After a disappointing yeild in my first year getting my hands dirty:What next?

[lucyellensmum]

Ok so my veggies didnt do so great this year and i have just started to throw plants away as they are past it i am still wanting to be a gardener. So what i want to know is - WHAT NOW? I want to have something to encourage me next spring, so - When can i plant bulbs, daffs, hyacinths and tulips, can i do these in containers, if not where? I have one huge planter and lots of big pots. ARe there any veggies I can plant now, and what are the must do jobs for this time of year? When can i prune my roses? ARe there any other flowers i can plant now for spring? etc go on, keep me interested, cos i feel kind of sad that im digging it all up

Do you have ground space or just containers?

Sprouts?
You can plant lots of minature bulbs in containers that will come up in spring.

Herbs are very good for containers. Mint is very easy to grow and if you keep it indoors, will provide you with all the mint you could ever need! Lavendar smells lovely and again, a good container plant, as is rosemary, but give the rosemary time to put its roots down.

Potatoes are easy to grow as are onions. I would always start with root veg, or the veg you use the most of, and with potatoes and onions, you can leave them in the ground until you are ready to use them.

i have ground space but i want to keep the majority of it for veg if i can. It is limited though. Oh and i have a herb garden with gaps, anything i can do with it now, or wait til next year?

so can i plant potatoes sprouts and onions now then? I thought i'd missed that boat

this is really helpful to tell you what to do this month

Sprouts are a winter veg.
Not sure about the other two, don't know how frost hardy they are, but then with frosts coming later and later you can always try your luck, if they don't come through now they will next year.

Have you any chives? Thyme? They are easy to grow too, but of course all these herbs die off over winter, unless you bring them indoors.

Cabbage - isn't that a winter veg too?

I dunno, I can only tell you what we've been successful in, and I'm not a renowed gardener by any means! We have rhubarb in our front garden (naturally), carrots (but most have been eaten by the rabbits), onions and potatoes. The broccoli didn't survive. We also grew chillies and tomatoes in our lean-to that have thrived. Oh and a pepper plant, but it's only got 3 peppers on it so it's a lot of effort for very little gain.

Next year we want to try sweetcorn.

Ooooh, that's a good link!

If it's any consolation, I don't know anyone who's had a good yield this year. I got 3 measly tomatoes.

Won't comment on the veggies, but on some of the other stuff...

Spring bulbs like daffs, tulips, etc, should be planted around now - putting them in pots means you know where they are when the leaves die back .

What kind of roses do you have? Shrub types are prune by about 1/3 in late autumn to try and prevent too much wind damage through the winter, and then another good hack in the spring (I have heard you should do it on Valentine's day - nice and easy to remember ). Climbers / ramblers are a bit different, but if they're getting our of control then cut them back and tie them down before it gets stormy.

Other flowers you can plant now for spring include wallflowers (just be aware they're a brassica, so if you're rotating crops treat them as brocolli/cauliflower/etc), pansies, ornamental daisies (bellis), rannunculus, etc. You might be a bit late for growing from seed for this year, but you can often get multi-packs that aren't too bad, and wallflowers are usually a bargain if you get them bare-rooted.

I miss my veggie patch . We moved house 18 months ago and if we want a garden for DD next year (she'll be 1 in April) then the veggies will have to wait...

it's too late now to put in potatos, sprouts, plan them for next year.

You can put in shallots and garlic up to December, they take 6 months so don;t put them where you want to plant something next spring. A hardy broad bean like Aquadulce Claudia for very early beans. Winter salads: You can sow hardy lettuce like Valdor, especially under a cloche or fleece cover. Lamb's lettuce, american cress and some kind of green onion (Japanese?)

Bulbs are great in containers.

Also you can put in hardy seeds like sweet peas, love in a mist, for early flowers.

don't give up, plant some things that like wet and others that like sun, and somehting will do well!

My tomatoes, melon, aubergine rotted and died, but the beans and cukes went mad-and I have never seen so many blackberries, am picking and freezing like mad.