Glaswegian Greetings

Hi all. New to the forum and to gardening having just bought our first house. The garden is in a pretty bad state so expect lots of questions

 

Greg. Sounds like exciting timesWhen we bought our first house ( still in it ) the garden was a statebut we loved and still love 'sorting it out' . Ask lots of questions, the advice here is priceless

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Greg. Congratulations on your new home and garden.

 

Hiya....welcome to GC!

 

Hi.

It may be worth just waiting to see what pops up from under the snow before making plans. You may be pleasantky surprised...............or shocked

Regardless welcome to the board.

 

@Greg C
Nice to have you with us, you'll get all the help you need from members and I have to agree with WeeTam...wait till the weather gets better

 

What area are you in Greg? There are lots of sodden gardens around Glasgow, lots of clay subsoil. Let's hope yours isn't one of them!

 

Forgive me for my late welcome, but, I was under the impression a "Glaswegian Greeting" was a headbutt But then, I've only been there once and even then I was only 12yo

Lovely to have you join us @Greg C

on your new home and wishing you many years of happiness there.

The best advice I was given when moving into a new home is to give it 12 months to see what the garden already has in the ground. I never took any notice of that advice myself, but I do recognise its value

When you say it is in a "pretty bad state" - what does that mean to *you*?
Is it overgrown with mature plants? Is it riddled with weeds? Is it a new build littered with builders detritus?

Some things forum members would like to know, so they can advise you best, would be:

• which direction does your garden face? (North, south etc.,)
• how big is it?
• Which type of soil do you have? (this could be clay, sandy etc., ) It may also mean, is it acid, alkaline or neutral?
• How much time, on average, are you able to commit to your garden on a regular basis?
• What do you *want* the garden to do for you? E.G. Provide food? Entertaining? Scent? Colour? Playground? Somewhere to hang out your smalls?
• What style of garden would you prefer? Low maintenance? Cottage style? Contemporary? Tropical etc.,

Sounds all rather "involved", but, it really isn't. Firstly, you need to know what your garden gives you in terms of light, sun, soil, shade. Secondly, once you know that, you can think about what you want your garden to give back to you. Thirdly, you have to have realistic expectations of the time you are able to commit to it and then, once you have thought about all of those elements, you can get down to the FUN bit!!!

Huge mix of experience here over a variety of topics, so, even if those questions sound overwhelming, do not be deterred; plenty of advice (sometimes, even contradictory based on an individuals experiences ) always given with integrity, maybe a bit of wit, yet friendly.

PS: Do not be afraid of using the forum search to root out older threads which may help you, or inspire you. If you catch a thread with a members garden pictures within it, have a good think about those pictures and pick out the elements you do like and also the elements you do not like. Half the battle is understanding your own preferences - if you haven't gardened before, you may not know yet what *your* personal style may even be!

 

"Hi @"M" We've not been told I don't that when we welcome someone now...it's go to be done in Novel style

 

Hi glasgowdan. I'm in Rutherglen. Have a suspicion my soil is a bit clay laden :(

 

Hi M,

thanks for all the advise. I won't attempt to answer it all (because some of it I am unsure of). In a nutshell:
the garden faces northwest, although it gets strong sunshine because of how the neighbours buildings are positioned. The garden hasn't had anything done to it for about 4 years so at the moment it just has patchy grass and lots of stone chip. No flowers, previous beds or anything like that. It is quite marshy. I've come up with a simple layout with 3 small beds - 2 getting sun, one getting a very little bit of sun. And then I'll grow some stuff in pots. No veg or fruit (apart from strawberries). We want lots of colour, but it mustn't look too "neat". Lots of scents are important too. But probably just on places. At the moment I am committing about 4 hours a week to the garden, but as the weather improves it will probably be closer to 6-8 hours. I'm reducing the amount of stone and want to grow grass over the majority of the garden using some paving stones in the grass to walk along. The garden isn't very big (maybe 100 sq m). I've already removed the old metal shed that was much too big and replaced it with a smaller wooden shed (which also looks nicer in the garden).

That is it in a nutshell. Thanks again for all the pointers and advice :D

 

to GC . Pics of your garden would be good

 

The moment I can figure out how to upload pics luciusmaximus, I will

 

Click on “upload a file” then browse your computer and select the photo you want to upload.

G.