Hello from Gateshead

Hi Everyone

Newby forum member here, although I've been gardening with various degrees of success for about 20 years or so. I'm in Gateshead in NE England and the garden is steeply terraced, with stony soil and very little protection from the westerly winds. The upside is that we have great views! I'm reasonably successful at growing shrubs and herbaceous plants however, because of the wind, fruit and veg are much more of a challenge but it doesn't stop me trying!

BTW, I'm not really grumpy - or a wombat for that matter :-)

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Grumpy Wombat. Your garden sounds like mine with the exception of terracing, mine is on a slope. Great views here too.

Yet to see a wombat in Britain, let alone a grumpy one.

 

Welcome to Gardeners' Corner It's a very friendly forum ...
You're not a wombat ? well I don't know what you mean by that but I am definitely a dinosaur !

p.s. I've just seen your name, I am not very observant

 

I think a slope is probably even more of a challenge than terracing! I had a grassy slope right at the top of the garden and it was a nightmare to mow but luckily I was able to persuade the undergardener to dig out part of the slope and create a raised bed which has made a big difference. What do you grow on the slope, ornamentals, veg or a mixture of the two?

 

An ideal place for plane-spotting then We're lucky, although in the near distance we have a view over the A1 and Newcastle, behind that is farmland and hills right out to the Cheviots. And we do get some spectacular sunsets.

 

It's difficult to find flat ground in the Highlands unless it's on a new housing estate. I've not really got to the point where I'm growing anything as I've been retrieving the gardens from nature for four years and have just started to plant shrubs. However, runner beans are lacking here to buy and being my favourite veg I have managed to grow some.

Feel free to take a look at my garden thread below.....

One year on....and beyond | Gardeners Corner - The Friendly Gardening Forum

 

I’ve taken a peek at your One year on… thread and am in awe at how much you’ve tackled between the work on the house and the garden. I’ll be following your progress with interest! Like you, we have a loamy soil and when I first started out watering anything was like trying to mix water with cocoa powder - it just sat on the top and refused to sink in. A lot of years of adding kitchen compost plus the spent compost from pots etc has made a big difference but it still dries out very easily and on a windy day I come in from the garden looking like a Victorian urchin with a dirty face

 

Thank you for the compliment. The gardens are a labour of love of course but I enjoy every minute working out there. I'm past retirement age and a physical wreck but pacing myself I get lost in my own little world when working outside.

I know exactly what you mean. I've gardened on clay and sandy soil in the past but sandy loam is a challenge. When I plant I dig out the hole and back fill with a mix of compost, soil and blood, fish and bone, leaving the hole a couple of inches lower than the garden level. This holds in any water and stops it running away down the garden.

I do the same where possible but I've bought in most of my compost until now. There was a plastic coal bunker here when we moved in and I converted that into a composter in the Spring. Hopefully I'll be able to start using the contents next year.