2023 - the good, the not so good but hopefully not ugly of growing your own!

sammy_kaye18

Well progress has been made on the garden. 

I spent most of yesterday
- moving rubbish,
- levelling off part of the grass,
- covering it with weed lining and a few other bits that will do just as good a job, 


Today so far I have
- moved old low beds I had made
- laid a weed proof liner for under greenhouse
- moved the greenhouse frame (still waiting for cover to arrive) and levelled it off
- cable tied shelves to frame
- reinforced a few poles with some old poles I had in the garden
- put a few slabs as a base
- ordered a ton bag of clean limestone for part of the garden which is coming tomorrow
- moved wood from old beds into a pile to help with new pallet beds

Jobs still to do today
- get a quote for rubbish removal
- retrieve pallets that neighbour said I could have from their garden
- start making pallet beds from ones I have or at least lay them out to give me an idea

As you can tell today and tomorrow are mainly focused on garden. I did find a bag of compost in the greenhouse too so I may start my chilli and broad bean seeds on the windowsill to get a start on them but I need to check the garden focused page to see where I should be for my area

Glittering_M

Thanks for suggests re heating.

Wow @sammy_kaye18 well done you've been really busy! 

sammy_kaye18

Glittering_M said:

Wow @sammy_kaye18 well done you've been really busy! 

Thanks lovely. 
I have spent the afternoon cutting up and putting together a pallet bed from the 6 halves that Ive cut. Its not the prettiest thing but it is a good size - 2 pallets long and 1 pallet wide and will give me a good depth too if I want to grow root veg etc. Plus Ive done it myself so I feel accomplished. :-) 

I still haven't gotten over to get the pallets from my neighbours but that will make a fair sized planter as well once I get them back over so I am trying to think of what is the best way to put it together. I'm thinking a basic square shape will be good and again give me good growing space and is tall enough that the dogs wont mess with it or my veg. There are two smaller half pallets as well which I think I might make into planters for the front garden either side of my front door then put some sort of flowers in it. 

I will hopefully get to cutting down the hedge a bit more too so that will help to get the new bed filled a bit and I have kept bags of grass cutting/leaves etc too that I can add to it to get a good mix and balance into the bed. I then have rotted manure on the way and Ill be ordering top soil next month. 

I'm hoping to order some potato bags as well to try potatoes with so they can be placed next to the greenhouse to help act as weight and protection on one side - the other is against a fence so I can anchor it well enough. 

Ive just realised too that in my garden focused state I have piled a load of !!!!!! in the way of my back gate, so if the limestone arrives early tomorrow then I wont be able to do anything until Ive cleared it and its getting dark now so I cant get out there to do it. Doh! Looks like an early start for me tomorrow then! Im hoping it comes relatively early so I can get it done and then go from there. If it does come and get done early enough I will make a start on the hedge. 

Glittering_M

sammy_kaye18 said:

Glittering_M said:

Wow @sammy_kaye18 well done you've been really busy! 

Thanks lovely. 
I have spent the afternoon cutting up and putting together a pallet bed from the 6 halves that Ive cut. Its not the prettiest thing but it is a good size - 2 pallets long and 1 pallet wide and will give me a good depth too if I want to grow root veg etc. Plus Ive done it myself so I feel accomplished. :-) 

That's great! I have a pallet planter (out of the individual slats) and I was so happy with it because I did it myself with minimal help from my OH (he helped with initially taking the pallet apart and he painted it for me). I've got some more slats and actual pallets that I still need to do something with. I would love to make a little storage trolley for the house but when I put it together to see what it would look like, it didn't look very nice and very clumpy. So I'll make something for outdoors but no idea what. I was thinking maybe trying to make a bird table or a bit of a fence. 

Saying that, I haven't actually used the one I made for anything as it's quite deep. So a lot of earth would be required. I'm thinking of getting a tea tree (camelia sinsis I think) because they need different soil to what we have.

In other making news, I'm hoping to get out in the garden on Sunday and make the existing bed a bit bigger, chuck a load of manure on it and also get some seed compost and start growing things in the house (or at least make space for them). I'd like to make some cold frames but I've only got some really ancient greenhouse glass that's been abandoned for years and some bricks.

I've noticed a lot of my seeds say to sow outside and then transplant to their final growing space. Why is this? Why not just put in their final place (if there is space?). I'm now wondering if I need a little nursery bed. Alternatively, could I just use seed trays outside?

I got a plastic greenhouse from A1d1 last year, I thought it would be warm enough to grow things in but it isn't (I think I got confused with the capability of a heated greenhouse) so really that's just being used as a mini shed although I did put some plants out last year in seed trays It has gone a bit manky and wet inside over winter so I think I'll take it down for winter next time. 

sammy_kaye18

Glittering_M said:

. So I'll make something for outdoors but no idea what. I was thinking maybe trying to make a bird table or a bit of a fence. 

Saying that, I haven't actually used the one I made for anything as it's quite deep. So a lot of earth would be required. I'm thinking of getting a tea tree (camelia sinsis I think) because they need different soil to what we have.


I got a plastic greenhouse from A1d1 last year, I thought it would be warm enough to grow things in but it isn't (I think I got confused with the capability of a heated greenhouse) so really that's just being used as a mini shed although I did put some plants out last year in seed trays It has gone a bit manky and wet inside over winter so I think I'll take it down for winter next time. 

I was thinking a bird table or feeder of some sort because we have lots of birds visit us throughout the year and I love watching them.

Also a good idea - I am wanting to get some blueberry bushes and I know they need ericaceous soil so perhaps I will make a box for those or two separate boxes. 

I find taking the cover off my greenhouse in the winter has helped. That way I dont need to replace it every year but I dont want to leave it up come winter because Im on top of a coastal welsh mountain and the winds here can ruin things in one gust and I have visions of my greenhouse taking off so best for me to just strip it back to the frame and put anything I wont use over winter in a greenhouse into the shed. 

I am hoping this year though I will be making use of the garden much more throughout the year and over winter rather than just the warmer months.

Glittering_M

Thanks @sammy_kaye18 for the ideas re the greenhouse. I'm not sure how mine would fair coverless over winter but something to consider! 

I'd love to use my garden more too, we have a patio area with a picnic bench but I'd love to try and create somewhere more comfortable to sit with a warm drink over winter, possibly with a form of cover, like an arbour.

Also I need to consider where I am putting the bath tub, I got it so I could turn it into a pond. I'm not sinking it or I'd never get it out again so I know that will restrict what can use it but I'm hoping ramps and logs etc will help before I go full steam and make an actual wildlife pond in the ground. 

Yes, blueberries would be nice!

sammy_kaye18

Well the tonne of gravel was delivered at 8am this morning! 

Me and my son started at 10.30 and we finished moving it all at 2pm so I think we have faired quite well and that was only with one tea / hot chocolate break. 

Both suitably shattered now and I think a trip /walk / crawl to the shop may be in order to treat him as a thank you for helping. I think a stiff drink for me may be in order too. 

@Glittering_M
I know what you mean about the cosy area. My husband made me a pallet deck and then topped it with proper decking boards and I love sitting out in the sunshine and have ..... well had brought a big umbrella that covered the whole deck so when it was really hot I could still be outside and stay shaded because I burn easily. I need to buy a new one though since I left it up by accident one evening and the wind wrecked it. 
I have a small sun trap by my back door though that the broken umbrella which would open one half, fit in nice and snuggly and covered enough of the space to fit a chair and a small side table so I could sit out in the rain and listen to it etc so I think I might have to look at some kind of fixture there that I can use again.

Glittering_M

That sounds lovely @sammy_kaye18 and good work with the gravel! 

I think I'll try and put my thinking cap over the weekend about what an area could look like for me!

sammy_kaye18

Well managed to get the boy child to help me today to go into neighbours garden and dismantle their pallet bar that never quite completed.
Took it apart and managed to hoike half of it over the fence but then had to drag the bigger pallets round so I now have 4 half pallets in the garden and two smaller pallet sides to try and think of something to make. 

I'm thinking another bed, pulling out some of the planks inside of the pallets and using some to make a bed and then the planks to make some boxes to put flowers in - or the elusive blueberry bush that Im still hunting for. That way then its soil can be contained.

Anything else then I think I might make into a bird table or something. 

Currently sat looking for a garden bench so I have a nice place to sit and have been speaking to my grandmother earlier who was suggesting putting agoja bugle in my garden for bees as well. 

I also have a running joke with mother in law about my garden.
My husband Owen rarely visits into the garden unless he comes home and Im out there, he will pop his head out or come out with the dogs. So I am counting the days to see how long it takes him to realise what I have done to the garden. 

So far we are on Day 3 and he still has no idea. 

Sally_SAS

I would suggest being careful where you get the peatfree compost from.  During lockdown I got some organic from homebase and it was rubbish in my opinion.  Anything recommended by RHS is much better and stays reasonably damp