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

Murphybear

I live in sheltered housing with a lovely communal garden.  We live in a house with our own small garden.  The soil depth is too small to plant much so we do a lot of container garden.  A new giant plant supermarket has opened up fairly near, they have 3 branches in Devon and now this one in Somerset.  The plants are super cheap and very high quality.  

We have a gardener who comes in twice a month to manage the lawns and titivate the planting area, he’s very good 

When there was a warden her husband was a gardener by profession and he did the original planting,  there’s lots of interesting plants.  

I’m off now to plant 3 blueberries in a large pot with Ericaceous soil as professionally advised, hopefully they will bear fruit 

Id love to hear from anyone else who does a lot of container gardening.  

Ps my tomatoes and strawberries are growing like weeds with the glorious weather 

Suffolk_lass

However much I might moan about the weeds here, I am so pleased we don't have horse (mare's) tail. It spreads by spores, but usually arrives via rhizomes from neighbouring gardens, or stem fragments in compost or manure. The RHS says treating with weedkiller (SBK Stump killer) is best done in late summer, after bruising the stems, when it is at its most vigorous.

I really feel for you!

-taff

Well, you could alter your mindset about it and think of it as a beneficial plant. It is used fro various things by herbalists and historically..

Soontobeoap

Just had my first bowl of strawberrys from the garden and will pull my first radishes tomorrow. Potatoes are looking healthy and I have a few swede seedlings showing. Carrots seem to have suddenly taken off too. I must get a bit of weeding done tomorrow so that I can see whats what. 2 weeks with only watering and they are taking over again! 

Soontobeoap

enough strawberrys for both of us tonight. Whole day spent in the garden. Kept stopping for drinks as it was so hot. I am trying really hard not ro use sprays. Lupins have been decimated by greenfly and black fly are all over my cherry bush. Can somebody tell me when all of the loveky creatures who love to chomp on them will be along. I have seen ladybird lavae and some tiny yellow lady birds with black spots. I am trying to attract birds but we only seem to get pidgeons! 😕

jokono

We have couch grass at the allotment, I don't know if I'll ever get rid of it. I dig out as much as I can, but some roots break when I pull very gently, and also there's grass everywhere around the plots. There's loads grown again around the raspberry and currants and I'm worried about digging to close to the bushes' roots. It feels like I'll be digging out grass forever 😖

jokono

Those strawbs look delicious @Soontobeoap
We have a couple of plants in pots at home but I think I'll get serious with a dedicated bed next year.

KajiKita

jokono said:

We have couch grass at the allotment, I don't know if I'll ever get rid of it. I dig out as much as I can, but some roots break when I pull very gently, and also there's grass everywhere around the plots. There's loads grown again around the raspberry and currants and I'm worried about digging to close to the bushes' roots. It feels like I'll be digging out grass forever 😖

A thick mulch in autumn slows it down and the raspberries will appreciate the protection of their shallow roots. 

KK

jokono

Thanks, will keep that in mind!

Edit to add: is grass clippings a good option for mulching them?

leftatthetrafficlights

I love strawberries but I'm just not successful at growing them 😔 

The garden is going well - we've got flowers on the broad beans and climbing beans, salads are doing really well, courgettes are starting to form buds, fennel is starting to bulb, beetroot is also starting to bulb, carrots are forming, calabrese and cabbage are looking strong, sweetcorn is starting to increase in height as are the peas and the butternut and spaghetti squash are doing okay. The potatoes are already at the top of their bags - they're second earlies so we'll just keep watering and hope that we get a good crop. In the greenhouse the tomatoes are growing quickly and starting to flower, the peppers and chillis are looking healthy but no sign of any flowers. 

I'm on the east coast and the weather has been pretty grim up until this weekend but it looks like we may have a week of sunshine ahead so hopefully that will give everything a boost!!