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

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

The thread for me ! Pirates, that is an amazing transformation, would love to see some pictures of it this summer with things planted and in full growth.

My garden is a bit neglected at the moment as my veg patch started a veg growing obsession and I now have a half size allotment with another coming beginning of May plus I am decorating inside at the moment.

However , I have been nurturing the cutting of the gorgeous pink Rose that was labelled a bush but turned into a climber and grows round the front door and over the kitchen window in May with gorgeous pink flowers and has honeysuckle mixed in. The cutting went in last spring and survived despite little sun and is sending up lots of new growth. As are the roses round the front on the trellis and the 5 new ones I got for a bargain £2 each last year- is there a theme here ?! I am banned from going to our local Rose nursery by DH but desperate to yet my hands on some if their gorgeous old varieties.

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

Haha, you called me pirates

Yaaaarr! I will certainly get him to post a pick when it's all done, and will come back to this thread to update. It looks to tidy at the moment, all the herbs are in and daffs/crocuses are out. Can't wait for all my little seedlings to grow and the last frosts to be out of the way.

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

Ooops, sorry Potatoes, that will be lack of caffeine !

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

It's OK! I've realised I don't really like being called 'Potatoes', may switch back to my old name

[MavisEnderby]

Can you gardening type people help me.

I have just removed 20 dead plants from my garden and given it a general tidy.(Especially sad that dps treasured yucca died,he had nurtured it for 15 years)

Now,when he was alive dp was the gardener.It was his territory.

I need to put some more plants in and haven't a clue:(

Garden is an L shape,turfed in the foot of the L if that makes sense,with paving and borders in the rest of it.Mainly small conifers and hardy shrubs down the borders otherwise,some tulips and daffs,and herbs in pots.What to plant?(Am in North East and have quite a clay soil if that helps)

TIA

Glad you are enjoying the garden,HC!

[MissRead]

Potatoes/Pirates that looks fab, really nice to see how it progressed and your DH's blog made me laugh. Would love to see a pic of it now, our garden's not much bigger but I'm feeling quite inspired after seeing yours (although I have neither a spare £1500 nor a DH who can do DIY).

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

MissRead, thank you :) - the decking is brilliant, though was very difficult for him to do because of the lack of room to manouvre.

Does it mention £1500 in the blog?..because it probably wasn't far off that (£500 on skips though, easily) but reckon you could do it for cheaper than that as the sleepers cost far too much IMO :)

[MavisEnderby]

Sorry,something of a thread hijack from me.Will start a new thread in this topic:)

[MissRead]

I definitely got that figure from somewhere, think he mentions that it would have cost twice that if he hadn't done it himself. See what you mean about lack of room to manoeuvre, am surprised one of those sleepers didn't end up through your conservatory window - certainly would have if it'd been my clumsy and incompetent DH!

[TaffetaCat]

Oh what a lovely thread. Don't you love this time of year? Everything so green, fresh, a clean slate. We've been here 7 years this year and its been 7 years of hard work in the garden, with a blip 2 years ago when we moved out for nearly a year whilst the house had work done, and subsequently thr garden was a bit crap last year.

This year its different. It really feels like its turned a corner. It was established when we moved in, but a real overgrown mess with lots of plants I didn't like. Its now my established mess patch. ( DH spent 2 weeks one winter when we were first here digging out a massive rockery, in howling rain. Madness, looking back on it, it buggered his back.)

I am loving the Rose porn. I have a weakness for some of the David Austin ones - I have Alnwick and St Swithun but my very favourite is a pale pink climber of unknown origin which is divine and makes me smile a lot. I planted lots of new allium and iris last autumn which are shooting up ( we are chalk here , south facing, very well drained poor soil, Med herbs dream).

My front garden needs sorting this year. Blank slate, very excited, but not what I'm used to as north facing. The area closest to the house gets no sun as the house shades it, but am thinking the outer areas could take some lavender, box, iris, allium, geranium etc.

[ChristinedePizan]

I am getting one called something like the Constant Gardener from DA to go in front of my boring black fence which is what I stare out at when I'm working. It's a pale pink, scented climber so I'm hoping for delicious wafts

[ChristinedePizan]

And yes this is my absolute favourite time of year in the garden taffetacat - so much promise (and ambitions that will probably never be realised :o)

[TaffetaCat]

mmmm that sounds like a good one Christine

will google later

[HumphreyCobbler]

Thanks for the info CITGM. Have been googling the plants, am really a beginner and don't know that many. Am now intrigued by the dark blue agapanthus. Glad to see so many other garden lovers here too.

We have a large garden - the rose walk is about forty or fifty feet. We have a mature orchard at the bottom of the garden, fenced off and a veg patch, also fenced off. It was a mass of bindweed when we got it, we had to do a lot of clearing for the first year. I wanted to buy the house as soon as I set foot in the garden, I hadn't even seen inside the house).

Potatoes - an amazing transformation!

I too have a Paul's Himalayan Musk rose hellymelly. We copied our in-laws and planted it in a tree. Ours doesn't do anything yet, but theirs is AMAZING. A whole mass of beautiful flowers in the middle of their garden. We have to wait about ten or eleven years for ours to do that...

[AlmaMartyr]

I love my garden too :) My parents were always into gardening, and I always thought it wasn't my thing until I bought a house with a garden and now I love it. We have a tiny garden behind our house and a big garden out the front. At the moment my favourite things are my blueberry, which is budding beautifully. I love my hop plant, especially since it just survived a rather brutal transfer and has grown loads in the last week. I have a gorgeous clematis that smells of marzipan which is one of my favourites. Everything in the back garden grows beautifully (suntrap) and everything in the front tends to struggle (not much sun) but things are taking off a bit this year.

One of my favourite plants is the Chilean Potato Tree (solanum crispum I think? although might have confused it with something else). Mine's only tiny but there's one on my way into town which is gorgeous every summer and I love walking past it.

[Pkam]

Potatoes - loved the blog, can't believe the change - do post final 'lived in' pics. And tell me how you got him to take on such a project; can't get my DH to bang a nail in without considerable prompting!

Very excited today as bought a Magnolia last year which promptly died. Tree nursery agreed to replace it (I only popped in for some advice, hadn't realised it came with a guarantee ). Man came today with a spade and a tree and now have a lovely new one all ready to bud.

Also planted out some sweet pea - though may have been hasty so have also put some in pots in the conservatory to replace when the frosts get the ones outside....

[Pkam]

Alma - just googled Chilean Potato Tree - want one!

[hellymelly]

My friend had one in his garden and it had reached the top of a really tall tree. I've planted mine so that hopefully it will climb the tree in my garden.I really want a quince tree ....

[HumphreyCobbler]

yes I want a quince too. Monty Don says the blossom is wonderful.

Did anyone see Gardener's World earlier? It is the hightlight of my televisual week.

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I make dd have a 15 minute bath on Fridays so that we're downstairs again in time for Monty twinkling in the potting shed.

::must get out more::

Solanum crispum is v v lovely - especially the white varieties. I need a nice but smallish tree to grow in a huge pot in the front garden. I've been thinking about an amelanchier. Would it be completely mad to grow one in a pot?

[HumphreyCobbler]

have just googled and it looks lovely

it also says 'skill level - experienced' which kind of rules me out. It says it looks good with a star magnolia, I have one of those in a large pot.

When I have been doing this for a few years will I know the proper latin names of plants?

[ChristinedePizan]

I generally know the latin or the common name for things - I rarely remember both. Amelanchier is a beautiful tree but it really is a tree, not sure it'd be happy in a pot.


This is the rose I want to get - The Generous Gardener, not constant :o I had to leave my roses behind when we moved and it's really weird, I don't particularly like rose bushes but I really miss them. There is something about those fat buds which is really heartening.

I have buds coming on about three different clematis here which I am very excited about as I have no idea what's coming. One is definitely a Montana but the others are mysteries!

[HumphreyCobbler]

that is a beautiful rose

I also want one of these <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.gardenersworld.com/objects/plant-detail-i/3426_rosa_gallica_lg1.jpg&imgrefurl=www.gardenersworld.com/plant-detail/PL000000/3426/rosa-mundi-rose&h=370&w=260&sz=22&tbnid=YH7t4w0XIxiikM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drosa%2Bgallica&zoom=1&q=rosa+gallica&hl=&usg=__IWE3dbt_bKTq2-n-2KMTlohQ_NU=&sa=X&ei=yBWNTcG5IYaAhQe3w-C7Dg&ved=0CD4Q9QEwBw" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">rosa gallica

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Oh yes. I am not buying any more roses [ahem] but I really really want a rosa gallica.

So, situation vacant. Small tree wanted. Must offer all year interest, fairly light habit, preferably white blossom, happy to live in a vast glazed pot.

[ChristinedePizan]

Hmm I have something in my head Maud but I can't remember what it's called. I will think on ...