Anyone else’s garden looking a bit crap this year?

[Coppertips]

I’m thoroughly fed up with mine this year. Nothing seems to be thriving and it usually looks glorious in the summer.

My rose has got rust, no apples on my Apple tree, slug damage everywhere, even my best fern is looking shabby.

I’ve lost quite a few plants in the last 12 months with last summer’s drought and the cold spell in the winter.

I feel like I need to have a rethink about my plants/planting.

Do you have slug traps?

I used to go out at night, pick them by hand and put them out the front, but haven't bothered this year. I think because I grew to quite like them. I need to be more on the case next year.

Dahlia is my main success story this year, I kept them in the greenhouse so the foliage became more mature which possibly meant the slugs didn't have any interest in them.

Apple trees are a complete failure but our theory is that they cropped extremely well last year despite the drought so possibly a rest year. Last year we ate stewed, baked, fried, mashed etc apples til Christmas! Plus a cold spring meant there were fewer flowers this year.

My sweet peas have been a disaster this year. Exactly the same prep, planting, staking etc as usual and... nada. No idea why.

Roses have been ok, though, and hollyhocks have survived quite a battering from the wind.

But good to see so many butterflies on the buddleia, and bees buzzing about.

What, the garden or the tree? The tree is 30 years old, so a reasonable size. The garden is large compared to the pocket handkerchief DS has bought on a new estate, but not large compared to some of the ones people post pictures of. I've got at least another dozen trees of similar size, so I won't cry over this one. I just don't want the effort of removing, and I don't want to get anyone in to do it because they'll trample on things.

Dahlia is my main success story this year, I kept them in the greenhouse so the foliage became more mature which possibly meant the slugs didn't have any interest in them. Yes, that's my main anti-slug strategy too. I keep runner beans in there until they start flowering, by which time their not tender enough for slugs' delicate palates.

They're. Drat it!

Apple trees are a complete failure but our theory is that they cropped extremely well last year despite the drought so possibly a rest year. Probably. Theory is that you thin the crops so you don't allow it to overcrop, then it doesn't exhaust itself for the next year. But who is going to do that? Especially since the tree will have another go at shedding fruit later on, and then there's all the ones you lose to birds.

Also lost a really rare variety salsify plant Was that a particularl rare variety of salsify? Salsify itself isn't particularly rare, keeps turning up on the Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland facebook group.

But nothing in my garden is slug friendly so I’m not sure what they eat. Most of our slug species are eating rotting vegetation and dead animal matter. Some of them are eating other slugs, It's apparently oly a few species that eat live plants. Eve more impressive the damage they can do. Though nothing beats a caterpillar for quantity per animal.

@ScribblingPixie It won't have done it much good. Unless it has a period of photosynthesis to replenish reserves, each year of putting out shoots and getting them nibbled will leave a net loss of food reserves in the roots. But I wouldn't replace it unless you can reliably keep the slugs off. On the positive side, I had a Clematis reappear and flourish after about 7 years of slugs eating all the new shoots to the extent that I wasn't aware that it even existed any more.

but it's so gloomy I'm sitting indoors on mumsnet instead. Glorious sunshine in Yorkshire

@MereDintofPandiculation I'll be more vigilant. But it's in a spot where I've left logs to be eco-friendly so maybe I need to give up on it and plant something really slugproof instead. Mind you I had a big thistle there which I thought would be fine, and that got absolutely slaughtered.

I don't grow veg, but we have fruit trees (apple and pear) which will yield nothing this year. Neither tree is looking great. Totally agree with regard to flowering plants. I have two different varieties of clematis that are usually glorious - one has been meh with a handful of blooms, the other one managed one. They both usually flower in profusion.

I am officially giving up on petunias, nicotiana and hostas in my garden, much as I love them all. Have tried all three on various occasions but they just get eaten to death by slugs and snails. I've never been so tempted to try slug pellets as I've been this year. Might try the slug trap suggested upthread, we get so many. I also go out on snail and slug catching sprees at night when I can but whilst we were away on holiday the little bastards just ran riot.

On a positive note, I have managed one lovely display of deep pink impatients (luckily the slugs don't seem to like those). I have a berberis in a large pot that is thriving beautifully (lovely red-gold leaves). And lots of ferns that seem happy enough. Other than that it's been a rubbish year.

DH was just saying the same, this morning. On the whole, the garden looks way more scrappy than normal. On the plus side, a few things seem to like the weird weather and are happier than normal - e.g. sweet William, petunias and (strangely) marigolds.

Lack of sun has meant that salvias etc have grown very little. Grass is green and long and the trees doing well, but not fabulous colour like usual. The nasturtiums which are usually everywhere are just leaf this year

Did anyone else have a no-show from their lilac? We didn't get a single flower, despite it being in reasonably good sun all the time.

@MereDintofPandiculation yes it was a rare one. Planted by my friend’s dad decades ago, disappeared and came back out of the blue about seven years ago.

Not lilac but my compact buddleia has done absolutely nothing this year.

I found a toad happily residing in my garden yesterday, I moved it back to the pond which is about ⅓ mile away and he’s back today. So I’ve created a space for him with a ceramic pot from an old water feature filled with rainwater.

Very damp out there!

Maybe you need to increase the distance between it and the logs.

but sometimes you have to cope with what you have. The only sun for my veg is next to my neighbour’s mollusc sheltering dry stone wall

That is such a shame!

Compared with everyone else posting here, my garden’s doing pretty well. Struggled a bit in the June drought, but it’s been wet ever since, and the garden is planted for shade so doesn’t mind lack of sun

Very disappointing :-( and because it doesn't look great my enthusiasm has waned.

I have had success with zinnias and tobacco plants but I planted loads of cosmos and I've just got loads of vey big fluffy plants with no flowers.

Perennials that always do well form me are heuchera and geraniums (although they spread like bonkers).

Mine has been terrible! I don't think the weather has helped - lots of things dying back really early! 😕

Toads don’t generally live in ponds, they just shag in them! I’m sure your toad is grateful for the bespoke water feature, but they often live in gardens with no pond.

So many slugs! Tomatoes and strawberries have struggled more this year, still got lots of green fruit. Blueberries have done surprisingly well though.
Weeds are unstoppable. We also lost our beautiful cherry tree this year so the end of the garden looks bare.

It spent quite a lot of time in the water bowl today. Nowhere to be seen this evening.

Aren’t farmers having problems growing crops too? Climate change?
Nothing seems to grow here- North facing!😣