…if winter comes, can Spring be far behind? 2014 beckons us...

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Okay, so the height of summer is yet to scorch the nethers of those in this wide brown land of Orstrylia, but welcome to the MNettie gardeners of the world. Prop up your sagging fences, evict the rats from your decking, and find a use for that poinsettia.

Thank you funny and Bearleigh I will leave them be until you tell me to pot them on!!! :-)
Bumbez I can see your greenhouse on the thread, now that I'm on the laptop! ;-) I tried to upload a photo of my rose cuttings but it isn't happening! Ah well, may be for the best!

Bertha glad to hear you so upbeat and cheery this evening. Hope DD is feeling less anxious soon. I agree with funny though, keep her busy with lots of hands-on, normal life things!

Last attempt!

Hi everyone. We have just bought our first house and need to do lots to both front and back gardens but I am starting with the front as it is currently mainly paved. The front garden is north facing and the small flower bed at the front has a mini hedge at the front but I don't know what to plant behind it (it is 2m wide and 6 cm deep). I don't want anything that ends up looking dead and stick like for half the year but would like some colour in the spring and summer. We had lavender in our old garden but I have just read it isn't suitable in North facing gardens. Any other ideas?

Thanks :)

Hello, longtime Mnetter but first time to this corner.

I have three acres of overstood coppice and bramble. This year I swear I will tame it. I go to RHS Rosemoor a lot and would like their veg plot, hot garden, stream planting, etc - and the volunteers to keep it polished.

Today was stunning here in the south-west and having been outside all day meant that it was easier coping with the post school melt down from DD1, I'm desperate for a spell of bright days, it's been a soggy winter.

It worked!

Hi and welcome Angry and Border!
Angry what about seasonal bulb/perennial planting....daffodils or spring bulbs and then summer perennials such as lupins, salvia, and other cottage garden border plants popping up above the hedge in summer....

Border three acres of brambles! That makes my own plight look positively easy! Where will you start?! We have a digger in at the moment and he is making a swift job of the overgrowth...I highly recommend!

Oh I love the rose cutting photos! Some of mine are in a similar state. I think I am going to leave them put for another month 'till all risk of frost has passed' as they say in proper gardening circles and then pot on.

I love coming home to watch and see if the seeds have germinated.
Someone upthread asked me about lotus seeds. They came in an envelope postmarked somewhere in deepest China and have very thick seed coats so you have to rub the seed with coarse sandpaper for about 10 mins or so till a portion of the outer coat is rubbed off to expose a creamy inside and then soak them under water. Mindlessly satisfying way to procrastinate important jobs like filing and accounts and ironing and so forth if there are 6 seeds or so.

Hello Angry & Border.

I second the Spring bulb & perennial mix idea Angry.

I'd like some gardening volunteers too. Wouldn't that be lovely...

The weather looks promising for the weekend. Hopefully I'll get time to get more sowing done. Just checked my seed trays from the weekend; nothing yet

Welcome angryfeet and borderbinliner

Welcome, angryfeet and borderbinliner, from me too!

the first sunflowers show some little green bits. but he sweetcorn and tomatoes don't even if I stare at them

welcome to the newcomers.
a new garden is sooo exciting.

Welcome Angryfeet and Border! For a north garden I recommend buying 'Gardening in the Shade' by Margery Fish. Amazon has it for £0.01, and it is my north facing garden bible. It's how I learned that fuchsias, nasturtiums and lobelia prefer shade. And there are lots more tips. She writes well too, so it is a pleasure to read. I am afraid I have no tips for dealing with 3 acres... Sheep, initially perhaps, or Belted Galloways like the National Trust have?

What is charabanc? My google image search is turning up all kinds of archaic motor coaches.....have I spelled it wrong?

Hello Angry and Border!

Your rose photo is a delightful glimpse of spring, Castle.

I'm thinking of taking the dcs to Sheffield Park Gardens tomorrow.

no, that is what it is Castle!

Hello angryfeet and borderbinliner.

It was a lovely sunny day today but I didn't get in the garden as the house was a pit and I couldn't stand it another minute. And we had to do cooking for the eisteddfod competitions....I had icing induced rage

DH came home and pruned some of the roses. Apparently Mme Alfred Carriere is a bugger to prune.

Yes, a charabanc is an archaic motor coach. Perfect for an outing to a nursery and an open garden, don't you think?

I can confirm that my Mme Alfred Carriere is indeed a bugger to prune which is why it is still hanging around on the to-do list like a bad smell

Absolutely! We have to tie our hats on with long scarves too.

I keep forgetting to say that I am really enjoying eating the russian kale at the moment. It is so nice and sweet. Makes up for not having any purple sprouting. The leeks are tasty but rather small, sadly. Maybe because we grew them in the clay rectangular patch rather than the much better soil in the round veg patch. I can never get over how different the soil is in the different parts of the garden.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh! silly me! I thought it was a rare plant! Yes I'd like to go in one! Can I come too? When are we going? And where are we going?
Ha! My car is a bit of a charabanc!

Definitely hats (wide-brimmed) tied on with scarves!

There we go ladies! We're off!

Right I'm off to bed before you expel me from the thread for non-gardening! :-)

Good heavens! I thought a charabanc was more elegant and less practical, That looks like an oversize Jeep as was. So I don't know it all. Oh it would be hilarious to find a charabanc and wear the wide brimmed hats with scarves.

Hi angry and border. 3 acres last house had a north front garden, the best it ever looked was when we chucked a lot of wild flower mix down looked lovely. Other things that did ok - Ferns, Hostas Rosemary, Wistaria and Buddleia. Although it never looked good in the winter. Will be investigating bearleighs book as now I have a north back garden!

I got a fair bit done yesterday, planted out a few things in the front, and pruned wistaria, by hanging out the bathroom window. I need 10 large pots for the Hostas which I should get done today.

I'm also obsessed with looking at the seeds, nothing yet.

The rose cuttings look good castle, I think my Buddleia, and Mimosa cuttings may have taken fingers crossed.

I too have always fancied going in a charabanc. Would we not need to take bottles of cold tea stoppered with a cork though? and that sounds disgusting. No hummous allowed?

Another plant that unexpectedly (to me) flourishes in shade is regal pelargonium.

In Sarah Raven's booklet about how to plant seeds she recommends not sowing most seeds until April, so I am going to try that this year. Not lazy at all, no.