What has held you back, as a gardener?

I had almost forgotten about the decking all over the weed membrane - both took years to remove and roots of trees were entwined within the weed membrane - really took away years of proper gardening and impoverished the soil too.

I have often wished for clay soil, but reading quite a few of these comments, I am thinking clay can be a headache too.

 

Poor sandy soil, not enough rainfall in spring and summer, garden not big enough!

Actually I wouldn't say any of those really "hold me back", but they do limit what I can grow, types of plants, sizes, and numbers. I have to be very selective.

 

We have the same problems here @JennyJB - but the opposite of yours!

It's always about working with what you have though, and that can be challenging, especially as it's changing quite noticeably now.
Clay is wonderful @ClematisDbee - but it's about patience, and the prep, before you plant. That's the hardest thing to stick to [apart from the clay itself ] when you're desperate to get going with the plants, but it pays off in spades....

 

I got really into gardening during Covid. We would go to garden centers with my partner, as they were safe open spaces, we would see plants that we fell in love with and I would just look up the conditions they need on the spot and buy them. There was no clear plan however. And I don't like killing plants so it's been a long process of trying to make them all somehow fit together by grouping, moving plants around, adding more plants with specific colours / foliage style to tie them in (roughly), and gifting some of them. I did also toughen up and murdered a very small number of them...

Another challenge is that I keep changing my mind and making more and more plans for changes Some plants have been moved so many times I am amazed they are alive.

I would love to have a bigger garden (though it's not completely tiny it's not big either). It would also be nice for it to have more sun (it's North-West facing). My soil is clay but actually that hasn't been a big issue for me. I do a lot of prep work each time there is a new plant. At a later stage in life that will be a challenge (not that I am a youngster, I am in my 40s, but digging and amending the soil is OK at this stage).

 

@CostasK Be careful what you wish for when you say you'd love a bigger garden. When we moved into our current house 37 years ago our garden was easily manageable. At that time I was under 40 and pretty fit. Now over 70 and definitely anything but fit, the garden is becoming a real chore.

 

Lack of space.

 

Whenever I show in-law my garden in Spring, he says, Simone your garden looks different every year.
This is true.
There is a saying that we need years to find out what we want and what can be done.
I’m now 9 years in the garden and I still don’t know what I want. I’m afraid by the time I know what I want, I’m too old to change it.

 

We would have loved more space, but I agree that as you age it may become more of a problem. Now when we go to a GC if one of us wants a plant they have to be able to say where it will go. As a result we have far too many things in pots as neither of us can stick to the rules.

 

23 years here and likewise the garden was not too much trouble for quite a few years, now also over 70 I sometimes go out and don’t know where to start to work in it. Snag is I love where I live and could not even contemplate going to live in a residential area again after living over 40 years surrounded by countryside and no neighbour noise or issues. I still regularly forget to lock the doors to my vehicle or house!
I do what I can, have turned a few flowerbeds into grass and reluctantly use membrane and bark chip which does help considerably with weeding plus I haven’t heard any complaints from my plants! So to answer the question, holy hell, old age holds me back from dealing with about 2 acres of garden!

 

You've hit the nail on the head, @hailbopp. When you've got a lot of land but age or health or both kick in, you have to rationalise and organise to make it as manageable as possible. The first thing to go here was the enormous veg plot. It used to be my pride and joy as well as providing us with everything we needed veg-wise as well as a surplus to give away. It's too labour and time-intensive, though, not just growing stuff but harvesting and then dealing with the produce. I'll re-plant the asparagus next spring, but the rest of it will be grassed over +1 for weed-suppressing membrane and deep mulching. They're life-changers!

 

Hi @noisette47 I was thinking about this and apologies of this doesn't apply to your situation, but what if you had a couple of raised beds made where the veg plot is? I know Charlie Dimmock from Garden Rescue recommends them for easier access to the plants, plus if the material is thick enough you can perch on it. This way, rather than feeling that you are losing something, you will be replacing it with something else.

You could even use easy care plants. I am guessing it's a sunny spot. About a year ago I bought some really tough hybrid lavenders ("lavender sensational") - there are videos online of them covered in snow. It's early days but I love them so far. Other than an annual chop, you just let them be. The flowers are great and they have evergreen foliage. I also love hylotelephiums (formerly known as sedums). There are so many pretty ones, I keep seeing new ones at garden centers all the time. And a lot of them are suitable for ground cover, which would reduce weeding. Both types of plants have similar (very low) requirements, you barely even need to water them, especially after the first few months.

Of course that would cost a bit I imagine, mainly because of the creation of the raised beds.

 

For me it’s been time and money.
Time to read up on various topics, time to see how different plants grow around the garden or different techniques work etc. when I first moved in to the house over 20 years ago I started my garden journey as I had no kids so had time. But then it paused as the kids came along and took up the time and the footballs etc in the garden meant there was no point investing in nice plants etc as they just got destroyed so the garden was left for playing in. Now they are grownups I have more time again so have sent the last 2 or 3 years reclaiming the garden, investing my spare time back into the garden, slowly bringing it back to life bit by bit.
Money for buying things, getting quicker results. I have been buying lots of seeds and bare roots, dividing and taking cuttings over the last years as to buy potted plants is beyond my reach (also feeds into time as it takes longer to see mature plants/results). My patio I did myself over about 3 years buying the paving a bit at a time when I had the spare money as again, it is out my reach to do it in a oner or get someone in to do it professionally. Would love a greenhouse to help my growing and wide t my opportunities but again no money for this.

I think my gardening journey will be in 3 phases. Firstly when I was around 30, learning, buying plants and killing them, getting my first tools etc. Then a rejuvenation around 50 as the kids grew up giving me a bit more time / money to put my increased experience to use. And finally the phase I am looking forward too……..retirement. I plan to treat myself to that greenhouse, the garden should of filled out nicely and be somewhat how I would like it, allowing me spend my time pottering and experimenting, perusing garden centres/online catalogues as I will have all the time in the world.

 

Hello CostasK, Happy New Year Thank you for taking the trouble to reply. I'm very much hoping that my inability to garden is temporary, as it usually is anyway in the winter due to the soggy conditions. In the last two or three years I've concentrated on the ornamental garden in the hopes that my OH would take an interest in the veggie growing but that's not going to happen
The trees, shrubs and perennials are jogging along OK with aforementioned weed barriers, which also help to reduce watering. As a fair few of the borders are already terraced, accessibility in the future will be OK and I'll have to be half-dead before I give up bombing round on the ride on mower
If and when we're both so decrepit that we can't get down to the far reaches of our plot (and the polytunnel) then the creation of raised veg beds nearer to the house would perhaps be a possibility, although from what I've read of the no-dig method, there's almost as much work involved in keeping them topped up as I had just running a rotovator over a big, open space. The soil here definitely lends itself to traditional cultivation methods which is why it's such good farming country.
The other options are to track down someone who doesn't have enough land but would like to grow veg on a 'share the produce' basis, or to employ a gardener. Both are like gold-dust here.
I really shouldn't complain. No veg plot = no pressure to store and conserve, a full time job in itself. Wow...I'll be a lady of leisure (ish)

 

Excellent plan!