How do I garden?

ChroniC

ChroniC

ChroniC

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Joined
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Posts
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Vague title for a stupid question from a complete gardening noob.

I recently rearranged the front lawn to expand the driveway.. I left over space is a rectangle split in 3, with the centre square being full of grass and the top and bottom squares (6ft by 4ft) being boxed off with nothing at the moment but weed protection in.. I'm going to fill them with soil and plant stuff...

Now what I mean is what the hell do I plant, and how the hell do I arrange it. I could just throw down anything I can find in a garden centre but it would probably end up looking a complete mess.

Are there rules to what type of plant I should add? Shrubs, flowers, bushes. Minimal effort stuff that looks good would be ideal, but how do if find out what to choose.

Is gardening just guess work on what you think looks nice, or does it require a level of planning?
 
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ChroniC said:
Vague title for a stupid question from a complete gardening noob.

I recently rearranged the front lawn to expand the driveway.. I left over space is a rectangle split in 3, with the centre square being full of grass and the top and bottom squares (6ft by 4ft) being boxed off with nothing at the moment but weed protection in.. I'm going to fill them with soil and plant stuff...

Now what I mean is what the hell do I plant, and how the hell do I arrange it. I could just throw down anything I can find in a garden centre but it would probably end up looking a complete mess.

Are there rules to what type of plant I should add? Shrubs, flowers, bushes. Minimal effort stuff that looks good would be ideal, but how do if find out what to choose.

Is gardening just guess work on what you think looks nice, or does it require a level of planning?
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Welcome to the green finger brigade. It has rules but some of the best gardens are just been done hap hazardly. Before you start take a look around your area so that you can see what grows well. Grab a book about gardening, doesn't need to be very expensive to get a feel for it. Then list what you like to look at, give it time before you start planting
 
Learn as you go... Basically what I have done, there are things that I planted that died, things that I have had move, as they were in the "wrong" place and were not growing well, millions of utube vids to watch, or you could be living in the past and buy a book
 
At the moment the shops are full of spring bedding plants, pansies, primrose etc., buy a tray or three and plant randomly. Summer bulbs may be an idea. Plant about 100 to 150mm deep. Any planting, water in well. Sprinkle slug pellets around new plants.

Instant garden. Then think about what to plant in autumn for next year's colour.
 
Looking around the neighbourhood is a great start. Depending on how well you know your neighbours, ask the ones with the nicest gardens what they’ve planted. Also, if you get to visit a park / ornamental garden ever (for example Birmingham Botanical Gardens or Winterbourne Gardens) I find it a real source of inspiration.

Try some things and see! If all else fails, as has been suggested, just buy a load of bedding plants (I’m not a massive primrose fan, so I like to wait a month until more variety is available). Bulbs are a winner and I wish I were organised enough to plant a load of them.

One thing I really need to get better at is knowing when to quit with a plant. I just need to dig the thing up and bin it!!
 
I was unsure whether I should just plant some greeniery shrubs etc and bulbs or just get a few racks of flowers and plant them all around.

I think my biggest concern is price. Is it hard work planting seeds packets now in little trays to later move or save myself the effort and get pre-grown?
 
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ChroniC said:
I was unsure whether I should just plant some greeniery shrubs etc and bulbs or just get a few racks of flowers and plant them all around.

I think my biggest concern is price. Is it hard work planting seeds packets now in little trays to later move or save myself the effort and get pre-grown?
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Yes you could do that even easier is the mixed flower seed packets that some don't like, but grab a pack of native wild flowers and scatter them on the patch you want. Great results
 
JonRGV250 said:
No not all, and it’ll save you an absolute fortune.
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Grab something like ..

www.lidl.co.uk

Parkside Propagator Set - 4 pack - | Lidl UK

Parkside Propagator Set - 4 pack - For seeds, seedlings and plant cuttings Set of 4 trays, 4 inserts - each with space for 24 plants - and 4 transparent
www.lidl.co.uk www.lidl.co.uk

Pop the seeds and some seed compost in and place on a windowsill or such and sit back and watch them grow.
It really couldn’t be easier.
 
Haze said:
Dont grow things in pots/tubs either its a con, i spent about £600 in two years on compost, and then you are always watering them in the summer
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Its not a con though, wondering what size pots you filled with £600 of compost. Yes they need watering, I use a drip irrigation system but also an added expense, however not to the scale of your compost expenditure.
 
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You could copy me and do it reluctantly.

Gardening is like a haircut, always looks better after a few of growth.

See what you like and checkout it will work where you want to put it.
 
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Even if I had a million quid, I wouldn't let someone else do it. I'm just thst type of person.

SpellowHouse said:
The very important thing is to undestand what type of soil you have, otherwise you are potentially spending a fortune on plants that will just die in a few years time.
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Well at the moment they are completely empty, it's about half a foot deep and I don't know if I will find locals trying to get rid of soil to fill them or buy stuff. It would take about qtr ton I'd say.. I put down weed membrane just so they didn't just get full of crap before I started. If I planted deeper than that membrane and cut through it, it's a clay based but mostly muddy soil. That's all I know if it. Anything more scientific I can't help.
 
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ChroniC said:
Even if I had a million quid, I wouldn't let someone else do it. I'm just thst type of person.



Well at the moment they are completely empty, it's about half a foot deep and I don't know if I will find locals trying to get rid of soil to fill them or buy stuff. It would take about qtr ton I'd say.. I put down weed membrane just so they didn't just get full of crap before I started. If I planted deeper than that membrane and cut through it, it's a clay based but mostly muddy soil. That's all I know if it. Anything more scientific I can't help.
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If you're talking about raised beds, you don't need to fill them with soil. There are loads of clips on Instagram etc showing people filling the bottom of raised beds with big sticks, then putting cardboard on top, and then putting soil on top of that. That's just what people do.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
If you're talking about raised beds, you don't need to fill them with soil. There are loads of clips on Instagram etc showing people filling the bottom of raised beds with big sticks, then putting cardboard on top, and then putting soil on top of that. That's just what people do.
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You could also use a layer of gravel or broken up polystyrene insulation covered with a membrane so you don't need as much compost.
 
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