Hello - I'm new to this board and new to gardening!

Hello everyone,

I've decided that I ould like to get to know more about gardening. It stems really from my mum. She died 4 years ago, and I remember pottering about in the garden with her, but I don't really remember much about what she did! My memory is jogged by smells mainly. Sweet Peas and Broom are the two that I remember strongly.

Currently, where I live there isn't much of a garden. We have 2 long borders and a smaller one, both aren't really deep, and the soil seems to be really rubbish, full of stones and twigs and stuff. We have a 5ft Christmas tree in one of them, and mint in the other (which if I remember rightly is difficult to get rid of).

Before Christmas (oct I think) I bought a small Broom bush. I followed the instructions and planted it in the garden. It doesn't really seem to have to grown much, and isn't showing any signs of flowers at all. Is something wrong with it?

I've also just got a 'sweet pea wigwam'. I remembered from days of yore, that sweet peas were always grown up a trellis, and as we don't have anything like that (just fences) I thought these wigwams would be a good idea. There are quite a few seedlings in the basket, and I believe that I could plant some outside, but I've no idea of when to do that or how.

Sorry, I've rambled on here!

Nice to meet you all, and if anyone replies it's a bonus!

 

Hi Hellvixen
Welcome to GC - you've come to the right website for lots of information (and bits of fun etc.)
Having said that I am not very much of an expert myself but looks like you've got a lot of work to do.
Our real gardeners will be posting messages on here for you very shortly I am sure :D

 

Hello jjordie, thanks for your message.

I look forward to *meeting* new people!

 

I gave my father a Pauls Himalayan musk (climbing rose) for his birthday the year before he died, and he grew it through an old apple tree. Its huge now, and always reminds me of him in such a lovely way bringing back fond memories of gardening together.

I wish you luck with your garden, I am new too, hello Hellvixen.
Janet

 

Welcome to gardening Hellvixen!
You'll ger plenty of answers to any of your gardening queries on this site.

Regarding your mint, unless you are planning to start a mince sauce production business, I advise digging it all out. Save a few (3 or 4) roots and then plant them in a plastic bucket submerged in the soil. Make a few hole for drainage in the bucket first. You'll find that within 3 years the bucket is full of mint roots and you'll have to dig it up and thin back to 3 or 4 roots again. It may sound like a lot of work but at least you'll keep the mint under control.

I'm not sure about planting sweet peas outside in your area - it might be warm enough, but up here I normally wait until late April. What you should do is add a general fertiliser to the soil in the area where you intend to plant them. A few slug pellets might also be a good idea.

If you have space, you should think about a compost bin so that you can start turning your household and garden waste into compost to start improving your soil.

Happy growing.

 

Hello!

Dave - thank you so much for your advice. We dug the mint up last year, but mustn't have got all of it, will definitely try again.

It's certainly not warm enough up here yet. I thought I'd leave them in their tub for now, they have bamboo canes (in the shape of a wigwam) to grow up. I had thought that I could plant some out later in the year.

I'm quite worried about our soil though, it's rubbish!

But we do have a compost bin! The OH sorts that out, but I suppose we could dig some of that into the ground, would that help? Could I jut rake the soil and get rid of the stones etc?

Thanks again!

 

Dig and rake out as many stones as you can. Stones don't provide plants with much by way of nutrition!!
If you've got some well rotted stuff from your bin get it dug in, but don't be tempted to use partially rotted stuff as it uses up nitrogen while breaking down in the soil.

 

Excellent, thanks Dave.

You'd think, being a science teacher, I would know all about plants, but I'm more an animal bod!

Is there anytime of year that is best to rake over the soil/dig in the compost?

I really do appreciate your responses.

 

Hi Hellvixon,
the best time of year for digging in rotted compost or well rotted manure is in the autumn, and leave the ground unraked, the witer winds and frost will break down the soil and make it more workable in the early spring.
regarding your sweet peas, to get stronger plants sow them in the late autumn in small but deep pots, 3 seeds to a pot and leave them in a cold frame, when they are about 3" high pinch out the tip growth to make sturdier plants, plant out in spring.
You can start some off now, but first chit the seeds, that is to just expose some of the inner cornel by rubbing away some of the outer hard shell in one area, sow in moist compost, and keep some where warm, then continue as previously described

 

Hello Hellvixen. I started gardening three years ago, by growing some plants from seeds. It gave me a lot of satisfaction seeing them grow, but also when I planted them out I felt that they were mine, and I took an interest in their continuing maintenance. By contrast the plants that I inherited with the house were not mine - so I never really had that interest in them.

If you wanted to go down this root I would suggest just a few - say annual Cosmos, perennial Centranthus (Red Valerian), perennial Achillea variety Cassis or variety Summer Pastels and perennial Penstemon. They will all flower in the first year. The Cosmos will give a brilliant long display, but is only an annual that will die at the end of the year. But the others are perennial and all long flowering. There is nothing magic about these four, there are loads to choose from, but these are easy, and will flower in the first year for a longtime.

You will just need 4 packets of seed, 4 small seed trays, some compost and a window sill. Don't worry too much about the soil. You can improve it later on when you have the interest and a bit more knowledge. Plants are pretty flexible. The Centranthus mentioned above can be found flowering in cracks in brick walls - your soil will be pure luxury!

 

re your general gardening plans, i think you should watch the gardening programs on tele, they are full of good ideas and let you see what can be done, albeit in ideal circumstances,
the libary will have books for beginners ,, these are easy to read and will sort out most of your Qs..
...... if you look around your neighbourhood you will see the type of garden that appeals and can be grown locally, a trip to the garden centre for advice will be usefull, be carefull to buy plants that will grow locally and that suit the locations where they will be planted, most plants like a sunny site, some more so than others, so if you have a shady area then you will have to select carefully
some people like old fashioned, or "cottage garden" look which usually means lots of perennials in a border, usually all natural colours mix sucessfully, so height is the main thing to look at, tall at back, small at front!
for shrubs expect to pay more for larger plants, here soil preparation is important, if your are unsure prepare the planting area by digging a nice big area around the location, to a depth of 2 feet, put in a mix of soil and compost and plant to the same depth as it is when you buy it, fill up with soil and compost mixed.
i dont know if any1 answered your query about a broom, but remember plants need air, warmth and nutrients to grow in, so winter is a time of dormancy, and high summer a time for growth ....