A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

[MaudantWit]

Join us for ongoing gardening chat in the MN potting shed. Blow the cobwebs off a deckchair, help yourself to a glass of elderberry champagne and tell us about your garden.

[Squeakyheart]

Hello new people!

I have just planted a black currant and a trying to pluck up courage to plant my cherry tree into a border, don't know why but I have always grown trees in pots and seem to have a fear of permenant planting.

The cherry tree has been badly affected by black fly so not expecting fruits,

becca any tips for building a garage I am still awaiting a garage base and the concrete sections have been sitting there for years!

[SilverSixpence]

Can I join in please? I posted a few other threads about starting a cottage garden border and am a fairly new gardener. I planted about 14 new perennials which have started to flower, but there are still quite large gaps in the border. I have been told the plants will get bigger with time but am finding it hard not to fill in the gaps with other plants! For now I have planted a few vegetables (tomato and swiss chard) and annuals.

Sarah Raven has put seedlings on sale so I have bought quite a few of those today and will have to find homes for them! The patio is lacking colour so I will make up a few containers for a mini cutting garden. I am wondering if I can squeeze in some of the annuals into the border as well as I'd like to grow the verbena bonariensis and cerinthe with the perennials as they should self seed.

[Castlelough]

Welcome to all the newcomers! :-) [coffee]

Mous that's a beautiful photo!

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Welcome to all new people

First two strawberries eaten by the DDs today. I didn't have the heart to tell them that they will probably be the only ones. I cannot seem to grow strawberries.

Silver - the gaps will fill in time but use annuals in the mean time. I stuff my gaps with cosmos and nigella as they self seed and save you from having to try too hard in successive years.

[HumphreyCobbler]

Hello all the new people

Castle, I have a four oven Aga. I love it. It is expensive, but we use it for all cooking, heating the kitchen, kettle boiling and drying the washing so we use it to it's full potential. Ours is reconditioned, we bought it on Ebay If you learn to cook everything in the oven it is more economical - you can do a fried breakfast in the oven easily for example. I get my meals out on time too glossing over the fact that when Maud came to visit there was something wrong with it so we had to cook the sausages on an open fire

Today, since seven o'clock, I have cut down all the drunkenly leaning over aquilegia, planted out bedding plants in the playhouse borders, fed and watered all the geraniums in pots and clematis in pots, potted on two massive pelargoniums bought at the car boot sale, watered the ferns in pots in the verandah, weeded the gravel path in front of the playhouse, planted out the remaining red orache in the herb beds, weeded some of the herb beds and now I am sitting down

[SilverSixpence]

We have eaten our first strawberry today too! We have a few more growing (including a stray plant I found hiding behind the rose bush!).

I have a hankering for an Esse cooker - they come in gorgeous colours and can be electric/gas or dual fuel

[UptoapointLordCopper]

I have 2 lots of strawberries - one lot in the baby bath near the house and one lot in the raised bed at the bottom of the garden. The ones near the house has already given as about 20 fruits! The ones at the bottom of the garden has just finished flowering. Isn't it funny how warm the house is!

[HumphreyCobbler]

Our strawberries are being rather slugged as have failed to get any straw under them.

[funnyperson]

callmegeoff lol no, not my parents nasty neighbour either, but not far....!

[funnyperson]

vv impressed with humphreys activity

[FiloFunky]

I have found the best insect solution!

[FiloFunky]

Those with gaps in their borders sow some radishes and lettuce. Fills the spot for a time and easily removed :)

[FiloFunky]

And and back to insects!

I chuck my quail in the greenhouse for a few hours. No beasts left then!

[traviata]

silversixpence it was very naughty to mention Sarah Raven's seedling sale, my credit card has just taken another whack for all the things I wanted but had failed to sow by seed early enough. She does have the most fabulous eye for colour.

[SilverSixpence]

Traviata what did you get? I have around 50 seedlings coming!

[mousmous]

funky, will they eat slugs?

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

St sticking my head in quickly - welcome to the new people . Silversixpence, that is highly irresponsible posting about Sarah Raven . I need to get DD to school now and the dog walked ASAP so I can get back and buy things !

[traviata]

From Sarah Raven I have ordered cosmos, astrantia, nicotiana sylvestris, and cerinthe major. I had to sit on my hands not to pick up the passion flower and some clematis, the places where they would go are nowhere near ready. I already have some iris siberica from Homebase at knock-down price, sitting about in pots, I mustn't buy any more plants until I do the work necessary to make the planting places for them.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

I heard some time ago that there was a woman who had sheep who "hired" out the sheep to mow people's lawns. Funky could hire out quail.

My garden has reached equilibrium now and I'm not buying any more seeds.

Though the rocket has bolted. Need to plant more. In fact will do that now just before school run!

[SilverSixpence]

Traviata that is very restrained of you! I have bought euphorbia, antirrhinum, cosmos, chrysanthemums, dianthus and poppies from memory.

The annuals will mostly have to go into pots as there is not much space in the garden itself.

Can I ask where you all buy plants and seeds and gardening equipment from?

[traviata]

oh yes I did get some poppies as well.

[Stillstarving]

Can I call in with a question please? I'm in the first year of our new house with a big garden and I'm utterly clueless. There's a tree which I only knew was a cherry when it bloomed but now it has cherries on it. I thought it was just an ornamental thing. I know the birds will probably eat them all but if they don't are they likely to be edible by humans?? They're dark red now but rock solid. I thought (see - completely clueless) that cherries were more a late summer thing. This gardening lark is a bit complicated!

[Callmegeoff]

silver I have mostly bought plants and equipment from supermarkets - Aldi is very good, as is lidl. I've been introduced recently to Sarah Raven, and Hayloft online. I try and grow as much as possible from seed.

still starving I've been in my new house 2 years, best advice is to watch it for a year, take photos and try and identify what you have. I didn't do that, sorry Mahonia

[Callmegeoff]

traviata Sainsburys did have Passion flowers for £3 ! - I bought 4

[FiloFunky]

Yes they will eat anything...!