We have blackberries at the bottom of our garden, normal "wild" ones, mainly coming from next doors garden, we keep them under control, enjoy the blackberries, while picking blackcurrants yesterday, noticed the blackberry flowers were covered in little orange butterflies!
We did have blackberries in a field behind us but they have all been pruned out, they were encroaching the footpath, so they have gone, seen white butterflies with orange on the tips of their wings, but not full orange, spent the morning lifting King Edward potatoes, not the crop I wanted but blight hit, them so out they came and are now bagged in the shed, this is after having rust on the onions, most of the leaves removed won't be able to store them, so its not been a good few days, normally potatoes last through to January, and onions into the winter, not this year, there we are can't win them all, runner beans doing very well, and summer cabbage.
What a shame, our runners are covered in blackfly, went out early yesterday morning, blasted them with the hose! Just started lifting my Rockets. I enjoy blackberries, but lets just say, my neighbours arent gardeners (I really dont understand folk buying property with a big garden if they dont like gardening) The bottom is awful, they have just fenced it off, you can hardly get down there, huge fir trees, encrouching onto our garden, we cut the hedges etc. that were overs ours a couple of weeks ago, we fight the brambles all along their side. Front is grass weeds,dandilions and grass, (I pick the heads off when they are out!) Luckily, the other side are keen gardeners, AND we get on really well
You have wild life gardeners alongside you, I do feel for you, one side next door to us has removed all the grass and laid Astro turf, as they have five large dogs, three huskeys and two German shepherds, they are able to keep the garden smelling sweet with the Astro, and we do enjoy the dogs being their side of the fence, the other side is no gardener, but fair play he does keep the garden tidy, doesn't seem to realise flower beds should be full of plants, has odd plants dotted round with a lot of soil showing, and lots of grass to mow, and any shrubs are clipped square, whether they have flowered or not.
I wouldnt be as polite as to say they are "wildlife" gardeners, all the stuff out the front (theres) is a little border and on the paving! Not sure whether you mean you like dogs or not, thats a lot of dog, I have 2 used to have 3, maybe I am thick but I cannot see how you can do the doggy do pick up on plastic grass, especially if, let me make this ladylike they have an "upset" tummy! Do they get walked. Do you have big gardens where you are? Tidy I could cope with, our last house, we had bindweed and brambles from one side, footballs smashing our plants,greenhouse, pots, paving the other! Guess what we moved, they both moved the following year, We had to knock £40,000 off our house to sell it, because of the messy gardens etc each side of us.
The dogs next door are of no problem, we see then at breakfast time when they call for their treats, and the girls are scrupulously clean with removing doggy do's, and use a wash to remove any remainders and smells, we were lucky to be able to buy two plots behind us, just five households were able to, and lucky to because the field behind and to the left of us is now a housing estate, we would have had houses to our rear if we hadn't bought, we had bad neighbours when we moved in but they went after a couple of years, been lucky since, the rest of our estate have normal gardens for the 60's not very big.
Compared to todays gardens, the 60s garden were huge, that why we bought our place, bungalow built 1965, you always got a big plot with bungalows, not now though, the new ones I have seen its barely a patio. Glad you like dogs, they obviously arent noisy either which is another bonus! Same happened over the road here, a field at the foot of the South Downs was purchased by the owners of the bungalows backing onto it for the same reason. And yes, its pretty much a wildflower meadow!!! Assuming your neighbours dont have a huge plot, I was agast at the price of that "turf"
Next doors plot is about the same size as ours, but there is a large indoor swimming pool in the garden, which does reduce the ground area somewhat, their trellis fencing wasn't cheap either, all round the garden, don't know what they spent on the turf.
Not for me, at that price, it seems to suit the dogs, I will still take out the battery operated mower, the body of the petrol one rotted away, and the garden is too long for the electric one, can use it on the lawn by the house but that is all, don't like trailing cables.
Posts
We have blackberries at the bottom of our garden, normal "wild" ones, mainly coming from next doors garden, we keep them under control, enjoy the blackberries, while picking blackcurrants yesterday, noticed the blackberry flowers were covered in little orange butterflies!
We did have blackberries in a field behind us but they have all been pruned out, they were encroaching the footpath, so they have gone, seen white butterflies with orange on the tips of their wings, but not full orange, spent the morning lifting King Edward potatoes, not the crop I wanted but blight hit, them so out they came and are now bagged in the shed, this is after having rust on the onions, most of the leaves removed won't be able to store them, so its not been a good few days, normally potatoes last through to January, and onions into the winter, not this year, there we are can't win them all, runner beans doing very well, and summer cabbage.
What a shame, our runners are covered in blackfly, went out early yesterday morning, blasted them with the hose! Just started lifting my Rockets. I enjoy blackberries, but lets just say, my neighbours arent gardeners (I really dont understand folk buying property with a big garden if they dont like gardening) The bottom is awful, they have just fenced it off, you can hardly get down there, huge fir trees, encrouching onto our garden, we cut the hedges etc. that were overs ours a couple of weeks ago, we fight the brambles all along their side. Front is grass weeds,dandilions and grass, (I pick the heads off when they are out!) Luckily, the other side are keen gardeners, AND we get on really well
You have wild life gardeners alongside you, I do feel for you, one side next door to us has removed all the grass and laid Astro turf, as they have five large dogs, three huskeys and two German shepherds, they are able to keep the garden smelling sweet with the Astro, and we do enjoy the dogs being their side of the fence, the other side is no gardener, but fair play he does keep the garden tidy, doesn't seem to realise flower beds should be full of plants, has odd plants dotted round with a lot of soil showing, and lots of grass to mow, and any shrubs are clipped square, whether they have flowered or not.
I wouldnt be as polite as to say they are "wildlife" gardeners, all the stuff out the front (theres) is a little border and on the paving! Not sure whether you mean you like dogs or not, thats a lot of dog, I have 2 used to have 3, maybe I am thick but I cannot see how you can do the doggy do pick up on plastic grass, especially if, let me make this ladylike they have an "upset" tummy! Do they get walked. Do you have big gardens where you are? Tidy I could cope with, our last house, we had bindweed and brambles from one side, footballs smashing our plants,greenhouse, pots, paving the other! Guess what we moved, they both moved the following year, We had to knock £40,000 off our house to sell it, because of the messy gardens etc each side of us.
The dogs next door are of no problem, we see then at breakfast time when they call for their treats, and the girls are scrupulously clean with removing doggy do's, and use a wash to remove any remainders and smells, we were lucky to be able to buy two plots behind us, just five households were able to, and lucky to because the field behind and to the left of us is now a housing estate, we would have had houses to our rear if we hadn't bought, we had bad neighbours when we moved in but they went after a couple of years, been lucky since, the rest of our estate have normal gardens for the 60's not very big.
Compared to todays gardens, the 60s garden were huge, that why we bought our place, bungalow built 1965, you always got a big plot with bungalows, not now though, the new ones I have seen its barely a patio. Glad you like dogs, they obviously arent noisy either which is another bonus! Same happened over the road here, a field at the foot of the South Downs was purchased by the owners of the bungalows backing onto it for the same reason. And yes, its pretty much a wildflower meadow!!! Assuming your neighbours dont have a huge plot, I was agast at the price of that "turf"
Next doors plot is about the same size as ours, but there is a large indoor swimming pool in the garden, which does reduce the ground area somewhat, their trellis fencing wasn't cheap either, all round the garden, don't know what they spent on the turf.
about 40 quid a sq mt
Not for me, at that price, it seems to suit the dogs, I will still take out the battery operated mower, the body of the petrol one rotted away, and the garden is too long for the electric one, can use it on the lawn by the house but that is all, don't like trailing cables.