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

Lexilicious - you've done loads - sounds very impressive.

I got home today to find DH had cleaned out my greenhouse, wsahed all the windows and strengthened and reinforced all my staging

He's also cut the grass and shredded a whole pile of stuff that I had abandonned, and he's bought tool hooks to put up in the potting shed so I can sort out the huge jumble of stuff which is precariously balanced like a giant game of pick-up-sticks

I bought 3 different lavenders this weekend and planted them out - I haven't had much luck with lavender in this garden so I'm hoping these will be OK.

Wow, you have been busy. The wildlife sounds lovely too. I have been enjoying having a proper table for potting, instead of giving myself a bad back and getting compost everywhere. Did you get the shallots in? Dh put in two rows of onions in the new veg patch.

The electricians came and disconnected the cable, and took the post down. It looks a lot better.

Been away for a few days and just checking in. My seedlings have survived and tomorrow I'll be able to check on the cold frame and five-storey seedhouse.

Jareth - Aquilegias are good and Black Barlow is fabulous. Have you seen William Guinness? It's a mainstay of my black and white border. I am so glad to have introduced another person to Parkers - I wonder whether I can claim a royalty from them? ::wink::

Maud, they're lovely! Ooh, too tempting! We have about 3sqm to plant in, I'm having to be extremely picking now about what I put in.

How long do Parkers normally take to deliver? Was a bit put out by the possible wait of 28 days

pickY about what to put in.

Not sure my 3 acer shrubs and all the other things I've got will work together, but hey.. it'll be interesting at least

I've always got my Parkers stuff within a week, although I ordered some salvias (which are pretty tender) which they say won't be dispatched until May.

I hope the nation's nurseries and garden centres are giving thanks for this thread!

How is Parkers stuff shipped? I have very varied success with bare-rooted plants so I'm always a bit cautious about buying them

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to encourage ladybirds and other bug-eating creatures into a garden? We've never had a problem with slugs and snails as its very enclosed, but the bloody blackfly destroyed everything last year (poor poor clematis)

Hmm. I've never really noticed, but by Royal Mail, I think. Personally, I prefer RM to couriers because couriers only ever seem to come when I'm out and then expect me to schlep 20 miles to their depot to collect the goodies. At least the RM parcel office is on the high street.

Jareth - Did you know you can buy ladybirds from some of the gardening websites? Here they are.

Otherwise, I'd like to know how to lure them in. We have got harlequin ladybirds here, so it's an ongoing struggle.

I didn't know that Maud! Thanks very much

::Ponders creating a ladybird lovenest - satin sheets, mood lighting, Barry White soundtrack - in the garden to encourage them to reproduce::

You could install them in this

Oh yes, RM is much better - couriers like to pretend they've tried to deliver things when they haven't. At least RM can find my house.

Well a huge stem of the macleaya was lying on the ground this morning, victim of the sodding multiplying snail population here

I'm going to put some slug solution down on the bed and encircle the plant with coffee grounds and hope that does the trick. I will be gutted if they kill it. This time of year, I always feel a bit bad about killing them because they haven't done anything yet. But now I have a murderous rage on again :o

hello there everyone

This morning I was so entranced by my garden after the rain that I was late for work. Everything had grown so much.

Sorry to hear about your macleaya ChristinedePizan. The most damaging thing in my garden at the moment is DD. She had picked six tulip heads off by the time I got to her just now. I told her off as she clutched them to her chest. "It was DS" she claimed.

The big cherry has come into bloom, it looks fabulous. DH has spent the day digging out holes for roses along the back fence. We have two Paul scarletts that he got cheap in Lidl, one pink perpetua and a Francis Lester.

Ooh. I have a Paul's Scarlet from the 99p Store.

::Competitive cheapskatery::

of your rain.We have had no significant rain for at least 3 weeks.

ours cost £1.99 each

we were robbed!

I might go to the pound shop though, didn't think of that

Pound shops can be very good, if you're willing occasionally to write something off. I currently have some eryngium planum and alchemilla mollis on the go - two plants for 99p in our local, ahem, department store. Also a fabulous aquilegia which was extremely expensive at 99p for one.

I too am very of the rain as the lugging of watering cans is getting tiresome.

the rain still wasn't enough though, we had the hose out on all the new grass seed/wildflower meadow today

Just blundering into the thread with two dreadful words: Ground Elder. Anyone got any words of wisdom they could share? I have been fighting a nicely organic battle with the blinkin' stuff for 12 years and am just about to give up and come over all poisonous...

We got rid of our ground elder by covering it in black plastic and waiting for a year. Organic, effective, but slow. Now for small resurgences I resort to chemical weaponry.

I used the chemicals too. But it still pops up all over.

My friend had a dream about ground elder the other day.

Jareth - I'd give you some of our ladybirds but they're harlequins. Never knew ladybirds swarmed until we moved here. They swarm in the autumn (like a scene from 'Birds' in minature - it's freaky) and then move into any space available in our house. Once hoovered up around 100 all squeezed into a blind fixing. Then the rest of the year they pop out when they think it's warm enough in their hundreds! Evil things. I rejoice when I see a good old fashioned English ladybird.

Also of your rain Humphrey. I want rain. Should've watered tonight but was too cold to go outside. Now in front of the fire. Where did spring go?

eek, I don't want harlequins! horrible little things.