…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.

Onefewernow You were organised and timely and I had fractured ribs in November.
What about all your pots and those winter jobs you put in that list on the other thread? Could you not interrupt the good book to do that stuff?
Now the bulbs are planted I'm leaving the back well alone till February.

At the front I have a problem because the house is on a hill, so the rain tends to wash soil down the hill. Do people think an old fashioned rockery or else putting down a top layer of gravel would help drainage? I need to reduce the tendency for the topsoil to wash away and water to accumulate in the lower regions of the front flower bed, which has led in the past to the retaining wall leaning over.

I'm with Onefewernow, a good book is the best option. This is mainly due to the fact that the water is up to my ankles out there and I have to wade across the lawn to get to the chickens! A good book, cup of tea and some planning for Spring gets my vote

Funny - have you looked at that stuff you can put down which is like a web which creates 'pockets' that the soil can't wash out of? They use it for creating banks and the like for planting or for grass roofs etc. No idea what it's called or how much it costs mind.

Funny, those comments on the other thread are my suggestions for those lucky enough to have a gardener to get cold for them!

I would like those things done too. But not by me, in this weather!

I'm on a steep hill as well, by the way. The back garden is above the house. When we moved in the retaining wall was very wet, so we had to drain it with pipes, which releases pressure.

When we can afford it we plan to terrace it properly, which won't be cheap (DH disabled and no gardening skills either).

I've also read that some plants help to retain soil- I imagine ones which root near the surface?

Related to hills, I've found this garden hotter in summer and colder and windier in winter than others, presumably the effect of the slope.

Ps Funny I think you have a point about the difficulty of good gardeners.

I would love one for help with heavy work, but gardeners with horticultural skills are quite tricky to find. One I had removed all the topsoil when creating a small lawn on clay once, and after three soggy years we dug it up.

Seriously, I really would keep anyone good over a slow period these days, if I had a choice. I learned it very much the hard way, when I let go a fantastic nanny whilst I was on maternity leave in the past, to save money, and then had to deal with three shitty ones in a row when I went back to work later. There were tears over that bad decision, believe me.

one fewer dont worry about the gardener- you sound like a fine gardener yourself. Curling up with a good book in this weather is the sensible thing to do.
Can you please explain a bit more about the draining pipes?

Ok.

We have a back parking and patio space behind the house. Behind that are some steps up to a garden. The garden is 50-60 ft and slopes about 4 feet up from bottom to top.

The steps leading up to it are in the form of half a dozen steps on the left, a straight path bit and more steps on the right. The straight bit is backed by a retaining wall, I assume of breeze block. Some fool rendered it and painted it cream. It did look very "naice", in a naice ham sort of way.

But then the winter after we moved in, the render fell off.

So our builder drilled two inch holes all along it and put plastic pipes in to drain it. On the other side of it, we dug down and put grit.

We haven't re rendered it as we are waiting to see what happens.

If the water can get out the pressure reduces. John Brooke's us good on this ( look at boring bits at the back of his design books).

Thanks for the grit idea- I mentioned it to the chap and he said he would put a layer of gravel behind the rebuilt wall to help with soil drainage- it is a common practice apparently.
I retrieved my John Brookes book from the bottom of the pile on the bedside cabinet - he mentions bituminous felt- do you (or anyone else) know what that is and whether it is useful for walls and where to put it? He also says that a layer of horizontal slates between the topper bricks and the rest of the wall can act as damp proofing. That could be very attractive.

finally was outside today.
in the sunshine, can you believe it!

rose is repottet, it has lots of little buds so all is well (I think). also had a go at the hydragenas, thanks for the links.
fox damage is quite bad, but have given up for now. we will have to see if we have to lay new turf in spring. but maybe at least the fox ate all of the june bug grubs.

We went to Nymans today; the first time I've been for ages. It was lovely, as there has been a lot of new planting, including a winter walk with lots of plants with interesting stems (the white-stemmed bramble looked great, and had grown so fast it was waving around on the path). I really love Nymans in the spring when the walled garden and magnolias are gorgeous, and in summer for the Jekyll border, but it seems that at last they are looking after the rest of it.

I think there are a number of us on the thread who are within reach of it - I recommend a visit!

Oh I love Nymans! I didn't know they have a winter border. I shall get myself up there at the next opportunity. I was fancying a garden visit today actually - was thinking Wakehurst Place - but I've got a stinking cold and didn't galvanise everyone in time. Now it's raining again. Again. But I did at least get the Christmas tree chopped up for kindling and a bit of soggy weeding done before it started.

They had a Christmas Trail too rhubarb, for children, which lots of little ones seemed to be enjoying; sadly though it ends today. But they do seem to have a lot of children's and other activities planned. The National Trust is so much more family oriented these days.

The slate sounds good. Pretty sure the felt is what you have on top of the average shed. I don't know how effective it is.

I do think there needs to be weep holes of some sort in your wall, if not pipes of some sort. Even if it just means knocking out the odd stone and replacing with a smaller one?

The weight of the water building up is what causes the leaning. The felt can keep the wall drier but the water still has to get out, or it will knock the wall over eventually, won't it?

Actually you might have helped with my problem- I havnt replaced the render with anything else in case it fell off again. I might be able to if I used felt as well- the pipes carrying the water and the felt behind the grit to keep the wall actually dry.

It's a lot work and a pain in the .

Just had a look at Nymans website, might be worth a visit as within an ok drive from us. Can anyone tell me how big the woodland bit is? We can take the dog in that bit, so, if it's big enough to tire her out we could then pop her back in the car while we roam the gardens and everyone would be happy.

You had sunshine Mousmous? Nothing but rain, rain and more rain here.

Back to work tomorrow, feeling

Bertha the woodland bit is big. There's a lovely walk meandering down a hill to a lake, and another bit which is full of bluebells that joins on to it. I used to take our Weimaraner when we had him and he got pretty tired, so it's pretty big.

Thank you Bearleigh. Will give it a go.

I saw an unexpected fuschia magellanica in flower yesterday. Very nice.

Just googled some pics for Nymans and and am .

A sort of summer has arrived at last here in Melbourne, and, as I predicted, the oca and tomatoes are fighting it out in the veggie bed. I told DH this would happen if he put them together, but would he listen? Put lots of sheep manure on the bamboo and rhubarb, so they'll be happy.

Tomorrow I'm re-potting the last of the agave attenuata, a sad rubber plant I've picked up, and the poinsettia, just for laughs.

The crucifix orchids have gone mad, so I need to pick off the aerial rooting shoots and put them in some bark. They are my favourites, each bloom lasts about ten weeks at least, and they can take a dry spell with aplomb. Each bloom is on a stem of about two feet, and they wobble gracefully outside the long window I'm sitting near now.

Agree Nymans does look lovely, and it isn't too far from me so must visit.

I'm at your summer etch.

I finally googled occa - they aren't what I thought - a green bean favoured in Asian cooking, thick emoticon!

I've just ordered raspberry canes, and a few seeds, and am pondering whether to brave the swampy back garden and go and do some stuff.

We should have an MN meet up at Nymans then! Sorry Echt... But you do have some summer to console yourself with.

I finished weeding the border around the drive today. I was going to plant all the remaining Allium bulbs in there but opened up the box to find they'd all gone mouldy except the neapolitanum. Bugger.

I have decided to keep the remaining Ceanothus and buy a second to replace one of the ones that blew over. Only one though - I think three was too many and I also want to plant some Clematis 'Freckles' in there so that there is something going on in winter. I just need to identify which variety of Ceanothus it is. It's flowering now, so I thought that would help, but looking in my trusty RHS A to Z of plants, Ceanothus either flower in the autumn or in spring/summer. Hmm. I popped down to the garden centre to have a look at the ones there; they had five varieties and three of them were flowering. Something weird going on in Ceanothus world, clearly. I think I'll have to photo the flowers and leaves and email the RHS helpline.

I bought grit and composted manure while I was at the garden centre, so next time I get chance to do something I will mulch the lavender and roses accordingly.

Oh and we have snowdrops flowering!

I would be up for a meet at Nymans. Are you going to take Ceanothus cuttings Rhubarb?

Yep oca and okra are very different things Bumbez. Oca are beautiful and can't recommend them enough for the veg plot. I blame Wynken entirely for sending me those first few tubers. I have converted everyone i have fed them to considering a small oca farm I need to dig the rest of mine up, current weather has confined me to the house and I'm getting behind. Worrying they'll be rotting in the water logged ground.

Rhubarb, I don't think my snowdrops are even peeking up yet. Are yours in grass or in a bed/pot?

Snowdrops already!

Am I the only one who wants a greenhouse, pond, veg patch, shrubs, herbs, ferns and of course stumpery with chantarelle mushrooms, after watching the great British Garden Revival?

Nope Funny - me too. I have listed my needs to DH. He may allow some ferns and a mushroom log.

I have no greenhouse yet and no suitable windowsill, so cuttings not really an option unfortunately.

Snowdrops are in a south facing border. There aren't many, sadly. They remind me of the last house, where we had swathes of them. The squirrels used to move them around so every year they would pop up in new and unexpected locations.

Funny I want all of those things. I've been after a stumpery for years; started making one at the last house but didn't get very far. I know exactly where I'd like to make one here, we have a perfect dark, damp, north facing bit. It's probably the last part of the garden that I'll do though so we're looking at twenty years at least

Thinking of the squirrels up in London, we had an albino one living in the garden. He first appeared as a small runty juvenile, and I thought 'he won't last long'. But he grew up to become big and feisty and king of the squirrels, beating the crap out of any other who crossed his path. He lived in a huge sycamore at the bottom of the garden and made regular trips to my veg patch, where he'd sit and glare at me with his wild red eyes. I miss him. I hope he's still going strong.