"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." This month's discussion in the potting shed.

[MyNightWithMaud]

Grateful thanks to the magnificent Margaret Atwood (via A Mighty Girl) for the quote.

I have just come indoors after a delightful couple of hours' pottering in the garden. It's far warmer than yesterday and everything feels optimistic and vernal again, after yesterday's Arctic blast.

High point: Realising that most of last year's cuttings have taken. Given that I am useless with seeds this, I think, is my propagating future.

Low point: Realising that my newest fairy lights have already failed.

If it wasn't quite so far, Humph, I might come and buy the contents of your school plant stall.

Hello potting shed! Hello new people!

I love that homemade greenhouse. Wow.

I have blossom coming on my nectarine too (and peach). I shan't be covering it though - it has to sink or swim.

I had a lovely full day of gardening today. I swept the front where dh had done a rather lacklustre job of clearing the yew hedge prunings into the woodshed (clearly only large bits counted ), weeded between the bricks of the path and under the hedge and gave the hedge a thorough watering.

Then I dug out all the remaining compost from last year's bay and trundled it up several steps and round the house to mulch under the hedge. Back breaking.

Then started turning this year's compost into the empty bay, and mixing it with pony poo. It was very dry and compacted; lots of grass clippings and bone dry hay from cutting the orchard last September. Also back breaking work. Got about half way down it before I ran out of time.

I noticed that some rose prunings had started sprouting, like cuttings, which was interesting.

Thanks for the welcome, Maud. I'm more magpie than crow, I think!

My garden is maybe 50m long, it's hard to tell because it slopes downwards over several levels. Aforementioned swamp is at the bottom, before the burn. It's got many interesting trees and in parts would work for 3 storey woodland gardening, we've a small veggie patch started last year, and are busy carving out paths and steps to make it all more accessible. It faces south and the soil is terrific.

It's very much a work in progress after 10 years of neglect. We've lived with it for 3 but they coincided with a new baby and 2 under 2, so the garden came last by a long stretch.

This is the year we're getting to grips with it properly!

Welcome temperamental and pinkmonkey

I love the homemade greenhouse, particularly the pink skipping rope in use as a pot hanging line. I'm now thinking that I'll get that arch window and surreptitiously start collecting old windows in the garden until one day I've amassed enough to build a greenhouse without DH noticing!

Lots of little seedlings germinating in the conservatory. I love this time of year. It feels full of potential and not yet too much hard work

temperamental that sounds like an exciting project! We bought this place when I had two under two. Two and a half years later, I'm just beginning to get proper time in the garden.

I am looking forward to the clocks going forward, I can get outside then whilst the toddler is in bed.

Goodness is it that time of year already?

Yes, next weekend.

Lots of little seedlings germinating in the conservatory. I love this time of year. It feels full of potential and not yet too much hard work

Absolutely! Not that any of my seedlings have germinated yet, but I only sowed them last weekend. Squires free boot liners have many uses, one of which is protecting the dining room carpet from the seed trays, as I don't have a proper greenhouse or conservatory.

Laurie yes dahlias do flower the first year. Some people use them as annuals but I don't find they flower enough for that, as they don't have many stems. My oldest, a shocking pink one I grew 4 years ago, flowered its socks off last year though. The tuber is enormous now - can't believe it came from a tiny seed.

Hello, temperamental and pinkmonkey, and yes, it is that time of year. Your clocks go forward on Sunday while ours will go back the next.

As if in anticipation, today was first day I've put the heating on. Well parky in Melbourne today.

Laurie looks like Chiltern seeds have some nice mixtures:

www.chilternseeds.co.uk/search?q=Dahlia

I may need to get some of those...

Reporting for garden watching duty!

Welcome to mypink, Gladys & temper, plus any other new gardeners.

Laurie - your greenhouse is inspired.

Yes Maud... Sometimes I feel like I'm planting £10 notes, but it gives me such joy.

I am likely to have significantly less money to spend on bits and bobs for the garden this year... As the extension (almost finished) has wiped us out, the car has failed it's MOT and now the boiler is sulking.

So... I am making a list of plants I already have that I may be able to propagate to get my pots & borders looking lovely:

Bacopa (cuttings)
Cosmos (from seed)
Pale pink penstemon (cuttings)
Verbena (divide)
Sweet peas (from seed)
Hostas (Divide)
Hardy geranium (divide - but may not be ready for this)
Packet of seed lovely mumsnetter sent me (tall pink flower)

For future years:
English Bluebells (scatter seed)
White foxglove with purple spots (scatter seed)

Any other ideas for maximum impact for minimum spend?

A few useful tips here -I might try putting a rose cutting in a potato www.listotic.com/20-insanely-clever-gardening-tips-and-ideas/

I'm the same I spend loads on the garden, I'm always pleased to grow stuff from seed and it saves a fortune. ignores how much the greenhouse cost

Hi nann good idea to make a list, did your Dahlias survive? Lidl had really cheap seeds I'm trying Zinnia this year. The for-get-me-nots I sowed last year are really good size plants and I know they self seed well. Other good self seeders are Nigella I grew just a few last year and have loads of seedlings this year.

I found accidentally that Crocosmia look good with Hosta -keep your eyes out for cheap bulbs?

Good to see you again, NANN. Yes, it does sometimes feel like planting £10 notes, but as you say it's all about the joy.

As I have now officially retired from growing from seed, I'm very happy to send my stockpile of seed packets (mostly hardy annual and perennial flowers) to anyone who'd like them. This month's zinnia seeds from GW magazine are in there.

Love that homemade greenhouse. Thanks for all the advice on dealing with the ivy on my damson tree. I decided to start cutting it back as I have a lot of ivy elsewhere to also deal with where the old pigeon loft used to be.
However I can now see an amber resin which is spotted on the tree trunk, I have had a look online and think it might be bacterial canker.
Anyone with experience of this? I guess the tree may now be dying but wondered if taking the ivy off it might allow it to recover?

Well I've cleared out the (accidentally dropped in) topsoil from the old pond .it's not going to be easy to resurrect, it's not too big, though, about 8ft. long and 4 ft wide., with a 'step' round the sides ;I want to do it naturally using newspaper as a lining (google says it's possible ) and a tarp as waterproofing. Has anyone else done this sort of thing ?

I like the sound of the burn Temperamental Is it yours too?

Oh yes Maud The 'rush hour' here (down in the village) consists of about 10 cars at about 5 o'clock, but lunchtime can be a bit silly; not very crowded just manic

Oh dear. Amber resin on fruit trees. That does sound like bacterial canker. It killed the plum tree on our allotment or, rather, it killed the top growth but, when we cut it down, it did sprout again from the rootstock. (It was too big to dig out and because it's on the allotment we were too mean to pay a tree surgeon to do it for us). My apricot tree also showed early signs of bacterial canker, which I pruned out, but I'll never know whether it was that or something else that eventually killed it. It's not curable, as far as I know.

Ah well, I am okay about it not being curable I guess I would like to give the tree a chance to enjoy the sun on its trunk and the blossom on its branches.
However is it infectious any thoughts?

It's a fungus so yes, clean your tools carefully after cutting out infected branches so that you don't spread it to other plants. If you cut back into healthy wood you may give it a few more years.

There's a plant fair at Great Dixter this weekend. I'm tempted.

Ooh, that would be very tempting indeed. They just sent me their plant porn beautiful catalogue. I wonder if I can convince DH and DD of the need for some fresh country air.

I am now following Vita Sackville West on Twitter.

Ooh Great Dixter - fabulous garden I wished I lived closer.
Can anyone help me with a question on purple sage please. I planted a herb garden two years ago and the sage is looking very sad at the moment - very leggy - if I 'chop' it back will it spring back to life once the weather warms up or will I be left with lots of bare stalks?

Can't help with sage, I'm afraid as I always kill it.

I am sulking, as I've just realised I have no hope of getting to GD while the plant sale is open. Boo hoo.

That's a shame, Maud.

Yes monkey, cut back your sage now (if danger of frost is past where you are) and it will grow nice fresh roots. I need to do mine.

ppeat the burn is not ours, but we do have a wee railway sleeper bridge over it into the park on the other side. If you follow it up, you get to a waterfall.

I'm going to plant some zinnia later on, too! I got the free ones on GW.

Just pottering and tidying today. Moved a big pile of stones. We have tree surgeons coming next week to remove a massive row of hideous leylandii. things are going to look very different after that I think.

Found you all at last. Thanks for the new thread and inspiration!
Must get onto the laptop to have a look at this greenhouse!
Monkey I love the sound of your walled garden too! :-)