NEW Gardeners !

How very sensible! Not every ones choice but for you it sounds perfect. No rotting leaves, flowers or fruit to clean off the seating. No watering, feeding, pruning etc., to worry about so no guilt if the tree died from lack of care. Perfict!!

We bought a small leaf Ivy last year for cheap in a tiny pot, I think it's purpose was for shoving in a hanging basket. It's growing nicely in a container with a Verbina that we bought at the same time. The Verbina didn't die over Winter, and seems to be doing well.When does one take...

Many thanks @pete I'll get some tomorrow and start giving it a feed

I think the idea is good in general with adding new compost. But first need to understand what's the soil in your new garden. When I moved in I hurried to start planting. Now I would've first added a few m3 of good compost/soil,because I've got heavy clay there. If you have camelias,...

Wow, thank you @flounder, that’s a very comprehensive collection! Have your Phyllostachys varieties in the ground remained well behaved or are you always on the alert to keep them under control?

Thank you just reminded me that's something I want to do when it's the right time..I remember folk having ago about Monty Don and his large garden saying many haven't got the space for all that and were rather peturbed about it but anyone with or without a garden can make a mini meadow in a...

From my experience, as I said previously, after a few months the purple stains vanish completely. Maybe your paving is different to mine. I hope you manage to find an answer.

I'd think the most important thing is to have a suitably sized pot - ie a pretty big one, or else you'd have to keep taking it out and doing some root pruning, and keeping the top reasonably well trimmed.

If you applied 25-40mm of 'compost' in the Autumn, I think that should be sufficient for a season. Lightly rake to even surface, remove any weeds you can see and plant. Keep an eye open for any weed seedlings that appear and remove/hoe when they are small. You could use the soggy cardboard you...

David Mey says his garden is quite small and he has a young child. It has occurred to me that is why he is thinking of growing in containers. I go along with this thought as the garden will be the child's play area for several years, sand pit, swing, football pitch, climbing frame etc. Far...

Thank you so much folks, will bear with it and hopefully it will start to look a bit more healthy. I was concerned m,ainly because one of my neighbours has one (which may be an acer not sure) which is wrapped in the anti frost sheeting and looks a million times better but hopefully this will...

Snap @Macraignil

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind.I have thought about clover lawns, however the downside to that location is that clover and cats doesn't mix. While it doesn't have to explicitly be grass there I'd just want something better for her than mud & rocks sort of thing.Thanks, I'll keep an eye...

Quite a number of years ago I used a self cutting tap, mainly due to access issues, The hole they cut is possibly about 6 mm also the bit they cut out is retained in the original 12 mm pipe.

See : www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/cherries/grow-your-own paragraph 5 refers to pruning.

Try it and see, cheap and easy.

Great info!! Thanks.

Ok, Dahlias in large pots/tubs no problem. Grow tubers (look a bit like potatoes!)which are in garden centres now. Strawberries can do well in troughs, many commercial crops now grown this way. Buy plants online or watch for them at Lidl. Sunflowers are easy and offer spectacle/colour, grow from...

Oh yes , thank you, I’ll do that!

Thanks everyone for your input. All very helpful. Best regards, Paul