evening all :-)

quick introduction...

I'm Chris Miller, 30 years old, live in cannock, staffs. just taken ownership of a new property with a garden (yaaaaaay) but a load of work to do on it first (booooooooooo) before i can grow anything.

any questions, please do ask, but i'm off to post what will no doubt be the first of many on this site. lol.

chris.

 

i will do when i've got the light in the morning... at the moment i've basically got a square bit of clay soil, some paving slabs that have been shoved on top of an unbound sand bed, and a couple of (as yet) unidentified plants in there that the previous owner has put in by the looks.

our best guess is that we've inherited a wild rosebush, a couple of bluebell shoots, and 5 or 6 of the same thing at the back of the garden that i haven't got a clue what they are yet.

 

Welcome to GC Chris

 

Hi Chris & welcome.
As JWK suggests, it may be worth while not to get too agressive until April/May. Wait and see what there is first.
You'll have years to put things right. If there are good plants/bulbs there already, it's worth a short wait to identify and then plan where they can go to fit your aspirations before spending cash and time converting the site to your own preference.

Patience has it's own reward - and I bet you (or the other half - from now called OH) will have decorating etc. to keep you busy.

 

hey guys. Just got back on here, so in answer to the garden direction, it's south facing. i'm just about to put some pictures up of the flat and the garden, because no doubt people will be just as interested in the renovation of the flat as well as the garden.

in answer to the question about basic plans:

stage one is to remove all the rubbish from the garden (like the long strawlike grass that's in there and the empty beer cans), pull up the paved area and relay it on a concrete boundbase (so that it's level), and to redo the fence panels so that i've got a nice even finish. I also want to get hold of about 2000L of organic material compost and turn it through the ground, although I haven't decided whether to do it now, or wait until i know what's there.

stage two is to grab a planting trough and start off a herb box, whilst i wait for the flowers to come through and see what we've got.

stage three is to identify what's there, and decide whether we are keeping it (if not, it'll be freecycled)

stage four is to get a nice turf, and lay a good lawn over the top of the newly renovated soil and bed it in, cut a decent border round it.

stage five is a couple of short (ie, less than 6 foot) fruit trees at the rear of the garden, along with some low-level fruit bushes underneath that like the shade

stage six is to create a small vegetable patch at the back left (i think) where i can grow some nice homegrown veg

stage seven is to create a nice all-season border on the left and right side borders, ensuring a nice "seasonal colour change"

stage eight is to get a bbq and a patio set and have somewhere nice to sit out with a cuppa and watch the birds and other wildlife fly round (cos i generally want to attract some wildlife to the garden)

so no, i haven't really thought about it that much :p

it's 5 meters by 6 meters (16ft 6in by 19ft 8in) approx, so manageable.

also, to answer the point about not digging the borders over, the neighbour next door says he had very little in that garden, so i'm safe to dig quite a large area over, and leave what would be a logical border to see what grows. and i'm also cleaning it up by getting rid of all the stuff in the garden... i'm gonna start a compost pile in the corner, and then when i order the compost bin chuck it in there. our council (bless them) have given this area a good discount on a good quality bin.. so it's costing us £15 for the bin, rather than the original £40

hope i got round everyone's questions, but if i didn't - just shout, and i'll answer it! lol

edit: i've uploaded the pictures now

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Chris

I would hide your date of birth if thats your real name, don't want those 2 bits of info available for all to see

 

will do... thought i'd clicked the "show date and month"

 

Hi Chris looks like you have a nice blank canvas to start with,which is good I bet by this time next year you wont recognise either the flat or the garden.
You might want to move the bar-b-q up the list a bit,you will need to sit somewhere to order the OH about when she is gardening.:WINK1:

 

Oh, thats ok then, I can probably still see it being a mod. I'll check it out from a normal members perspective:DOH:

 

my OH said "sod that! you aint ordering me about! lol"

 

Yep, all cool, only the staff can see it now