My first garden!

The garden's coming together really well Rad and it's good to see plants blooming too.

Another idea for your square and you'll either love it or hate it, Corylus Avellana 'Contorta' is a distorted Hazel. It's not the prettiest of shrubs but it's certainly a talking point.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cor...wQsARqFQoTCPGHyernsMcCFQG7FAodYhgAqQ&dpr=0.95

 

Thanks

As for the Corkscrew hazel idea, I do like the plant. My gran has one thats 8 ft tall and looks great when the leaves fall off. I just don't think it will look right in the square. I will put that plant in the memory bank though!

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The plan (which I've set my heart on today) will be a fruit trees in 3 corners. They will be about 7 ft tall and a couple of feet wide. They're "designed" to be kept thin so they can be placed quite close. On one corner, I'll have the bird bath like in the pic. That leaves the central space free to plant some stuff. I'll wait until the trees are in to decide what space I need. I can't really plan it yet because I don't know whether I'll be able to pick the fruit without standing in the square or whether I'll need a stepping stone in the middle or something.

Anyway... time to wait and see

 

Hi Rad,
All i can say is it's looking absolutely brilliant

I reckon we'll make a gardener of you yet.

And, welcome back

 

Cheers Hopefully I can do just as well with my crops. I've reeled @Beckie76 in to try growing leeks in her veggie patch Hopefully we have some good luck!

I still don't have labels though, other than in my seed trays.

My next project will be a joinery project. I got a cloche (on hoops) to form a 6x2ft low tunnel. Unfortunately the circular shape of the tunnel means it's very low and you can only utilise about 1ft of the 2ft raised bed. It's not ideal. My plan is to create a cage for the raised bed which I can line with thick fleece. That way, I can grow crops right to the edges of the raised bed.

I've also been told that my onions and garlic (to overwinter) will be send no later than the end of September. If I can get the frame made by then then the bulbs will be able to get sunlight, rain and breeze through the cloche but the birds, cats and pest insects wont be able to get in.

Oh and the frame needs to be able to be stored in a small space so it needs to be disassemblable .

 

My bulbs (and a plant) have arrived!!!

 

Whoop whoop Rad I just hope you have better weather than me! It's raining cats & dogs here no good for gardening , so I'm going to have a quick peep in line to see what I NEED!!!

 

It's hammerring it down today! I'm over here fondling my ginormous bulbs! Dutch Master Daffodil bulbs that is...

 

I'm not sure if I'm jealous or not On one hand I can't spend as much time in the garden as I'd like. On the other hand I do have a cheaper water bill

 

Oh well, here goes......

There's nothing that will bring contentment like a really good fondle

 

Or so I've been told.

I had to have a quick google to see what the word " fondle " meant

 

Always end up smiling with you folks around

I'm currently planning the square (STILL). I'm pretty much sold on the "3 trees in 3 corners" and the bird bath with ferns around it in the other corner. That leaves some space in the centre and I think I'm going to plant rhubarb there. Even if it grows 5ft wide it should be fine and easy to maintain. I'll also have some room around th outside which I can fill with small plants. I think that's an ok plan....? Rhubarbs do well in full sun and partial shade so it's a good spot I think.

My attention has also turned the soil patch behind the coldframe. I'm going to get a row of bushes along the line from the green trug to the end of the coldframe. I want something there to vaguely block the view into the back of the garden. I'm thinking raspberry bushes. I know it's not evergreen. As for that soil patch, it's a bit shady, getting full sun in the middle of the day and sun in the evening and the soil is ok. It needs some compost to improve the drainage a bit but I'm willing to put in a bit more ankle grease.

I know the raspberries wont produce as much fruit in the shadier spots but I would rather plant a bush that produces less fruit than not plant a bush because it's not going to do as well as it could. Make sense?



I've also been down the drive (which runs down the side of the house) and pulled out all the weeds. They were about 1ft tall and I've cut the roots off, cut any seed bits off and kept all the foliage for the compost heap. I've got a full trug of foliage from a spot which I wouldn't have otherwise used. Who said weeds were bad?

Some of the stuff in the compost heap is starting to break down but the leafy stuff from the front hedge (about half the compost heap) still hasn't changed colour. It looks nice and fresh still Don't really fancy taking it out but I thought it would have gone yellow at least

 

Bushes? BUSHES! We learn something new every day Rad particularly as gardeners, they are not bushes, they are shrubs if you please.

Leaves take a lot longer to rot down than anything else, try storing them in a plastic sack for a while to help them get going, then you can either return them to the compost heap or mix them with soil to grow plants in.

 

Who said bushes? Not me Lesson learnt I got told off by my father in law the other day for being too posh. I said "mow the lawn" and apparently I should say "cut the grass" like a normal person. I refused, stating the the lawnmower mows the lawn. I'm getting it from all angles lately

Ok, the compost heap.... It's about half full of cuttings from the hedge. I only put in the non-woody cuttings. My aim was to let it decompose and then I could pull out all the woody(ish) stem parts if they don't break down. I could stick it all in a bag I suppose. does the absence of light make it decompose faster?