**Newbie Gardener Thread** support, advice and ideas swap shop!

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

this is a thread for people who have just started out with gardening, in pots or ground, that wish to swap ideas, share stories of triumph or sorrow!

everyone is welcome! so introduce yourself and get chatting.

[MaHumbug]

I consider myself as a relative newbie to gardening.
I can't wait until the weather turns!

[Starbear]

FiveGoMadInDorset DH said WICKES if the other one doesn't work out.

[DevilsAdvocaat]

our local council takes green bags of garden waste. we are lucky i guess.

i think i would like to grow courgettes, purple sprouting broc, tomatoes, and blueberries.

ask me tomorrow and i'll have a diff list

[Starbear]

Weather looks good for SE Tues,Wed, Thurs all the days I'm working. www.bbcweather.co.uk

[Starbear]

Ops! didn't work. I'll try again later as I should be getting a shower and getting Ds off the telly!

[NattyPlus2andAHalf]

hey guys nice to see our little 'club' is growing, weather is awful tho isnt it?

anyone know where u can go to get compost delivered? i havent got a car... might get some funny looks on the bus............

[DevilsAdvocaat]

good question natty. i was wondering if you could get it delivered if you were buying a lot.

my compost bin is about a third full. one day it will be full of lovely rich compost.

[Starbear]

Okay weather report seems to indicat that in SE Saturday might be okay. Cloudy with some sun. Or do they mean grey and ugly!!Plan to go swimming. Lets see if the sun pops out in the afternoon and we can just tidy for 1 hour

[Starbear]

Okay weather report seems to indicat that in SE Saturday might be okay. Cloudy with some sun. Or do they mean grey and ugly!!Plan to go swimming. Lets see if the sun pops out in the afternoon and we can just tidy for 1 hour

[callmeovercautious]

Hello all, I popped into gardening to start a thread on "looking forward to this year". I think I like your thread though Can I join?

I am sort of new - I have a few gadgets (a greenhouse (no heater) and a spade) I have also had a small part of our garden for veg etc for 3 years now. However the rest of the garden is new from last year - I ripped out everything and now have borders - empty except some roses - and a lawn (from seed).

So I am looking for new ideas and veg tips! I have had some real wins but also some BIG failures

I have some answers to Q posted so far:

Roses - I come from a family of rose breeders - I suppose I have the "bug" for gardening from them! You Prune in Autumn to keep them short so the wind/snow etc does not break them, then in spring (before St Patricks day) you trim them up to leave a shoot facing out on each stem. You have not killed them by pruning, they always look dead at this time of year.

Things to plant now - Garlic outside. Lots of things in a heated greenhouse - salad might do OK.

I am waiting until feb when I will plant some Broad beans on a windowsill to plant out later.

I need tips on Parsley - mine always either dies or I get 3 straggly stems from a pot

[snorkle]

I was talking to the chap on my neighbouring allotment just now...

He says that about now is the time to buy first early seed potatoes.

You leave them in egg boxes in a cool, light place to start sprouting and then plant out in March. You don't need to buy them just yet, but apparently the best ones can sell out early if you leave it.

[Starbear]

What seed would anyone recommend for the window sill now. Can't be too delicate as I have limited time. Would like to fill my garden with a mixture of flowers and a little veg?

[snorkle]

I think you're a bit early for most stuff yet starbear. You could maybe try some radish or lettuce/salad leaves though.

[starbear]

I just saw an article in the Evening Standard but I think they meant for warm green houses.

[callmeovercautious]

Give it a go - I will be I am going to do a few salad leaves and start some broad beans. You can put BB in the ground in autumn according to the "gurus" and they trot away nicely under a cloche. I think they should do OK on the windowsill.

Gardeners World also said you should think about starting tomatoes soon, indoors or "undercover" I think that means a heated GH. I might try a few of them as well. I am itching to get started but we look like getting snow next week

[starbear]

By the time I get organised it will be the right time.

[snorkle]

yes, tomatoes/chillis on a windowsill/heated greenhouse in Feb.

broad beans: Aquaedulcea is the overwintering sort. You sow outside in October OR March (Feb, with protection). Not usually sown in between, and usually sown in growing position rather than starting on windowsill (I think you might have some hardening off issues if you do).

[HelensMelons]

So, potatoes but keep them in an egg box somewhere cool, and tomatoes (which were awful last year). That sounds like something of a plan. Good.

[snorkle]

If you like rhubarb, read on...

It's the time of year that people lift and divide rhubarb crowns. If you know any gardeners it's worth asking if they have any spares as it's easy to grow and more shade tolerant than a lot of things too.

If you do get given any crowns, plant them with a bit of manure & let them get on with it. You should not however pull any stalks in the first year.

[DevilsAdvocaat]

hello my green fingered friends!

ds and i were out in the garden today tidying up and weeding. well i was weeding, he was mostly mowing the lawn with his plastic mower i was pleased to see lots of bulbs are coming up, can't wait to see some colour back dans le jardin!

my mum also dropped over some seeds she got me: tomato, pepper, radish, carrots, basil, parsley, beetroot, lettuce. also some flower seeds. feeling excited. they say feb, march, april and may to sow.

also, dh says we can have a greenhouse instead of a shed (we have a grarage with nothing in anyway). yay!

[Jux]

Hello, can I play?

We got the garden cleared and a lawn down just in time for winter. The lawn was done badly so it's very lumpy and there are one or two patches which turn to liquid mud in bad rain.

We've got two long thin beds down each side and about 6ft along the bottom which atm is just earth (with a bit which was raised but is now a sort of ramp) against the wall. We have an apple tree in this bit, and there will be brambles again when they've grown back. We want to keep chickens down there.

There are two camelia trees(?) and some roses in one of the beds.

We want to grow veg and flowers mixed in both the long beds. Haven't yet worked out what to plant, but I'm sure I should be planting it now!

[lucysmam]

Can I join in please?

I have just moved into a house with a garden so am going to attempt to grow some veggies once all the junk is cleared out of it & I get round to deciding which 'bit' of it I would like to be mine.

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

I just want to get out. DH has stripped the ivy from the front of house as it was growing inside our bedroom and bathroom and has pruned the wisteria.

[DevilsAdvocaat]

i went out today and some bloody cat had shat three times in my veg patch

i can't remove it as i am pg [thankful emoticon].

have asked dh to, whether he actually will is another issue.

[lucysmam]

does anyone know what's plantable in the next few weeks so when I get sorted in the next few weeks I can plan what's going where?