NEW Gardeners !

Hi there,I've lived in my home for over 10 years but never really made an attempt at making a positive change to the garden. Every year it's more or less fire fighting of weeds and the mowing the lawn.So call it 'mid life crisis' but I've really take to gardening over the past few weeks...

I would go for the gravel for the first 200mm, that should get the cost down a bit.

Thanks Spruce, white would be nice, I can feel a trip to the garden center next weekend coming on!Thanks again.

im due to be planting up (and building!) my raised border beds in a week or so they're going to be dug low, covered with a thick weed proof membrane (recommended by garden centre - it's like a woven pvc type stuff) and filled with top soil, miracle grow compost and ordinary compost so in all the...

Hi, i'm a fellow gardening newbie also attempting to spruce up a garden. I was really intimidated at first due to knowing so little (and my garden is much smaller than yours!) so I decided to just keep things neat and tidy until I felt confident enough to get going (about 6 months later). In...

The date palm will not survive a winter outside if planted in the ground. Might be ok to plant it in a pot and then move to a sheltered position in winter. I'd leave all your plants in the pots till your bed is ready.

Brilliant thank you

Thanks Spruce, that is a great idea, I will talk to some of the my neighbours and see if we can plant something like that to make it beautiful again.I think one of us, possibly me, is going to have to speak with them personally, it just seems so odd, we wonder if there is something going on,...

It all depends on what shrub you have.Many will take if you look for the new growth, snip some tips so that you have pieces 5 or 6 inches long, remove the bottom leaves keeping at least 4 and then put them into pots of moist compost. Put something longer into the pot so that you can cover...

Starting a new garden is so exciting but so is the developing and changing. Keep up the good work, it's looking good. Maybe once he's tasted "just out of the garden" your boyfriend will get to enjoy vegetables too.

Sadly it does look like japanese knotweed to me. It is a bit of a ****er to get rid of. The shoots are so strong they can break through patio's, drains etc so you do need to try to get on top of it. Your landlord could be held liable (I think) if the knotweed escapes from their property and...

How about a Sarcococca, it's a glossy dark evergreen shrub, pretty indestructible, thrives in shade, has the most wonderful scent all winter and black berries in spring. For added prettiness in summer how about some solar fairy lights or simply plant a couple of annual climbers in spring to wind...

Thanks a lot. I'll start from tomorrow.

PS.... All the growth overhanging the wall will be cut off with shears level with the top of the wall to grow back during the summer.

look fine to me, I would leave them on as its making food for the plant

Peony,and a nice one too.

Rhubarb seems to do that every so often - even without unusual conditions. Definitely remove it and follow Zigs instructions.

Yes, you can grow things under Leylandii. A lot of plants won't be happy as the soil will be dry and depleted of nutrients.Ivy would love it but I wouldn't recommend it.Periwinkle does well under it but needs some light from one side, which is what it should be getting if it's a...

Thank you so much for all your great advise. So glad I joined this very friendly group.

I use lots of cardboard in my compost heaps, in layers along with plenty of green stuff.