**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.

[snorkle]

You can plant garlic & shallots. If you have some cloches, warm the soil with them for about a fortnight & then plant some early carrots under them.

[lucysmam]

what are cloches?

I have a feeling veg growing isn't going to be as straightforward as I'd imagined now

[snorkle]

A cloche is a moveable glass or plastic frame that you can put over some plants to protect them from the elements - sort of like a portable greenhouse examples.

I was given one for xmas & plan to start my carrots off under it around the middle of Feb so long as it isn't too cold, but if you don't have one just start them a month (in March) later in the open.

There's quite a few things you can start outside in March.

[lucysmam]

oh, I will have a look at those, cheers snorkle.

Am just hoping my oh keeps to his word & clears it for me this weekend

[gemmiegoatlegs]

oooh, can I join? I have never had agarden before but we have recently moved house and have a large boggy lawn, some ugly slabs of concrete and a seriously unattractive asbestos ridden garage. I need to learn not only gardening, but also garden design.

So far I did get a book out of library and I also wandered around the garden trying to visualise for a bit but I really don't know where to start. We want to get cracking on it soon so its ready for the nice weather.

[gemmiegoatlegs]

where do people learn about gardening things anyway?

[Nagapie]

I am keen to get stuck in to our garden - but weather forecast and my intense dislike of the cold weather makes me just want to sit on my bum and drink tea ...

[gemmiegoatlegs]

I am telling myself it will be worth the hard work. And the children will enjoy learning about nature.

Their ignorance of growing things is immense. we have recently got an organic box delivery and ds thought potatoes with all that...erm...like...soil on them were coconuts!

Do kids like gardening or is that another parenting myth?!

[callmeovercautious]

Hi all. Nice to see so many of us about I am trying to get used to the new Mn so can't see all the names I want to answer! Here goes though.

Who ever mentioned about asbestos garage - please get it taken out by a proper removal company asap. We had one and I have heard all sorts of horror sories about them since.

As to veg

I have done braod beans in small pots before in March and planted them out and they were great! Might have something to do with the type. Sorry I can't remember which one!

Jux - Boggy Lawn put down just before winter - see how it picks up, the you might need to re-seed in the spring, we did one from seed late alst spring and the bad weather has really got to it, I think we will have to patch it up this year.

This week I plan on potting up some peas and Broad beans in toilet roll tubes and putting them on the windowsill. GW says I can so I will report back.

[lucysmam]

why in toilet roll tubes callmeovercautious? & what is GW?

I now have a clear garden except for the bonfire which is ready to be lit at some point over the next few days. Then will measure the bit I want grassed so we can get that out of next weeks wage & properly plan what to plant in my long thin strip on the opposite side.

I'm thinking about whether it's worth making a small raised deck in the area next to our kitchen for myself and oh to use for eating out there in the summer, if we get one , as it's completely concealed from my bil on one side & the neighbours on the other side. Or maybe just refresh the concrete that's out there at the moment

[DisasterArea]

hi ll. can i join?
created myself a raised bed last year. my garden manages to slope in 3 different directions at once so now have a nice little flat bit.
last year i did...
courgettes - dead easy but grew way too many and they spread all over the place
ditto pumpkins. will be doing only one of each this year.
tomatos last year were rubbish. millions of flowers 7 tomatoes and they all went brown.
french beans up a bamboo wigwam. did nicely.
lettuce and some herbs did well.

think i'll do some peas this year because they're nice to pick and nibble raw. and some carrots.

have also been promised a little greenhouse from someone else so may try tomatoes inside and some peppers.

Now. any ideas what i can put in a border tht gets very little sun? tried sweetpeas last year but only grew loads of leaves and no flowers.

[gemmiegoatlegs]

what is the best way to deal with a boggy lawn? Can we do something to drain/aerate or do i need a landscaping company to come and charge me a fortune?

[Concepta]

gemmie, our lawn was very boggy and my husband just went round it with a gardening fork and stuck holes into it and then added some sand to these holes. He has regularly fed it - in Autumn and Spring with a good fertiliser that kills the moss as well. He rakes up the moss after about a week. It is hard work but the lawn has never been so good and it is not boggy or wet now at all. We too are new gardeners. Have noticed you can get a lot of free bulbs, flowers etc from newspapers like the Daily Mail from time to time. Just keep an eye on them. We got some last year.

[callmeovercautious]

Lucysmam - GW is Gardeners World - I am hooked on their magazine But you can read alot of it and the back issue stuff on their website here.

There is an article on Broad beans and Peas this month. I have grown both before but will be trying their tips this year. The loo rolls mean you can just plant them out individually without disturbing the roots as they hate that apparently.

gemmie - as if by majic they also tackle your Q this month too! check the link, if you can't find it I will summerise it from my copy for you. I think alot of it involved what Concepta said.

No planting for me today - the snow was just too exciting

[gemmiegoatlegs]

thanks concepta Is it sharp sand? [no idea what sharp sand is but heard dh mention it emoticon]

will look for that link thanks callme

[lucysmam]

lol @ the snow was too exciting! Thanks for the link, I'll sit down with that and my morning cuppa tomorrow & have a read through it. Have seen Gardeners World in our local Tesco before but the only people I've ever seen buy it are ancient

Might invest in a copy at the end of the week (payday) to have a read through though

[Concepta]

Gemmie - yes it was sharp sand.

Found a good website www.gardenersclick.com. It gives you the opportunity to ask questions to others who have more knowledge including Terry Walton - who owns his own allotment and is regularly on the Jeremy Vine show Radio 2.

[callmeovercautious]

lucysmam - have a read online first, I treat myself to the mag but tbh the website is better as you can search for what you are thinking about.

There are loads of goos websites and books if you have the time to read. I have found they do differ in their advice though! I think alot depends on your weather and siol type when it comes to what you can do when.

[lucysmam]

My garden is clear! Just a pile of ash to get rid of after last night's bonfire! yes, bonfire in the snow . . . oh & bil's idea. It went up with the aid of a lot of petrol

But now all thats left for me is to clear the ash & work out where to grass & where to plant since they've decided between them we're not putting a fence between our houses so we all have a bigger garden to use

[debbiedlemur]

Kitchen garden magazine is a good one, you should be able to get that in your local supermarket. Also in WH Smit at the mo they have a magazine for children to start growing veg, it comes with 10 packets of seeds and is only £4.99 (reduced from £9.99). The magazine is really good and written in a simple way (easy for me to understand) and it has a scrapbook bit in the middle where children can take photos, or draw pictures of their progress.

[callmeovercautious]

Sounds great - I might wait for the 2" of snow to melt first though

[lucysmam]

Has anyone here ever tried any seeds from their local £1 shop?

Mine has some packs of seeds with 6 different veggies in & I wondered if it'd be worth trying those before spending any more money since it's the first time I've had a garden

[callmeovercautious]

Give it a go. That sounds like a bargain to me

I have had some cheap ones from Wilkinsons and they did fine. However they tended to be F1 types. That meant they all grew at the same rate for example all the Broad beans were ready at once. So I had 2 weeks of BB then nothing. I did freeze them so they were not a complete waste. Last year I did some older variety (not F1) and they all cropped more gradually so I could harvest less at one time but over a longer period.

Another tip is to buy some things as individual plugs at the Garden centre or a boot fair/market. Courgettes take up lots of room and are usually heavy croppers. So I just buy one or two small plants rather than wasting seed and compost on loads I can't use. I will do this with toms this year. Last year I grew cherry toms from seed and was fed up of eating the same thing. I have room for 4 plants so this year I want to do 4 different types.

[lucysmam]

Cheers callme, I didn't think about them growing at the same or different rates. I'll have a bit more of a read around I think & get a bit more info before I think about planting.

I'll probably still try some from the £1 shop as well though, just to see how I get on with them

[lucysmam]

Cheers callme, I didn't think about them growing at the same or different rates. I'll have a bit more of a read around I think & get a bit more info before I think about planting.

I'll probably still try some from the £1 shop as well though, just to see how I get on with them