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.

They will need some sun I think, you could always try both and report back!

@MrsBertBibby

I told my other half that Sarah Raven reckons salvias keep roses free of black spot.

Genius! Many salvias now en route for me!

I seriously need to get some plants in the ground, my waiting area is heaving.

I'll have to try this!

I've just been chatting on another head about a gardening programme which I hadn't seen before presented by Monty Don called Real Gardens. It's on YouTube and must be pretty old now but is really interesting. I watched the first 6 episodes today!

There is an amazing gardener called Bryony Jacklin I think, whose garden I would love to copy, bits of it at least. She has created a beautiful garden from a huge farmer's field! She has made something I think she calls a 'roundel' which is sort of an incredible circular bed in her lawn which she then planted up. It is fabulous and she is such a talented garden designer and very hard worker. Her family's story is inspirational too.

A very young looking Monty and Carol Klein help and follow the progress of real couples/families and their gardens, no quick fixes, lots of ideas and good advice. I really enjoyed it!

*thread 🤷‍♀️

@catwithflowers I think I saw that episode with Bryony Jacklin. She made a bed out of traditional weeds too. I’d love to know what that looked like when flowering, and whether she kept it long term. I remember her planting herb robert, which has completely overtaken a neglected corner of my garden, and I’m going to have a hard job digging out as it’s so matted!

OliviaRwhite I've googled loads to try to find photos of the finished garden but to no avail. I've sent Bryony an Instagram request though, so if that's accepted, I think I should be able to see how that amazing garden turned out.

I would also love to know what she planted in the roundel, I know box went in the middle. We are moving soon and will have a huge garden so I'm looking for 'large plot' inspiration 😊

Two helianthmums, an erodium and a fox glove moved out of the waiting area into the ground this morning!

Before splurging on salvias check out salvias dying thread.
I'm got loads reduced last year and put them in all around the different roses I have. But I've noticed some do look dead

Has anyone mentioned Arthur parkinson.

So what are your Easter weekend gardening plans?

I did a lot of clearing/ weeding at the beginning of the week, but the imminent cold weather means little else will be done. I will move the seedlings into the centre of the greenhouse.

I have plans, there is more weedy lawn to be dug up, and seedlings to pot up. Another flower bed needs a good tidy up and weeding. I am hell bent on being ready to plant out en masse when the moment comes, I was still planting out in July last year!

Oh thankgod, what a breath of fresh air.
I am losing the will to live with the relentless covid posts.
Gardening is so therapeutic, l absolutely love it.
I grow lots of flowers from seeds and fill my garden choc a bloc.
At the moment l am growing massive drifts of foxgloves, Holly hocks, salvias, forget me nots , penstomens, old fashioned roses and climbers.
Gardening gives you hope for a better tomorrow.

We are getting a new fence built next week so this weekend will be spent prepping for that, including removing hedging plants that have hardly grown in 6 years (hence the fencing).

And some epic weeding, all going well, to finally get my garden beds ready.

Moonface that all sounds beautiful.

It does!

What hedging plants, Kiwi?

@Moonface123 ♥️

I only have two small balconies but I recently bought a waist height planter online. It is much bigger than just pots. Yesterday I planted arugula (rocket), lettuce, spinach, coriander (cilantro), and a few pea plants along a small trellis at the back. So excited to see the sprouts.

I am also going to plant radishes and spring onions in the big planter.

I also have some pots where I grow chives, oregano, parsley, and sage. I have sweet peas and nasturtiums. DH is always after me to leave room for us to sit and not to spread dirt everywhere.

Been building veg beds just waiting for the soil to arrive to fill them now.

Have too many toms currently in the dining room floor to get the sun plus peas courgettes cucs and a load of other seedlings!

I also ordered some companion plant seeds from Sarah Raven - nasturtium, marigold sweet peas and some garlic chives

First year in this garden so lots to do

LoveFall Your balcony sounds like it's going to be packed full of lovely things!

MrsBert Beech trees. We're very exposed so they just didn't grow. Even my tamarisk, that coastal dweller, hasn't done well in those winds.

We're keeping the mixed native hedging that did grow and just having fencing put up behind it. It's nice to have something for the birds.

Of course now the weather has turned cold and very windy! But I am hopeful that what I have planted outside is cold tolerant. It's in the heat of summer on our southwest facing balcony that everything bolts to seed.

I’ve spent most of the day in the unheated greenhouse where the temperature was 35C. It was sunny, but cold outside, so the best place to be. I chucked out the sown seeds that had not germinated - thank you Mr Fotheringill for your nonexistent sweet peas and Cosmos.
Fortunately I had back ups and everything else seems ok.
Looks grim for tomorrow. 😕

We have got a load more plants into the ground, and sorted an awkward corner so we could get my clematis in. Plus we mulched a load of beds because Monty said.

First bee inspection too!

@MrsBertBibby

We have got a load more plants into the ground, and sorted an awkward corner so we could get my clematis in. Plus we mulched a load of beds because Monty said.

First bee inspection too!

We mulched for the same reason! What Monty says, goes. I LOVE mulching. It's so satisfying and looks so good after. I love the smell of mulch.

Any tips on managing speedwell? I have so much of it and it doubles its size overnight.