Welcome, I'm also a newbie, this forum is wonderful!
There's loads of gardening books in your local library, when you're ready to buy, try The Works and The Book People sites, as well as Amazon.
I really enjoy James Wong's books for funky fruit and vegetables (and this year I'm planning to actually grow some too!) and The Guardian and Telegraph have good gardening articles & blogs.
If you want to keep the kids excited, why not get them to grow some stuff in pots or troughs, then it doesn't matter what your soil type is and you can move them around once you know where the sun is.
Peanut, I did the Crocus postcode thing and it said we had 'normal' soil, but I'm not sure what they means???
Hi Shirley - if you have a camera, take some photos of your garden and put them on here. Click on the little tree icon in the toolbar and follow instructions. As plants come through, or get their spring/summer foliage, there are plenty of people here who will ID them for you and offer advice on care and pruning etc. At this time of year there are late winter and early spring bulbs which might be lurking - ready to come through - so take that advice of having a seat and taking notes...and a few more photos
Soil testing kits are readily available in Garden Centres too.
Young children enjoy pottering so I'd echo Sparkles' advice and get a few cheap troughs or pots and a few packets of seeds for the them. Things like nasturtiums are very easy - big seeds and grow quickly - so they're brilliant for children. Sweet peas are also fairly easy and we have a resident expert called DavidK who will help you with them on the dedicated thread Sweat Pea Know How. You can grow them in large pots or in the border.
If you like salads, there are loads of lettuce varieties which will grow happily in containers. Herbs are also easy and you can pick them up cheaply in all sorts of places.
We also have a Seed Swap thread where you can get a few things to start you off
Most of all - don't worry - we all start off with no knowledge, but it's a lot of fun learning!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You would be surprised how little "expert" gardeners know about all sorts of things in gardening. This is because it is such a huge, broad subject. People tend to specialise in the things they like most, or they want out of a garden, so it is never silly to ask, even about something very straightforward. You will probably be asking questions that other people want to know the answer to too. Gardening is great fun, and best of all if you just poke away at it, bit by bit.
A great garden takes time and patience to develope. what already been said about waiting a year and sitting in your garden and see where the sun and shade develope.
Gardening is not the cheapest of pastimes, unless you have knowledge of propagation( producing plants from your own stock of plants). It would appear that you have an nice garden at present. Like most of us, we all learn from our mistakes and experience in gardening is a great thing to have.
When you do buy plants for your garden ensure you have someone do a soil check to see if you are acid or alkaline. Sometimes it's just best to look over the garden fence and check what grows in the neighbours garden to make that decision easier
Hello Shirley and welcome to the forum and to what can becoming an all-consuming pastime.
Just four things I'd do in the first year, other than watching to see what grows:
Build a compost heap. Once you get going your garden will have an insatiable need for this essential commodity and you can never have too much of it. If you wait till next year you'll be short of it.
Cut the grass (assuming you have a 'lawn') regularly (at least weekly) when it really starts to grow. This (a) makes it look better and (b) provides lots of valuable material for the compost heap (although you need other stuff too, but that's a subject all on its own).
As you say you have kids, I'd demarcate a small area for each of them in a sunny place and let them grow stuff in there. Or containers if you like, but better in the soil.
Keep the weeds down, otherwise they will take over and make your life a misery. How do you know what's a weed and what isn't? Ask us; wait for it to flower and see if it looks pretty; look it up.
What fruit & veg to grow? Radishes are very fast, if you/the kids like them, and lettuces pretty quick too. Strawberries can give a quick return if you buy some well-grown plants and keep the birds and squirrels off them, and are delicious. Potatoes are not difficult and are delicious and rewarding if you have the space. Peas are fun, and fairly quick too.
Photos ok I can definitely try that. Neighbours gardens are concrete ???? I like the compost idea but can it be done in a containers of sorts rather than just a heap...I have a little boy who loves to get messy and a littledog who ???? well I dont want to think what she would do with it? Also coming from flats I never really had time to recycle or food waste separation before but her in Paisley they have a separate bin for it.
I did the crocus website postcode checker and they don't recognise or deal with my area. I'm in Paisley Scotland ???? not really a million miles away ???????? I'll ask I. Dobbies if they have a test kit for my soil. See if I can see that way.
When should I start to cut the grass and is it true you can't do it wet??? I thought there was always morning dew in the grass....
There is a square of lawn with a border up each side out front so I'll watch there.
Out back a lawn with drying area so I'll want to keep that. Another for the kids to play. I've already treated myself to a table and chairs for there too.
Then there is some flower beds not big about 5m X 3m which when we viewed in summer there was some lovely flowers there but with gran gone for a while it was overgrown and messy. There is also a concrete area right at the back with some containers on but as far as I can see just pure mud and a few daffodil stems popping through.
Then amazingly there's a little gate through to some woods and a burn. It's so exciting I can't wait to get the kids out exploring.
Is it a good idea to put a little bird table out somewhere? Also I have always loved the cherry blossom since I was little so would love one of the mini trees out front in the centre? Is this possible?
Shirley - I'm south side of Glasgow - only a few miles from Paisley. Chances are your soil will be largely neutral to acid.
Have a look round the area - if you see rhododendrons, pieris, camellias etc growing - that's the soil type you're likely to have. Google those names and see if you recognise any of them
I'd leave grass cutting till about April - and do it gradually, taking off about a third of the height at a time. If you scalp it, the grass doesn't get a chance to recover well and that's when moss etc gets an upper hand. You'll get plenty of lawn care on here in another month especially!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Shirley, your compost heap does indeed need to be enclosed, partly for the reasons you mention and partly to retain heat. Although it will work to some extent in an amorphous pile, this is better:
Get hold of three pallets, preferably the same size and not the blue ones as the blue preservative is toxic. (Often found outside houses having alterations done. Or try a builders' merchant, if you can get them on your car.)
Put them where you want your heap - most people like them out of sight of the windows but you need to be able to get the wheelbarrow in easily. (You have got a wheelbarrow, haven't you?)
Nail them together (you may need braces across the corners) to give you a back and two sides.
Put a layer of brushwood or coarse twiggy prunings at the bottom to allow air in.
Tip in your garden and kitchen waste. 'green stuff' contains nitrogen: grass cuttings, soft weeds, kitchen waste (uncooked plant bits only). 'Brown stuff' supplies carbon and soaks up the liquid: torn up cardboard, shredded paper (not too much brightly coloured ink), a few leaves, fine twiggy bits, dead plants. Leave out seeds, chunky weed roots, cooked food, bits of animal. (They can all go in your green waste bin for the council to compost). Make sure it's all damp and mix it well as you add it. You can use an activator - urine is excellent, if you have a little boy (or a big one for that matter) who can be trained to add it direct from source; so is chicken manure; horse & cow are also good if you can get them,
Cover the heap with an old bit of carpet and a waterproof top. Keep adding to it.
During the following weeks build another bay next to it (you only need two pallets this time) and when it's full, use a fork to turn it all into the new one. Let it rot. Meanwhile, start filling the first one again.
You can repeat with a third one too. After a few months you'll have lovely brown, sweet-smelling garden compost which will do your soil a world of good.
Steve is right in every detail apart form the dog issue. What he recommends would be great with a less determined dog. My dog is mad,MADabout egg shells. She would do anything to get at them.
I think the most child/dog proof compost bin is the conical, admittedly rather ugly recycled plastic ones that the council sometimes supply. They are not at all perfect, since getting in to mix the compost, and getting the compost out is awkward, but they do work, especially if you put them in a warm spot. Tipping them over occasionally and mixing from the bottom seems to be the best way - better than the fiddly mixing/accessing from above or through daft little doors.You can sometimes buy them on ebay or gumtree second hand, or you might try converting the blue, plastic barrels that are used on farms if you have means to cut both ends off them and perhaps drill a few holes. Anything that covers the top will do as a lid as long as it doesn't blow away.
Posts
Welcome, I'm also a newbie, this forum is wonderful!
There's loads of gardening books in your local library, when you're ready to buy, try The Works and The Book People sites, as well as Amazon.
I really enjoy James Wong's books for funky fruit and vegetables (and this year I'm planning to actually grow some too!) and The Guardian and Telegraph have good gardening articles & blogs.
If you want to keep the kids excited, why not get them to grow some stuff in pots or troughs, then it doesn't matter what your soil type is and you can move them around once you know where the sun is.
Peanut, I did the Crocus postcode thing and it said we had 'normal' soil, but I'm not sure what they means???
Hi Shirley - if you have a camera, take some photos of your garden and put them on here. Click on the little tree icon in the toolbar and follow instructions. As plants come through, or get their spring/summer foliage, there are plenty of people here who will ID them for you and offer advice on care and pruning etc. At this time of year there are late winter and early spring bulbs which might be lurking - ready to come through - so take that advice of having a seat and taking notes...and a few more photos
Soil testing kits are readily available in Garden Centres too.
Young children enjoy pottering so I'd echo Sparkles' advice and get a few cheap troughs or pots and a few packets of seeds for the them. Things like nasturtiums are very easy - big seeds and grow quickly - so they're brilliant for children. Sweet peas are also fairly easy and we have a resident expert called DavidK who will help you with them on the dedicated thread Sweat Pea Know How. You can grow them in large pots or in the border.
If you like salads, there are loads of lettuce varieties which will grow happily in containers. Herbs are also easy and you can pick them up cheaply in all sorts of places.
We also have a Seed Swap thread where you can get a few things to start you off
Most of all - don't worry - we all start off with no knowledge, but it's a lot of fun learning!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You would be surprised how little "expert" gardeners know about all sorts of things in gardening. This is because it is such a huge, broad subject. People tend to specialise in the things they like most, or they want out of a garden, so it is never silly to ask, even about something very straightforward. You will probably be asking questions that other people want to know the answer to too. Gardening is great fun, and best of all if you just poke away at it, bit by bit.
Shirley
A great garden takes time and patience to develope. what already been said about waiting a year and sitting in your garden and see where the sun and shade develope.
Gardening is not the cheapest of pastimes, unless you have knowledge of propagation( producing plants from your own stock of plants). It would appear that you have an nice garden at present. Like most of us, we all learn from our mistakes and experience in gardening is a great thing to have.
When you do buy plants for your garden ensure you have someone do a soil check to see if you are acid or alkaline. Sometimes it's just best to look over the garden fence and check what grows in the neighbours garden to make that decision easier
Happy Gardening
Hello Shirley and welcome to the forum and to what can becoming an all-consuming pastime.
Just four things I'd do in the first year, other than watching to see what grows:
What fruit & veg to grow? Radishes are very fast, if you/the kids like them, and lettuces pretty quick too. Strawberries can give a quick return if you buy some well-grown plants and keep the birds and squirrels off them, and are delicious. Potatoes are not difficult and are delicious and rewarding if you have the space. Peas are fun, and fairly quick too.
Good luck
I did the crocus website postcode checker and they don't recognise or deal with my area. I'm in Paisley Scotland ???? not really a million miles away ???????? I'll ask I. Dobbies if they have a test kit for my soil. See if I can see that way.
When should I start to cut the grass and is it true you can't do it wet??? I thought there was always morning dew in the grass....
There is a square of lawn with a border up each side out front so I'll watch there.
Out back a lawn with drying area so I'll want to keep that. Another for the kids to play. I've already treated myself to a table and chairs for there too.
Then there is some flower beds not big about 5m X 3m which when we viewed in summer there was some lovely flowers there but with gran gone for a while it was overgrown and messy. There is also a concrete area right at the back with some containers on but as far as I can see just pure mud and a few daffodil stems popping through.
Then amazingly there's a little gate through to some woods and a burn. It's so exciting I can't wait to get the kids out exploring.
Is it a good idea to put a little bird table out somewhere? Also I have always loved the cherry blossom since I was little so would love one of the mini trees out front in the centre? Is this possible?
Thank you everyone for your help ????
Shirley - I'm south side of Glasgow - only a few miles from Paisley. Chances are your soil will be largely neutral to acid.
Have a look round the area - if you see rhododendrons, pieris, camellias etc growing - that's the soil type you're likely to have. Google those names and see if you recognise any of them
I'd leave grass cutting till about April - and do it gradually, taking off about a third of the height at a time. If you scalp it, the grass doesn't get a chance to recover well and that's when moss etc gets an upper hand. You'll get plenty of lawn care on here in another month especially!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Shirley, your compost heap does indeed need to be enclosed, partly for the reasons you mention and partly to retain heat. Although it will work to some extent in an amorphous pile, this is better:
Get hold of three pallets, preferably the same size and not the blue ones as the blue preservative is toxic. (Often found outside houses having alterations done. Or try a builders' merchant, if you can get them on your car.)
Put them where you want your heap - most people like them out of sight of the windows but you need to be able to get the wheelbarrow in easily. (You have got a wheelbarrow, haven't you?)
Nail them together (you may need braces across the corners) to give you a back and two sides.
Put a layer of brushwood or coarse twiggy prunings at the bottom to allow air in.
Tip in your garden and kitchen waste. 'green stuff' contains nitrogen: grass cuttings, soft weeds, kitchen waste (uncooked plant bits only). 'Brown stuff' supplies carbon and soaks up the liquid: torn up cardboard, shredded paper (not too much brightly coloured ink), a few leaves, fine twiggy bits, dead plants. Leave out seeds, chunky weed roots, cooked food, bits of animal. (They can all go in your green waste bin for the council to compost). Make sure it's all damp and mix it well as you add it. You can use an activator - urine is excellent, if you have a little boy (or a big one for that matter) who can be trained to add it direct from source; so is chicken manure; horse & cow are also good if you can get them,
Cover the heap with an old bit of carpet and a waterproof top. Keep adding to it.
During the following weeks build another bay next to it (you only need two pallets this time) and when it's full, use a fork to turn it all into the new one. Let it rot. Meanwhile, start filling the first one again.
You can repeat with a third one too. After a few months you'll have lovely brown, sweet-smelling garden compost which will do your soil a world of good.
Blimey. That was a long one!
Steve is right in every detail apart form the dog issue. What he recommends would be great with a less determined dog. My dog is mad, MAD about egg shells. She would do anything to get at them.
I think the most child/dog proof compost bin is the conical, admittedly rather ugly recycled plastic ones that the council sometimes supply. They are not at all perfect, since getting in to mix the compost, and getting the compost out is awkward, but they do work, especially if you put them in a warm spot. Tipping them over occasionally and mixing from the bottom seems to be the best way - better than the fiddly mixing/accessing from above or through daft little doors.You can sometimes buy them on ebay or gumtree second hand, or you might try converting the blue, plastic barrels that are used on farms if you have means to cut both ends off them and perhaps drill a few holes. Anything that covers the top will do as a lid as long as it doesn't blow away.
Your place sounds wonderful, a real treasure!
