What would you do differently in your gardens next year?

[catwithflowers]

If anything! 😊. I have already made a few gardening New Year's Resolutions!

1. Only plant things we love. I'm determined not to be guilted into planting things my lovely dad has grown from seed at his allotment even if I really don't like them and if they look out of place in our garden (I'm looking at you French Marigolds!!)

1. I'm in the North East and planted things from seed a bit late in the year. We have a greenhouse now so I'm planning on starting my seeds off either very early spring or in the autumn for some perennials.

1. To be honest about my gardening mistakes and get rid of things I thought would work but just don't, eg the penstemon we had in the cottage garden which just sat like a big lump amongst the other delicate cottage garden plants. The bed looks so much more restful without it 😊

I'm not going to grow anything that slugs like! Too much work for me in protecting everything.

@Catawaul that's why we got rid of all the hosta when we redesigned the cottage bed last year. It's just not worth having them. 😶

@catwithflowers I think next year I'll just be left with geraniums, lavender and tomatoes! Nasturtiums and kale have all been lost to caterpillars. I don't think I'm an observant or attentive enough gardener!

I’m done with trying to revive or keep half dead, diseased plants alive so I’m going to be ruthless and throw them out. Also I’ve fallen in love with Californian poppies, so I’ll be buying plenty of seeds and scattering them in bald spots and between early flowering plants to try and avoid gaps when things die back.

@Flatpackback they self seed like mad. We have never sown then but have lots from neighbouring gardens!

@Catawaul the slugs and caterpillars haven't touched our nasturtiums. Yet. Something did go for one of my favourite salvias, salvia guaranitica, so I sprayed a bug spray which I know isn't very environmentally friendly but I desperately didn't want it eaten 😶

I have a hedgehog friendly garden and get hedgehogs coming to visit and feast on slugs and snails.

I'm fighting a losing battle against caterpillars so won't bother growing broccoli again.

@Mamia15 how do you encourage hedgehogs to visit? They'd be very welcome to hundreds of slugs and snails in my garden!

No slug pellets. Leave out shallow dishes of water in warm weather. Log piles behind some trees. We also have a strip of grass that we allow to grow wild. No strimming. No deep water for them to drown in without providing a way for them to climb out. Gaps under fencing.

Some people leave out kitten food but with a dog I can't do this.

The kitten food attracted the slugs here 🤢

@BarbedBloom

Honestly, move. I have a North facing garden overshadowed by my neighbors three giant sycamore trees. It has made it so difficult and frustrating to get much of anything to grow. I do like shade loving plants, but many of the ones I want to have are full sun types.

I am glad I finally dug my hosta up and put it in a pot though - this is the first year the slugs haven't eaten it.

The same. North facing garden and trees everywhere. I would move for this alone, it's so demoralising.

Oh so much that I want to do to our small garden!

• Have ordered a few bulbs to plant out in the autumn for more colour including some more Allium Christophii as I love the two that we have. — Proper feeding of the established shrubs
• Pruning the existing shrubs properly instead of just going mad with the secateurs and loppers!
• use plant supports
• Sow some flowering seeds

For those wanting to grow coriander, here are lessons we learned when we tried to grow it on our allotment a few years ago:
But the large packets of coriander seeds for culinary use - they are readily available in Asian food stores - but only the smaller seeds from places like Romania. The larger seeds from India didn’t do well here. Soak the seeds overnight before sowing them and be generous with the seeds when sowing. Something to keep the slugs away as they germinate was a huge help. Finally, as pp mentioned, they liked it cool and went to seed as soon as as the weather got too hot.

We're looking to reduce effort in the future. Thinking about 're-wilding' certainly one and possibly two areas of our grass. Cut it really short in September, sow Yellow Rattle and hardly mow at all next year, except for a couple of paths. If it doesn't work out, just mow before the Yellow Rattle sets seed and you're back to where you were.