He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose

[Blackpuddingbertha]

New thread for the potting shed crowd using Rhubarb's rose suggestion and Squeaky's quote for the new title.

Spring is underway with promises of summer in our gardens big and small.

Elderberry wine for all

Your plans for your former lawn sound lovely, Echt. I'm a huge fan of lawns, personally; there is nothing nicer under bare feet in a garden. However, in the wrong location, where the climate or shade levels are inappropriate, they are a waste of time and energy.

Weeding, weeding, weeding here today. I dug up swathes of Alkanet, nettles, thistles and dock. Also glyphosated the snow berries as they are appearing where I cut them down last year.

I like lawns. I also like the crushed rock/fruit tree approach though, and the Beth Chatto look which is lawn less.

I planted out some dahlia tubers - hoping its not too late. Sarah Raven is doing 30% off her dahlia tubers and I am sorely tempted to get some more as the ones I left in the ground over the winter haven't come up, though the ones I left in pots in a sheltered place have survived.

What are you all doing about your dahlias?

The only trouble is that the garden appears to have gone into plant overdrive. Everything is growing and there are hardly any gaps! I shall be reduced to removing my nettle patch which I keep for quiche and caterpillars.

We had mothers day earlier on in the year DC took me to Kew to look at magnolias.

mothers day is tomorrow all over the world except for uk (it seems)
don't know why, though.

I like lawns as well. something (reasonably) clean and soft for the dc to have a good tumble and for me to leave the washing to dry.
but it sounds like a good solution for your conditions echt

Mother's Days are at different times in every country funny. Technically you could travel around the world and have twenty or so Mother's Dys if you wanted!

Weeding, potting on and planting out here today. I keep my dahlias in the conservatory in their pots over winter. I've yet to put them out this year as I need DH to move them. The ones I've left in the garden beds have never survived the inter and as I can never be bothered to lift and store stuff, pots it is.

I thought there were more than that Mousmous. I may be wrong obviously as I haven't actually looked into it!

This is my new name. ::twirls:: It's a bad an obvious pun.

Spent this morning helping on the plant stall at the school fair and came home with a few goodies. Too wet now to plant them.

I have fond memories of the year we went to France at the right moment and I had a second Mother's Day.

Here are my purple sensation alliums. I am rather proud! It only took planting 100+ allium bulbs to get these perfect 10... Poggle - Yes they are the T&M mix (100 bulbs), but alas I'd ordered them before the offer. I intend to sprinkle the seed heads liberally when they have finished flowering, in a attempt to recoup the cash/effort over the long term.

Lots of rain here today. I lifted some tulips and found the pot was 10% compost 90% ants & woodlouse lava (boak). I potted on some lavender I grew from tiny T&M plugs last year and planted the agapanthus bare roots.

Poggle - Do you really think the agapanthus will flower this year? My packet had minimal instructions so I'm not sure what to expect.

After growing up with a tiny concrete yard in central London (which TBF my mum & dad did make into a little green oasis), I love my great big green lawn. I had no idea how much work a lawn could be though, I am glad DH has assumed responsibility for the lawn.If you haven't got the conditions for one, its madness to slog away at it.

Funny - I like the sound of your geraniums.

Those alliums look lovely.

A good lawn really helps unify the garden but a tatty lawn like mine does the opposite. I have just been pondering getting Green Thumb - I see their vans locally - to do some remedial work on our lawn. I did laugh up my sleeve when SIL (a novice gardener) told me they had laid their garden mainly to lawn as it would be low maintenance. Tellingly, they now have no lawn and raised beds and gravel.

Nice new name. I know what you mean about lawns, we are making ours smaller, which means more lovely planting room.

Lovely alliums! We have lost a fair few this year, about two thirds I think.

Had a very productive hour in the greenhouse. Potted on some red orach, red basil seedlings and some sweet basil. Put in all the inside tomatoes in their final pots. Fed the cosmos in the seed tray to keep them healthy until Gardening Club at school on thursday when we are potting them on. Sowed rocket and beetroot in the long trough. I was gutted when DH came home with baby Cobbler, I could have stayed in there all day.

I was gutted when DH came home with baby Cobbler, I could have stayed in there all day.

A true gardener speaks! I have similar days.

humphrey that sounds like a really nice time in the greenhouse.
Should the seedling cosmos be fed then?
I've got so much to do in the garden.

maudant do clematis need feeding again now, and with what?

nann your alliums look good. I see you have a great expanse of fence. Good looking fence, but fence rather than plants. The moment I see fence I want to grow things up it.

My lawn was much easier to look after once it was replaced with healthy nice turf. I wonder if grass just gets old and tired after a while.

My clematis get fed when everything else does - a layer of mulch in early spring and then tomato maxicrop weekly when in flower. This year there will be a one-off treat of pelleted chicken poo too.

I only fed the cosmos as they are in really small plugs and really should have been potted on a week or so ago.

Just clicked on that photo nann and it came up larger: those alliums are very pretty and your foxgloves look very thriving too!

So maudant is it too early to give them tomato feed? I am rather hoping to get flowers on the viticellas but no buds as yet, though buds on some of the other varieties.

I was told ages ago by more experienced gardeners that, as tomato maxicrop encourages flowers and fruit, you should wait until things are in flower/fruiting and I've always taken that on trust.

Thank you for your lovely allium comments

Funny - We had the fence put in last year, it cost a bloody fortune so DH has banned me from attaching trellis to it. He just about tolerates this potato vine which is growing on 2 panels that were already there. I have some pea & bean netting which I may tack to the new fence so the clematis Montana can climb up it.

The foxglove are digitalis alba and are lovely. On one, the first flower came up crooked, so I cut it back and 10 new ones shot up in it's place!

Fences are shockingly expensive. We had to replace some panels last year as well; I'd much rather have spent the money on plants!

Lovely Alliums.

I like Maudant's new name.

Humph tell me more about your 'tea garden'! Loving the sound of that!

It would be everything you can make tea with. Lavendar, lemon balm, chamomile, bergamot, fennel... so more of a herb bed really, but I thought it would make a nice theme for a bed. Don't know where it would go though, I have herb beds already.

So strange, I put out slug pellets in the greenhouse yesterday as the sunflowers have been eaten and they were all gone this morning. Not one left. Any ideas? It is a mystery to me.

What a lovely idea to have a tea garden. Very strange about the slug pellets though. Things are getting munched in my greenhouse too. Silly question - woodlice munch on strawberries, can they munch anything else?

Allium looking good there. I have a few but should have stuck them closer together. Think if there was something white next to them if would help them stand out.

There's a pane of glass out in the greenhouse. This morning started with the sound of breaking glass and I thought another had gone but that was something to do with next door.

mmm. there are lots of woodlice in there...

I like woodlice though, I don't want to pellet them. Unless they are eating my stuff, in which case I am confused.

Just looked and the RHS say they do sometimes eat young growth. I found lots in the greenhouse and a snail plus some tiny slugs. Guess the snail caused the damage but couldn't help worrying about the number of woodlice given the damage I've seen them cause on strawberries.