Ashley Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 More grown up threads! For some reason the last few weekends I've been doing work in the garden. We get someone in about once a year to do it (while I mow every now and then), but I think I was looking for a distraction and it was sunny. It was overgrown with nettles and bluebells so I've hacked away a lot of that but they go deep so I know they'll be back. Plus I think some are connected to/grow through from the neighbours. The other day I got home and there was some random plant on our front garden. No idea where it has come from but my friend identified it as a lavender bush so I've trimmed off some of the dead bits, put it in a pot and we'll see if it grows. But it was nice to do because my hands smelt of lavender. I'm considering heading to a garden centre soon (that delivers) and getting some new stuff. Maybe enjoy the fact we live in London and have a garden. IDK. Anyone enjoy gardening? I don't particularly, but hoping the end result will be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 My new house has a really nice garden, I'm planning to stay on top of maintaining it I don't know anything about plants or flowers, but I'll try and look after what's there already. In the corner is an old iron shed, I might dismantle that and turn that corner into a veg patch instead. There's two trees in the garden, I'm also going to look into putting up a hammock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 A hammock? Is your new house in the med? Does anyone in your family know about it? I plan on just asking my nan about everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) I can't wait to have my own garden! We currently have a patchy, swampy bit of grass in front of our flat, which is a communal garden. It's a bit shitty, barely any plants in it (most are dead/dying) and you can't really sit on the grass because it has been too wet for the last few years. I love messing around with plants, but as I can't have any outside right now, I keep a few inside. Currently have 5 different plants, some of those plants moved all the way from Belgium with me, and have been growing very well. I like repotting them into bigger pots when they need it. When I have a garden, I will try and grow some fruit and vegetables if I have enough space. Definitely want a strawberry plant! And flowers, I want loads of flowers. Possibly even have a little patch with wildflowers. *dreams* Edit: Oh, and I want wisteria growing everywhere. Love it. My parents have it growing in their (somewhat neglected) garden. It's in bloom now, my mom sent this pic this week. If I could just have my parents' garden, I would be so happy. Oh, and their house too. Edited May 19, 2016 by Eenuh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestneb Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) Ooh Gardening! Well.. I actually like gardening but... it started off from me liking food. I hated vegetables you could get in shops.. or sometimes just the price. Got cucumber, tomato, potato, asparagus (about 50 metre it feels :|), beans, radishes (they grow soooo well and easily and a thousand times nicer than you get in the shops) courgettes/marrows, carrots, beetroot, strawberries... yum Then there's the artichoke bush (is it a bush??) peach trees, cherry trees, walnut trees, chestnut trees, hazelnut bushes, pear trees, apple trees, plum trees... they are my favourite because there is so little work involved! Plus the clippings make great fuel for a bbq.. cherry wood + pork = heaven :P the wood has to be fairly fresh obviously, but some of the oils must make it through the heat and give a subtle cherry aroma to the pork.. I imagine apple tree would give a similar result weeding is a pain in the arse, but if you do the work manually it's actually a pretty effective work out. Got a manual pump at the well, and that gives a really focused work out for my upper back and triceps, and if I modify the movement slightly I can work on my thighs and buttock. So yeah.. I like eating. Not so keen on roses - I've counted just over 100 roses on the drive, weeding them is a pain in the butt, especially when I slipped and ended up planting a rose thorn deep into my knuckle (about 3 months later and the pain is gone but there's still a bump that shouldn't be there) Anyway, recently found out that you can eat roses, which made me like them a bit more, made a couple of pots of Rose jam. Oh I forgot the lemon, orange grape fruit and mandarine trees... they're awesome too.. made a nice lemon jam already.. looking forward to the other trees hopefully giving fruit towards the end of the summer/autumn Also forgot the figs... it's a fairly large garden so... easy to forget stuff Edited May 19, 2016 by Pestneb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 So yeah.. I like eating. Not so keen on roses - I've counted just over 100 roses on the drive, weeding them is a pain in the butt, especially when I slipped and ended up planting a rose thorn deep into my knuckle (about 3 months later and the pain is gone but there's still a bump that shouldn't be there) Anyway, recently found out that you can eat roses, which made me like them a bit more, made a couple of pots of Rose jam. Oh I forgot the lemon, orange grape fruit and mandarine trees... they're awesome too.. made a nice lemon jam already.. looking forward to the other trees hopefully giving fruit towards the end of the summer/autumn I am mostly using equipment found in the shed until I replace. The gardening gloves are actually football gloves that were old anyway, but as I was clearing out the nettles last week I realised that one of the fingers had gone. Lemons is an interesting idea. Think of the gin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestneb Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I am mostly using equipment found in the shed until I replace. The gardening gloves are actually football gloves that were old anyway, but as I was clearing out the nettles last week I realised that one of the fingers had gone. Lemons is an interesting idea. Think of the gin... I never used to like gloves for weeding... but the problem was just the type of gloves I was using.. I prefered the tactile feedback as I pull a weed so I know if I need to ease off or add a bit more torque... when I used gloves I always just used to pull the weed out at the surface.. with bare hands I tend to get most of the root out as well. But found a great pair of gloves recently... I'll be sad when they need replacing. Probably I should get a duplicate pair but it's one of those should haves that never gets done. There was a really good chemical for taking out weeds, apply it on the leaves and it would wipe out pretty much the toughest of weeds. EU regs have banned it though... probably it was hyper toxic for the environment... and some EU high ups had a friend who owned a company specialising in a less effective weed killer Not keen on Gin myself... made a lemon and rose petal jam which is pretty awesome much to my surprise... thinking of trying to make a lemon curd too. A lot of indian dishes I like to make use lemon as well for various purposes, so having super fresh fragrant lemon would be nice - oh and heads up, a fresh lemon is soooo much nicer than the ones you find in shops and markets! Not sure how well they grow in the UK though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Then there's the artichoke bush (is it a bush??) peach trees, cherry trees, walnut trees, chestnut trees, hazelnut bushes, pear trees, apple trees, plum trees...Where the heck do you live, Downton Abbey?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I do love a bit of gardening. When we first moved into the house i'm in now, the garden was overgrown and was full of builders rubble and debris from when the last owners built an extension. Took a few days to clear it, had some help from a mate. Had to rip out the old driveway from the back. Build a new area for a shed and laid some turf down. Got some raised beds from the earth we salvaged and put various plants in (including a tree). Garden looks nice now. Had to do some work on the front to, lifted the stone chippings and put turf down. Again, sorted the beds out and have some nice plants growing (both gardens have plants from the old house we lived in, the ones that hold sentimental value) Last year, we tried growing different vegetables. Managed to grow a tonne of tomatoes, runner beans and some potatoes. Didn't have much luck with growing strawberries, but did manage to grow 9 Peaches on a tree we bought. I'll post a picture online once i get home to show the garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestneb Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) Where the heck do you live, Downton Abbey?? Nope, France. It's an awesome place though, think it's about 7000m2 or there abouts, basically the back garden is a mini woodland park. I tried doing a census of the trees when I moved in... but kinda gave up when I counted over 200 trees. I've counted over 30 walnut trees, 3 chestnuts,3 cherry trees and 2 fig (bushes?) in the bottom "woods" area. Got a mini orchard running along the vegetable garden with over 10 peaches, another couple of cherry trees, several pear trees, I think 3 apple trees, several plums... so needless to say I am looking forward to later in the year when I get more than I can eat when it comes to fruit. If I was a vegetarian I think I'd never need to go to the shops again I do love a bit of gardening. When we first moved into the house i'm in now, the garden was overgrown and was full of builders rubble and debris from when the last owners built an extension. Took a few days to clear it, had some help from a mate. Had to rip out the old driveway from the back. Build a new area for a shed and laid some turf down. Got some raised beds from the earth we salvaged and put various plants in (including a tree). Garden looks nice now. Had to do some work on the front to, lifted the stone chippings and put turf down. Again, sorted the beds out and have some nice plants growing (both gardens have plants from the old house we lived in, the ones that hold sentimental value) Last year, we tried growing different vegetables. Managed to grow a tonne of tomatoes, runner beans and some potatoes. Didn't have much luck with growing strawberries, but did manage to grow 9 Peaches on a tree we bought. I'll post a picture online once i get home to show the garden. Sounds awesome. I think it's a really rewarding experience, managing an area and making it something nice and orderly/functional, especially if it was in not such a great condition to start with. If you like them, cucumbers are pretty prolific, as are courgettes/marrows. When did your peaches get ripe? I've never grown them before.. I'm hoping they don't take too long!! Edited May 19, 2016 by Pestneb Automerged Doublepost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 ounds awesome. I think it's a really rewarding experience, managing an area and making it something nice and orderly/functional, especially if it was in not such a great condition to start with. If you like them, cucumbers are pretty prolific, as are courgettes/marrows. When did your peaches get ripe? I've never grown them before.. I'm hoping they don't take too long!! It's certainly very rewarding, i think we got the tree in March last year and by July the fruits had ripened. Found this snap of the tree (with a peach on it) Also, 2 random snaps of the garden. These are the after shots, the before photo i can't find. But imagine it overgrown This one has the tomato and beans at the back. We've also got a hazelnut tree/bush in the garden as well, when the nuts are in i'll post it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Oh. That's really nice. I might look into that pebbly kinda outskirt thing you've got going on, what's been used as the partition there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Oh. That's really nice. I might look into that pebbly kinda outskirt thing you've got going on, what's been used as the partition there? Breeze blocks cemented in place. Yeah, we're cost effective. The pebbles came from the front garden which we recycled before giving the rest to family and friends. Most of the work in the garden was done on a budget, it does look pretty good. There is a seat in the garden which was made from recycled wooden pallets, and that gazebo thing was a freebie from my aunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Nope, France. It's an awesome place though, think it's about 7000m2 or there abouts, basically the back garden is a mini woodland park. I tried doing a census of the trees when I moved in... but kinda gave up when I counted over 200 trees. I've counted over 30 walnut trees, 3 chestnuts,3 cherry trees and 2 fig (bushes?) in the bottom "woods" area. Got a mini orchard running along the vegetable garden with over 10 peaches, another couple of cherry trees, several pear trees, I think 3 apple trees, several plums... so needless to say I am looking forward to later in the year when I get more than I can eat when it comes to fruit. If I was a vegetarian I think I'd never need to go to the shops again Do you have a pic of the grounds? I think you should be hosting the N-E meet-ups :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 This is the most middle aged thread we've ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 This is the most middle aged thread we've ever had. We're just a bunch of adults comparing our bushes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestneb Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Do you have a pic of the grounds? I think you should be hosting the N-E meet-ups :p Not at the moment, I'll try to remember to do so at some point... generally when I'm in the garden I don't think to take photo's. Not sure many people would want to come all the way down here for a meet up... most of the forum users seem to be from the UK and kick up enough fuss about travelling to London so I can't imagine a large turnout going abroad! Don't think we really have any French users at the moment do we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goafer Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Our back garden is about 70% dandelions and about 30% grass. The neighbours are going to hate us next time it's windy. The front garden is better, albeit in desperate need of a good mowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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