Hello from a total newbie!

[CrabbyApple]

Hey, everyone from the West Midlands!

I've always loved nature and the outdoors, but never really had a chance to work with it living in the city, we moved to Staffordshire a few years ago and I finally got permission from mother-dearest to attack the sadly neglected wilderness that is our garden. Any and all advice would be very much appreciated because I have no idea what I'm doing!

Currently all I have growing are a few different herbs that are doing their best on my bedroom window ledge (hoping to plant them out when the weather eventually warms up!), a very neglected apple tree, a bush honeysuckle, a rose bush, and my Mum's man-eating fuchsia...

Hoping to eventually get some veggies growing, but I need to try and clear out all the feeds and fix the soil first, ect, so it's a long way in the future...

[Ninetrees]

Welcome! There's loads of good stuff and helpful folks here

[CrabbyApple]

Thanks! Yes, it looks like a really informative site with lots of nice, knowledgeable people, so I hope I can learn a lot.

[Sheneval]

Hi Crabby - welcome and enjoy

[veggiechicken]

Hello Crabby and welcome to the Grapevine
What would you like to grow? It maybe best to start with something you (or your Mum) like to eat

[Bigmallly]

Hello & welcome to the madhouse Crabby.

[Bill HH]

A few pictures would help us to advise you, also what you want to grow. Tackle a small area at a time then move on, trying to do it all at once can put you off for life.

[Bren In Pots]

Hello Crabby and welcome to the vine

[Glutton4...]

Hello, and welcome to the Madhouse!

[CrabbyApple]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

As far as what I want to grow I'm not sure yet. Probably a lot of potatoes since we eat a lot of those, and some carrots as both us and the horses also like them. It's just finding room as I know my Mum wants some raised flower boarders putting in, there are also plans for a small wildlife pond and a rockery/shrub area.

Whatever we grow it can't be too sun demanding since both gardens only get a limited amount of sun. In the morning it's out the from sunrise to midday, and after midday to sunset it's around the back.

I've taken some pics of the herbs I have growing, and I'll try and get some pictures of the gardens tomorrow with some measurements to draw up a small plan so you can all see what I'm working with.



Basil, currently 10" at the highest. 10 plants in a 7" diameter pot. I need to re-pot some of them but don't currently have any good potting mix. The last batch I bought was infested with fungus gnats and I'm still trying to kill them all off.



Mint. Roughly 6" high as I keep pinching it back to try and get it to fill the pot but it's being stubborn and growing really leggy, but I think that's because of the lack of sun. We've had nothing but rain with a couple of hours of afternoon sun for a few weeks now. It's also looking sick. Some of the leaves have little dots on them and are turning yellow and falling off. It's also got some fluffy white fuzz on some of the leaves. I was told it's because of over-watering so I'm leaving it to dry out and see if that helps.



Lavender seedlings about 1/2" high at the moment. They're about a week old now and seem pretty happy at the moment. I was given the seeds as a Christmas gift and have no idea what kind they are as the can doesn't say. I'm hoping I can plant them out when they're big enough and they will bush. Both me and Mum love lavender so we want a lavender hedge somewhere in the back garden.

I also have some rosemary seeds I'm hoping will germinate. I'm not very confident as I've heard trying to grow them from seed can be difficult and they have to be kept constantly warm which is difficult here as I don't have a heated propagator and even upstairs on my window ledge the night temperature is still quite cold. I'm going to give them a while before chucking them though just in case.

[mothhawk]

Hi Crabby, and welcome. Your basil and lavender look great. The mint looks as if it may have mildew on the leaves. I would cut it all back to about 4cm high and put it outside where it will get better air circulation. It's hardy and won't mind the cold.

[CrabbyApple]

Thanks for the advice, mothhawk! I've been thinking about opening up the bedroom window to let some air in for the lavender as it says it prefers to be cool, and the window makes the ledge like a miniature greenhouse on sunny days.

We've got a lot of rain and gusts lately so I'd be worried about putting the mint outside straight away. Could I open up the window for a few hours at a time for a few days before putting it outside or won't it make any difference? I'm worried about shocking it if it's sick and not doing so well. :/

[Bill HH]

You would need to be Attila the hun to kill mint. Bung it outside where it willl be much happier. One word of warning always keep it in containers, dont plant it in the garden because it will take over like a weed.
Nice pictures now a few of the garden would be good.

[CrabbyApple]

Okay thank you both! I'll put it outside. We've been forecast heavy frosts and possible minus temperatures for the next few days with possible snow on Thursday, so I'll probably need to move it inside at night time for the time being.

I also found an old lemon balm hidden away by the kitchen wall while I was out there looking for a sheltered area for the mint to go. It seems to be doing well given the fact that we've lived here for eight years and no one knew that the little herb was even there.

[CrabbyApple]

Me again! Back with some (very bad) pics of the garden as it is now. I apologise for not having a measured plan of the space. My brother was supposed to be helping me take measurements today, but suddenly decided he couldn't be bothered, and my Mum is busy with paperwork. I've drawn up a rough plan as it is just so you can see the layout. All I know is that the total space is roughly 35 feet (give or take a few feet given that the neighbours have very kindly planted their tin can of a shed on our land!) wide and 80 feet long.



Rough plan of the space.



Overhead shot of the top two levels-ish.



Where the chicken's enclosure used to be. I'm currently ripping it all down. The bush to the right is the honeysuckle that is staying, and the twiggy tree in the middle is the apple tree.



Next door's shed and the random gap is where ours used to be before they ripped it down. We're planning on having the gap raised to the same height as the third level and putting the shed back where it was.

I'll take some better pictures after I've ripped more out and you can actually see the whole area. The bamboo has pretty much taken over the whole left side of the second level so you can't really see it.