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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces…...

999 replies

echt · 12/01/2015 21:04

I realise it's later in the UK, but couldn't wait to start a new thread. If another title had been agreed, just tell me and I'll have this removed.

Other than that, seek out those deckchairs from the shed, check them for spiders and get nattering about the spring's promise.

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MaudantWit · 18/01/2015 15:11

I wish I knew how to stop cats and foxes using the garden as a loo. I long since stopped putting down bark chips, which seemed particularly attractive to them, but still they come.

funnyperson · 18/01/2015 16:22

One of mum's newly planted magnolias doesnt appear to have survived the winter. (the other 2 of her magnolias are fine) Do you think I should contact Burncoose?

echt · 18/01/2015 17:22

My cat is a bugger for digging in the beds, so I keep them closely planted if possible. Seedlings and the veggie bed are dotted with satay sticks, pointy end up.

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Callmegeoff · 18/01/2015 18:40

maud and maus I'm not sure about foxes but orange peel stops cats. Arf at satay sticks!

I would definitely contact them funny

No snow here much to dc's disappointment.

MaudantWit · 18/01/2015 18:57

Yes, I'd contact them too, funnyperson. I was pleasantly surprised how much help I got with my not-as-advertised rose last year.

We are eating hundreds of clementines at the moment, so I will try a bit of peel-scattering. But the problem seems to be more with foxes than with cats (and I agree that dense planting and not having lots of bare earth helps there). Our local foxes seem to have a disgusting habit of treating empty flower pots and the like as a potty - I brought the food scraps bin inside last week to find a fox poo at the bottom of it. Vom vom vom.

didireallysaythat · 18/01/2015 19:33

Spent a fantastic three hours solo in the garden today. Cut back the hellebore leaves, the monstrous honeysuckle, the tall white and yellow flowering plants I don't like but will make do with for a while. Two wheely bins (the three compost stacks are full plus a lot of this was very woody). Plus a trip to the bargain polytunnel at the local nursery resulted in 8 holyhocks, 3 salvias, and 4 small sages and lavenders for £10. Plus a good chat with the lady at the till about taking cuttings. Happy day !

MaudantWit · 18/01/2015 19:35

Wow! That really is a bargain polytunnel! ::envious face::

funnyperson · 18/01/2015 20:43

Useless garden day for me though I did the tax return.

MaudantWit · 18/01/2015 20:46

Well done, funnyperson!

I may do some pottering on Tuesday, but will wimp out if it gets too cold.

Blackpuddingbertha · 18/01/2015 21:16

When taking the old leaves off hellebores, do you just cut them off? And where, at the bottom or a bit up? It's the first year that mine have needed it and I'm scared clueless.

MaudantWit · 18/01/2015 21:28

Hmm, I cut them off as low as I could without catching the emerging shoots. Time will tell if that was the right approach!

Castlelough · 19/01/2015 00:53

Hello everyone!
Resurfacing with my one-week old baby Castle, who we have named Lily! (will need to plan a list of 'Lily' flowers for planting in her honour in the new garden!) Thank you all so much for the good wishes! Grin We are thrilled with her and she is such a good little baby! DH brought a lovely bouquet of lilies into the hospital - white for me, with sprigs of pink for her. They were fab and are making a beautiful scent in the kitchen now. That's as close to gardening as I'm going to get for a while but I'll be following all your gardens with interest (and envy!) Wink.

Waves to Swan!
Welcome to all the newcomers!

MaudantWit · 19/01/2015 01:02

Lovely to see you, Castle! Some of us have been peeping and your little Lily is such a cutie. Get some rest and see you again soon, I hope.

HumphreyCobbler · 19/01/2015 09:44

Oh many congratulations Castle! Lily is absolutely beautiful. We are all so pleased for you.

Rhubarbgarden · 19/01/2015 13:44

Yes she's gorgeous Castle. So happy for you! Flowers

LightTripper · 19/01/2015 14:10

Congratulations Castle!!! Haven't managed to go snooping for a picture of Lily yet so will save it as a treat to cheer me up when I am doing my tax return Grin

Hope she continues to be a good sleeper and eater and grows up to love gardens!

Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks

Callmegeoff · 19/01/2015 16:07

Love the name lily congratulations castle Flowers

rhubarb I forgot to say thank-you for the suggestions :)

funnyperson · 19/01/2015 19:26

Flowers Flowers Flowers congratulations Castle and Lily!
I haven't seen the picture (not enough of a snooper) but she sounds gorgeous! So glad you are well too.

echt · 20/01/2015 03:18

Congratulations, castle Thanks. Lily is beautiful name, and was on my list of names for our DD (we knew we were having a girl), but DH vetoed it as it had unpleasant associations with a very difficult pisshead person who was continually in a state of relaxation.

Don't let this put you off. :o

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Bramshott · 20/01/2015 11:30

Congratulations Castle! I don't 'know' you, but little Lily sounds gorgeous! January babies are great (my DD1 was one) - you can hunker down through the cold weather, and then by the time the spring is springing you are ready to face the world again!

Busy weekend here with DD1's birthday outing to the cinema so only managed about 40 mins in the garden, continuing the cutting back regime and gradually moving further up the garden.

My garden is largish (feels unmanageably so at times!) and was started from scratch when we moved here 10 years ago.

The front is mostly drive, with a steep bank on which I'm trying to encourage comfrey and alkanet, and discourage brambles and field maple Hmm. Then a sort of mini-orchard with 3 apple and 1 pear tree, surrounded by a picket fence. Under the trees was supposed to be wildflowers and grasses with paths mown through, but our 3 chickens are there at present and it's a churned up mess of mud (and was always fairly weedy anyway). Along the side fence is a large honeysuckle and jasmine (two of very few things that were already in the garden when we arrived) and I've put a fig tree into a sun-trap corner by the cars. Directly in front of the house is a little area of slate chippings with small shrubbery (choisia, a pink buddleia, a rose, a variegated leaf thing, and a messy spreading shrub with silvery leaves and little yellow flowers). The wisteria is tucked into the back corner of that. Around the sides of that I have a lavender border and another border which is mostly day-lilies.

At the back I have 2 brick raised beds for herbs & lavenders, then a lot of lawn! I made a rose and lavender border along the side of the patio last summer which is looking okay, although the roses are still small. I have a few things growing against the fence, including a clematis that's got wilt for the last two years running. Not sure if I should just give up and dig it out?? Then I have a low border running along the top of a wall which divides the garden into two levels - more lavenders, cat mint, some alpines, and random things. I had delphiniums in there too until last year when they died, and I have a rose arch which has a very vigorous white climber on one side, and a rather sickly looking Felicia pink rose on the other side (fairly new and replacing another one which wasn't healthy). Towards the top of the garden I have a larger border which isn't very well planned - lots of shrubs like lavetera & buddleia, and hardy geraniums, but also some lovely things like peonies and a couple of lupins. On the opposite side from the large border I have 3 more apple trees and 1 plum, and beyond that was supposed to be the veg patch, but it's rather neglected (that's DH's area, but he's even shorter on time that I am!) so I am thinking of grassing it over and just putting in one raised bed (there were 4 sections to the veg patch, divided by bricks). At the very top we have a weedy wildflower area and then two large sycamore trees which rather leech the nutrients out of the soil.

Phew - I feel exhausted just writing that! I think my main problem is that because I wanted to plan and fill it quickly when we moved in and there was nothing, it wasn't very well planned, particularly the large border. It was mostly filled with things from my mother, or from our gardening club where people get rid of their surplus plants for 20p! Now that the DC are older and in theory I have more time, I'd like to plan it a bit better and have less lawn, and some more exciting things like a pond. I'm torn between keeping the open view (there is a field behind the garden) and adding more 'interest' by breaking it up a bit. But then I never have time to even do all the basic maintenance so when I am going to get the time to be more strategic, who knows. I dream of a week off work, at home, completely by myself (or maybe with DH too to do the heavy work Grin) just to garden every day! There is an area behind the shed which we've never done anything with because we can't see it from the house, but is probably a 5m x 5m patch of messy brambles and junk.... Sigh!

I have tried to upload a picture from last year's late spring when it was looking okay (late spring is an easy time to have a nice garden - another problem I have is not enough summer colour - I seem to kill rudbekia!)

When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces…...
SugarPlumTree · 20/01/2015 11:49

Congratulations Castle. Lily is utterly lovely both in her name and in her picture FlowersFlowersFlowersSmileSmileSmile I too have a January born DD.

Bramshott that looks lovely and I am very jealous. Maybe the compromise could be breaking it up but doing it so that you maintain the views at the end ?

funnyperson · 20/01/2015 20:46

So nice to read about your garden! You need more plants Bramshott, especially ones that give you vertical interest in your borders! Like hollyhocks and delphiniums and tall alliums. Heleniums and tall lilies.

Unless you feel you need to be able to look beyond. In which case your tall plants need to be see-through ones like crambe cordiflora and verbena bonariensis and sanguisorba. Its a big garden though! You have enough room for a herb wheel and a veg patch and a winter border and all sorts. What a lot of gardening potential its got!

Your lawn makes me nervous. Who mows it?

MaudantWit · 20/01/2015 22:02

Your garden looks lovely, Bramshott, and full of potential. You mention some things I can relate to (filling a new garden with cast-offs from parents and a gardening club, the garden peaking in spring) and some that I certainly can't (the open aspect and the sheer size of it)!

My apple trees are looking much better, having been pruned today, and I have got rid of the humungous tree peony that looks lovely in spring when its foliage is bright and new but is really too big for its space. This should let more light into the garden, which in a cheek-by-jowl urban garden is a very good thing.

Oh, and we have from time to time talked about Pinterest. I have just started pinning - mostly plants and gardens - and it is addictive!

Blackpuddingbertha · 20/01/2015 22:24

Congratulations Castle Flowers DD2's middle name is Lily. Lovely name & very gorgeous baby (snooped).

I will get the secateurs out when it thaws out there and be brave with the hellebores then. So cold here this morning that My fingers stuck to the metal catches when trying to sort out the chickens. They had hot water and warm porridge this morning, they looked a bit nippy!

HumphreyCobbler · 20/01/2015 22:32

Hello
Very interesting reading all about your garden Bramshott. We are thinking of ways to make our garden less labour intensive but still interesting, if we come up with anything I will share!

The good news is that replacement bits for the greenhouse are available and we can also buy a kit for anchoring it to the ground in windy weather. DH also has a plan for adding extra bracing in the winter. This is the first spring I have not been pregnant or had a new baby so I am really looking forward to my greenhouse time.

Our poor solitary chicken may well get some hot food tomorrow, you have inspired me Bertha. The pigs have got extra straw, it makes them really happy and they spend ages making new beds and snuffling about.