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

[echt]

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.

I was having that very conversation this morning, Humph. I want interesting planting that works year round (this garden peaks in spring and then hobbles on) and doesn't require lots of faffing. But, as my gardener friend pointed out, no garden is ever finished. Sigh.

Bertha: I forgot to say :I don't take the leaves off my hellebores if they are green and healthy which is usual. If they are yellowed and faded I gently peel them off and they come away.

Monty takes the leaves off his hellebores because in his damp garden they get spotty with disease. He cuts them off at the base but be careful and clean the secateurs in between plants if they look spotty otherwise you end up spreading the virus which causes the spots.

I prefer leaving the leaves as they are a good foil for the flowers.

At Great Dixter they plant the hellebores with cyclamen and the cyclamen leaves show off the Hellebore flowers and keep the hellebores off the wet ground and then provide Autumn flowers.

One of the reasons I like perennials is they are less faff than annuals.

When I was a child, gardeners used to regularly rip out all the plants and replant 4 times a year to get a 'show'. So cruel. The word 'show' in relation to flowers still makes me cringe. Though I admit to liking the bedding in London's parks.

Gt Dixter has a talk on all seasons pllanting. When I am too doddery to work I will go. ie soon.

I'll totter down to Great Dixter with you, funnyperson!

I agree in general about avoiding annuals because they are too much faff, but there are some drawbacks to that approach. My window boxes planted with perennials are quite dull for much of the year and need tweaking (ie faffing) and some perennials need more maintenance than others. I've abandoned hostas because of the constant, time-consuming war against molluscs, avoid anything that needs staking, and so on. I was a tad dismayed when James Wong said lilies should be staked, as I never bother (and sometimes they do capsize). So, the search goes on for the perfect, low maintenance perennial ...

bramshott your garden is lovely I am half envious of the size but not of the work it must entail.

My garden initially had only colour in Spring and early summer, last year I tried Dahlias and Cosmos. Easy enough and looked fabulous in a vase.

Thanks for all the plant suggestions. I agree re more height and summer interest. I think I need to move my thinking on and actually take out plants I don't want any more (previously I would have thought this was heresy as I was trying to fill up the garden!). I did put some hollyhocks that my mother gave me in last year, but I think they were too crowded as they never flowered...

Has anyone used a garden planning/design programme or app that was good?

Oh yes Maud it would be nice to go with someone- perhaps the june workshop?

geoff I agree: dahlias are good for when the roses are over: also heleniums, asters, japanese anemones, echinacea, lilies and penstemon, also phlox continue flowering, also this year I am planting gladioli byzantium.

I've just about sorted what plants to plant for year round interest; I havent got my head round the actual combinations and positioning.

I do have some yellowing leaves on the hellebores Funny - it was those I was looking to remove. I'm not touching the healthy looking ones as I am not brave enough! I will try your gentle pulling approach and then cut them off if that doesn't work I think.

I have a poppy question now. I collected some seeds from some beautiful purple poppies last year. I want to throw some into the bed to see if they'll come up naturally but also sow some inside to plant out once established just in case the, 'chuck it in and hope' approach doesn't work. The question relates to timing, i.e. when best to do either of these things? The poppies I think flowered around June time. Can anyone help with poppy advice?

Bram - Your garden looks lovely, I especially like the stripes on your lawn - I want to sit in the sun drinking tea, perched on your brick wall.

Castle - congratulations again on baby Lily. Have you had a chance to watch James Wong enthuse about Lilies on Great British garden revival? How many programmes are there going to be in this series? I am feeling thoroughly spoilt.

The builders continue to wreck our garden, it's a total mud patch now, and extension now has walls and some roof lights. Hope us fading of us being able to afford to complete the landscaping this year.

However, I have a new job! All the interviews finally paid off I will be contracting, so I have to learn how to do grown up stuff like tax returns. It also means I need to arrange to meet someone special for coffee v soon....

I love annual poppies but, after an initial triumph with opium poppies, am a poppy failure. The one piece of advice I have retained is that they don't like being transplanted and should be sown in situ, but I know other people manage to sow them in seed trays and then transplant them.

Thank you for all the congratulations! I'll pop another photo up on our FB page soon!

Bramshott your garden sounds fabulous! And I must find out what 'day lilies' are and add to my list for Lily!
Beatrice a rainbow bed sounds very pretty! What flowers are you thinking of and will it flower in more than one season?

NANN I will have to look up that episode on YouTube! It sounds very promising.

Garden planning has been at a standstill here, replaced by the scurry to get into the new house before baby arrived, but DH has begun to mention getting the digger man back to put in a farm road down to the lake (to access fields for haymaking)... and the work has to be done before March 1st as we're in a conservation area.
While digger man is here, and his rates are so reasonable, we will probably be able to put some shape on the areas surrounding the house, and level off the garden area, and put some shape on the entrance/ driveway. Currently it's a mudbath with a load of gravel thrown down and spread up to the front door to keep mud down! A bit of garden planning/thought is needed before DH starts springing snappy decisions on me!

Goodness you will be busy! I had 'baby brain' when DS was born and was in warm little bubble with him feeding and sleeping a lot of the time. He was a winter baby too! I don't remember planning much. I was a it more alert with DD!

You have such a lovely view from your house : all curves and hills. Perhaps the digger will echo that. Are you snowed in?

Funnyperson! I wasn't expecting anyone to be up at this hour!
No, we aren't snowed in, but it did snow while I was in hospital and we came home to a winter wonderland that was all washed away the next day!
I'm sort of worried about planning the front part. The driveway won't be very long but I'd like it to curve a little bit instead of being short and straight. Then how much space to leave for car parking and turning? I suppose we should mark it out with stakes and tape and experiment.
At least I am at home now until September - it's so lovely to not have to go to work, although breastfeeding baby is plenty of work!!! We are fairly cocooned here. I've only left the house once in 11 days!!! Would love to take her out for a short walk but am afraid it's too cold!

Wow, Castle! Those are exciting plans.

Congratulations on the new job, NANN!

Day lilies have a smarter name Castle (Hemerocalis) and I don't think they're really lilies at all! But they are rather pretty and low maintenance. Good luck with the planning - planning a garden from scratch is daunting but exciting!

Someone asked about the lawn - that's me I'm afraid - I like mowing the lawn (although my hayfever means I have do wear a dust mask to do it!) for an instant tidying effect. Unfortunately that means its often the only garden job I manage on a weekend in the summer....

Congrats on the new job NAAN!

Your garden sounds lovely, Bram. I enjoy mowing too, though it's a bit epic - it takes me three solid hours to get round all my different bits of lawn. Letting the grass grow long in the orchard helped a bit last year, but I still had to keep up with the mown paths through it.

Castle I don't envy you trying to make big design decisions whilst dealing with a newborn! My best tip is to do lots of tramping around and staring from different angles, whilst simultaneously scratching your chin and drinking a cup of tea. Bung Lily in a sling while you're doing it - she'll be plenty cosy enough attached to you (and it's like wearing a hot water bottle so you'll be toasty too!)

I missed the Lily episode of Garden Revival but I loved peonies and wildlife gardening last night. I NEED to get me some of those hybrid peonies they showed

Oh yes congrats NANN on your job!

Me too, Rhubarb. As soon as they showed the hybrid peonies I had mentally bought one to fill the space left by the (unsuitable) tree peony. And James Wong inspired me to go onto the J Parker website and fill my basket with species lilies. Do you have a ride-on mower? I have always wanted to have a go on one. Our lawn is so small a Flymo does it in a few minutes.

My lawn takes 20 mins excluding edges. Small. Mother has largeish lawns that fund the gardeners. They have done the hedges and lawns for years which has been a good thing really as there is plenty else to do. She likes having an expanse of lawn to look at. Strange really as her house is so cluttered.

It is nice having gardening programmes on at a time of year when one can plan to plant some of the stuff. I admit I went onto Claire Austin's website to look at her peonies, but stuck with what I have (Bowl of Beauty, Shirley Temple, Officinalis and a tree peony Rockii) because the programme made me realise they grow to a good size. I might move them though. Charlie Dimmock looked great with her lovely bunches of peonies and I totally agree about James Wong. Brilliant energy.

Congrats on job, NANN!

I would love a ride on mower but it wouldn't work here, sadly, as there are too many different levels and fiddly bits. I've never even had a go on one - though I have driven a tractor.

Nann excellent news re your job congratulations :)

I like mowing too, although not big it takes ages navigating trees and different levels. I'm not great at edging though.

James Wong is getting involved with Ventnor Botanics

I've yet to watch the Peony revival and didn't realise they'd gone out of fashion. If lillies are so easy why have my callas never flowered

I think calla are different, Geoff, not least because they're a tuber (or maybe I mean corm) rather than a bulb. My black calla flowered last year, but then rotted. Sigh.

Congratulations NAAN

Freezing here today, I couldn't open the boot to get the dog in the car. The sun was out and the fields all frosty, it all looked lovely.

I can't do peonies.

hello all
not done very well at keeping up on thread
Congratulations on new jobs and snuggly babies!

I did some tidying of back garden earlier in the week (before the snow) and realised that in fact there is very little in it at all!!
Have planned a possible space for a small greenhouse though....
I have also been enjoying watching garden revival and have lillies and peonies on my list for this year too.(Sugar why cant you do peonies?)