@bede Many of your recent comments on various gardening subjects have been very informative. It is obvious you have enjoyed gardening for a long time from the advice you give.
I think you would be first to agree that a garden never stands still, so any advice given also has to evolve and change too. Sadly you are out of touch regarding your post page one. You and I won't be here to see the cumalative effect that chemical use has caused in gardens during our life time. My thoughts are for future gardeners, they will have no choice but to do things differently. A thought I assume you do not share.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@Fairygirl Not sure that is gardening your neighbour is caryring out, sounds like someone obsessed with controlling nature. A garden should be a happy space not sure that type of gardening would make anyone happy. Perhaps it is a concern about what passers by think? I agree most new gardeners can work out for themselves if advice is good or not. However being afraid to ask or think a question is silly can finish up with no answer to a pressing gardening question, which is a shame. Finding that answer gives confidence to ask more. Good advice passed on to a new generation of gardeners is the very best, something that is given kindly and generously on this forum.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Oh absolutely @GardenerSuze. He must be worried the plants are all going to take over- like triffids or something It's so ugly. The contrast between that plot, and nearly every other house along that road is quite startling. We do see quite a few people worrying about their query being seen as silly. I often say to new posters that no question is silly. It's always better to ask rather than doing something which results in failure with a plant, and money wasted. I always said to my children when they were little - 'Never be afraid to ask a question. It's the smart people who ask them, not the stupid ones'.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Edward.francis you'll find it very difficult to solve the moss around the edges. The edging blocks of the driveway patio are haunched with concrete to prevent them gradually slipping sideways and the haunching is usually quite close to the surface. The grass around the edge doesn't have the depth of root to resist drought so moss will tend to take over.
Whilst I'm in agreement with the general principle of avoiding chemicals and pesticides in the garden, in the interests of balance, Iron Sulphate (Bede's FeSO4) is a naturally occurring mineral which is frequently used to decrease the pH of soil. It's often used for the benefit of acid loving plants. The worst that could happen if you overused it would be that your soil would become too acid. You could easily reverse that by using another chemical - Ca (OH)2 - better known as lime.
If you feed the grass, aerate and water when it's dry you will win eventually. Create the right conditions for the grass and the moss will go.
Soil has it's own natural balance. Why mess with it in the first place? We need water to grow our food, not to artificially water our lawns. It hasn't rained here to any degree for two months, that is not normal so why is it happening? Maybe we are paying the price for decades of messing with our ecology. For anyone who has worked long term in the gardening industry there should be concerns for their health too.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
We already covered early on in the thread the fact that it's next to paving so that makes a difference to how anything grows - not just grass. Watering a tiny strip like that is, again, a waste of valuable resources. No wonder many areas of the country have water shortages.
I'm away to stop my head aching from banging it on a wall. Care to join me @GardenerSuze? We're clearly in the minority on this thread, when it comes down to balancing what we do in gardens, and what happens elsewhere.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl Maybe it is just me but I also wonder why anyone wants to spend time and money trying to turn pink hydrangas blue Why? Is it because the neighbours have gardens full of pink ones? Often the flowers are a strange mix of blue and pink as a result. If the soil isn't right it is a continuous fight, it won't work long term. Evidently apple cider vinegar is good for the job too....Great
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@GardenerSuze - I agree. We tend to get a mix here with those pink and blue hydrangeas because the soil is largely neutral, so they often just look 'mucky'. I really dislike those birthday cake pinks and blues, so I never grow them - just the whites, which stay white, apart from those natural changes as they age and fade. I know what you mean though - if your soil doesn't suit, grow something else. If you like pink - there's plenty of shrubs that suit. There's plenty of everything, when you think about it. Constantly fighting the soil you have is exhausting - mentally as well as physically. Gardening is meant to be for relieving stress, not adding to it
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
All my advice is intended to be not good advice, but excellent advice. Backed by both theory and practice.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I think you would be first to agree that a garden never stands still, so any advice given also has to evolve and change too. Sadly you are out of touch regarding your post page one.
You and I won't be here to see the cumalative effect that chemical use has caused in gardens during our life time. My thoughts are for future gardeners, they will have no choice but to do things differently. A thought I assume you do not share.
I agree most new gardeners can work out for themselves if advice is good or not. However being afraid to ask or think a question is silly can finish up with no answer to a pressing gardening question, which is a shame. Finding that answer gives confidence to ask more. Good advice passed on to a new generation of gardeners is the very best, something that is given kindly and generously on this forum.
It's so ugly. The contrast between that plot, and nearly every other house along that road is quite startling.
We do see quite a few people worrying about their query being seen as silly. I often say to new posters that no question is silly. It's always better to ask rather than doing something which results in failure with a plant, and money wasted.
I always said to my children when they were little - 'Never be afraid to ask a question. It's the smart people who ask them, not the stupid ones'.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Whilst I'm in agreement with the general principle of avoiding chemicals and pesticides in the garden, in the interests of balance, Iron Sulphate (Bede's FeSO4) is a naturally occurring mineral which is frequently used to decrease the pH of soil. It's often used for the benefit of acid loving plants. The worst that could happen if you overused it would be that your soil would become too acid. You could easily reverse that by using another chemical - Ca (OH)2 - better known as lime.
If you feed the grass, aerate and water when it's dry you will win eventually. Create the right conditions for the grass and the moss will go.
For anyone who has worked long term in the gardening industry there should be concerns for their health too.
Watering a tiny strip like that is, again, a waste of valuable resources.
No wonder many areas of the country have water shortages.
I'm away to stop my head aching from banging it on a wall. Care to join me @GardenerSuze? We're clearly in the minority on this thread, when it comes down to balancing what we do in gardens, and what happens elsewhere.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I know what you mean though - if your soil doesn't suit, grow something else. If you like pink - there's plenty of shrubs that suit. There's plenty of everything, when you think about it. Constantly fighting the soil you have is exhausting - mentally as well as physically. Gardening is meant to be for relieving stress, not adding to it
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...