Overgrown garden
Pippiitz
Posts: 1
Hi everyone, first post for me!
There’s an area at the bottom of my rented garden, which is around 3x6m and has long been used as a dumping ground for grass cuttings, green waste and other things (I found a washing machine drum in there on the weekend). At present it’s completely overgrown with Virginia creeper, bindweed, a trailing bush from next door and some sort of tree at the end (can you tell I’m new to this greenfingers lark), and therefore just a completely wasted space.
I have a desire to create a veggie patch in the space, as it’s the area which gets the most sun, but am at a total loss where to start!
So far I’ve begun cutting back the plants coming over from next door, and had a good bonfire last night (not right in the area sadly as it’s directly next to the wooden shed) to get rid of the evidence as I do not have any way of removing garden waste, but I’m at a loss with what to do with the grass/garden cuttings underneath; it’s got to be 2ft deep in places! Someone suggested it would be ideal to ‘dig in’ and leave over the winter as it’ll fertilise the soil, but honestly I’m not even sure I could get to the soil at the moment as there’s so much crud on top of it, and I’m not certain all of it is green (e.g. the aforementioned washing drum!).
There’s only little old me, and as I’m a. renting, and b. don’t have any easy/cheap way to get rid of the waste it does make the job slightly trickier, but I’m not afraid of hard work, would just like some advice on where to start, and a step by step guide on turning this wilderness into scrumptious things to eat for next summer!!
Hope to hear from you soon
Katy
Posts
Welcome to the forum
The green stuff will be good, if you dont think you can manage digging it all out and flattening it, then get some horse poo, cover the lot with it, as thickly as you can, then just leave it over winter, as long as there isnt anything poisonous, it really wont matter too much, you will also find that over time the organic stuff rots down and any non organic stuff will just stick out for you to pick up
As far as v.creeper is concerned, dont bother trying to get rid of it, unless you use poison, you wont win. Its a beautiful plant which turns scarlet when it gets cooler, wait till the leaves drop (good for composting), then chop the stems down, when it grows back next year, just train it against your fence or whatever
I wish you luck, there is nothing quite like your own veggies
Agree with all of that. The greenery/horse manure can usefully be covered with an old groundsheet or similar to keep out the worst of the winter rain and encourage your little wormy friends. Newspaper (several layers, weighted down with old lumps of wood or even a layer of soil) will do.
You will need somewhere else to pile your grass cuttings and other organic waste when you get going, and build a compost heap to keep the soil supplied with organic matter. It can go in the shade but it's useful if it's near the bit you're cultivating.
3 x 6 m is an ideal size as it'll produce worthwhile crops but is small enough to manage. If you fancy growing something over the winter you might try spring cabbage (Durham Early is a good variety) and certainly broad beans (Aquadulce).
instead of newspaper big cardboard boxes are easier to weigh down, ask at your local supermarket, they have to pay to get it taken away so they're usually up for getting rid of it.
If you level the area best you can then put down two layers, making sure each layer is soaked, and then you weigh it down you'll have nice compost underneath next spring
yes yes yes. Of course! Choose those with least ink. And wee on them. Really.
Ahem Steve - I think you'll find that gentlemen's wee is what is required, and Katy doesn't quite fit that description!
(I recall Toby Buckland, when doing his stint at Gardeners' World on TV making just such a point!)
Definitely mens wee,
I have seen strawberries planted in washing machine drums.
I grew the durham greens , sowed this time last year, my patch is still full of them, I picked the outside leaves off for Spring greens Fr
oze loads and now they are turning
into gorgeous cabbages. Well worth their money, you will need a very close insect net and frame over them or caterpillars will have them.
Good luck with your little plot.
I think it really was something to do with the very nature of the wee, bekkie, whether it's acidity or whatever, I have no idea (and not sure I would care to find out, anyway!) If the "equipment" is an issue, then I think there is a product known as a "She-wee" (really!) that could be brought to good use.
For my part, I prefer to let the gents do whatever is necessary (you don't have to leave the "lid" of cardboard up, do you?
) and I can garden in a more ladylike way!
(Sorry to take over your thread, Pippiitz - hope you are able to sort things out, have a bit of a chuckle while you're doing so, and have a super garden by this time next year!)