gardening

[shreena]

So, we are not good at gardening.  But we have a garden.  Actually, we have two.  The back garden is fine because it's been planted with low maintenance shrubs and we prune it sometimes and it's ok.  The front garden, though, is a bit of a mess.  There's not that much of it - it's maybe 8 feet by 4 - but, while some of it is populated with low

Comments

[khalinche]

Hmm. Not much will happen over the winter, but you could put some bulbs in about now, like crocuses and daffodils, that will come up in the spring. Or you could cover it over to kill the weeds and plant things in Spring.

Rosemary is very low-maintenance, but it will also try to take everything over and you will have to trim it now and then. So will mint, depending on the kind of mint you have. Parsley doesn't need much doing to it. Sage can be a bit finicky. Chives are nice, and pretty unfussy. Nasturtiums are cheery and bright and edible, and will more or less take off under their own steam without you needing to do anything. I'd go for nasturtiums. You can grow them from seed (or I can grow you some) or probably buy them from somewhere.

Garden centres and places to buy plants: I really like Growing Concerns in Hackney Wick but it's a bit faffy to get to. Columbia Rd flower market has stalls on a Sunday morning which sell herb plants. I've gotten most of mine from there and only one has died.

[atreic]

I never understood bulbs. I love bulbs in the spring, but do you plant bulbs and then put turf on the top, so you have, eg, crocuses and daffidils in a lawn? Or do you just end up with this random empty flower bed?

[kht]

Yes! Nasturtiums are awesome and make your salads colourful as well as tasty. And if you grow mint, keep it in a pot rather than putting it in the ground.

[ingaborg]

Can I put in a mention please of pollinators? Bees and butterflies are having a desperately hard time, partly because fewer gardens have plants that provide them with food. Those low-maintenance shrubs you see everywhere generally have no value at all, they might just as well be plastic

[herringprincess]

Purely based on when landlords come and do it, I think early spring is meant to be the best time to dig out and start gardens.

The herb plants you get from supermarkets seem to last well if you replant them. If you have freecycle or freegle where you are, that's a good place to get cuttings too. Lemon balm is extremely hardy and smells divine BUT it has a tendency to take over the garden so only plant it somewhere where there are limits to where it can grow or it will choke everything else. Oh and a bay tree would be good. Er... when I was a kid I used to grow lettuce and that was pretty easy I think, plus awesome for salads. Chinese cabbage too.

If you want butterflies, find a budleia plant :-) They're supposed to be really easy to grow. However, bear in mind butterflies means caterpillars as well.

[elemy]

Thinking of herbs, thyme and oregano are easy and just grow, whereas I find basil and parsley die within minutes. Seconding the comment about putting mint in a pot, otherwise it'll take over everything and grow everywhere. If you're interested I've got some pretty variegated ginger mint I could probably dig up some of and give you.