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Gardens & Gardening


Tommy!

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We have just moved in to our new house. The previous owners put a lot of time and effort in to the garden, it's beautiful. I am a little worried about maintaining it as I regularly kill any house plant I go near. 

There is quite a large allotment area and greenhouse. The previous owners left us some potatoes and strawberries that we were able to pick and eat over the last few weeks. We also have raspberries but they have been destroyed by creatures so we've bought some bug spray from them. My parents visited on the weekend and are very keen gardeners and they bought me some tomato and courgette plants which are now in the greenhouse and have left me with very strict instructions as to how to look after them. 

Any other suggestions as to what a novice can grow?

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Don't worry about killing the garden. Established gardens are usually very strong and will look after themselves as long as you keep on top of weeding, watering and, when you feel brave enough, pruning.

If you've got a greenhouse then tomatoes, peppers and chillis should grow huge quickly with little effort and are great for a novice to be able to see progress. You'll get better crops when you spend time looking after it but that's not important at the start. Spring onions are good and don't need lots of room, Beetroot, radish and shallots are all quite easy in beds and beans have a quick turnaround if you like them.

Oh and herbs. Most of them you'd really have to go out of your way to kill. They need almost no care once they are established. 

Plants and flowers wise lavender looks great and is also almost indestructible. You're late for summer flowers now but geraniums, begonias and marigolds are all easy one to grow from seed and fill beds next spring. 

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19 minutes ago, deathrey said:

Any other suggestions as to what a novice can grow?

Root veg is always simplist to care for I've found, beetroot, parsnip, turnip. 

Else it's kidney beans, grow them in pots in the green house next year and plant out when strong to help avoid them being eaten, after they get so big nibbling of lower leaves doest matter and they grow well with little effort, just need plenty of water and some good canes. 

Onions and garlic are also very low maintenance but are a bit more picky about the soil in my limited experience. 

Carrots are also easy, just try not to move them as it attracts carrot fly and they are one of the few things where you don't manure the ground before planting. 

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Thank you so much for the tips guys. Am I best to start next summer with most of the plants? I've never even thought of growing kidney beans, will give them a go along with some root veg, shallots, spring onions and garlic. 

We do already have an abundance of mint. I've made a large batch of Punjabi mint chutney, I need to think of some more ideas as to what to use the mint for other than drinks as we have loads of it. My mum has planted some coriander for me which will come in useful as I use quite a lot of that. Basil is the other herb I use a lot of but I killed my last Basil plant fairly quickly and I dont think they grow brilliantly outside? Is that right?

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Yeh, basil doesn't do well in our weather - best to keep potted indoors.

One vegetable that's good to plant is leeks - however, they're a long-term project, as it takes them just over a year to cultivate, because they need to go through several frosts to make them tasty.

Mint is good for cooking with lamb & garlic, Greek-style. Also, this recipe I've posted before uses a fair bit of mint, and it's delicious:

 

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We moved into our house in May 2021. When we viewed the house, it had a fairly grassy lawn. When we got the keys. This is what we saw

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It's took a year and it's been in various stages of patchy, balding, weeding and feeding it. Using all different types of lawn seed, to try and get it to grow. But it's getting there.

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That’s a great effort, grass is surprisingly difficult to get looking good. We moved in to our new place Aug last year and I’ve been trying similar but reckon it’ll take at least another year to get it to look passable. Doesn’t help that my dog seems to piss napalm. 

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8 hours ago, stumobir said:

Doesn’t help that my dog seems to piss napalm

You can put something on to help prevent it, if I remember right. I want to say a top dressing of epsom salt solution but I can't be 100% that's right.

 

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Morning.  Does anyone have any recommendations for hosepipes and spray nozzles? Our current Hozelock kit needs replacing. It has pinholes along the pipe and bizarrely in the nozzle itself. So much so that I use it more as a lawn sprayer than a proper hose.

I like the look of the Gardenia kit. Just a bit wary that it may be more design over substance.I  think I'll go for a robust hose. There's plenty of options for attachments. 

I have plans for running hose pipe around the house and having quick connection points at selected locations. Thus eliminating the need to drag a pipe around. Kinks are sooo annoying. 

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32 minutes ago, BigJag said:

I like the look of the Gardenia kit.

I've got a massive garden and also have hoses daisy-chained about the place and I've found that Gardenia's accessories are the most reliable. I've tried to save a few pennies many, many times but all other brands I've used have disappointed me with leaks.

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That's good to know. We've been mainly buying Hozelock, which usually breaks down after a couple of years or so. Thanks for the recommendation.

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