Gardening 2024

And so it starts ...

Had meant to hold off a bit longer but have succumbed to planting some broad beans, wild rocket and (on a windowsill) Courgette "Squash Balls". (UK)

Planted some string beans (runner, not bush) and catnip from seed and filled in an empty spot under a tree ring with a nemesia plant. (US)

More a "Gardens" rather than "Gardening" query but any garden visit recommendations for Hampshire, UK?

i realise you’re perfectly capable of googling yourself djh, but just in case, the National Trust will often run v good gardens, parkland and houses of historic interest.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire

oh, author of the natural history of selbourne gilbert white’s house and gardens as well

https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/things-to-do/gilbert-whites-house-and-gardens-p1415531

The extensive 18th century gardens have also been restored to their former glory for visitors to explore, with cottage, herb and kitchen gardens, as well as sweeping lawns and a wildflower meadow.

Cheers Fizzles.

https://www.greatbritishgardens.co.uk/

How's it going?

Nothing drastic this year. Planted some runner beans and a couple of squash plants. Added some foxgloves to my back bed and planted a miniature conifer to fill in some space. I've got a bed in the front garden that is, frankly, an absolute shitshow. I should dig it over and start again, tbh.

Selborne is lovely. If you do go, make sure you go up the zig-zag path (laid by Gilbert and his brother), and walk out across the common to Newton Valence. There's a spectacular yew in the churchyard (the Selborne yew is the more famous but it's just a - mighty - stump). Hinton Ampner is lovely, as is Mottisfont. There's an amazing sculpture garden in East Roche - out towards Salisbury.

not properly got going yet but this is my little front garden atm:

https://i.ibb.co/9pTvyy6/20240526-144957.jpg

Once the geraniums and other early summer things are over, I'll chop those right back and put some giant cosmos and some nice pale lemon-coloured sunflowers in the gaps

I basically squeeze in as much stuff as possible and go for height as i don't have much space on the ground. There is a little wildlife pond in there somewhere too but that doesn't get as much sun as it ought

have spent the last couple of days building this from scratch, not my garden though unfortch:

https://i.ibb.co/3zHs3Ng/20240525-091044.jpg

Lovely gardens, both!

thank u! i really love it

Yes, both great spaces.

Here, peaked/planted lots too early and lost a lot. But, more, forget that I don't really have space to grow all that I want (for most of a decade, my neighbours were away and I could grow sprawling squashes in their garden). Lots of broad beans planted in the autumn are doing well but I'm sort of ready for them to crop and put other things in. Have grown a few non-veg things including grasses that I'm not honestly sure what to do with. Have been enjoying some euphorbias over the last few years. I think all my pot planted sunflowers failed but probably still time to have another go.

Everything has been *savaged* by slugs and snails this year. We have a couple of resident hedgehogs and, tbh, the lads have done nothing about it.

I had to let my garden go. Hoping to visit it soon but I expect it's CHOKED with weeds. I hope I'm getting some tomatoes at least! Like many things, the power of the earth to grow food and seeds to sprout will still be there when I'm ready to commit again.

Started putting beer cups out for snails and they really did work, I recommended that if you can go back and check/refill every few days. They get gross if you leave them out.

Beer traps it is! Thanks for the tip.

And yeah, your garden will wait for you. There's something alluring about letting it go and starting over again.

For a while (years), my neighbour was abroad and the tenants had no interest in the garden so I could use it as a space for planting sprawling squash and I'm really missing the space to do this. Haven't really had great successes aside from a decent crop of broad beans. I kept some rudbeckia alive from last year but only a few - they'd look gorgeous if there were lots.

Anyone feeling maths-y?

Some raised beds available in these configurations:

Standard - 1.44m x 1.2m
Square - 0.99m x 0.99m
Rectangle - 1.65m x 0.99m
Narrow - 2.1m x 0.54m
Round - 0.8m diameter

What would be the best/nicest permutation in a 1.5m * 3.0m space?

They would be for planting veg, so access is a consideration.

2 standards gives you 3.46 sq m of planting area with 60cm in between. 3 square gives you 2.94 sq m with only 1cm in between. 3 round would look good (if you like round things & symmetry!) but only 1.5 sq m.

you could squeeze in five circles for 2.51 sq m

in a sort of olympic rings shape with 30cm between each of the top 3 and 30cm between the bottom 2.

Thanks Ledge! My current thinking is a Standard and a Square.

you could also do 2 narrow and a round at the end for 2.77 sq m with 42 cm in between the narrow ones.

whatever design you go for, i'd probably leave about 90cm of free space along whatever edge you're going to be working from so you can comfortably crouch or kneel with a trug or similar alongside you and not have to wedge yourself uncomfortably between two raised beds

I would make a scale map on graph paper and make little cut-out beds and move them around tbh. Also I really enjoy the garden planner at the Farmer's Almanac. https://gardenplanner.almanac.com/

Thanks all. I actually thought of the scale map but couldn't quite motivate myself to be that organised.

These are what I'm pondering, fwiw:

https://www.harrodhorticultural.com/4-in-1-modular-metal-raised-bed-pid10033.html

I do wish I could afford the "guaranteed for 10 years" ones.

We were looking at those, but then got some wooden ones custom made by my wife's brother in law.

Have some wooden ones that were built to size by https://www.raw-workshop.co.uk/furniture but they've rotted now and it's time for a change (though they served me well).

I'm certain I wonder this every year, at this time: anything worth putting in the raised beds at this point? Will do broad beans.

Pondering some Pak Choi plugs https://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/products/autumn-veg-plug-plants/pak-choi-tatsoi/ or winter lettuces: https://www.sarahraven.com/products/ornamental-and-delicious-winter-veg-collection ... but there may be better things.

You can get a head start on fava beans, if you're into that! Also time to plant garlic if you didn't already.

fava beans (us) = broad beans (uk)

good shout either way though.

have had success this time of year with spinach and also things like mizuna and mibuna and other mustard-type salads, but you do have to cover with a fine mesh or fleece if you want to keep slugs, snails and pigeons at bay

^ all easy to grow from seed btw as long as theyre protected

And enough time to do, if sown this week?

it is a little bit later than is ideal tbh, but if you use fleece it should keep the ground a bit warmer. put an inch of fresh compost on top of the soil and sow into that and that too will be a bit warmer than cold soggy mud, and it will help smother any weeds. with spinach there are actual winter varieties available so look out for those. good thing is theyre all nice big seeds so they should get going pretty quickly. don't use the whole packet though, so if it does fail you can always try again in the spring or next year. not sure where you are but the further north you get, the less chance you have of success. im on the south coast so we probably get away with things youd never be able to do up north. if you can find plug plants though, youll have a bit of a headstart

Thanks NickB.

Curious. Had some dwarf beans growing in the garage (there's a big window). They were planted in the week that Monty Don announced "This is your last chance to plant these" on Gardener's World but, in truth, I'd given up on them and they were destined for the compost bin. They were all about a foot high. Anyway, they've been decimated by something. What would seem most likely? There's nothing above ground left of them. (Some slightly weedy "Winter Greens Mix" also took a hit).

Presume there’s no slug/snail slime visible? That would be my first guess. Otherwise rodents.

Thanks. In my head, I'd sort of figured it had to be slugs or rodents, just because of the space it was in. Just felt so surprised when I went in to find them decimated! Everything above ground had gone.

I had a first attempt at Niff Pruning today. It was fun and didn’t turn out too bad.

Any recommendations for plant labels that last (generally for things in pots that die back over winter)? I tend to use cheap bamboo ones for Wilkos or the like, with a Sharpie but they tend to fade/rot.

Also, any recommendations for "Japanese-style" gardens in the UK? Bonus points for closeness to Oxfordshire!

It’s nowhere near you, but Cowden Garden in Clackmannanshire is boss. In London, I’d probably go for Holland Park because Kew isn’t particularly peaceful and the one in Regent’s Park is a bit public parky, though if you’re into dwarf conifers it has some fun ones.

I’m afraid I use bog standard white plastic labels but if you write in pencil you can wash and reuse forever, pretty much.