Hello people out there Me being so very much a non-gardener ... I've no idea where to start with this garden. There's so much to do to but I don't have the knowledge. For example this photo was from last summer, but as you can guess it's just a lot of dead foliage and bits of new starting to grow through right now. The trouble is, not knowing the names of plants/flowers/shrubs etc, it's impossible to find out what to do with them and how to look after them. If anyone could provide names for what's in the photo and/or what to do to maintain them well, it'd be very much appreciated. Thanks, hom. Edit: I am unable to load the photo, as it keeps saying the file's too big, but it's just a bog-standard jpeg photo. Is anyone (admin maybe?) able to offer advice on how to get the photo on here - thanks if you can.
Hi Hom, welcome to GC. You'll get lots of advice and help on here, everyone is really friendly and used to numpties like me asking basic questions You can't always upload pics until you've made a few posts to avoid spammers etc. But if it's just saying your file is too big can you resize it? The pic needs to be under 2mb (at least it does when I try to upload anything). Hopefully you'll come back and be able to load some pics. I'm really nosy when it comes to other people's gardens so I'm looking forward to seeing the photographs of your garden and seeing what advice you're given.
Welcome to GC Hom. This below may help you to load pictures. As Lost in France says you may have to re-size your pictures down to KB's. If they are on your computer, right click on the picture and that should give you an edit option in the drop down box, click on that and a re-size option should appear somewhere in your toolbar at the top of the page. http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/uploading-a-picture-in-a-post.89/
Hi Lost in France & Sheal, thanks for your replies I've never known how to amend picture sizes before to reduce the MB/KB, so thanks for that too! I'll try again ... Ah I think it's worked! There are quite a few different plants in the shot, and I'll be honest, I don't know what to do with any of them ... pull the poker-looking plants up once they've died? Secateur anything?? What's weed and what's plant? Etc etc, so many questions!
Welcome to GC hom.... From what I can see all the plants will start springing back into life again soon You have a couple of lovely Roses there,one on the fence and a nice Pink one on the right...our Rose specialist WiseOwl will probably be able to ID them if you can manage to get some close ups this year...plus we have a great Rose thread that will give you pointers on how to look after them.... The grey 'poker' type plants are Stachys AKA Lambs ears....they have lovely soft furry leaves,the tall flower stem can be cut back to the plant and they'll come up again this year....I can also see some 'Pinks' right at the very front...(small pink flowers)...I can't quite make out the blue flowers.... All I can suggest is carefully remove the dead foliage and watch them come back into life
Hi Lolimac and thanks for your reply. Lovely to get a name for those poker plants! Stachys, thanks for that. Good to know they can be cut back after flowering has ended. And yes, I love the roses, and they really came out very big last year. Another thing I was wondering ... there's quite a bit of "bare" ground near to under the rosebush and the "spiny leaved" plant/tree -are there plants which would flourish under bushes/trees or would the shade be bad and also would the roots of the larger plant take all the nourishment away? Here's a pic of the spiny leaved plant (it's really hard to describe plants when you don't know their names! "Spiny" might be way off!): Also, a picture of some low-level leaves which have obviously been fodder for slug and snails. Not sure what this plant is, or how to cultivate it to help it's growth or keep it from harm. Is it even "rescuable" I wonder: If you or anyone can throw any light on these, that'd be fab! (no rush though of course btw, I know life can be busy!). I'm not always online myself but will log back in here every other day or so when I get the chance.
Hello hom and welcome to GC. Your spiky-leaved plant is a palm tree. Probably Trachycarpus, which is fairly hardy in the UK, but he's not a happy bunny judging by the photo. I'll leave it to @Kristen to advise on his care! The second photo is Bergenia, or Elephant's Ears. They'd appreciate being dug up, the old, brown leaves being cleaned off the stems and then split and re-planted in some fluffed-up soil with a bit of compost, manure, chicken pellets or at least a handful of Growmore fertiliser. Then give them a good soak and they'll romp away! It's a good idea to cover bare soil under trees and shrubs (leaves less room for weeds). There's usually a plant for every situation, so perhaps hardy geraniums, Vinca minor, Liriope muscari would be OK with shade and dry conditions. If you're able to improve the soil under the existing plants, then that opens up even more possibilities, like Hostas, Ferns, Solomon's Seal and Lily of the Valley. You've got some lovely plants there as a basis for a super garden.....looking forward to seeing it come to life under your care :-)
