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@waterbut If there was an opening from the apartment to the spiral steps and thence to the ground,they may well get away with it. Otherwise, it sounds like an enquiry to the local fire safety office would be worth it. Presume you have already raised any possible safety problems with the owners ?

Well done @potted ! You'll be able to bring on plants well in there. Yes rotation is a good idea, but you may need to allow a "messy" space at the end of the garden for the out of season pots to hide. How about a couple of tomatoes in the greenhouse?

Thank you everyone, it is covered in flower buds so I'll keep it potted near the back door for fragrance and then consider where to put it. We had a pretty cold winter for here and it would have been sat outside in the sales beds during that, so is probably a lot more hardy than I had considered.

The single unbranched stems are often called whips. Sea Buckthorn is very thorny, hence it's name; it's as tough as old boots and has been grown to stabilise sand dunes along with Marram grass. I had a number of painful encounters with it during summer visits to Gibraltar Point near Skegness....

That plant looks like Euryops pectinatus. A common sub shrub that's used in a lot of public planting schemes.

We love our Lakeland airfryer - one big drawer with a removable divider. Bought silicon dishes which are dishwasher-proof to save on the mess.

Good plan.

I used to top dress my clay soil with loads of it, and it was a family challenge with the kids to get to the mushrooms first. Although I know they add chalk, it didn't seem to affect the plants, but I never tried making compost purely with it.

23rd March 2026On the evening of the 23rd into the 24th, Cherry the hedgehog was out, trying to get rid of fleas! The hog was shaking so much, it lost its balance and fell over! Nearby, Bandit the cat has been spotted a few times, sitting by the Thorny olive tree, watching the nearby mouse...

Ha, love the detective work. Finding block paving under gravel under concrete is properly cursed layering. At least you know the previous owner was committed to never gardening. Pots are honestly the way to go for now, especially if you might rearrange things later. You can get a surprising...