Novice Gardener Needs Advice Please (Merged)

olly300

As jannyannie said you need a spade and a fork and wheel barrow. Check how much hard core you are allowed to take to your local dump in one trip. Some have limits like mine does so you end up having to do multiple trips.

You also need as many people as possible to help you do the work otherwise it will take you forever. Pay them back with food and drinks.

In regards to plants if your child is past the putting everything in his mouth stage then you can plant anything that suits your soil as long as it's not really spikey so it can cut like holly, has poisonous fruits or berries. Kids are not interested in eating everything but do go for berries and fruits. I grew up in a houses that had rose bushes and blackberry bushes in the gardens.

arkonite_babe

We have a thread similar to this already, I'll add your query to it so all the replies are together. Posts are listed in date order so you'll need to read from the beginning to catch up


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onlyoneme

thank you so much everyone for you advice. I've spent quite a lot of time yesterday in the garden. Didn't go into MSE at all!!!!

It looks like horse, chicken manue is key for my garden. However i am only going to do it in the Autum as the kiddies uses the garden all the time. Sure they wouldn't appericate mummy making the garden smell of poo!!!!

I've got some gereaniums(sp?!). I bought them for a £1/pot. Is there anyway I can make them come back to last year as well (I don't have a green house)

Also what are the best shrubs and perineals (sorry about the sp - but you know what I mean!) that flowers a lot? I want to my garden to look nice and colourful with minimum money - I don't mind the spending the time (as I like it), but not money in garden as I need them for nappies!

dorien

Also what are the best shrubs and perineals (sorry about the sp - but you know what I mean!) that flowers a lot? I want to my garden to look nice and colourful with minimum money - I don't mind the spending the time (as I like it), but not money in garden as I need them for nappies![/quote]

Hi
Try hardys fushias and geraniums, they come back every year, as do dalias - they are so colourful and can be bought in most garden centres for around £1 - £1.50 ( also try B & Q they have some good offers on plants, they tend to forget to water them, and sell them off cheap, and with a little TLC will recover fine).
One plant thats a little more expensive, but rewards you with flowers all summer long is the Alstromeria, I have lots in pots in garden and out the front, they come up better every year and flower there little socks off..they are exquisite.

Happy Gardening

onlyoneme

Thanks. I've looked up Alstromeria in google (as I am useless with any gardining terminology!). it looks lovely. I am goign to go for this. I hope it is not too late for this summer, even if it is, I will see the flowers next year.

Lotus-eater

onlyoneme wrote: »

It looks like horse, chicken manue is key for my garden. However i am only going to do it in the Autum as the kiddies uses the garden all the time. Sure they wouldn't appericate mummy making the garden smell of poo!!!!

If you get well rotted horse manure, from a riding school for example, it shouldn't smell in the slightest, the only thing its going to smell of, is earth.

Merlot

This is a really dumb question, but I need it answering please, I've only been gardening for a couple of months so please excuse the ignorance.

I would like to plant a pot at my back door with some herbs, like curry plant, thyme, etc, etc, I saw loads of different types at the garden centre yesterday. My question is, are these herbs annual, perennial or , are they frost hardy, the label on the herb plants yesterday didn't tell me what I needed to know and I didn't want to ask as it the local garden centre and the wifey who owns it is really posh and I didn't want to sound like a thick commoner:D

Many thanks in anticipation.

Merlot.x.

Lotus-eater

Go and sound like a think commoner, honestly if she looks down at you, shop elsewhere

Curry plant and thyme are perenial, its easy to search on google for any particular herb if you want to know about it.
I'll have to look at curry plants again, I used to grow them years ago, but have a feeling they are not much use in the kitchen, could be wrong.

Merlot

I never thought about using google...I told you i'm a thick commoner! Many thanks for your advice, I have a jamie oliver receipe and it states a leaf of a curry plant, are these the same as the curry plant herb? I'm sounding really thick now aren't I?

Davesnave

Merlot wrote: »

I never thought about using google...I told you i'm a thick commoner! Many thanks for your advice, I have a jamie oliver receipe and it states a leaf of a curry plant, are these the same as the curry plant herb? I'm sounding really thick now aren't I?

The 'curry leaves' you see in recipes are shaped like bay leaves and not at all the same as the narrow ones on the curry plant, Helichrysum italicum. The helichrysum is edible, but it doesn't taste of curry!

You couldn't grow curry leaves (kari pata)as a hardy plant in this country, assuming you could find one.