Any gardeners here ?

[dUnKle]

Im trying to become one now have my own place but know nothing about it at all

So need some advice

This is our garden as of this (very, very, very wet) Morning

Shot with EX-Z55 at 2007-07-21

Now I need some help


(1) The lawn - the previous owners had 3 kids and a dog so the lawn was it pretty poor state when we moved in. Thanks to a couple of boxes of evergreen most of the patches have gone. However I still have a fair few along with numerous yellowy areas. Any tips on how to improve ?

(2) The plants and the like you can see are all what we have planeted, howeever its been hit and miss with a lot of plants just doing nothing but turning brown and shriveling up. Know the rain will not have helped but we also have very VERY clay like soil

What we want to do is plant shrubs and bushes that will give us good cover all around the lawn, that flower in variety of colours and that will come back year after year. Dont want them to bush out too much and want them to grow at a variety of heights from between 3 to 6 foot

Also after something nice in the area where the bench is - want flowers and bushes there that will sort of grow around the bench and high behind it and smell nice

Can anyone recommend anything ?

Oh and please dont comment on the decking - thats only just gone down but needs sanding and the like

[la gran siete]

Ist thing to do is to get some Dr Hessayon "Expert" books. Usually found on a rack in garden ctrs. They are cheap paperbacks which are very informative - one on lawns , on shrubs ,flowers ,bulbs etc. Very informative.
2) Clay soils?Thye go harde in the dry weather and heavy when wet. Drains poorly as well so you will need to work in a lot of organic matter to improve soil structure- peat compost etc, The mnoore the better. you can also lay some dowmn as a mulch round the plants and let the earthworms( gardebners friends) take it down I would also look to mix in some sharp sand to improve soil texture. Your plants will thank you for all this.
3) Bear in mind that its horses for courses , different plants thrive in different locations so get to know hteiur requirements. Some tolerate most shady conditions others like sunny dry areas which drain well.i always recommend Busy Lizzies Begonias and Geraniums as they give by far the best value and are relatively easy to grow. The first two tolerate shade as well.French marigolds are ok too but slugs love them so sprinle pellte round them onec a week( in this weather).That your flowers which are hte garden fillers

4)Have a framework of shrubs and climbers. You've got a small garden so dwarf shrubs like small hebes, euonymous, fuschias, potentillas. Climbers - ivy, clematis,Jasmine, honeysuckle. The last 3 will need training so attach some wires horizontally onto the fence or trellis.Eunuymous will also grow up the fence. Think in terms of heather for winter colour as well. I see you got a Cordyline which is good as it gives a focal point but bear in mind it is a tree and will gorw to abpout 10ft maybe more.
5)Lawns are high maintenance nad if dogs have been on it thenitwill take time and effort to get right but as long as you see improvement then it should encourage you further. You could scarify it with an electric rake to get rid of thatch,apply mosskiller if necessary, aerate with a fork to relieve compaction. There are special aereating tools with hollowed tynes which can be bought which would be better.Finally in autumn apply autumn feed and top dressing (can buy in bags)

biggest favour you can do yourself is improve soil condition as it will make weeding so much easier- clay is 'orrible to work onAND BUY THEM BOOKS

[dUnKle]

cheers

already put couple bags of moo poo down and the results where noticable - will go get some more me thinks

[la gran siete]

Originally Posted by dUnKle

cheers

already put couple bags of moo poo down and the results where noticable - will go get some more me thinks

horses poo is better but they both bring lots of weed as well so beware unless they have been sterilised

[dUnKle]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

horses poo is better but they both bring lots of weed as well so beware unless they have been sterilised

sterilised poo ? people have too much time on hands

[la gran siete]

Originally Posted by dUnKle

sterilised poo ? people have too much time on hands

Thing is its often sold in bags at garden ctrs in which case it would definitely be sterilised to get rid of weed seeds and unwanted pests
Remember to treat your garden as an ongoing project ,dont be afraid to make mistakes or try new things.Much of it is trial and error.At the end of the day it'll reflect you and what pleases you most
Good luck

[dUnKle]

Cheers

Just been to local Garden center - never been to one before

£50 spent - fingers crossed

[la gran siete]

on cow poo? steady on

[dUnKle]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

on cow poo? steady on

Nah

Three bags of the stuff - rest on shrubs and equipment

[Yandros]

I started gardening about 13 years ago when I got my first place, and have been doing battle with clay soil in two new build gardens ever since.

The best advice I can give is - don't fiddle around on a small scale. if you're going to have any success, you have to do the job properly - PARTICULARLY on heavy clay.

Create flower beds several feet deep. Don't do the classic timid new gardener thing and cut out a 6 inch wide border all around the outside of the lawn! You MUST improve the soil structure, because as you've found, most things in bog standard clay soil will just sit and rot. A combination of LOADS of organic matter (manure is best) and some coarse grit and gravel will do wonders. Dig it in to a depth of 6-12". The very best thing is also to raise the flower beds about 6",edging at the front, and also at the back (some thermalite blocks would do the trick to stop your fence from rotting.

What it sounds like you want is a classic herbaceous border, full of flowering perennials.

Up against the fence/wall, honeysuckle would be my first choice, as it seems to like clay, and smells wonderful. Jasmine, Forsythia and climbing roses also seem to grow well.

Other things off the top of my head that seem to thrive on our Essex Clay (tm) and will flower year after year for you and don't get too huge...

Ceanothus
Helianthemum
Phygelius capensis
Crocosmia
Verbena bonariensis
Aquilegia
Cistus
Lavender
Geranium (the hardy perennial ones)
Alchemilla mollis
Aster
Zauschneria californica
Gaura lindheimeri
Agapanthus
Kniphofia

Here's our garden from other day (also very wet) and getting a bit overgrown at the moment!...

and last year, showing the central herbaceous border a bit more clearly...

[dUnKle]

Nice mate - and thanks for the tips

Thats the sort of thing I hope to achieve but surrounding the grass

Ill get there im sure

[dUnKle]

Well we went the other week and got a dozen or so new shrubs for the garden

pulled up all the weeds - planted new shrubs (filling each hole with good amount of moo poo) and then put more compost over top soil

Already looks so much better

However still got problem with grass. When we moved in there where HUGE bare patches and I have managed to get them filled by using new grass seed. However I still have around hald a dozen small patches where the grass has not grown and 2 patches of very yellow grass

ANy tips on how to cover these ?

[partyweb]

Originally Posted by dUnKle

However still got problem with grass. ...

...ANy tips on how to cover these ?

I too would like some tips on grass.

We laid a new lawn (a minature one about 3-4 sq metres). I've put in our garden a selfwatering irrigation system and before we laid down the turf I ran a small pipe down under it and connected it up to the irrigation system so that the lawn would get a good soaking too. The grass grew very quick and after about 3-4 weeks I cut it and had a party the next day. The morning after the lawn looked as dead as I felt. My neighbour told me that I'd cut it too soon. So I left it to grow a bit more. I spotted a letherjacket (daddy long legs) a few weeks back and someone had told me that these are responsible for creating bald patched in lawns as their larvae eat the roots of the grass so I bought something from ASDA to dilute and sprinkle over the lawn. Then we had all that rain (although no flooding luckily) and since then weve had many bald patches. The rest of the lawn has grown well but the bald patches remained. I cut the lawn again recently but sprinkled some 'aftercut' granules this time to hopefully prevent it dying. But one barbie day later and the grass is all patchy and yellowy.

Apart from cutting it what am I doing wrong? Is it getting too much water? Too many chemicals? Any ideas?

[kingfats]

Hi partyweb
Too many chemicals by the sound of it!
Never use chemicals for the leather jackets (new turf/seed) it will damage your lawn.Ant hills and leather jackets are a nuisance,but if you chuck a bucket of cold water on them......well usually they'll bugger off!
New turf needs time to establish so no roller skating.As for growing from seed then you have to be even more careful,keep off for a month really.
Too much water can wash your new seeds away before they can root but won't really bother turf.
Don't forget too much fertilzer yellows/blackens the grass!
Once you laid your new lawn (whatever method) then really it's not best to use any fertilzer or weed killer on it for the first six months.Cheers.

[partyweb]

Thanx kingfats. What would you suggest the best cause of action would be now. Can I simply cut out a couple of squares where the grass has gone and just 'drop in' a piece or two of new turf and try again? This time just leaving it to nature?