Gardening with Platypus

platypus

platypus

platypus

Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2003
Posts
40,286
Location
FR+UK
Thought I might as well stick this thread up, I know there are some keen gardeners on here, and this might inspire someone to do something about their garden ;). It is hard work but very theraputic.

Anyway, I moved into this house in January, and it has a very long garden. However, as is often the nature with rented properties the garden has suffered. Greatly in this case. I've been weeding for about a month now (weekends), and have recently stepped up my efforts to turn this garden around.

Apologies for the photos, they're taken on my crappy phone camera.

Very proud of this:
n512407950_1658697_4719475.jpg

This was absolutely full of weeds, and took me four hours to clear. The plan is to take the stones out, so that its properly rectangular, cut the tree roots out, and start a lawn.

Lots of crappy weeds:
n512407950_1658648_6504707.jpg

n512407950_1662198_530823.jpg

n512407950_1662199_5337312.jpg


This root extends about two feet into next doors garden, and took about 15 minutes to get exposed!
n512407950_1658650_1796263.jpg


Beans planted last weekend:
n512407950_1658649_4022437.jpg


The plan is fairly simple at the moment. I've got my broad beans planted, this Easter weekend will see a lot more work, and ready to go in are potatoes, radishes, carrots and courgettes (all have been chitted or planted and are ready for moving to the ground).

There is only about two thirds of the garden done so far, and a lot more to do. General weeding, cutting out of trees, removal of lots of broken stone from the soil. There is a shed halfway dividing the garden in two, I plan to move that to the end and extend the lawn a bit so its fairly sizeable.

Will keep this updated with before/after pictures :).
 
platypus said:
It is hard work but very theraputic.
Click to expand...

It most certainly is both.

All I do around here is water the garden, mow the lawn, cut the hedges, prune the roses/bushes and help keep it tidy. These tasks are fairly mundane but they bring down the stress levels, relax you, give you time to think, you also get to see some birds and enjoy things grow!

I look forward to your updates. :)
 
I cant wait to have our own garden - enough lawn for a puppy, and enough mud for a veg patch!

We have a shared garden at the mo, i think i've been out in it twice in the last 9 months!
I cant believe you're putting all that work into a rental garden - kudos to you!
Apparently planting garlic in the patch will help keep away some nasty insects - black fly and the such like
 
Those purple things aren't weeds, theyre grape hyacinths and I think they look awesome... so awesome in fact I planted a whole load in my garden last year :)

I weeded and feeded (wed and fed?!) yesterday, just in time for the rain to wash it all in... lovely.
 
Aye I know about the grape hyacinths, but I just have a plethora of them and its all so untidy I want to just get rid, get the vegetable patch sorted and then think about finishing the rest with plants. There's a narrow border on the left of the patch which I think will be good for carrots and then plenty of room for more flowers. I'll replant some of the grape hyacinths in that.
 
goldilocks said:
I cant believe you're putting all that work into a rental garden - kudos to you!
Apparently planting garlic in the patch will help keep away some nasty insects - black fly and the such like
Click to expand...
I'll be here a while, so I see no reason not to make it look nice, and it's good fun :).

I'd not heard about the garlic thing - I intend to plant some cosmos and candytuft to attract ladybirds to deal with the blighters.
 
I've got a garden for the first time and the damn thing keeps on growing. Weeds and plants alike. I find the strimmer good for keep most of it away from the grass and mulch was good to stop a lot of the weeds. Definitely going to get more of that!

Would love to spend more time in it but we've got a house renovation and extension that takes priority :)

Edit: just had a closer look at the pics and realised we've got lots of the purple thingies too. Look very nice and I wont pull them out this year (as I may have done last year..... :D ) if they are not weeds
 
Last edited:
Fortunately I didn't entitle the thread 'Gardening with a platypus', otherwise yes, using a spade would yield much greater results then attempting to weed and plant vegetables whilst wielding a slightly odd looking creature from the eastern area of Australia. Good one.
 
Last edited:
Not a problem but thanks for the almost offer :)

I actually enjoy being out in the garden and would like to try growing somethign other than weeds but the house gets priority for the next 12 months or so.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom