General Gardening Discussion

Having been kindly directed by whis4ey to a site that shows the Italian (and European weather zones) I reckon I am somewhere around zone 7 but close to zone 6 hence my rock hard frozen ground Brrrrrrr Cheers -

i will get a photo and put it up so you all can see and suggest

I'm starting this weekend. Bought some Lily of the Valley and Bleeding Heart from Focus (3 varities of bulbs for a fiver) for the area under the Conifers at the back.

sorry to high jack, but do morning glories grow well in troughs attached to the wall?

hi all, ive decided to start out on the garden, ive got myself a sit on lawn mower to cover the half acre of garden. i have put a brick river down the centre towards the drive. i have built set of pillars and hung a set of gates. i have a garage half way down the land, at the side of the garage...

I've installed outside sockets in my garden now and would like to have the option of turning on subdued lighting occasionally. I was thinking of LED floodlights (very low power consumption) washing over the garden and slowly changing their colours. Has anyone any experience of a DMX...

Yes, I was amazed to see that when we stayed with friends in Dallas - beautiful, drying weather...but all washing went into the tumble dryer...But it does sell the story...:gnthb:

Thanks RR - I've just asked for one.Is anyone else having trouble with their website? - I can't seem to navigate to the "Products" page.

It's a good philosphy to avoid any chemicals if you can Louise, I agree what we may think are safe now may well prove to be dangerous in the long run - that has happened time and again so no-one can say any chemical is 100% safe. I'm sure you can beat most weeds without resorting to chemicals -...

I don't think I did know this :o Thank you (belatedly, I apologise), it is now noted!

Have you seen my pictures on You tube, much of my property is shade. Go on You tube and enter in Estherredstar. I learned by books for shade etc. and on line plugging in plants for shade looking at heights and when blooming etc. Takes time.

Hello Vrana and welcome to GC. I don't know about the different sorts, but I have sometimes seen the smooth kiwis in the shops. They are more golden in colour, aren't they? Your picture is amazing, I didn't know that kiwi produced so many fruits! We had a kiwi once, but nothing came of...

Well... if I try to sleep in them I just know I'm going to scare myself silly. One, creepy crawlies and two, out on my own after dark! I may be 34 but deep inside I am still 8!Strangely I do seem to be coming round to the mounded look. I waited and weeded last year, so I know what's there....

There is some perceived wisdom around that planting beech hedges nowadays is not a good idea. I believe this is becaue they are fairly thirsty and because of global warming, will not do as well as they used to. However, Hornbeam is a more than adequate substitute, it tolerates poor soil and...

I've got a cyclamen plant in a pot by my front door and it is one of my winter garden highlights when it flowers! normally around Dec/Jan.This year though I had no flowers :( although it looks quite happy and the leaves are blooming lovely!Anything I can do to encourage flowers in the...

No not at all. I like prompting discussion! :gnthb:

Thanks for the ideas, unfortunatly we have thought of this but there seems to be a clay pipe running close to the wall less than a foot down. It may be old and unused now but I dont really want to break into it to find out. The only idea I have had to date is to anchor fine steel cables to...

You are quite right Natalie. The plants would not survive our winters, however I could take them inside for the winter and then outside in the spring. Thanks Marley for the plant suggestions. I have visited Jamaica and fell in love! My backyard is a work in progress and as I continue I will post...

The bed will be quite long and up against a new fence (this will use concrete posts). The depth will vary from 3m down to about 2.I have a sketch of the planned layout, so will add that later to explain better what I'm aiming to achieve.

thanks woo much appreciated...I like to think I very much share your, whatever works for you attitiude...I have seen too many times, people doing something completly at odds with 'recognised wisdom', to think their is a right and wrong when it comes to gardening. Itake on board everything you...