The first rule of garden club is...!?!

[Lexilicious]

hoping Humph's Happy Osteospermumsnet chums will find this... la la la... I'm uite used to being betty no mates though...

Come on in and have a seat/kneeler/foam pad and a virtual , anyone who wants to idly chat about what they've been dreaming of planting, actually planting, buying without a care for having a place for it, propagating, harvesting, hacking and chopping...

I have two compost daleks and a leafmould basket in a 1m wide 'alley' between the back fence and shed. They are not visible from the house and do not smell. They may harbour nice rodents (bank voles) because of being warm but we are religious about only raw veg food waste going in there. Anything cooked or non-veg goes in the council composting bin with the cardboard and heavy prunings.

When I have a big garden (one day...!) I will have big square compost bays that you can get the lawnmower in to chew up big bits like Monty does or freestanding compost tumblers all in a row like a bizarre horticultural fruit machine, and I will have a multi-grading shredder to make wood chips and cut up the prunings.

Shudder at the thought of creating a warm place for rodents. Want to avoid that. Totally.

My ideal compost heap is leaf mould plus grass clippings plus used potting compost plus worms turning into crumbly compost within 3 months. Does anyone know how to achieve this?

I'm interested in the 'feeding'- is that with some special compost maker mixture eg vitax compost maker? Do the worms simply arrive or does one add them in?

I am considering this
www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Load-Wooden-Compost-Bin-Litres/dp/B002I9KWT0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lp_4

Or even this
www.amazon.co.uk/Selections-GF6347-Small-Wooden-Composter/dp/B004QLTFPA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lp_4

Leaves and grass and spent compost won't work. You need stuff that is actively decomposing, a mix of green (leaves) and brown (twigs) material. Leaf mould isn't the same as compost, it's leaves broken down by bacteria. Compost is raw vegetable matter chewed and excreted by worms. They won't be much interested in spent compost but a bit of it can keep a heap well structured.

And you know, there are rodents and rodents... I have reached an equilibrium (as has my ecosystem).

about a quarter of the way down

So do you have to add the worms in?

like these ones?
www.amazon.co.uk/Wormcity-Composting-Worms-250g/dp/B000O8I2TE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349212578&sr=8-1

Or even these?
www.wormsdirectuk.co.uk/acatalog/composting-and-wormeries.html

When in the UK, we had a composting dalek, and the worms turned up, rather in the spirit of "Field of Dreams" - if you build it, they will come.

Here in Oz, and working with the sandiest soil imaginable, we did purchase worms and they do very well, though have to be positioned so as not to catch the sun or they cook. The worms have trouble keeping up with the amount of stuff we give them, because our meals are made from scratch for the most part. I'm campaigning for a second wormery, but DH is

The same sandy soil in the back garden has now been de-couchgrassed (ha ha) and awaits the turf tomorrow. Then we'll wait for the desire lines to establish themselves in the lawn, and put in stepping stones as per. I'm a bit excited as, while no lawn nut, can see it'll make the garden look more finished.

By next year I'm sure all the bits that don't take will be transformed into beds.

no, for compost you just let worms find it on their own, as they are the type which are processing decomposing matter in the wild anyway. For a wormery you are making a different sort of product, they can chow down on stuff you wouldn't put in a cool compost heap, so you buy in special worms. Wormery might be a better solution for you actually if you want a neat and discrete thing to produce a concentrated fertiliser. Rather than a big slow heap!

Yes I might buy some worms. I want a neat discrete compost. Do you know if bought worms upset the ecological well being and balance of the indigenous worm in any way? I did some digging today (divided all the day lilies) and saw a few worms so I do have them. Though some were probably eaten by the robin who was watching.
echt what are desire lines? I love lawns. Just not the watering/feeding/mowing/scarifying/aerating etc which seems to be a constant for mine.

Desire lines are the paths people end up making as they travel the most convenient way to wherever, as opposed to to paths laid down for them.
Our dog has them round certain bits of the raised beds, when he goes on dog patrol, so I plant round his paths, and he's less likely to trample things. You see them in parks and landscaped areas, much to the annoyance of the planners.

One desire line which will end up on the lawn is the one to the washing line, which like every Aussie line I've seen, is hidden from view, but in a sunny part of the yard. I don't actually desire to hang out clothes, but needs must.

Anyway the turf is laid, which must have been a killer for the chap because it hit 29 today. I'll be out again as soon as the sun goes down to water again. There's not much rain on the horizon, and though showers are possible, they can't be relied on.

where are you, echt?

I left fox desire lines. I'm not sure it's entirely 'desirable' but it did stop him digging up my flowers in an effort to get under the fence.

My garden is looking decidedly abandoned. I so need to find some time to get out there but it's not going to happen any time soon...

I'm in Melbourne, piglet, and waking up to a more manageable 18 degrees today when I'll get my bucket of topsoil and sort out some of the hollows in the new lawn.

The gaps in my borders are the bloody foxes' desire lines. I have stopped up some more gaps under the fence today and will be planting some spiky things to deter them - I have just acquired a bargain Maid Marian rose and will be moving the loganberries (which I hope can withstand shade as raspberries can).

I have been ill on and off for weeks now and have been feeling quite low. I spent a couple of hours in the garden today and feel so much better. I split some geums that I bought when we went to Hyde Hall (made six plants out of two) and potted on the viola and pansy plugs that unfortunately I had forgotten about and are rather dessicated. Oops. As I felt the sun on the back of my neck, it really lifted my heart.

Oh, and T&M are doing 72 mixed perennial plugs for £4.90 postage. I succumbed.

Oh again. I harvested my tomato crop. One in each hand.

Oh maud I am sorry you have been ill . Here is a mug of camomile tea for you . I am glad you are feeling better.

I have ordered 3 different types of bamboo for my balcony living foliage screen. I went for the types with yellow canes, green canes and reddish canes in the end because a friend said the black cane bamboo isn't very vigorous. I ordered them from crocus who turned out to have a good selection at reasonable prices!

Regarding fox desire lines- this could explain the path lack of turf at the end of the garden, running from one fence where the winter jasmine has clearly been jumped on, to the other side, where the clematis viticella abundance I planted in the spring has grown but (surprise) not flowered.

Bought more japanese anemones, asters, and two types of sedum. Working is not good for me because I spend the money I earn.

glad you are feeling better Maud, although sorry to hear you have been unwell for such a long time.

The garden is looking lovely at the moment. All of the cottage borders are full of colour, albeit mostly verbena bonariensis and rudbekia. The view through the hazel arch is rather nice, lots of dark purple salvia and ferns, with heuchera bordering the path. I was pleased to find that all my salvia and rosemary cuttings have taken and I potted them up today. Bloody finger is not healing (I chopped it last sunday whilst cutting a swede) and it is stopping any work outside. Or any washing up, so not completely annoying

Funnyperson - I sometimes think that the sole point of my employment is to provide funds for my hobbies, not least of which is gardening!

Thank you, Humphrey, for your kindness.

I also took some cuttings this morning. I seldom bother - I've never yet had cuttings that didn't degenerate into a mouldy mess - but, inspired by Monty, I took cuttings from a rose 'Spring Bride' that was over-topping the fence and trellis and so needed to be chopped back anyway. We'll see how it goes.

My garden's looking better than it did, say, a fortnight ago. Salvia Hot Lips is still going strong, the Japanese anemones are at last in flower and the callicarpa is fabulous -this is its best year yet for its gorgeous magenta berries. The replanted windowboxes are also romping away - especially good combinations are an acid green heuchera with yellow violas and tiny hebes from the 99p Store and heuchera Licorice (a really good purple*) with ivy-leaved cyclamen.

*Thank you, Lexi.

Sorry to hear you've been ill, Maud.

I have just harvested a whole four tomatoes, and have several more that are very dark green and on the verge of going orange. Unfortunately the slugs seem to be particularly partial to them.

The fuchsias I bought on a whim at Columbia Road flower market a few weeks ago, which spent a couple of weeks hovering between life and death, have now bedded in and are sending up lots of new flower buds. The nemesias I bought at the same time are still flowering enthusiastically, and the kales and cabbages I mentioned above are thriving and I've just cleared a space in the vegetable bed for them.

Three of the Thompson and Morgan foxgloves I planted out have fallen victim to the local cats' desire lines (as I shall now call them), but the other three seem happy and the lavenders are settling in well too. I have had my garden a year now and finally feel I am getting somewhere with it!

That sounds good, Goddess. I love nemesias and always mean to use more of them, but usually then decide not to 'do' bedding. Lantanas likewise.

I would love to go to Colombia Road. Perhaps we should have a meet-up there some time for everyone who's within striking distance of London?

I have done some replanting today. The very vigorous and thorny berry (a loganberry, I think) is now blocking one of the foxes' desire lines and I'll be planting my T&M foxgloves there tomorrow. I have hoicked out a useless hemerocallis and planted my Darcey Bussell rose (she's a very voluptuous deep purply pink) and some heucheras. Some geums and dianthus to plant tomorrow.

Your gardens are all sounding wonderful. I've got a bit fed up with mine lately - it really needs a lot of clearing out, plants dividing etc. to renew it (and me) but have had a nasty cold and painful sinuses which have stopped me doing anything for the last couple of weeks. I think horticultural therapy is what's needed as it seems to have helped you today Maud - hope it continues to work. The wineberry we were given earlier in the year is also vigorous and thorny if you need to add to your thorny thicket - can't vouch for its berry producing properties yet though.

Instead of gardening have been raiding the hedgerows and have now got lots of rosehip jelly and a big vat of blackberry and apple jam to finish off tomorrow. Also a mixing bowl full of green tomatoes to turn into chutney as have given up hope of any ripeness. We have had a little nip of frost here for the last couple of mornings so have to start putting stuff to bed...

Yup. Horticultural therapy works for me, which is why I always feel glum when it's too wet for gardening.

It's pouring down now, so I haven't been able to finish off the planting. At least there's no worry about watering-in!

I already have a Japanese wineberry in the thicket - I was very encouraged by an article in (?) GW magazine saying how delicious the berries are, but no sign of any yet. I also have Rubus Cockburnianus, which is supposed to be like living barbed wire.