GreenFly - A 'flylady style' gardening thread with weekly tasks to tame your garden

Working_Mum

debtfreewannabe321 said:

Afternoon all, can I sneak in and pretend I have been here all along?
I think I need some help...We have a massive garden compared to what we had before in the new house. It isn't anywhere near as big as all yours look  But I am kinda grateful for that right now as I am already feeling overwhelmed with the amount of 'just maintenance' that needs doing. I had great plans for a greenhouse, growing my own fruit, veg and herbs and I don't know where to start. Would love some advice. I already have some dug up fruit bushes from the last house (red currant, black berry (no thorns), logan berry and raspberry. I want to put them in the ground but someone has suggested I don't 'cos they'll spread too much and be a nightmare to look after - so I didn't. But now they've just sat in the tubs that were supposed to be temporary for moving them with and they really need planting somewhere. I am thinking that I should probably start off small rather than going gung ho on the gardening plans and then having too much to do. I have grown tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, strawberries, pumpkin and other small bits with varying success before so not a complete noob but a little bit of one  
The garden already has 2 apple trees, 1 pear (we think) and a few we haven't decided what they are yet. One apple tree is covered in mistletoe- will this kill it?
Okay I will stop there.. I will get some pics tomorrow if I am allowed to stay it is getting too dark now for any decent ones. DP Is helping me measure up tonight on the areas I want transformed so will have that as a guide later. 
Any tips on where to get cheap/free greenhouses too?

Hi DFW123,
It sounds like you have an exciting time ahead of you with your garden.

This thread charts the story of my garden from plastic grass to haven for wildlife..it isn't finished yet but may give you a bit of an idea of my journey.

Blank Canvass Garden - Design Inspiration Needed — MoneySavingExpert Forum

I would say Freecycl3, FBMP and Gumtree are your friends.

Check out if there are any "open garden" events in your local area - you'll gain lots of knowledge and inspiration from what local gardeners are doing in your area. You can buy plants cheaply and get advice on your way round. Lots of the plants in my garden were bought at my local open gardens day.

I have a folder filled with all of inspiration (found on here or in magazines etc) and a calendar of what I need to do and when - it isn't week by week but more month by month. This helps me plan what I need to do and what I need to swot up on / ask advice on if I've never done it before. It's meant I have been better at getting things done rather than missing deadlines etc.
 
Maybe you could share some pics or start your own thread - I think everyone here loves to see other posters gardens and how they do things! I know I learn something every time I read these threads.

Good luck with your exciting project.

WM

debtfreewannabe321

Ah thanks all, I am taking note of all this. I have put an alert on FBMP already, I did it when I moved in as the space I want it to go is empty so ready to be transformed when I find the right thing...not had any luck yet. They either go too quickly or they're for sale and too much. Will keep trying, although DP is erring towards saving for a nice wood/glass one as I want it bang in the middle of the garden and he doesn't want to look at an ugly one haha. I was inspired by a (I think it was) Monty programme where a couple had bought a doer upper and the garden was in need of a lot of work too, and they wanted a fruit/veg garden they could use all year round and Monty put the greenhouse right in the middle of it all and I thought- YES that's what I want. I should go back and re-watch it now I have moved and see if I can use it to help me draw up some plans. Although I am working with what I already have and we have some lovely mature flower beds that I won't touch & probably half a dozen trees which I have to work around. 
I am going out there again today as the weather is good and it keeps me mentally busy so I will get some pictures of which bits I want to tackle. 
I found an app last night whereby I could plan my garden- it is called Fryd if anyone is interested. I didn't opt for the paid version just used the free planner and read some articles, it seemed pretty useful though and gave me a rough idea of how much space I needed to leave for all these fruit bushes I have which are my first priority. I hope to report back that I have at least one bush in the ground- but a lot of weeding is needed first. Bindweed has strangled and killed some lovely plants out there already which was sad. I have tried to save what I could though and will work with what is there. I will just add to it

debtfreewannabe321

Okay I have got some pictures to share. Feel free to offer any advice. I have drawn up a small plan of what I would eventually like in the garden and roughly where. The area at the back is very established so aside from tidying up I am leaving it alone. It has a compost heap that we built and also a small shed big enough for garden tools once we clear it out- the old owner was a wood hoarder (who knew there was such a thing huh). There is also a summer house/ potting shed which can be refurbed and brought back to life once, yes you guessed it, the wood has been cleared from it We measured it last night, garden is around 11m wide, and this area is approx 22m long (there is another 10 m or so behind this but I have other plans for that). In this section here (see bottom pic) I am putting the greenhouse right in front of where I was standing- it has the most sun on it during the day. The back is too shady and this is as near to the house as I want it really. The section where the yellow bucket is is where I am putting the fruit bushes that fence is west facing so I think the best spot for the berries and fruit. The garden is north facing (pretty much, slightly north east) but because it is quite long the sun does get to this middle section most of the day from what I saw since we've moved in. So this is where I'd like to put the growing food section. I am hoping I don't need to cut down lots of trees/ bushes to get more sun in and try and work with what I have. The tree with the seating around is a very established pear tree and we have three apple trees as i've just been out to count them all. 
I have dug over 1sqm (thereabout) today and am just going to go out and put in one fruit bush now (after my cuppa and back rest lol) I got over a wheelbarrow full of stones from just that one section and two buckets worth of weeds - I am not sure I want to put the stones back around the bushes as I think it's actually easier to weed without the stones and black membrane (which was all holey from weeds breaking through anyway?!) 

greenbee

Mine is north facing too, so I have similar problems. I worked out where there was likely to be the most sun (i.e. in line with the garage, not the house - so a lower roof) and plonked the greenhouse there. I'm building the garden round that. I also have a shed (well two) and summerhouse that I have had to clear and refurbish to make them useable. 

Despite pulling everything out last year, the garden has looked spectacular in late summer (what we've had of it) with lots of cosmos and nicotiana and sweet peas. I must have sown thousands of cosmos seeds, and it paid off. I'm now collecting seeds for next year - but they are still going strong. 

Not the best picture, but shows the re-roofed, repaired, and repainted shed, the only rose in the garden, nicotiana mutabilis and cosmos, and the very untidy veg plot (no dig beds temporarily edged with old loft boards). ANd some beautifully scythed grass in front of the shed to contrast with the mess of long grass I still need to tackle under the washing line!

debtfreewannabe321

Greenbee thanks for sharing, what are those tall wispy flowers they're really pretty. I had those big daisies in the last house and they took over but I always have a patch of them because they're easy to grow and pretty 😆. I also have a shed that needs refurbing. Not sure if you can see it in the pictures it is before the small patio area in the left side. That would you have guessed already....is full of wood 😐 if we ever have any raised beds made I think we will have plenty of wood to fill the bottom parts out for drainage..... Possibly enough if the whole street wanted to do the same. 

greenbee

The tall wispy ones are nicotiana mutabilis (I must collect some seed). Smell fabulous (although not as good as the nicotiana alata on the other side of the garden), and change from pink to white. With the cosmos I had several packets of different varieties. They're all mixed up  and down both sides of the garden cheering it up. 

If the wood isn't useful for making things or lining beds, you can always use it on a firepit/in an incinerator and add the ash to compost. 

debtfreewannabe321

Thanks Greenbee. I think we will make use of the wood somehow. We gave away an entire big car load already and bagged loads up. The more we bag up the more we find there are worse problems to have I guess so we'll either continue to give it away (reckon we have close to 9 or 10 tonne bags worth of logs around the property if not more ) it is EVERYWHERE, in every shed, garage, carport and summer house and I have never seen anything like it to be honest. DP was like, yeh we will keep it don't throw it, thinking he'd hit jackpot when in reality the seller had hit jackpot not having to clear it! 
Anyway I have been in the garden today, the raspberries are in next to the currants. I have looked on the internet for spacing help and it has suggested 50cm either side of the bush to be empty but I didn't know if that was a baby or full grown plant 🤔 for now though I have just got it in. The soil is so easy to work with once weeded and when I have done the whole bed I can space them out further because I think they need more space then they currently have (excuse the pun ). I tried to save the plants that are in there, I untangled weeds and bindweed from them and have repotted, I'm unsure what any are though most had lost leaves before I got out there so I cut them back and hope for the best
As I am working I am looking to see where the sun hits the garden the most for placement of my greenhouse. It is looking to be either the fence side next to the bed I am working on or right in the middle of the garden where I initially thought to put it anyway. 

KajiKita

That’s coming on really well @debtfreewannabe321 😊

KK

greenbee

I vote for the greenhouse in the middle so you can get all the way round it (and so can the light. In the summer you'll get light from the north as well. 

Cherryfudge

I'm not sure where yesterday's sunshine has gone but it's parky today! We had a ride out to a Walled Garden yesterday and they were giving unidentified iris rhizomes for a donation, so I have four. I need to find a good sunny spot for them. Irises seem to like this soil but the ones I have are in too much shadow. Pots might be the answer so I can try keep them shallow and make a feature of them.

I rescued a small planter from the recycle/donate box at the garden centre and have scrubbed and disinfected it. It's still battered but I've transplanted my small camellia into it in the hope that a bigger pot will be better protection and more stable. I was shocked to find how little the roots have spread from when it was last potted on early in the year. Does anyone know much about camellias and can tell me if this is okay? It's put on top growth and there are buds forming, so apart from the lack of roots, it looks healthy. I confess I bought it a few years ago and it was languishing in a pot in a shady spot so the growth looks as though it's been happier since being moved to a sheltered but sunnier spot.