Evening all, new here

Evening all. I just joined the forum, thanks for accepting me.

I've been a professional gardener for 28 years. After leaving school I trained with my local wildlife trust for a year before realising there wasn't much money in conservation. I then went to Hartpury college and learned to do what I do now, mainly high end domestic properties doing complete maintenance packages but also mowing, hedge trimming etc for smaller clients. I also really enjoy doing it in my own time, I had my first little plot on my dad's allotment when I was five and later on a small area of our garden. My idea of a good garden vs what I create at work is very different.

I'm a keen advocate of no dig and perennial food crops. That's my priority in my own garden. I've got just over half an acre, set out mainly as grass with wildflowers but I'm developing the vegetable area and a small mixed orchard more every year. I don't really believe in "weeds", they're just plants that are misunderstood. My idea of a good lawn is some grass because it turns up whether you want it or not, mixed in with clover, dandelions, selfheal, plantain, trefoil... All the stuff I'm asked to kill on a daily basis!

I guess we're all different. Hopefully there are a few of you who do things my way as well as the more formal gardeners. A garden should be a place to make us happy and relaxed, there are no fixed rules.

Nobody knows everything. I've picked up some great tips from clients over the years and I'm here because I know there's a lot more information to find. I'll try to chip in to help people who are unsure about things but most of the time I'll probably sit in the background reading. So, as you were. Thanks again for allowing me to join.

 

Welcome @Neil Clements , this is a friendly place

 

Welcome to Gardners corner ... I agree with what you say about weeds, and lawns, although I dug all those away to make more room for plants

 

Good morning and welcome from a fairly recent arrival. Which part of the country do you let your weed seeds land on?

(I’m a non-weeder myself.)

 

I'm in Cam, Gloucestershire. Thankfully the other side of the road there are some very natural and unmolested sheep grazing fields and my garden backs onto an old disused railway route now covered in trees with a small river running through it. If the neighbours get weeds blowing in then it's not my fault!

I've got some seriously hefty dandelions appearing in the veg area but I don't even mind that really. Last year I broad cast a mix of beetroot, carrot, parsnip and spring onions all over it, so I just walk around and find what I fancy rather than pulling it from a row. Apart from the pheasants eating all but one of the beetroot it went quite well!

 

to GC @Neil. Enjoy!

 

Don’t talk to me about pheasants. The shooting season stops tomorrow. We are vegetarians and I think the pheasants know this because we have 52 of them (at the last count). I sincerely hope that they will wander off and leave my garden alone on The First of Frebruary. I bought 48 bare root wallflowers a few weeks ago and not one is now more than a stick poking out of the soil.

 

You'll be lucky. If they've moved away from the feeders on the shoot there's a good chance they're in for the long haul. The feeding will stop with the shooting, your wallflowers are like a new canteen!

When we moved here two years ago there was a lone cock pheasant who we named Billy (no mates). How wrong we were. Come spring Billy turned up with his missus and kids, and they spent all summer wrecking the joint! I put a feeder up for them, a proper shoot style barrel with the little spring under it. Do they use it? Only if there's nothing tasty and green to be had! Then there's the muntjac, the roe, and the massive flock of pigeons who I think descend for the clover. I've eaten every species I've mentioned but I like my garden to be a safe haven for animals. They have a hard enough time without me taking offense to them sharing our home. They need to eat too, and that's fine.

You might want to buy some netting. I think I will, even if I only cover a little bit it would be nice to share my veg rather than give every last bit of it to the wildlife!

 

I only tried netting once and I managed to trap and kill a little robin. Never again.

I like the sound of your garden. I could sit there for a bit.

 

How about a few of these pheasants ...

Lady Amherst's pheasant - Wikipedia

 

We're incredibly lucky to have it. We were 9/10 of the way to moving somewhere else and at the last minute our seller pulled out. Rather than ruin the chain for everyone we scrambled to view whatever was available, this place had gone on the market the same day. We viewed it, put in an offer which then went to sealed bids, lost the bidding to another couple who offered to pay whatever they needed to to make sure they got it, and the old couple who lived here "didn't like their tone" and sold it to us anyway! It turns out the others had showed up to the viewing, talked about all the things they'd need to upgrade etc. We showed up and respected their home of 65 years, loved the garden and spent time talking to them about the history of the place. Little did we know they already had a little bungalow to move into so didn't need the money, so that was that.

The bottom garden used to be an orchard, all but one of the trees died over the years. By the time I leave (in a box if I get my way) it'll have a new one. I spend quite a lot of time sitting and planning, I owe it to the old couple to get it right.

 

That's a bit fancy. I like it, a lot! I'm not sure Billy would like the competition though!

 

I bet Lady Amherst never had to fret about her brussels sprouts.

 

There have been feral populations of Lady Amherst's Pheasant and also Golden Pheasent. In the English countryside they stand out like sore thumbs and are an easy meal for any predators around.