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

Notamopsa - I'd go easy on the lavender pruning - if you overdo it, it may not regrow. As ever, the RHS has good advice.

Pkam - You know that the berries on solanum are poisonous (member of the deadly nightshade family, like potato)? As previously discussed, I'm not unduly worried about having toxic plants in the garden, but are your daughters young enough that they may nibble them if they're growing over the playhouse?

Sorry to be such an interfering old biddy.

It has been a beautiful day, slightly hampered for me by being really hung over. Still, I only have myself to blame.

None of my sunflower seeds have germinated. No idea why, sunflowers are normally foolproof, no?

Pkam, I am wildly jealous of your cobbled paths. We are surrounded by a sea of tarmac. There must have been cobbles underneath it, only we have agreed to leave the tarmac for a while as it is brilliant for the DC to ride bikes on, which they can't do on the lanes around here.

Came home to another pile of cow dung. What a happy sight.

Maud thanks so much for the advice - am now quite scared and unsure whether i dare as am VERY proud of my hedges!

Maud. I did know the solanum berries were poisonous but luckily DDs aren't nibblers and I'll grow it up the back of the playhouse, they (or visiting kids who may be nibblers) tend to stick to the front so away from temptation. But thank you for being an interfering, and wise, biddy!

I thought you probably knew but was too interfering concerned to keep schtum. Anyway, if you're really bothered you can pick the berries off because they turn red and look tempting. ::wink::

I am jealous of both cobbled paths and areas of tarmac large enough for bicycling.

::Wonders about telecommuting from the countryside::

Err, before they turn red.

humphrey - am going to take some pics of the 'after' path and put them up! We had a few quotes for paving our paths wich run two sides of our housebut they were thousands and thousandsof pounds and finally i persuaded dp to do it himself ! He is NOT a builder the first bit he did was a bit dicky and the paths have a kind of 'vintage' look with the odd imperfection etc but it almost adds to the authentic look. They are not old or reclaimed cobbles but just stone sets ...I copied a local garden designer who has done a garden i love ( will link) and am SO pleased. The stone etc probably topped 1000 pounds and as i said it has been a LOT of very very hard work a zillion man hours but it it perfect for the garden. Proper old englishy look
You'll probably all giggle and be disappointed when i eventually put pics up but it was a MUD bath of sunken crazy paving and weeds and now it's so sweet!

I love my garden too, except all the seeds which I plant in the greenhouse and which rot. I think the soil is too damp, but it is Vair disappointing nonetheless. I have been gardening for years and then this...........

NOT MY GARDEN but one i like!!

Nota, shhhh - I was taking credit for your cobbles then thanks to Humphrey! Doing things yourself and it looking a bit 'dicky' means you can proudly say, 'look what we did' and everyone actually believes you. Looking forward to the photos, the garden in the link looks lovely.

i did think you went quiet Pkam

Yeah - i do agree about the dicky aspect. MUCH more proud than if we'd stuck it on the mortgage!

I give my lavender hedge a haircut in September/October time. I would leave yours this year (just cut off the dead flower heads) or you won't get any flowers. Lavender is a woody perennial though and they all get a bit leggy and straggly after a while unfortunately. You can keep it at bay to a degree by regular pruning but you may have to accept that they need replacing every 10 years.

Yes, it's mildew or similar Maud - I think I've overwatered them. Stupidly put them in pots with salvia and lobelia which need a lot of water and busy lizzies don't need much. I don't like them that much either but they're easy and you don't have to constantly deadhead them!

sorry about the cobble confusion NotaMopsa. It is always more satisfying when DH you do stuff for yourself, instead of getting the builders in.

Today I put in some manure where the sweet peas are going to go and planted some more poppies in the borders. The cherry blossom was raining down on us the whole time, it looked like snow. Found where the chickens have been laying in an old tree hollow, it was a charming sight and a nice surprise as I thought they should have been laying a bit more.

Lawnmower has bitten the dust so we are left with one that doesn't collect the grass. I see lots of raking ahead.

Today's triumph (of a sort) is finding some white cosmos seeds in Homebase. But they're not Purity, they're Psyche White.

::apprehensive::

My sweet peas are refusing to attach themselves to their trellis, they keep falling over :(

Any suggestions?

Maud, have you tried ebay for seeds? shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=white+cosmos+seeds&_sacat=See-All-Categories I've found loads of stuff at half the price everywhere else.

Jareth, I usually tie mine on until the tendrils take hold

Illogical as it is, I think I'd feel a bit silly buying one packet of seeds on Ebay, but I did buy some nice plants there last year.

::RIP the penstemons that didn't make it through the winter::

For the sweet peas, I can't think of anything apart from soft twine and some Girl Guide knot-tying.

Yes I do the soft twine tying in until they get going. They don't seem to mind. I've been worrying about how my seedlings are going to do when I go to visit my parents for 3 days over Easter and I've decided I'm going to take them with me :o Cunning eh? I just know they're going to die otherwise and after weeks of nurturing them that would make me weep.

The sweetpeas are nearly 2 inches tall now so I think they're sturdy enough to be planted on. I really should have bought some canes in the garden centre the other day - I don't have nearly enough to make proper wigwams.

Today I would like to report that the huge, and ancient, crab apple in our 'adopted' garden is in full blossom and just stunning.

Also, the bluebells are starting to look fabulous. A few more days and we'll have a blue carpet.

I love crab apples, the blossom is just amazing.

The bluebells are early this year, aren't they?

It was really hot today, I just lazed around and pulled up the odd weed.

Thanks all. Have weaved the stubborn bastards sweetpeas through their trellis, and will tie on the uncooperative ones.

Another question though: I've still got daffs and snowdrops hanging on in there, but they're new bulbs. They're getting in the way of other planting, can I chop them down or will that mean they don't sprout next year?

Chopping them down is a bit risky, Jareth. At the moment, they will be photosynthesising like mad, storing energy for next year's flower production. If you remove the foliage, all that will stop and you may get poor flowering next year.

Today's report from Casa Maud: Mucho sprouting from the pound shop sweet peas (6 varieties for £1), still not much activity from the tomatoes and the snails have reduced the dahlias to stumps.

I have the top of a gladiolus poking through! And the ranunculus are coming up :) My montana is coming out and it's absolutely gorgeous. I didn't see this house until September so it's a lovely surprise to see how pretty it looks now

That's what I figured Maud, the snowdrops in particular look very green considering they're transplanted bunches from my Mum and were stuck in about 6 weeks ago! Die already, damn you, I have Acers and other things to put in!

My sweet peas are 6" high , and I have a monster tomato plant
(it's about 30" high, the beast!) I also have some cherry tomato plants that can hang over the edge of the sleepers that are doing really well.

(p.s. who else has figured out that I'm 'potatoesofthe... ' :))

Oh, do you have a double life on MN, Jareth? If you're desperate to plant the acers, could you carefully lift the bulbs, plant the acers and replace the bulbs in the planting hole? If you're quick and don't leave the bulbs to fry in the sun they should be alright.

My clematis montana has been flowering for more than a week ::beyond smug:: and Niobe and Wada's Primrose are about to start, but I fear none of last year's gladioli are coming back -apart from the indestructible byzantinus.