Tickle the earth with a hoe, and she will laugh with a harvest

[Rhubarbgarden]

Potting shed chat for all those interested in wittering on about gardens and sharing the love of plants. Plenty of dusty old deck chairs to sit on and sloe gin to warm the cockles; join us!

Sorry I did't mean that I 'm a born gardener I just meant that I let flowers self seed for the insects etc. don't spray insecticide or anything strong.

Thanks for the suggestions!

MaudantWit - not sure, have posted a couple of pics (also showing some tatty kind of grass-y thing). I think the flowers of the shrub are orange...? Any idea? The rose is just a tall twig with some rubbish shoots at the moment, but you may well be right that both could be revived by some pruning. I think I might try being brutal and see how that goes. You can see the yellow flowered weed all over the place in the photos too...

Thanks also ppeatfruit and Bearleigh - will start googling! The soil is also pretty dry, because the patch is hemmed in on all sides by concrete and quite protected from the rain by the house and garage.

It might be an idea to dig some compost into it wigeon The hydrangea will need plenty of water too!

My mum came up at the weekend and I sent her home with a snowberry because they've spread like weeds in my front garden but she's always wanted one.

Now I just want it to stop raining so I can mow the front lawn prior to overseeding it.

I can't see Wigeon's shrub clearly enough to guess what it is, but that tatty grassy thing looks like crocosmia/montbretia.

Oh Tunip I wish it would START raining here to soften the ground for the bulbs!

I agree about digging in lots of compost/well rotted manure after you've cleared the bed, before you do anything else, Wigeon. It really does make a difference.

Thank you ppeat I like your gardening philosophy, similar to mine. I even tolerate the snails! I shall wait till they're all done and cut them back then.

Just checking in to wave and promise to come back tomorrow to catch up on the thread and everybody's news!
Not a lot happening here! Harvested my apples and blueberries - yummy!

Wigeon that yellow stuff looks like corydalis - the yellow variety grows like a weed and easily takes over: you can weed it out as much as you like, it is bound to come back. What colour is your rose? If not compatible with yellow corydalis, get rid of the corydalis. Otherwise perhaps keep a patch of corydalis and weed out the rest rather then letting it swamp light and air out of the other plants
Do you like that grassy stuff? I'm not sure what it it, maud could be right, it could be crocosmia or it could be a carex grass.
I would be inclined to remove a lot of the grassy stuff as it is swamping your rose.
A bit later in the year (oct/nov/dec), prune the rose down to 2 foot or so as it looks like a shrub /tea rose rather than a rambler, and mulch it with some nice compost.
In fact I' with Bearleigh you could weed and tidy and then ulch with compost and plant some bulbs (eg alliums and lilies) and climbers perhaps? And something more interesting for ground cover like anemone blanda.

I envy all those with hollyhocks. I love holly hocks but they just don't grow in my garden

I also envy those with
Palram greenhouses
Victorian glass conservatories
Wooden cold frames
Walled orchards
Herb wheels
Lakes/Ponds/natural swimming pools with Gunnera and water lilies and other amazing pond plants
Octagonal summer houses

etc etc
I would have no ideological problems with being a millionaire. I can think of loads of really nice things to spend money on. To this end I bought a lottery ticket today. .

You're very welcome kinky The one thing I did do with my floriferous hollyhocks (and there weren't many successful ones like yours within the garden) was I kept their bamboo like stems for the insects to use in the winter, just lying on the ground next to the plants. They were the ones growing just outside the garden by our back gate facing west; interestingly they have now spread all along the verge which I'm very happy about!

I thought it was crocosmia/montbretia because it didn't look clumped enough to be a grass, but the test is - did it have yellow/orange flowers a few weeks ago?

The corydalis can be very invasive. One neighbour has almost nothing else in their front garden.

Great idea for the stems thanks ppeat will do that

funny I was inspired by my neighbour who grew them, I just had to get them. Some of them died the first year, and none of them flowered. This year is my first year with blooms. Worth the wait. Oh, and I also would love a Victorian conservatory.

Talking about crocosmia mine has grown exponentially over this summer and I need rain to make it easier split it up and move along the border of the sad garden just outside the kitchen. The one in need of a new fence! Though the new climbing rose looks like it's responding positively to my nettle feed and banana skin treatment it hasn't turned bright yellow!! hooray!!

Hollyhocks are on my list of 'stuff I've tried to grow several times and failed'.

I think it's the fault of the slugs in my old house, though, so I'll have a go again here and the ducks will eat the slugs and it will all be wonderful

I reckon that they're essentially 'wild' IYSWIM and will grow exactly where THEY want !! Tunip.

Ha, yes, probably!

I don't have any of the things on Funnyperson's list but I don't think I have much to complain about given what I do have.

However, I did find out from the neighbour the other day that one of my summerhouses used to revolve! I've never actually WANTED a revolving summerhouse but now I'm intrigued by the possibility of making it work again....

Right, have just spent the morning clearing the bed, including the grotty gravel that the previous owners had on top of the bed. It's incredibly dry and rubbishy soil, so I'll definitely be taking up the advice to dig compost into it.

I think the grass might be crocosmia, in that there were flowers, but it didn't look half as nice as the pictures I've googled. The yellow "weed" is definitely corydalis (thank you google images) and I've just yanked it all up. I have mightily pruned the shrub, and got rid of all the scrappy grass - it seems to just looks really scrappy for most of the year, with about 5 minutes of looking half decent.

Thanks v much for all the suggestions as to a new shrub - I do like the viburnum with white flowers, and I'll definitely put in some ground cover. We have masses of periwinkle in the back garden in a shady border, but I wonder if I used that it would just go a bit mad and start trying to go all over the path...? Anenome blanda looks like it would be good ground cover but not creep right out of the bed?

Wigeon I lived in a rented house once with corydalis and we couldn't work out what it was called so we called it 'drain plant' because it seemed to appear in all the drains.

I've just seeded the bare patches in the front lawn and overseeded the rest. I could hear some pigeons across the road getting very excited so I don't hold out much hope for the grass being allowed to grow. I should pay the dcs to stand in the garden with a rattle and frighten them off.

I don't have any of the things on funnys list either, my house used to have a conservatory/orangery. I still have a rather grand entrance to where it once was. It was replaced with an ugly breeze block garage probably erected in the sixties. Dh loves his garage there is no way I could ever have a conservatory back. nor could I afford one

Intrigued by a revolving summer house.

wigeon I had a massive clump of Crocosmia that looked awful, I dug out the bulbs in the spring and spread them round the garden, they now look lovely. They come as a chain stuck together, it is best not to separate the chains iyswim.

Yes Geoff I'm going to do that do you reckon it's best to wait till spring?

Shame about the garage. I hate breeze blocks with a passion; here they replace beautiful old stone with them, its tragic.

On funny's list I've got half a small walled orchard with 3 trees that bear fruit! I too am intrigued by a revolving summer house.

It's pretty much the same design as this one but it's partly rotten, doesn't revolve, has lost its doors and is painted white. Boulton and Paul, a bit Art Deco so I would say 20s-ish?

I would love to restore it but the house has to come first, due to being listed....

ppeat I have no idea, it's just when I moved them

I too want everything on funny's list. Including hollyhocks which I also can't get to grow. I get very cross that they thrive in the central reservation of motorways but won't do anything in my flower bed. Why is that?

Have ordered GW allium offer along with some mixed tulips for the fairy ring. Still haven't found what I want for the pew planters though so will have to keep looking.

I love my anemone blanda - mine don't creep out of the bed.

Picked apples at the weekend. Need to get the apple picker out to get the high ones as I hate leaving them even though we'll never get through the ones we've got already