Gardening chat

[Procrastatron]

I find some areas of Mumsnet quite stressful at the moment due to strong opinions and covid related doom and gloom. Not the gardening section though.
I spend a lot of time daydreaming about my little, slightly wild, London garden and all the lovely things that are on order with various online nurseries or stashed on the decking for planting out soon. I’m definitely novice gardener and happily so and my criteria for plants are along the lines of hard to kill, colourful and weed suppression.

Right now I’m pondering where I should plant my verbena and how well my rose will respond to the cavalier pruning I have it at the weekend.
I’d love to hear what gardening related things other people are thinking about at the mo.

Hi, like many I love this topic area, it’s friendly and informative. Thank you for starting the thread. I can’t wait for Spring and warmer days, when our spirits can be lifted.
My seed potatoes have just arrived, for planting in a month or so. I grow them in potato sacks. Even in a small garden you could give them a try?
As for weed suppressant plants, the wide variety of Crainsbill Geraniums do a good job and can flower for most of the year.
I’ve sown some early annual seeds and now the snow has gone, I’m off to do a search for spring bulbs poking through. Happy gardening.

Thank you. I so need this today, I too am finding other areas stressful and panic inducing.

I had to pop out earlier and noticed some green shoots so it seems a few of the Spanish bluebells I tried to dig out last year are remaining. I will leave it a few weeks to be sure that’s what I’m dealing with and then get rid.

There are a few tulip bulbs mixed in with all my Daffs. Every year I say I’m going to move them and then forget. I can see where they are now they are sprouting so will dig those out at the weekend and move them, I like to have a sea of yellow Daffs so the red tulips in the middle of them bother me.

I also need to dig the Lily & hemerocallis out now I’ve discovered how poisonous they are to cats. I would hate my cat to get ill (or worse!) I only bought the hemerocallis last year but better safe than sorry.

I ordered veg seeds for planting so have peas, sweet corn (which we previously grew when DS was small), lettuce, peppers & some sweet peas for something pretty, so look forward to planting them & seeing how they do.

I dug out a new border last year and have planted it with green manure so need to decide what to put in soon. I’m most excited about the small end of lawn I’ve decided to turn into a mini meadow & hope the bees & butterflies will flock to it. Gardening, no matter what the size of your garden, is so therapeutic.

Isn't it just. The garden saved me last lockdown, it's so tough just now, working all day and being dark when finish. I just went out to examine the snowdrop n chionodoxa patch as I am rescuing each clump before we dig up the whole "lawn" (mostly plantain) to replant with shrubs. Felt lovely even for 5 minutes.

flowerythoughts I would wait until your bulbs have flowered before digging them up. The soil is cold now, I doubt if they will survive. Why not take a photo and save it in a things to do folder to remind you.

@Flowerythoughts, it's really not clear that daylilies are a danger to cats. Take a look at this, for instance:

garden.org/thread/view/15995/Cats-and-Daylilies---survey-results/

Hello! The most amazing thing is going to happen very soon, I’m getting a greenhouse. A cheapy, wooden version but nonetheless a greenhouse. Seriously I am practically orgasming with anticipation. Plus I’ve down sweet pea seeds today that I collected last year - they’re now safe in a windowsill propagator. Love reading your plans, roll on March

And this is why I love a gardening thread, always lots of shared knowledge.

tdm interesting. The info I read said that even water in a vase that had had lilies in could kill. I would still rather get rid than risk renal failure though. I love my cat too much.

Bee looks like I will be looking at red tulips amongst my Daffs again this year then

I would love a green house or a potting shed but I just don’t have the space.

May I join? Planning my garden planting is the only thing currently keeping me vaguely sane through 'homeschooling' 4 children...

A mix of daffs and tulips looks pretty, no?

I'm excitedly awaiting a delivery of a ton of topsoil, to mix with the half ton of manure which is sitting on my driveway currently, and spread on/extend my raised veg beds. I'm spending every evening poring over my planting timings to work out where to put all the veg in the most efficient way, and what to intercrop with what.

I have two pear trees and an apple tree on order, as well as some raspberry canes, which I ordered a month ago but I've just heard won't arrive until early March due to covid delays. I'm now biting my nails in case things get unseasonably warm and it's too late for bare root planting when they arrive. They are from a reputable nursery, so hopefully it will be ok, but I'd be seriously gutted if it doesn't work out for planting them this year. I've completely rearranged my garden to accommodate them!

Thank you all for replying! I forgot to add that I have also planted bulbs (tulips, crocuses and alliums)... and forgotten what is where. I inherited a lone sad looking daffodil with this garden so it’s good to know digging it up when it’s flowering will kill it. Nothing against daffs but I haven’t planted any more.
I have three types of hardy geraniums on order for the very reason you set out @Beebumble2. I also read that they are good for hiding old bulb foliage.
For the first time in my life I have also desired a greenhouse. My husband is proper London boy though and I doubt he knows what they are for... I’ll ask him later... 🤭

I share you greenhouse lust! My garden is sloped with no sensible space for one.

@Procrastatron

Thank you all for replying! I forgot to add that I have also planted bulbs (tulips, crocuses and alliums)... and forgotten what is where. I inherited a lone sad looking daffodil with this garden so it’s good to know digging it up when it’s flowering will kill it. Nothing against daffs but I haven’t planted any more. I have three types of hardy geraniums on order for the very reason you set out *@Beebumble2*. I also read that they are good for hiding old bulb foliage. For the first time in my life I have also desired a greenhouse. My husband is proper London boy though and I doubt he knows what they are for... I’ll ask him later... 🤭

Just a warning, hardy geraniums are very addictive, for some reason they don’t put this on the label! Same with hellebores, you buy one little Christmas rose on a reduced bench in a garden centre and before you know it you have a helleborder........

Totally agree viques about hardy geraniums. I love them, i inherited a small white flowered version that freely seeds around the garden. It crops up among the other plants and paving looking so pretty.

@Beebumble2

Totally agree viques about hardy geraniums. I love them, i inherited a small white flowered version that freely seeds around the garden. It crops up among the other plants and paving looking so pretty.

That sounds like a winner!

My current favourite is a phaeum (spelling) clumps up really well early in the year, has lovely splotched leaves and a tall purple flower stem, I give it a Chelsea chop and get a second flowering then it lasts all summer. I also love Mrs Kendal Clarke, but she doesn’t love me, I can’t find a place where she is happy. [ sad] I have a pale pink that must have the same self seeding habit as your white one, it finds little nooks and crannies and looks after itself but then again I have another slightly darker pink that is such a delicate little thing that has to live inside a wire cage so it doesn’t get trodden on by mistake.

I completely agree about this being a peaceful corner among the chaos, thanks for this thread. My garden has been an obsession this year. We are in the middle of complete renovation, the landscaper is supposed to be putting the turf in next week with the electrician in to put power out there. The trees and shrubs I ordered in December are starting to arrive and we have a few to put in this weekend as the keep blowing over in the wind! We've got an evergreen magnolia and a strawberry tree, lilacs and phormium are arriving today. I'm still waiting on the Ligustrum Japonicum to arrive, I fear it is caught up in customs due to Brexit. I've also placed a large order with Beth Chatto which should arrive in early March. I'm so excited to be at the planting stage and past the hauling wet claggy soil stage! I'm so very excited for spring and nicer weather, but very grateful for this project to focus on. It's kept me sane this winter!

And breathe......

Last year went to pot for my garden, I didn't have any time off word due to the C word and keeping on top of the house took priority. It got the better of me so I swallowed my pride and have taken on a gardener, he mows the lawns and has blitzed the weeds so I'm now at a good starting point. I can't wait to get out there, I need to replant and move things around as it looks wrong to me. I'm rubbish at planting, so will be looking for ideas. Roll on sunshine!!

Oh god I didn’t realise that geraniums are addictive. I already have 3 x each of thumbling hearts, Rozanne, and bloomtime. Coming late March. I’m gonna have a problem 🤣
I’ve decided my gardening style is cottage garden as that seems to allow me to throw fun things in close together and see what happens. I’m also a bit sentimental so will buy plants based on their origins and links to family heritage and got really emotional when I found out the bare root rose I planted this winter was my late grandmothers favourite.
And roses... last year I started nurturing a sad little rose that we inherited with this house and it brought me so much joy.
Update on the husband; he does in fact understand the purpose of a greenhouse. You all probably think I’m mean but this is the man who thought a deer was a fox!

Spilsh Splash is a lovely purple and white geranium. I have a little one called Cappuccino, pink with bronze leaves. It’s very small so I hope it survives the winter. Elkie is another pretty low growing spreader.
I’ve planted the more common Wargrave over a patch of ground elder and it’s managed to swamp the weed. I’m planting more at the base of next doors leyllandi hedge.

I have missed out on the gardening section this year as we are moving house next week, so I have concentrated on keeping our current garden presentable and haven't planned anything for it or grown any veg etc.9

I am looking forward to moving into our new home, getting to know our new garden and making a plan for how I would like it to be in years to come! I'm so excited about having a new garden to plan and develop although, as we are planning an extension I won't be doing much to the garden straight away as I want that finished first. I also want to get to know the garden and see what's already there before I start planning or changing anything .

All I know so far is there are a few trees and shrubs, and three clumps of bamboo - planted in the ground - that I am planning to dig up ASAP so they can't take over...

I love geraniums too, usually manage to save them every year if I overwinter them against the garage wall where the tumble drier is. Didn’t know you could buy properly hardy ones though!

Aaah they are cranesbill, just googled! And they don’t mind shade!!!! OMG

Cheermonger, they are also easy to divide into smaller plants. If you ask around friends and family they may have plants to divide and start you off.

Just tagging along if you don't mind, I find gardening so therapeutic and have been slowly but surely transforming mine. First thing I wanted was so where to sit and I managed to get that sorted last year, now it's on with planning.
I'm chitting some potatoes to plant out and have got a patch prepared for vegetables if the local moggys will stop using it as a toilet!

hardy geraniums. I love them, i inherited a small white flowered version that freely seeds around the garden. That sounds as if it could be the white flowered version of Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum. Or possibly, if it tries to scramble through other plants, the white form of Hedgerow Cranesbill, G. pyrenaicum.

@Cheermonger the geraniums you have are actually Pelargonium. The English have a long established habit of calling a plant by the scientific name of a completely different plant. Eg nasturtium, which is actually Tropaeolum, whereas Nasturtium is a group of plants in the cabbage family, including watercress.

Not all Geraniums are tolerant of shade. As a rule of thumb, the little neat ones with reddish-pink flowers don't particularly like shade, the larger more scrambling ones with blue, purple or pale pink flowers are more likely to be shade tolerant.

The gardening topic which is vexing me most at the moment is my son's chilli plant which I'm looking after while he waits for his new house to be ready. I put it in the conservatory with my chillis and it's dropped all its leaves. It has tiny new green shoots coming, and I'm looking at it every day, willing them to grow a bit faster. It needs to be back to full bushiness by the beginning of March.

Yes Mere I’ve always thought it was pyrenaicum Summer Snow. It flowers all summer.

Thanks @MereDintofPandiculation that's really to know, I’ve added them to my list if I can’t beg any from some friends as @Beebumble2 suggests!