Osteospermumsnet.com - flutter your foliage, pick your produce, shake your seed packets and bring your blooms to the Spring Show

[Lexilicious]

Welcome to the gardening quiche :)

Earlier malarkey was here

All welcome whether you are a Sackville-West or a Dimmock, an Oudolf or a Swift. Whether you dream of digging or dig for dreams.

Fair weather or foul, we've got disco lights in the potting shed and fairy lights on the terrace. Bring gin, wine just doesn't cut it round here.

::Whispers::

But only one of them is a proper gardener.

::waits for bunfight to start::

But seriously, this is lovely, Lexi.

Quite - how many of us actually claim to be proper gardeners? I've hardly started, I feel. This is dabbling at the edges of what I really want to be doing (delusions of grandeur, and of being able to afford somewhere with Grounds one day...!)

And do we Approve of fairy lights in the garden? I thought my solar fairy lights were Quite The Thing, but then someone recently was describing the horrors of their neighbours' ghastly garden and mentioned solar lights. It's made me very anxious.

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I'm indifferent on lights. No windchimes though please!

This thread is totally at odds with the 'no spend may' one I'm also on. I come here and need the new GYO magazine and to go to garden centres.

Hi, I'm waddling over from the old thread! With flump on the way and the allotment I'm trying not to waste spend money on the allotment (although am itching to beaten and put edging up and get a greenhouse and shed!!!)

I claim to be a proper gardener!
RHS qualified, trained garden designer, been earning my keep at it for 13 years.

Great - but does that mean we should be paying you for advice on this thread?!? eek! I suspect that a one in four average of 'proper' to 'hopeful' might be about right though.

So, yesterday I bought a load of garden gadgets. Some plastic track so that we can walk across the lawn when it's soggy without wrecking it, screw on dripper thingies for water bottles to use in pots, 'waspinators', a pottery snail to use as a beer trap, a child sized lawn rake for DS, pot trays with capillary matting, and an atrosanguineus bulb. £112 in total (£65 on the track stuff). Yeah Harriet I used to be on that frugality thread, but I couldn't keep a straight face saying I've shaved 50p here and there off the food shopping while spending lots and lots more on the garden!!! However, I still have not needed to buy lettuce since February and I have bought two garlic bulbs in total since last July when I harvested what we grew last year. No idea what that's saved me in shopping, but I was only getting started and I expect to save a lot more this year!

CuttedUpPear are you going to any of the shows this spring? Are you ... actually showing at any of the shows?

Hello, I've been lurking on the other thread for ages but have now decided to bravely join this one! I've been going mad for my garden this year, having moved from a city courtyard garden to a massive country garden about 18 months ago. We've dug up crappy hardcore and knackered tarmac to add to the large lawn, felled a massive ugly conifer that was wrecking the lawn, just recently made some enormous flower beds edged by old red bricks and now I'm in the process of filling those beds. Have also constructed a pergola and planted three apple trees, a pear and a plum

I'm all about flowers and shrubs at the moment, not into veg yet but I think in a couple of years time I'll probably be doing veg too!

Am stupidly excited as I saw someone mention Gardeners World Live yesterday (I didn't realise this existed), so have now bought tickets and booked a hotel for me and my mum, can't wait . Missed out on the slots for Monty in the theatre though so we're seeing Carol Klein instead.

Maud - I do like fairly lights, we had them over the pergola in our last little but pretty garden and they looked lovely, so I think they can look great and not tacky

Hello, Kitsmummy! Thank you for the comforting words about the fairy lights.

::Whispers:: I'd rather see Carol than Monty too although someone on the last thread described Monty as the sexiest man on the planet.

Lexi - Please report back on the plastic track, as it's been on my wish list for years.

Just checking in from the other thread.

Fairy lights, hmmm, now that sounds fun

I love reading the gardening threads but rarely post but i feel as a lurker i must confess i have some solar lights. In my defence i didn't buy them, my mum did who has a serious addiction to QVC shopping. I have hiden them in the raised beds and hope when the bedding plants go in they are noot to visable. I had to forgive her though as she also got me some lovely large lily bulbs.

My new kick arse mower arrived yesterday and even though the grass is too wet i couldn't resist trying it out. Took me an hour and a half to do what used to take me 4 hours with the old electric mower.I love it and it is easy enough to use that i can get one of my boys to cut the grass for me. It is about time they started to earn their keep.

Lexilicious all advice is given freely and without prejudice or guarantee
No bowing required. It's hard enough for us gardeners to get down there in the first place, let alone get up again.
I did have tickets for the Cardiff RHS show but had to give them away as I couldn't make it in the end. I am thinking of going to Hampton Court but am normally too busy with my other job.

Can I come and join the new thread too? Have lurked for ages and read about all your lovely gardens.
I'm trying to be really frugal with my gardening this year and only buying seeds and taking cuttings. I'm also trying to cover my costs with garden gate sales of leftover plants...I'll let you know how I get on.

Have just spent a very happy hour planting out my sweet peas at last to make room in the greenhouse for more seeds. The weather has been so foul I've got loads left to plant, but I'm hoping everything will grow quick to catch up.

No solar lights here but DD does have a little windchime in her playhouse. Oh dear!

I've been growing veg for a few years, and have been gradually moving over to fruit as it saves more money and the DCs are more likely to eat it
I spend very little on the garden, as I collect seeds from veg to grow on, and the fruit is perennial. I keep an eye out on and freebie sites for seeds and plants.
I have a fairly expensive master plan to build a den for the DCs at the end of the garden though, which might just scupper my frugal credentials

kitsmummy I went to GWlive last year. If the arrangements for the theatre sessions are the same as last year you will still be able to see Monty. The seated area in which they give talks is sealed off, but if you are there on time and stand at the back you can see and hear everything that is going on. If the talk times are not available on the GW website, the show guide gives all the times.

Take plenty of cash or your card as there are many tempting things , especially in the floral marquee.
The lunch in the Olive magazine restaurant at £8 a head was very good too.

Oh thanks for that mars, I hope I do get to see Monty because i luffs him

Sniff. No GW on telly tonight. What am I going to do with myself?

Better go out and drink in the LexiShed I think

Yes , it makes me cross that GW is always cancelled for crap like sport other things.
I must admit I do have a soft spot for Monty, but I'm not really interested in his pond, which does seem to be taking a major part in the programme.

Hello all waves

Also very cross GW is cancelled tonight. What am I supposed to do with myself this evening?

Haven't been in the garden for awhile, it's just too windy and soggy, but things are growing nicely on my windowsill so will hopefully be ready to go outside soon enough. Our lawn is looking lovely and green from all this rain.

My good news is that I have had an offer accepted on a house. After the disappointment of losing the last house, am very pleased to say it has a 75ft garden (it's on a road really close by to the first house that came up for sale and they all seem to have huge gardens. It's a bit more expensive but a v nice house). Am thrilled and terrified at the same time. Have bought myself a lovely notebook to get planning my garden. Will have raised veg beds at the end of the garden as planned and hopefully masses and masses of flowers in the main bit of the garden. There is a lawn but will play it by ear as to whether I keep it as I can't physically mow it myself and don't really want to pay others to do so, but can make that kind of decision in the first year or so I'm sure. Am planning on offering the raised beds in return for someone mowing at first and see if anyone takes me up on that.

Hello all, I'm back in the land of the living - sorry if TMI but had ongoing miserable breast abcess problem that is now on the mend

Am perterbed by lack of germination of everything that I have planted seed wise in the ground over the past 2-3 weeks. Damn pesky weather. Went to visit dad and his cronies at allotment and now have serious poly tunnel envy. They have been busying themselves for months building these all over their plots and have crops popping up everywhere that would otherwise have been floundering.

Hello new people and Good Luck housey-wise worzel. Have just been through it myself. Lots of good vibes sent your way.

Happy Gardeners World everyone Time for much deserved

Aggghh no GW. Forgotted!

Checking in! I like the idea of 'fluttering my foliage' Lexi...

Planted beans today - though not direct like I usually do as decided they may need some frost protection still. So they've been planted in modules and are now under some big cloches.

The rest of the sweet peas went out though and I'll be planting out the morning glory tomorrow - both to climb up netting on the fences behind the borders to hide the great expanse of fence a bit.

Discovered the chickens go a bit crazy for a slug! Much amusement to be had by all now and slug hunting has become a new pastime for the girls. Talking of chickens - must pop out and put them to bed whilst trying to ignore the fact that it is normally Monty time.

I'm back - also meant to say:

I'm planning my 40th 21st birthday in the summer and I'm planning to rig the whole garden with fairy lights, and if possible, get some tree up lighters for the oaks in the wood end of the garden. It will of course rain but it will still be magical.

Wynken - do I need to earth up the oca in the same way as potatoes?

Monty fans- he's always at the Hay festival and often does talks there too.

Bertha, I've grown morning glory for the first time this year, they are still in the greenhouse, now about 3" high and growing really slowly. Do they usually take a while to get going? Perhaps I ought to start hardening them off and get them out into the garden?

Also missing GW but here in Wales its always being postponed to make way for interminable rugby matches and put on a random other times at the weekend so nothing new