I suppose I should say hello properly...

[rabbit]

Hiya, I'm rabbit (sarah) New to the forum, new to gardening (appart from a few daff bulbs here and there). I moved house late summer last year and now have a garden about 100X bigger than my last. Yay, it's beautiful but I spent all my gardening time last year chopping down weeds, trying to pull up bineweed without breaking the roots and mowing grass. It's been all damage control so far. This year I'm embarking on growing my own. I'm a complete novice and it seems almost everything I've done so far is apparently wrongish (!) But hey ho, I will be living and learning (and weeding). I don't know anything about compost or manure (everything seems terribly confusing).

Most of my gardening this winter was actually wonderfully good fun so I am trying to be optimistic that I can handle this, the soil is good, we might get some sun!
^^ That's me!

[veggiechicken]

Hi again (veggie) rabbit - and welcome - since we're doing this properly now!!
"Wonderfully good fun" is what its all about. Keep that in mind - and most of the time it will be The rest of the time will be taken up by moaning about slugs and the weather

[Aberdeenplotter]

Hiya, I'm rabbit (sarah) I'm a complete novice and it seems almost everything I've done so far is apparently wrongish (!) But hey ho, I will be living and learning (and weeding). I don't know anything about compost or manure (everything seems terribly confusing).

Hi Sarah. First of all, it is unlikely that what you have done is wrong. It may be different but then most of us do things differently and you like us will have successes as well as failures. You can't go wrong making and using compost either. Composting is just the degradation of plant material. all you need to do is throw it in a heap as it accumulates, keep the heap moist not wet and turn it occasionally to keep it airated.
That's the priciple, some folks may have fancy compost bins/tumblers etc but the basic process is the same. Using it is simply a case of digging it in to the vegetable beds or spreading it around plants/shrubs etc as a mulch.

It will all make much more sense once you get going. It's something to enjoy, remember that.

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine Sarah

[Two_Sheds]

I'm going to be brief, brace yourself:

I spent all my gardening time last year ... trying to pull up bineweed without breaking the roots

Total waste of time, pulling it. It just regrows. Pulling it has no effect whatsoever. Sorry.

What you need to do is dig it out, every last scrap. Or else it will regrow. It is THE most stubborn of weeds.
Or, plant a bamboo cane next to it. Let it grow up the cane (that way it won't get tangled in all your plants). Then, when it's about 2foot tall, take the cane away, and place the bindweed in a bath of glyphosate*, which SHOULD kill the whole plant, root an' all.

* aka Roundup. It's not something I like to use, and it's not organic. But some will tell you to just spray the whole plot with it, which is appalling advice. It kills everything, not just weeds. It kills pond life and frogs too. If you want to use it, use it sparingly and thoughtfully.

and mowing grass

What a dull job. I've got guinea pigs, in a moveable ark, that cut the grass for me, eat weeds, and provide me with manure for the plot.

everything I've done so far is apparently wrongish

That's because the old wisdom, rules that have been passed down from The Olde Boyes, aren't necessarily the right way to go about things.
Gardening is not easy.
And there are 6 ways to do a task, depending on who you ask, and what their beliefs are.

Have a think about what type of gardener you want to be. Organic? Chemical? Terribly regimental, efficient grower of show veg? Or more relaxed, flowery, mix-it-all-together kind of planting?

I don't know anything about compost or manure (everything seems terribly confusing).

Everything will seem confusing, and contradictory, at first. You will hear so many ways of doing things that your head will spin.

This is my take, in a nutshell:

- Compost, the sort you buy in bags, aka potting compost, MPC: it's a sterile, weed free growing medium, for starting off your seeds and small plants.

- Garden compost: is what you make in a compost heap. Again, many different ways to make compost. It's not great for seed sowing, but it is absolutely essential for your garden, to put back in what the plants take out.

- Manure: I've never used farmyard (horse, cow or pig) manure, in my life (I've had an allotment since '97). I do compost the bedding from my pets (guinea pigs and parrots), so I'm not "stock free", which is no animal products at all. I also compost my dog's poops, but that goes on ornamental beds, not on the allotment.


Sarah, work out what you want to grow. Make a list. Show us a photo of your garden, with north indicated.
Then we'll get you started.

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the madhouse Sarah.

[Feral007]

Hello Rabbit. It's even more confusing when people call things by different names

Have a go and have fun. That's my motto. Most people say 'grow what you like to eat' and that's good advice, but personally I also like to grow some things that are just 'easy to grow.' Because even if I don't eat them (throw them on the compost, or straight back into the gardenbed) then they make me feel good because they are green and boisterous growers.

I'm a happy chuck it in and see what happens gardener and torture my son who is very very organised.

[PyreneesPlot]

Hi Sarah and welcome from another one on heavy clay. We are pot/pond lining grade down here with booger all soil, either.
But it gets better.

The bamboo cane and glypho advice for the bindweed is the best. I dug mine over and in and now its everywhere. And I do know better.

Have fun and grow what you like - if neighbours give you plants, just remember they'll be ones that grow like stink which is why they are passing them on!! Or they may just be lovely neighbours..

Enjoy.

[Lando]

Welcome to the vine.

[Sheneval]

Hi again rabbit - welcome and enjoy

[rabbit]

Hello everyone, lovely to see you and thanks for the advice. TwoSheds, re the bineweed having read more since then I am sure you're right but I did want to get as much out of the soil as poss. The mowing isn't too bad, a ride on mower came with the house and the novelty still makes it fun and it also means we have lots of volunteers.

My composting last year consisting of me chucking grass, leaf mold, twigs etc on a pile and leaving it there. My kitchen waste went in a tumbler but doesnt seem to be compost, although I stopped tumbling in about october. Whoops!

Also, TwoSheds, I have a highly ambitious square foot garden planned in the squarefootgardening thread! It give me a bit of a headache thinking about it but you'll have to excuse me, I am a bit of a worrier and I like Rome to be built fast. I think gardening will relieve me of the latter!

[taff]

Last year was really bad anyway, with all the rain, and the army of slugs, so don't worry too much if things wen't 'wrong-ish'
good luck this year

[bearded bloke]

Hello & welcome,jump in & have fun




Beware of Nutters

[Florence Fennel]

Hello and a very warm welcome to the Vine from me too!

[rabbit]

Hello & welcome,jump in & have fun

Beware of Nutters

Who are they/you? I've noticed the sigs and I was wondering if it has to do with nut trees?