I forgot to say, Rosemummy what a clever little lady you have that's well impressive My youngest (13 not 3 so not quite as impressive) has started taking a slight interest again and he was asking me about plants and why I do certain things
I love it when children are interested in plants - apart from the horticulture side of things, it teaches them so much about life e.g. consequences and patience and stoicism.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I dont mind Monty etc - and the dog adds a bit of extra interest BUT I want to know more about basic plant managing. These huge garadens we are taken to see are lovely but the great majority of us dont have estates. I found I learnt more watching The Allottment Show. At least they mentioned when to plant and how to care for etc. I have gardened for a long time but still want to know ordinary things - like my hydrangea has outgrown its lovely terracotta pot. How do I get it out withiout damaging the pot and what do I do with the plant. Want to keep it. Loads of elementary stuff I would love to learn about.
I think that's why so many people are enjoying Beechgrove more.
Susiejenny - usual practice when removing a plant is to water first etc, but I find if something needs removed from a pot it's been in a long time, it's easier if the plant is a bit dry. You can then cut it away a bit round the edge and turn the pot upside down and give it a good shake. I've done it quite often!
Dove's right though - if the pot's narrower at the top it can be very tricky.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Something that strikes me quite forcibly on this forum, is the thirst for knowledge of what & when peeps should be doing stuff in their garden.....and definitely Gardeners' World lets them down badly in this respect.
Given the vast amount of knowledge & experience of fellow members of this forum, I wonder if it would be feasible to start a thread designed to offer such help.....I do try to offer a step by step guide re growing sweet peas.
I think the difficulty is that those of us with experience have reasonable idea when things should be planted in our own gardens in the pertaining weather conditions - however weather and soil conditions vary so widely in the UK I doubt we could do more than the guides given on seed packets.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think you're right Dove. I've moved five times in the last few years and each garden has had different conditions even though they were all within ten or fifteen miles of each other! We're several weeks behind most of England here, and if you're higher up above sea level it makes a massive difference too. Exposure is a big issue which doesn't often get addressed. Helping individuals on here based on our experience is probably the best way - you've helped lots of people already David - myself included
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That's the trouble with gardening, there isn't a one size fits all.
I think the best piece of advice I could offer, is not to be too eager by sowing/planting stuff too early In the season and definitely avoid buying those frost tender plug-plants appearing in the GCs in March.
Btw, May 12th is the gardeners traditional day for sowing runner bean seed in the open ground.....they've been available as potted plants for weeks in the GCs.
I think the best thing any gardening programme can do is to teach people to be observant about their soil, weather conditions and their plants - to encourage interest so that people know what to look for
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
I forgot to say, Rosemummy what a clever little lady you have that's well impressive
My youngest (13 not 3 so not quite as impressive) has started taking a slight interest again and he was asking me about plants and why I do certain things 
I love it when children are interested in plants - apart from the horticulture side of things, it teaches them so much about life e.g. consequences and patience and stoicism.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I dont mind Monty etc - and the dog adds a bit of extra interest BUT I want to know more about basic plant managing. These huge garadens we are taken to see are lovely but the great majority of us dont have estates. I found I learnt more watching The Allottment Show. At least they mentioned when to plant and how to care for etc. I have gardened for a long time but still want to know ordinary things - like my hydrangea has outgrown its lovely terracotta pot. How do I get it out withiout damaging the pot and what do I do with the plant. Want to keep it. Loads of elementary stuff I would love to learn about.
Susiejenny - re queries - that's where this forum is so helpful, and both the GW programme and this magazine have What to do now sections.
As for your hydrangea - what's the difficulty with getting it out of the pot? Does the pot narrow at the top?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think that's why so many people are enjoying Beechgrove more.
Susiejenny - usual practice when removing a plant is to water first etc, but I find if something needs removed from a pot it's been in a long time, it's easier if the plant is a bit dry. You can then cut it away a bit round the edge and turn the pot upside down and give it a good shake. I've done it quite often!
Dove's right though - if the pot's narrower at the top it can be very tricky.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Something that strikes me quite forcibly on this forum, is the thirst for knowledge of what & when peeps should be doing stuff in their garden.....and definitely Gardeners' World lets them down badly in this respect.
Given the vast amount of knowledge & experience of fellow members of this forum, I wonder if it would be feasible to start a thread designed to offer such help.....I do try to offer a step by step guide re growing sweet peas.
I think the difficulty is that those of us with experience have reasonable idea when things should be planted in our own gardens in the pertaining weather conditions - however weather and soil conditions vary so widely in the UK I doubt we could do more than the guides given on seed packets.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think you're right Dove. I've moved five times in the last few years and each garden has had different conditions even though they were all within ten or fifteen miles of each other! We're several weeks behind most of England here, and if you're higher up above sea level it makes a massive difference too. Exposure is a big issue which doesn't often get addressed. Helping individuals on here based on our experience is probably the best way - you've helped lots of people already David - myself included
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That's the trouble with gardening, there isn't a one size fits all.
I think the best piece of advice I could offer, is not to be too eager by sowing/planting stuff too early In the season and definitely avoid buying those frost tender plug-plants appearing in the GCs in March.
Btw, May 12th is the gardeners traditional day for sowing runner bean seed in the open ground.....they've been available as potted plants for weeks in the GCs.
I think the best thing any gardening programme can do is to teach people to be observant about their soil, weather conditions and their plants - to encourage interest so that people know what to look for
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.