Find out how MNers are getting on with their Homebase Garden Goals challenge NOW CLOSED

[AmeliaMumsnet]

This feedback thread is for the 10 MNers taking part in Homebase’s Garden Goals challenge. Each MNer is undertaking a particular task to create their dream garden; either making an edible garden, a patio garden, adding some colour, encouraging wildlife or creating a garden for entertaining.

Each tester was given a £100 Homebase voucher and is undertaking a ‘one hour’, a ‘half a day’ and a ‘one day’ task to transform their gardens by following Homebase’s Garden Goals tips and instructions. They will leave weekly updates on their progress on this thread.

Here’s what Homebase has to say: “We have teamed up with Anne-Marie Powell to launch our Garden Goals challenge to help families get their outside spaces ready for summer. We want to encourage those of all gardening abilities to complete a garden project; whether that’s creating an edible garden, creating a patio garden, adding colour to your garden, encouraging wildlife to your garden or creating a garden for entertaining.”

Watch this short video to find out more:

We also tasked 5 MN bloggers with the same Garden Goals challenges, check out how they got on below:

Create an edible garden challenge before and after by Attachment Mummy
Create a garden for entertaining challenge before and after by A Strong Coffee
Add colour to your garden challenge before and after by ET Speaks From Home
Create a wildlife garden challenge before and after by Confessions of a Crummy Mummy
Create a patio garden challenge before and after by Le Coin De Mel

Testers

Throughout the 8 weeks when posting about your progress with your garden, please think about and answer the below:

• Which Garden Goal did you take on and why did you want to undertake this particular challenge? What was your garden like before you started to work on it?
• How did you find your in store experience at Homebase? Were the staff friendly and helpful?
• How useful did you find Homebase’s ‘how to guides’?
• How did you find using the shopping lists provided? Did you find everything you needed in store to complete your Garden Goal?
• Do you feel like you achieved your Garden Goal?
• After completing your Garden Goal, do you feel more confident in gardening and would you like to take on more challenges throughout your home and garden?

Each week we’d love to get an update on how you are progressing with your Garden Goal tasks and to see lots of lovely pictures. Please also share your photos on your social media channels using #GardenGoals and tagging @ Mumsnet on Instagram and @ MumsnetInsight on twitter.

Everyone who leaves their feedback on this thread as required will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Homebase voucher.

Thanks and happy gardening!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

here is an update on our patio to be, it is slow going and pretty hard work but very satisfying.

and a pic of our bottom patio as well, I'm planning to clean it up and add some pots.

Belligerant Please would you tell me what brand of wood paint you used on your bench? I really like it. We have a very old and neglected wooden bench in our garden and it could really do with a clean and spruce up.

Bees enjoying the garden.

WellTidy I think it may have been Cuprinol Garden Shades going by the photo of the trolley on 12/05

Just gorgeous chickens! What's the pink flower in the third photo?

Love your garden on different levels scared, really handy to create different zones! Mine's flat which has its upsides but makes it look a bit boring. I need to introduce some dividing beds and arches probably.

The herb pot looks very inviting I had a bit of a probelm last year with certain herbs sulking. I discovered you're meant to separate the two types for best results, e.g.:

"You can grow herbs in pots together as long as you remember two rules: avoid mixing those that like plenty of water (such as chives, mint, chervil, coriander, Vietnamese coriander) with those that like a well-drained soil (such as rosemary, thyme, sage, bay, and oregano)".

Article here

wow Ginger, goldfinches!!

I love the pictures of your garden. I want foxgloves, my dad is planting seeds so I am hoping to steal some plants for next year.

Sorry Ginger I have no idea what the pink flower is, it was here when we moved in, but the bees absolutely love it!

Thanks for the tip on the RSPB website. I'll put the fat snax and peanuts away for now and stick to seeds and maybe some mealworms.

They're so sweet chickens I definitely recommend putting nyger seed out. I really didn't expect to attract any so quickly. I wonder how they know?! More finches and sparrows have arrived simultaneously. I don't know whether they're after the nyger seed or if word has spread through the bird community that there's food in the tree!

Lol at Squirrel Nutkin and your very own Mr McGregor

I love the lilac and magnolia! I have a lilac shrub that's just finished flowering. It smelled divine. I may be talking utter rubbish but I seem to remember it being important to remove the grass in a metre circle beneath new trees. I can't remember why though?! Maybe something to do with the grass competing and removing nutrients?

Thank you for the kind words! Last year was the first time the garden started to come together. This year I'm enjoying not having to do much. Still finding 10,000 jobs to do of course but trying to sit back and enjoy the flowers!

Or maybe it's a 50cm circle around trees?! Not sure how you keep long grass at bay mind, perhaps some kind of raised divider or that grass edging stuff you get on a roll

I'm being lazy and keeping my fat balls out They're rock solid and I don't think there's any danger of young birds choking on them. The birds seem to chip away at them rather than remove big chunks at a time. No danger of melting either in the shade of the tree. I was making my own lard based ones in half coconut shells over winter but they're not advised in the spring/ summer as they're too soft in the heat and get stuck in young birds beaks. I'm too tight to buy mealworms but that's a great idea! I have a flock of greedy starlings and they'd hoover them up in seconds

Thank you Ginger!

I haven't been able to get to Homebase yet, but I will be doing the making my garden ready for entertaining challenge. This is what my garden looks like now. Definitely, needs work! I was thinking of some solar lights to brighten it up a bit, and then get started on a nice seating area.

Betty that's a great little space, I think it would loook great with a seating area and some planters full of colourful flowers.

Ginger I absolutely love your garden! Ours is a typical new build devoid of life, wish mine was like yours.

That herb garden is lovely scared. I'm having to hold myself back from using all my herbs up in one go, it's just so tempting when they are on your doorstep isn't it.

Here are some photos of my garden now. I still need to fill that big bed and get it to blend with the herb garden but on the whole I'm pleased with how it's turning out. It's great to look outside and see some life in my garden rather than a big blank space.

Oh and here is my little bay tree that seems to grow an inch overnight!

Aw your bay tree looks like Groot Iam!

welltidy - it is Cuprinol. The bench is lavender and the table is forget me not. It seems a bit watery at first but goes on really easy and great coverage.

chickens - your photos are glorious!

I'm envious of the magnolia's and lilac trees. DH managed to kill my young magnolia last year by strimming it and it didn't recover and I do want a lilac tree so I can sing "On the street where you live" at the infant pixies whilst in the garden and annoy them and the neighbors, my DH and probably the local wildlife.

I've been working on prepping the playhouse this week, here's my before picture.

Thank you!

ah cheers ginger I guess I should have read the instructions a bit better. Maybe they shouldn't be sold together in a pack of they can't be planted together. I'm gonna try and swap some around then, can't have sulking herbs.

yes! sit back and enjoy the flowers! I'm feeling really proud of my flowers as I've never grown any before
I have planted up some containers and they are beautiful

love the tree worwax I want some kind of tree but they are expensive so I need to make sure I get the right one.

My lil sis is coming over on Mon with her pressure washer, I'm looking forward to giving the patio a good cleaning. That would be another half day challenge.

Thanks Worwax I'm in awe of your sunken trampoline, was that not a job and a half?

Honestly my garden was a narrow rectangle (terraced house) with barely any planting (just lawn) when I moved in 3.5yrs ago. I spent a bit of time pruning back unruly laurel and holly and removing/ thinning some of the branches on a monster tree. My Dad removed an 8ft lleylandii hedge that ran the length of the garden and I had a new fence and trellis installed. Since then I've concentrated on planting. I really didn't know what I was doing to start with!! Still learning

Small confession: the majority of my plants came from the reduced shelf in Homebase! Often the plants are in fine condition but have passed their flowering period for the year.

I love the contrast of the herb bed, I might pinch that idea! Have you thought of putting any edibles on your fences? I love the idea of espaliered fruit trees! Or raspberries? A wise gardener advised me to cover my fences in climbers (some evergreen). They were right, it makes a huge difference.

scared you could always see how you get on with them all together? They do look lovely! If not, an excuse to buy another gorgeous herb pot? In fairness it probably didn't mention it on the instructions!!

Ooh I want to see pics of your flowers! Are they out yet? One of my fave small trees is the Japanese maple aka Acer. Most of mine are still in pots and they seem happy. They're so beautiful, lots of different colours too. They're great for patios as theyre fairly slow growing and like a bit of shelter (the leaves are prone to windburn in exposed sites). I don't think they like too much sun however.

chickens you have bats! How wonderful!

In wildlife news my kitchen has filled with ants this evening! Slight exaggeration, they're marching in by the back door but still - argh! I actually like watching ants (outside!) but I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill these ones
Funny you should say that about foxgloves, mine came from my Dad's garden and have multiplied I adore them. Am I right in thinking they flower in the second year and then die? But the seed dispersal ensures they live on!

Thanks Rue! Your garden is looking good! I love the maypoles - the perspective of the photo makes them look like they're attached to the phones lines Kudos on the hardcore gardening effort/ wonderwoman comparison! My Dad left some of the stumps of the lleyandii in (we didn't hire a stump grinder) and the border has flourished, it's the long one with the foxgloves and birdbath. I'm seriously impressed as I didn't really enrich the soil at the time oops.

Can't wait to see the playhouse transformation Pixies

at the singing and the reaction of the little pixies!

All the pictures are making me very envious. I can't believe how much everything had grown the past week. I will try and get some pictures once the storm has passed.
I was worried that the herb trug I planted up as my half day challenge would blow over in the storm. It's standing strong at the moment...

Yes I was thinking of things that grow up the fence ginger, I just don't have a clue what. I really need to sit and plan it out.
The trampoline was a massive job, at one point I thought we'd be stuck with a makeshift swimming pool! The hard work has definitely paid off though as my eldest is so hyper, now we can relax outside as he has somewhere to burn his energy off.

Today we made a fruity Bird feeder from the Homebase guide. The guide was dead easy to follow. Even had a YouTube video. DDs loved making it. I used half a grapefruit, knife, string and birdseed. The birds have already been at it.

Morning all well my entertaining garden is certainly working had 30 people for a BBQ last weekend! We used the 3mx3m pop up gazebo to protect from showers it was amazing. We also used our firepit but everyone loved it and there's loads similar in Homebase.

I still can't get the garden arch home and you can't order it online it's shop only so that project will have to wait but I did buy some trellis for my jasmine which looks great! I'll post some photos later.

I've also bought loads of bird feeders (I know not the entertaining challenge) but it has been entertaining watching the fat pigeons line up on the hedge waiting for their turn!!