General Chat

I,ve downsized from an extremely large garden to a small one,it was like a bog when we arrived here,now I,ve got plums cherries apples plus lots of roses which I like all the others of which there are many are just put where there is space.planted veg etc in containers,from what it was its looking good.enjoy your gardens.**M**.

Have quite a large garden which is part of a smallholding and a huge veg garden. My husband is the engineering side of the partnership and has constructed raised beds and loves keeping it weed free. He hoed the germnating carrots a few years ago but now asks first!! It does give him something to do when he has energy which takes this mind of his ME we benefit from wonderful fruit and veg with still a sack of raspberries left in the freezer.

I grow the plants and flowers and have a cottage garden with cream wallflowers, forgetmenots, tulips and lilac in flower at the moment and the alluims and sweet rocket starting. An old cherry tree and peach has just flowered so hopefully we will have good fruit this year. The clematis survived the winter well and Montana Freda is in full bloom with the rampent double Marjorie to follow shortly. They separate the veg garden from the chickens and I hope if they can't see the veg they won't try to get over the fence!

I love pastel colours in the summer with yellows into the autumn and and am growing too many seeds including white scented antirrhinums, cosmos, pholox and rubeckia. I can't resist pricking out all the seedings!! Is this a failing with all gardeners or are others more ruthless? I have ended up with 36 tomato plants this year but luckily friends will have some.

I haven't a big garden but its too big for me. I never get it tidy. My neighbours husband trimmed my adjoining leylandii, laurel and other greenery and it looks fabulous, ....from their side. I have an aged patio with coloured paving stones. Yesterday I kept looking at the pretty dandelions growing in the crack. I decided to get the spade and lift individual stones so I could get at the weeds. After one hour I was shattered. Under the stones were colonies of ants and the eggs. I haven't the heart to kill them. My plus in the garden is that I now have a wooden arch leading to my front door and wisteria has taken off like mad so I am looking forward to the purple flowers appearing. The only time my garden will look anything is when I buy some bedding plants next month. I really admire all gardeners, because their work can give so much pleasure to others. For everyone who keeps their garden looking cheerful can I say a big thank you.....and wish I could be so diligent.-jl

Morning Det and Chris. I always refer to my garden as a 'work in progress'. I cannot resist things when I am in the garden centres, and can always find a place for another plant or two. Or, in my case, half their stock.
I think when you live in a house with a garden, you yourself only, know that garden, and what will or won't grow in it, despite the type of soil and which way it is facing. All this despite the gardening guru's, and yes, I am a fan of Monty Don. As the seasons progress through the year, you can see what grows, and buy more for the following year, and what doesn't, then you give it a wide berth.
And style. What you get pleasure from, maybe others would not touch with a barge pole. It is purely up to the individual, as you have got to live with it. I do alot of work in my garden, because, it gives me fresh air and gentle exercise. But, I cannot abide to see a lovely collections of flowers, and naff bounderies, be they be wooden fencing or stone walls. That is why I give alot of attention to constantly painting any woodwork.. But that is just me.
So, enjoy your gardens ladies, and remember, if it gives you pleasure, then that is what it is all about.

Take Care All
Julia in Derbyshire

Sounds so pretty Julia and gives you lots of enjoyment.

That sounds wonderful Julia. Many of us would be envious.

What sort of gardener am I? A fair weather one! Like Teresa, we've had to accept that ours is a spring garden, as the back garden is north facing and bordered by mature trees in neighbouring gardens + the neighbour's 10 foot high Copper Beach hedge.

It is relatively small and an odd shape. After the spring bulbs (daffs etc) have died down, I place pots with summer bedding plants in the gaps between the shrubs. There is no point planting them straight into the ground as the soil is rubbish; feed the soil and feed the trees lol/groan. Flowers would only lean towards the light anyway, and at least pots can be turned round. OH has a continuous battle with nature to try to improve the grass - it would be best to dig it up and re turf!

Not sure what the colour scheme will be this year. don't think there will be one - the bedding plants we bought are 'mixed'. I've also started off various vegetables in pots to see how they will do.

Happy gardening

My trouble is, I like just about everything, but not so keen on shrubs, and it is a nightmare in the garden centres not to buy everything I see.
When I first came here, the whole garden was flat. So, I have to two main beds raised, and contained by log flume. I like all colours, and to achieve this I have the whole area, given over to separate 'rooms'.
Just outside the door to the garden, I have a little room with a small wrought iron table and chairs, for coffee, and a long bench. When I sit there, I can pick from hanging basket, baby tomatoes and alpine strawberries.
A 'walkway' down to the greenhouse is achieved by the use of trellis and archways, covered in clematis. The recently made bed on the left handside, cleared of Hebes, is planted up with plants I bought from visiting gardens open for the Marie Curie Charity. The kind of plants you admire in other peoples gardens, but can never find them in the garden centre. On the right hand side are hanging baskets planted up in blues and yellows. Turn right through an arch halfway down into a large area in which the summerhouse, bird table, a small round log-flumed bed with an Acer in, and a very large pot of lillies,and many large pots standing around.
Facing this area is the second raised bed,alongside the dividing fence of the neighbours, which I call my tropical border. I have ferns, palms,cordylines , and grasses for contour, but intersperesed with colour provided by such things as large Arum lillies.. There is also a Sambbuca tree which I festoon with coloured wasp jars and lanterns, and also chinese lanterns. I have solar lights placed across the front edge of this bed. The greenhouse and summerhouse abut the back fence, and years ago, because it was boring looking at a bare fence, I painted an arched gate, fitted on some large black hinges, studs and a latch. In front of this I placed an archway, and it is covered in Clematis, and Solar Butterfly lights. Against the summerhouse I have now propped an old Pashly bike, with a basket of cut flowers on the handles bars, and a pannier basket for the geraniums.
Immediatly to one side, is the patio are, again created by the use of archways and trellis. Many clematis scamper over all the supports. On the patio, I have a large ovel table, brolly and chairs. My pride and joy. Various large pots abound, again to create a tropical feel, and I have a cascading water feature. I have four window boxes and about thirty hanging baskets in various areas.
The standing throughout is given over to gravel ( more convenient when having dogs) and of course, paving for the patio.
There, you have just walked through a video of my garden, which I am now going to go to, and do some work, which is my summer enjoyment.
Happy gardening everyone
Julia in Derbyshire

PS. All fencing and trellises are painted in Harvest Cream, with a band of Willow across the top. All upright posts are also painted in Willow, as is the summerhouse and the greenhouse.

my front garden is very small
a small lawn with a boarder
which has wall flowers and lavenders with tulips hyacinths and daffs growing
the smell in damp hot weather is fantastic

my back garden is paved leading past my decking
to the summer house and up one side yukka trees in pots and corderlines
and in front of them is a small patch of gravel
with larger pretty stones gathered at the beach
with little cottages that i buy at boot sales scattered like a little village
and also right round my garden i have hanging baskets and lots of solar light so every night it looks like Christmas

I have a 'plant & leave' policy.
I rarely water,and if the plant dies,it dies!
I had a flower in a pot (can't think of it's name) once. When it died, I just plonked it in the garden. Since then, it's spread, and very winter they flower.
I have a useless small grassed plot at the front, with a forsythia hedge created from cuttings from a shrub from the back garden that I tried to demolish (it's still there) The hedge is now interspersed with Yew.

A barked over bank at the side, that nothing grew on, as it is full of builders rubble, but is now a giant litter tray for my cats!! - Californian poppies now grow there - where they came from, I have no idea!
There is also a dwarf ceanthus - except it's 12 ft high by 20 ft across -and dying!!
I have yucca's, cistus, alpine strawberries, violas, lavender etc growing on the downward slope.
The back garden is fairly small, and has many shrubs around the edges, quite a few 'self seeders' - like the guilder rose, with grass in the middle.
Despite the fact that I back on to other gardens, I have both hedgehogs and sloworms in my garden - and many slugs & snails!!!
I've tried growing vegetables, but the slugs eat them!
Can't put slug killer down because of the wildlife!!

Jew's Mallow ( common name ) is Kerria , Chris it is beautiful when in full flower , we have it in the back and front garden ..but a hedge full of it in the front. Hubby did a hatchet job on the one at the back, but is coming back rather well.
Dad used to have large pink poppies, never seen them since they died off in his garden. I didn't like them cos they smelt horrible.. don't think they were Opium do you..?lol
We have the large scarlet red poppies and the little Welsh yellow and orange ones, they bring so much colour to the garden .
We have loads of common fuchsia shrubs which originated from my grandfather's garden.. so sentimental to me:)
Anything for an easy life me.. hubby still grows his annuals to put in tubs around the patio.
When we married he didn't know a tulip from a daffodil...but he's moved on now to much greater things:)
An old gent who used to live near us and went to our local pub ( was know as as a real awkward old guy.. Tom) and we were new to the village, but a as villager myself we got on well, After about a yr when hubby and I got the garden in some sort of order, Tom came around one day and checked out our garden. Next time we saw him he congratulated hubby on his efforts and began calling him Perse ( Persy Thrower) lol he was a character . No one dared to sit in 'his seat' in the pub !! Everyone called him Mr B, but he told us to call him Tom, he was a real gent underneath all his awkwardness :)
Tried begonias last yr , they were beautiful, managed to weather them over the winter, hope they come as good this yr.
Sandie.x

We have a wood at the back of our garden and after many many years I finally had to accept that ours was a spring garden, the conditions appear to dictate this. Wood anemones, lords and ladies and wild violets in abundance also bluebells and harebells. I could not believe it when I saw Lords and Ladies being sold in garden centre, have been chucking them out for years.

At the moment still got some daffs, tulips, primroses, polyanthus, choisya, lily of the valley and two shrubs with white blossom whose names escape me at the moment. Magnolia stellata in bloom and kerria and forgetmenots - I have quite a few blue flowers blooming from spring to summer.

Shouted at OH last year asked him to cut down stems of poppies when stopped flowering , he cut the lot down to about 2" - he is a happy bunny they have all survived his pruning!

Just found OH in kitchen, the hedgehogs are back and he was putting up a plate of dog food, the two ducks flew in again at teatime, squirrels as usual. Had a panic this morning over two Koi going belly up in the pond but they righted themselves.

Five bird feeders of various types. Spotted woodpecker comes in back garden, green in the front and never the twain do meet!

OH has a large plastic bin in the garage in which he keeps the bird seed, bought a new sack the other day and discovered a little hole in the side. I told him where the mousetrap was - he reckoned if he chewed through that plastic he deserved a feed! He repaired the hole!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have a pot luck garden Chris,

we have a stream along side which is now given over to wildlife (Bill Oddie would be impressed!)

We have lots of birds, two cats from next door, hedgehogs, voles (and i am sure mice)
Also have ducks which visit and the occasional Monkjack Dear which comes from over the fields and eat what ever plants they can find.

I lost a lot of plants in the winter so have bought ground covering things, I have day lilies, cornflowers and bulbs and bought a red robin but not sure of the names of he things that were here when we moved in.

Teresa x

We have a large goal as well for football mad Son and Husband is trying to cutivate grass on the bald patches of lawn. lol

I used to try the planned colour scheme but OH would plant something in the middle of the wrong colour. I tried for all pinks and purples then found he'd planted yellow pansies!! So now it is, as it comes and every space filled. No spaces so less room for weeds.!

Formal gardens, planned colour scheme or like me (well I used to - now direct OH) walk around my estate with pot in hand looking for a space!