgeable gardeners on there. Another good site Is Grows on you. It too will answer questions.

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz yep you can pot up runners. I'm new to it, but what I did (following videos I'd watched) was to put some compost in small pots, put a runner on top of each one, and secure down with a piece of bent gardening wire. They will then root down into the pot. When they've done that, you can cut the runner bit that goes back to the main plant, and you have a new little strawberry plant. You can then plant them where you like. I've got most of mine in pots (you can get a few in a decent sized pot), and more in the beds now as we had so many. I think I stated with about 6 plants two years ago, had some from runners last year and I got 40 potted runners from those. I think advice is to cut runners off in the first year, to encourage fruiting, but I'm a bit lazy and just see what happens 😄

That's really helpful miss, thanks!
I think I have a similar gardening style to you

Some good advice already, thanks all and OP for starting. I hadn't realised this wasn't on the garden board but agree for the now it might get more visitors here.

If you see a plant you like, only buy one of them. If it thrives you can get more, if it doesn't you won't have wasted too much money :)
There is a book which I like, it's called 'old garden, new gardener'. Quite an old book by now but I expect you'd find it on amazon. It's by Geoff Hamilton.

Thank you for all the tips so far!

There's absolutely nothing planted or under the soil in our beds. We were told the soil was rotated and weeds/stones removed and then they never got around to planting before circumstances made them sell.
So it's just a few sad looking weeds here and there.

Following with interest. My mum was a really good gardener but I just never seem to have the time. Ours is a decent size but over the years we've made it simple to look after with trampoline & grass & stones for kids and dog but now its a bit bare and rubbish looking. I always do pots and hanging baskets in summer but that's about it. Would love to get lawn relaid but it's ££££.

Check out aldi this Thursday they have seeds and bulbs coming in