Greenfingered plans for the year

I’m about to pop down the allotment for a spot of digging because I’ve just checked the window sill propogators and discovered that so far I’ve got courgettes, runner beans, dwarf beans and tomatillos up. The tomatillos are one of this years experiments and I’ve no idea how they are going to turn out. So what are other people’s horticultural plans for the year?

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I must get started with some of my seeds - I grow runner beans (bunnies like the leaves and stalks, and the humans get the beans), various herbs (for the bunnies) and I want to grow some pots of grass and clover (for the bunnies!)

I also have some new rose bushes to plant (bunnies like the petals and leaves) and I have seeds for calendula and sunflowers (yes, bunnies like eating them!)

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I too must go to the lottie and cut down my autumn fruiting raspberry canes, and see how the rhubarb is doing, I nestled it in a cage of hay earlier last month. I have had to heel in some golden raspberry canes I bought as it is too cold for me to put them in properly.
I sewed sweetpeas a few weeks ago but they have not done too well, 6/ 26 seeds have dained to make an appearance, so the question is a) do I leave them, because they might come up
b) buy some more seed
c) just buy the plants when I next see them in the garden centre
Opinions ? answers most appreciated,
Suzzie x

I’ve mostly given up with food crops…too much of a fight with pests. Had a great crop of cherries last year(and managed to keep the birds off) but they turned out to have grubs in- googled the pest and it doesn’t even seem to exist in this country :frowning: I’m planning to do something with my excess pots, perhaps summer bulbs, but not lilies because of the dreaded beetle. Missed my cosmos in the late summer last year too, so I’m hoping to get round to planting some seeds indoors soon. And they don’t seem popular with snails, which is great…

I really need to get organised with my garden.

I have a small greenhouse where I grow bedding plants from seed, and pots of parsley (for my Guinea pig)

My sister recently moved house where there’s a fab allotment just beyond the back garden gate.
She put in an application and was granted the plot so it’s become abit of a family patch which is lovely.
I really need to chip in and help.

I’m decorating the living room over the Easter hols so my green fingered plans may have to wait a week or so

Karen :blush:

It’s a case of letting the garden dry out before we can start work on it here. We’ve lost so many plants to the flooded beds that there will be a lot of replanting to do. The greenhouse has had a pool in it for weeks, just gone, so at last we can clean up and get sowing seeds. We grow lots of fruit & veg in raised beds and also have a flower garden where we let our design ideas take shape. Hoping to visit our favourite nursery soon to buy 3 trees and some climbers to scramble over the new fence we built last year. :slight_smile:

Before I can start I need to replace all the smashed greenhouse glass, we list 10 panes in the winter storm so I’ve been trawling ebay, gumtree and shpock to try and get some at a good price, my polytunnel is still under construction, but will hopefully be finished before too long. So with any luck I’ll have it all sorted by the bank holiday and be able to plant some seeds :slight_smile: I’m trying squash and sweet potatoes for the first time this year as I’ll have more room in the polytunnel. I have to grow everything in pots here as all the topsoil was washed away when the chapel was derelict and never replaced, so we have clay that sets to concrete in the summer :expressionless: On the plus side, weeds don’t grow very well in it either :grinning:

ooooh @littleRamstudio what trees are you thinking of?
We are just waiting for permission to chop down two 40ft llylandii in our back garden, they were wee tiddlers when we bought the house, and I have bought a handkerchief tree to replace them.
Cant wait to have light,and something beautiful to look at!
Suzzie x

I get so excited by sprouting seeds :slight_smile:

I’ve had a veggie patch in the back garden for about four years, but last year I abandoned it completely, partly due to a dysfunctional relationship.

However, this year the dysfunctional relationship is gone, and I have attacked the weeds and grass, got mud under my fingernails and laid down some salvaged paving slabs.

I’ve planted out broadbeans and peas so far, and have lost my windowsills to seedlings.
It’s quite magical, watching the garden grow again!

And I’m very lucky to have a furry helper!

Sarah x

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Back from the allotment (amphibian count - 2 newts, 3 frogs and a toad) and with a cup of tea in hand. I’m lucky being in Cambridge that we avoid the worst of the winter storms so the ground doesn’t get too water logged and greenhouses don’t get smashed up although we did once have to rescue ours from in a tree (its plastic with aluminium frame).
Sara @DandelionsGallery what sort of roses? we are thinking about a couple of really nicely scented ones to go in the cut flower garden but have no idea what - might require a trip to the garden centre when they are in flower to sniff them all.
Suzzie @thistledownandHOPE I’d leave the seed for now and then buy or acquire plants when available - we end up with more than we need so you might be able to track down a neighbour with extras who will let you have a few for free.
Donna @RedDragonDesigns what sort of squash? I’ve got ‘delicata’ this year and they do well not in the poly tunnel leaving more space for peppers/ toms/ aubergines/ cucumbers. Never tried sweet potatoes so you’ll have to let us know how you do.

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@SashaGarrett - I tend to go for patio / bush roses as we haven’t got anywhere yet set up for climbers or ramblers (much as I love them). Also, our garden is quite steep, sloping downwards, but with a raised patio at the back of the bungalow, so we like to have the roses in big tubs so that we can enjoy seeing them. We have memorial roses for our pets, two doggy ones (Little White Pet for Louis our West Highland White) and I can’t remember off hand the names of the one we had for Ben, our Yorkie, but it has masses of of deep red blooms. For my bunny, Blackberry, we have a gorgeous purple rose, that also smells fab. Dandelion has a yellow rose (Simply the Best) and Clover, who passed last week - I couldn’t choose between Carefree Days and Happy Times, so bought both for him - they are both shades of pink, which was his colour. My method for choosing pet roses is to find one in the right colour for them (each bunny has their own colour associated with them) and also get an apt name if possible :slight_smile:

I’m planning on having a huge rose garden one day! Then I can one (at least!) of every variety :smiley:

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I love gardening, but it’s flowers for me, we lost a plum tree and blackcurrent bushes, just blueberries left, but I’m mad about flowers & shrubs, bought a climbing fuchsia late last year, can’t wait to see how it comes on this year! :slight_smile:

Horticultural plans?! My garden is lucky to see the lawnmower every so often and thats usually when the grass has grown so long I can’t see the dog in it! I’m afraid I’m not a gardener - would like to be but I’m not very good at working outside in the cold when I could be inside felting! Really admire all you green fingered folk who grow your own veg and plants. When I move down to my sisters later this year they have a massive garden with a greenhouse and veg/herb gardens - she seems to think I might enjoy helping out but on that one she is sorely mistaken!

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@SashaGarrett I haven’t really though that far ahead yet lol I really like butternut squash so there will probably be some of them but I may get a selection of seeds to try :smiley: I’ll let you know how the sweet potatoes go.
I’ll be growing all the usual thing too tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and chillis. I had loads of courgettes last year so will definitely be planting some more of those.
I tried beetroot in the ground, but they just didn’t grow and I’m hoping to have more luck in the polytunnel this year :slight_smile:

Looking at a couple of Malus in the veg garden, ones with lots of blossom & fruits for jam making & the birds. And an evergreen of some sort, would love a Eucalyptus but might not have the room.

I suppose this is the wrong thread for me… I don’t have green fingers at all! When we go round the garden centre all I say is “We had one of those- it died” over and over :slight_smile: Don’t get me wrong, my garden is lovely in the summer, but it’s all thanks to those tough survivors!

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I’m in grieving this year for a rosemary plant that, despite being abandoned, ballooned into a beautifully fragrant rosemary tree over the past four years, but mysteriously died overnight in the frost this year.

Very sad.

No veggies or fruit for me. Plenty of tidying to do l never seem to get around to it at the end of the year, but l pay the price in the spring, so much to do.
Cannot wait for all the lovely flowers to be planted and regrow, cheers you up.

Nothing from me this year, I’ve pretty much given up gardening, I have really bad soil and was forever mulching and composting so for the last 2 years I haven’t replaced anything that died and I’ve taken up a few things and let the flower beds revert to grass, it makes mowing and strimming easier. I’ve never done vegie growing, my dad used to but I find it too much hard work.
There are a few peeps in my village that have home grown stalls outside their houses so it’s easy to pick something fresh from them. :slight_smile:

I love the Handkerchief Tree, the local Country Park has one in their walled garden and it’s big and beautiful. :slight_smile: