The potting shed - the tea is on, come in for a natter.

[radiohelen]

It's nearly April... So far in my ickles plastic greenhouse - aka the four tier tardis - I've got tomatillos, tomatos, leeks, beetroot, peas, parsnips, green cauliflowers and some flowers, sweet peas and nasturtiums.

I planted my spuds and more rows of broad beans. Still got the onion sets and garlic to put in.

I've pruned my new apple tree and gooseberry bushes, dumped potash on the goosegogs and currants and mulched with compost.

I've also potashed my peonies in the hope of better show than last year.

What have you been up to?

I'm in the East Midlands and was very pleased to see the rain today-we've had 2.5 weeks without a drop.I didn't even mind getting wet at work.

Hairywoman,I have put Tomatillo seedlings in an unheated polytunnel at this time of year before.You have reminded me that I haven't sown any seed yet.
Have you grown them before? I found them to be very heavy croppers and ended up making chutney with the excess.There is only so much salsa/Mexican food you can eat.

Can I come in?

In wet west of Scotland, and I've just planted a new herb garden. I've pulled up everything that was in the space before (pulmonarias, geraniums, a dicentra, a veronica) and bunged them into other spaces.

Am itching to get going on the other half of my garden, but am waiting for a new retaining wall to get built in a couple of weeks.

Seaweed - yes, I always bring back a carrier bag full when we go to the seaside. I mostly add it to the compost heap, but I've also put it into the trenches where I put my potatoes before. I can't tell you if it made any real difference but it's supposed to add lots of goodness to the compost isn't it?

Mirage, I have never grown them and have only eaten them abroad (Mexico)in a kind of stew so don't actually know what they taste like but someone gave me the seeds for free and they look so exotic I thought I'd give them a try. Of course I have no idea what I will do with them. Can you eat them raw like tomatoes?

Yes,I made a lot of salsa with them,also put them in chillis,fajitas,curries,used them as I would a tomato really.You grow them exactly the same as tomatoes too,but they tend to branch out more,so may need the branches tying to stop them being dragged down by the weight of fruit.I'll be interested to hear what you think of them,no one else I know has ever grown them.

Hi all, can I join in?

I have only previously had containers, but I'm about to move into a house with real soil!

I've added pictures to my profile - I have a front garden where I'm going to try for lots of big, brash, colourful or/and scented flowers - I have sweet pea seeds to go up against the fence, and a few seed mixtures to go in the main bit. The ground is quite clay like, with lots of small stones - do I need to dig them all up? I'm a bit worried that I might accidentally dig up some bulbs or something.

Then we have an area that seems to be better soil- maybe the previous people dug it over - with a trellis, so I'm thinking of doing a few fruit and veg. We did carrots, tomatoes, courgettes, blackcurrants and salad last year, as well as rosemary, thyme, basil and chives, all in pots, so we'll do those again, but now we have real soil we have a lot more potential. The other side of the back garden has a few shrubs (but with lots of gaps) - should I put in some more shrubs, or flowers, or more veg? We're limited by the fact that we are renting - anything that takes a few years to get going needs to be in a pot as I would be gutted to leave it behind if we have to move.

We also have decking, front and back, so more pots I think. I love the scent of lavender and roses, so I think I will attempt them, and DD1 (4yo) is keen to do sunflowers.

I have a very inquisitive 1yo, and a 4yo who is very used to the idea of foraging, so I'm a bit worried about poisonous plants - are there any to watch out for that look tasty but are actually dangerous?

Is it worthwhile getting one of those little plastic greenhouses?

:D I'm really excited!

My tomatillos are sprouting now! Will let you know what I think of them Mirage -do you pinch off the shoots like tomatoes too?

Tomatillos - I think you just let them go bushy hairy if you'll pardon the pun Mine are in the four teir tardis and I've only got about eight on the go - I'm planning to swap half of them at a plant swap in late april after being warned about their prolific nature... either that or I'll be going from restaurant to restaurant seeing if anyone wants some!
butter I love my tardis... I only got it this year and it's nearly full already with the first flush of veg nearly ready to go in. I've got a stack of stuff to plant in it in late April. All my melons/cucumbers/squash/sweetcorn so hopefully it will earn its keep.
I've just realised I don't have enough 3 inch pots to cope with my burgeoning tomato collection, 18 really is too many for a family of three isn't it?... hi ho hi ho it's off to the garden centre I go............

Hi all,

can I come in for a and a chat. I am a complete newbie - my only experience of gardening is killing off our few houseplants - but my dad has a fantastic garden and grows loads of fruit and veggies. DD loves visiting and 'helping' in the garden and eating strawberries, tomatoes and peas straight from the plant (of course I have to take her out to 'supervise' her and 'test' that everything is okay before she eats it ).

We moved to a new place last year with a small garden at the back - mostly lawn with a bit of a border at the back and side currently full of gorgeous daffodils - and a patch of grass out the front with a thin border full of primroses and pansies. I have decided to have a go at growing some fruit/veggies now that we have a bit of space and dad got me started by giving me an apple and a plum tree for the back garden and donating some of his spare seeds. I have started some tomatoes, peas, peppers, pak choi, cauliflower and beetroot indoors and have done a pot of mixed lettuce leaves. I am planning to start some carrots in pots, leeks and some chard this weekend. My seed potatoes are waiting to go into bags and my blueberries should arrive soon. I'm going to grow mostly in pots and bags this year but stick a few things in the borders - can I just plant over or between the bulbs in there?

I've never had the patience for gardening before but I'm getting surprisingly excited about my seedlings growing and tidying up the garden is very relaxing after a day at work. I just hope some of the stuff survives long enough for us to eat it!

radiohelen,don't buy pots.I put a sign outside asking for unwanted plantpots and got hundreds.People just don't know what to do with them and often have no space to store them.Are you in Leicestershire by any chance? If so I can give you plantpots for nothing.

Hairy,no you don't pinch out the side shoots on tomatilloes,as radiohelen says,just let them form a bush.

Try freecycle for pots, don't buy them!

I've given away loads lately by just leaving them on my front step with a note on. I did this with plants last year too!

We are planning a trip to mammoth onion in a few weeks & I'm really excited

Harriet you lucky thing! I notice that it is near MIL's so may be able to plan a trip next time we visit her.

Sat in the garden feeding baby while dh builds the gooseberry bed, only the redcurrants, blueberries and gojis left to home then!

Got some tomato plants from the Market this am so that's 3 varieties already, will get fancier ones from mammoth onion although the Market is v good and usually has around 20 varieties over the spring/summer.

Just planted some more carrots & need to do more tidying once baby is finished. Dd1 sitting in the tent with her while she plays enjoying the pre crawling stage!

I've had a very productive afternoon have potted up about 80 tomato plant seedlings, if they all survive I imagine I'm going to have a glut of tomatoes . I've run out of pots though so DH has had to raid the PILs shed.

Dug out a new flower bed and then planted loads of gladioli bulbs, lillies, irises etc.

My onions and spinach are coming on nicely, and I've got some lettuce and carrot seedlings coming up. If the weather is OK tomorrow I might set off some more carrots and lettuce as it's been a couple of weeks since I started the first ones off.

Then I spent a happy hour cutting the grass.

Wine o clock now I think.

I planted out the gooseberries, some bulbs we had lying around, some potatoes in pots & filled in the raspberry gaps. Tookloads of rubbish out too & tidied around the shed.

Oh & purple broccoliplants & sage planted out

Think we may have room for anothe veg bed as well as the fruit bushes!!!

There is a beastie in my four tier tardis!!! It has turned a few of my lovely tomato seedlings into lace! Evil creature. Must leave beer traps... or maybe go straight to slug pellets - do not pass go!

I didn't buy any more pots.. I rooted around and found more in the shed. I hadn't thought about putting a sign outside. Someone left a load of pots outside their house on a road near me recently and I missed them. There in the morning, none on the way back in the afternoon.

My pots all went quite quickly when I put them out!

Was up early this am with the baby & glanced out into the garden to see a HUGE ginger cat dangling it's paw in the pond. Chased it 3G this am & have the hose set up now. Not seen it before but it seems a tough/determined one as next doors dog didn't phase it. Mr next door was laughing at me in my dressing gown yelling at a cat & wrestling the hose though!

Just bumping this as it fell off my list!

New to this section but full of love for my little garden right now so jumping right in.

I moved into a new flat (SE London) with a wee garden last September. Over the winter I dug it over and cleared out the mahonia that was In The Wrong Place, pruned the distressingly lanky clematis and planted some narcissi.

Over the last month I have

Sown a little container with cut and come again salad leaves
Planted thyme, oregano, rosemary and winter savoury
Started dwarf broad beans and beetroot
Started some cosmos on the windowsill for later planting
Started some lobelia as above
Laid a little stone path
Sown alyssum along the path edges
Stood back, sucked my teeth and poured some .

It's looking so pretty already

Getting ready for Gardeners World once I've put the little one to bed. There's something strangely soothing about Monty Don. Him and can make all the bad things go away

I've watered my seedlings and stepped away from planting my melons, squash and sweetcorn just yet. The weather today got me a bit excited but I stayed strong! Another week or two I think.

I may have upset my plum tree in a pot. I picked it up to get rid of a bramble growing close to it and as I lifted it up there was a snap and a root that had come out of the bottom of the pot snapped. It looked like quite a big root. Do you think it's terminal? It's only been in there a year. This is its second spring..... I've been watching it and watering it. I may chuck a handful of feed on there as well.....

I've spent a happy hour or so potting up bizzy lizzie seedlings,and had to do a plantpot run down to the polytunnel for more pots.It got too hot after that,so had a break indoors.A customer of mine has given me several years worth of gardening magazines,so I'm looking forward to settling down to read them.

Must mow the lawn tomorrow,if I can persuade the dds to pick up the billion plastic toys scattered over it.

I had another phone call from someone wanting a gardener today,that is 3 in the past 2 weeks in addition to my regulars, I can't squeeze anyone else in and still have a waiting list from last year.I'm lucky that gardening doesn't seem to have been hit by the reccesion yet.

Think our tree fern may be dead :( the cold last year may have been too much. No signs of new ferns & there are a couple of black still curled ones :(

Harrier it's horrible when they don't come back. I lost a fuchsia that was a housewarming gift in the November snows

The jasmine is being very wary this spring too.

*Harriet, I mean. Damn autocorrect

Mirage I read somewhere that 75% of Britons are planning to grow the bulk of their summer fruit and veg this year.... that's some statistic. Do you get called in to rectify garden mistakes, a bit like Dr DIY has to come and fix all the DIY mistakes?
Manatee you've been busy! Sounds like it's going to look great when you are done. You've reminded me about the winter savoury. Need to get some to plant near the Jerusalem Fartichokes to use when cooking to reduce their effect.