Come into the garden with Maud - all obsessive and wannabe gardeners welcome

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Whether you've got rolling acres or a tiny courtyard, whether you're a novice or a gardening die-hard, whether you're aiming for a garden of Sissinghurst loveliness or self-sufficiency à la Felicity Kendal in The Good Life, this is the place to be. Take a seat on the tastefully-painted Lutyens bench and chat with fellow enthusiasts. There may even be a bottle of gin in the potting shed.

My mum bought me a passiflora when I had DS1, we planted it lovingly against a sunny wall and it looked beautiful for a couple of years - then I discovered it was actually growing through the drains and along the foundations . It would appear randomly along the walls.
I had to be ruthless - especially after my BIL said he had one that did the same - and one day sprouted under the skirting board in the dining room...
I think tis quite hardy
We had major building work done last autumn, JCB digger type stuff - and yesterday I spotted a little hopeful seedling type growth...

You'd better hurry, Dowager. My local Lidl already seems to have sold out! Should probably stop giving them so much free publicity here.

pepperrabbit! That's exactly what I'm afraid of.

Thanks for having a look Maud. I checked online and they weren't in this week's gardening offers, they were a few weeks' back so will probably have sold out here too.

Having had another look at my triffid, two really fat stems of it are growing right against the wooden batten across the back of the drain so it might not be suitable for this job anyway.

I fancy a flamethrower weed wand too!

My parents bought 1m square raised beds in aldi today for £6.49 if anyone is looking for a bargain. They cleared their local one out though.

My local Lidl still had the flame throwers when we were in on Monday. Tempted to go back in and get one just so I can boast about it on here! Although, do they work well on weeds through gravel drives? An easier alternative to pulling them by hand or squirting them with nasties might be worth looking at...

I am officially rebranding my house as a plant rescue centre. One of the businesses down our lane has just dug up their planted area which had the most fantastic Japanese Anemone and huge lilies in it, plus a few other ornamental shrub things. I have rescued a shrub thing (though not identified what it is as they cut it right back prior to digging out), divided off and potted two large clumps of the lilies and have put the rest aside in a wheelbarrow for a friend who expressed interest. I then scavenged through the piles of earth to see if I could find the coveted Japanese Anemone and managed to find a small bit of root with some withered early growth on it. Not much hope for it but I have potted it just in case. I have added these motley plant cast offs to the battered quince tree from my mother's garden. I now have a 'rescue' area on my patio that looks a bit desperate!

I should really put newspaper down before getting stuck in to potting on seedlings in the hall

No Aldi for miles and no poundstore jaunts for me until Friday methinks. I need more 8cm plastic pots, trays and potting compost. Went to b&q today after work for mini fibre pots and got ... a rake and hand tools for the boy, two packs of fibre pots, a metal "dad's shed" sign, 30 'sapphire' iris bulbs and 16 'ebony and ivory' gladioli bulbs which are actually dark red and white. That lot was £21 ish.

Love the Miss Tiggywinkles for orphaned plants bpb !!

DH made a cold Frame yesterday so now I can get on and pot up some more seeds. Courgette and cucumbers first I think.

My Dior tulips from J Parkers have started opening-they seem to be multi-headed.They looked so soft and in poor condition when i planted them that i really didn't think they would grow. However they are a lovely lipstick pink and are flowering a month early.
Thank-you Maud for advice about planting the dahlias.I will try and resist the urge to plant now.But we have had so few frosts this year that i am really tempted to go ahead.I have,already like someone else here,planted acidanthera and ranunculus corms.I also have crocosmia and gladioli bulbs that need to be planted.
I spent all of yesterday planting Pasque flowers and wallflowers in the border.Found some anemones behind a shrub and replanted in the border where i can see them.Also planted last years dianthus and some Nemesia from pots into a narrow strip.I've realised i have several plants in the wrong parts of the garden that i can move to specific areas where they will thrive.I also found some Bergenia which has been quashed by an overgrown shrub that i can move into the shady area.

I am going to buy a bath siphon from Nigel's Eco Store and find the business card of the guy who did our neighbour's guttering... We are in a mid terrace (of four) and the downpipes only go on the end terrace houses. I need to reclaim that water!! I'm going to get downpipes put from our back roof to capture that water on our extension roof, which is the only bit that currently captures water for us. Do you think I should just siphon the bath water out of the window onto the roof so it will join the rainwater in the butt, or would that make the whole lot yucky? I could use a big bin to collect the bathwater instead. The other thing I could do would be to use bathwater on the front garden by running the hose down the stairs and out the front door. That'll make the neighbours talk if I'm still in just a towel

My Pak Choi seedlings are a bit weak and wonky. The ones I grew over winter in the recycling box with polythene stretched over it did well. These were on a sunny windowsill and I think it has made them go very leggy. Same with my Romanesco broccoli.

Have given my colleague two courgettes and two beans (free) from my sales tray. Nearly time to put a new ad up at work for my California Sweet Peppers, chillis, Gardener's Delight and Yellow Stuffer! Will have to take the last few home as I'm on leave from the end of today to the Wednesday after Easter.

Also, I am SO having one of these in my shed once we've laid the electricity tube and I can run a kettle. I am now lusting after almost everything on that site...

All my seedlings are very leggy and wobbly too Lex. Hoping they're going to fatten up soon!

Does what you use in the bath affect the plants at all if you water them with DD's glitter bubble bath soapy stuff? I also want to know how to capture the grey water from showers as we shower far more than we bath.

Anyone know whether I'm supposed to nip out the tops of broad beans to help concentrate energy resources to the pods? Mine are showing the first teeny tiny pods now - can't find anything in my books though.

Keep the plug in to catch shower water? There are fancy systems you can attach to your outflow but you may not want to be taking up the floor of your bathroom...!

I've just done a quick search and firstly, use eco bath products so the residues are not so chemically loaded (but I doubt glitter would be a problem - call it vermiculite!), then use only a drip method not misting or hosing from above, and only on ornamental plants and lawns because of the poo particles. That's an american link above, the Energy Saving Trust here seems a lot less uptight about it...

I also think it might be good to let the water settle in a large bucket or dustbin so that cleaning product residues fall to the bottom, then you siphon clean(er) water from the top. I read somewhere that you should use grey water within 24 hours though.

I have always been interested in a 'grey water' system but worry about the impact of soap etc on the plants.

Does it not harm them?

My peony has come back to life - given that I didn't manage to replant it from the pot in was bought it, that's extremely good going! well done peony/ Most of my gardening seems to be based on how much neglact can you get away with - surprising amounts, it seems!

Big hydrangea also seems to be coming back - although not sure they are going to do very well this year which is a shame. All the other hydrangeas round here are going great guns and mine barely have any shoots at all. Oh well, patience and plenty of feeding.

Basil and tomatoes seedlings doing very well. Parsley is unbelievably slow to grow. Does anyone else struggle with it?

Beans are not doing v well, only 3 of 10 have come up. Will have another go at the weekend as I think the other seeds have rotted. Will also sow some more salad this weekend for successive growing.

Am going on my annual trip to the garden centre on Tuesday with DH's best mate. It's always funny as he has a 100ft garden and I have a teeny roof terrace so our purrchases look v odd together!

Ooh, interesting about using grey water. I was also thinking about getting one of those siphons Lexi. Still not 100% sure. Also we can still use hosepipes but only to fill up buckets/cans but the whole idea of a hosepipe ban has made me think about conserving water much more. I read on another thread that you could also put a bucket in a shower to capture water too.

DD (aged 3) and I have been on seedling watch. It's so sweet as she's so excited when another seed germinates & pops up . The tomato seeds seems to be doing well but the sweet peas that I put in some weird expandable pitting disc things aren't looking so healthy. Guess they were too gimmicky, might just start again with normal seedling compost.
I'm also mega excited as I think we are actually going to get flowers on our wisteria this year - it's only taken me 5 years to get the pruning right but I may be speaking too soon.
On the coffee granules for deterring cats, I think it seems to work (so far so good) but I was getting desperate, and found this suggestion online. other suggestions were to put orange/citrus peel out too. Might work?

The new laid lawn has developed holes in it from where the robins, tits, squirrels, foxes, blackbirds etc all have been digging under neath the turf for worms/last years acorns. I don't know what to do.

My hydrangea has shoots too, as do the roses, the lidl sticks aka the plum and apple espaliers remain, however, sticks. I hope though.

Whats the best type of rosemary bush to plant?

I thought about putting a bucket or two in the shower cubicle (have separate shower from bath Lexi so can't put plug in) - I may try it but am a bit worried that my lack of co-ordination in the mornings may end up with me accidentally standing in/tripping over said buckets and landing in an embarrassing and painful heap.

Went back to Lidl today for which I am blaming Maud. Now am the very proud owner of a flame-thrower!! Haven't used it yet but those weeds had better watch out tomorrow. Also got a cheap 'rose arch' which I have constructed and put across the centre of the veg plots, straddling the gap between two of the beds from their corners. The idea is I grow a few sweet peas up from the corner of each bed to form a sweet pea arch in the middle of my veg plot. It'll either work and be a thing of beauty or, be disastrous, end up looking messy or twee.

Just remembered I haven't watered my seedling in the conservatory today. So I'm off to get the watering can.

No flame throwers in ours. Only brushes & chairs in the garden section. Did buy a lot of German sausage though

Anybody got any advice on Japanese anenome (sp?) I have some in a bed by my front door but they are in completely the wrong place as they grow all over the drive where you walk to the front door (and are full of bees in the summer!)

My gardening expert neighbour warned me about them being a bugger because they seed everywhere and have awful roots. I noticed one today has actually grown up though the Tarmac . They are right up against the brickwork of the house, shall I just SBK them and be done with them? I feel terrible because they are pretty but they are a nuisance. Also, any suggestions as to what I could put there instead as the bed is shaded by the house?

Thanks gardeners! I long to be a good gardener but am lazy useless at the moment - apart from veg, we are ok with our veg

So, DH is taking the baby all day tomorrow and I plan to spend the day in the garden. What would you say are the must do jobs, bearing in mind I haven't had an awful lot of time before now to devote to green fingering? Was going to have a good weed and rake of all the dead leaves still hanging around. Then plant some seeds and pay my herb wheel some attention - thyme, oregano and parsley seems to have survived but not sure about the rest.

Am going to Wilkos this arvo, anyone have any experience of their plants?

I'm feeling moderately smug as Ds and I had a lambs lettuce salad picked from the veg garden. Will probably plant beans etc this week - can't plant them out as soon as some of the rest of you due to somewhat colder temperatures - and have to grow them to a decent size in post so that the snails can't completely finish them up over night. We do seem to be VERY good at growing snails.

Going to have to work out where to put Ds's birthday present as we're getting him a trampoline.

Bertha - You are an adult and have Free Will. I refuse to accept responsibility for your Lidl splurge. Is the rose arch any good? I am toying with buying one to go round the front door, but as the garden is paved it will have to stand in pots and I suspect it's slightly too wide for the pots in question.

QueenKong - Your plan sounds good to me. Once you've had a tidy-up it'll be easier to see where the gaps are and then you can have a plant-buying spree.

Wilkos stuff is usually ok. I've had quite a lot of some fruit bushes and other plants

Errrr...hello?

Can I sidle into your gardening group.

My Easter resolution is to tidy and sort the greenhouse and potting shed. I've also promised myself I won't buy any more gardening gadgetry or tools as I have sooooo much.

good few hours up the allotment today- sowed some spinach and peas and weeded and weeded and weeded. also watered - everything so dry!!

bought 2 packs of raspberries from wilkos - one cane each of an early mid and late season for a couple of quid, intend to plant them in the back garden and then we can pick a few berries at home - rather than wait til we get to the allotment.
have often thought of a syphon so waiting for the first to test it out