Hello! - I am new

[Alchemilla]

Hello all,

I have just registered on the Grapevine. I moved to the UK from abroad, and now live in a "clone brick house" estate. Most people here seem to cover the entire outdoor spaces around their houses with decking, paving, gravel or green plastic carpets .

I would like to grow fruit and vegetables in my back garden and herbs and flowers in my front garden. I have started to rip out the decking, gravel etc. and to dig paths and beds. I have painted the fence and bought a compost bin. But it is all very slow going... The ground here is very heavy clay, I work full time and my family are not interested in gardening. My neighbours are getting annoyed at the "mess"...

I guess I am feeling a bit lonely and isolated as I don't know any fellow garden enthusiasts...

[Lumpy]

Hello Alchemilla - no need to feel lonely on here as we are all a friendly bunch.

Good for you for wanting something more out of your garden.

It sounds like hard work, especially with no help. If you have heavy clay have you considered growing in pots, tubs, planters etc? Sometimes you can get better results being a container grower than if you have difficult soil.

Have a mooch around the Vine as there are lots of ideas on here.

[muddled]

Well then you've come to right place!

Hello and welcome Alchemilla
It sounds like you are off to a great start!

February here in the UK is always a bit dreary...the least exciting month of the year in the garden.
But next month will be magical with seed sowing and things and plants bursting into life all over the place!

It might be an idea to treat yourself to a few pots of daffodils to keep you going. They brighten up even the muddiest of plots and will inspire you to carry on while the freezing rain is blowing at you sideways.

And never mind the neighbours.....they'll be sick with jealousy once your garden is done and in the meantime we'll be here to give you all the encouragement and advice that you need.

Come on in and pull up a chair.
You have a lot to look through and read on here.....

[jackarmy]

As above, youlll never be lonely again if your online and in here
welcome.

[Martin H]

Hi, welcome! Don't worry about the neighbours, it's your space and you can treat it how you want. And don't worry about the clay, spread all the organic stuff you can find onto it and the worms will gradually turn it into lovely friable stuff like Monty Don's soil. Plenty of flowers and veggies are happy in clay soil, even Alchemilla as it happens.

[bearded bloke]

Hello & Welcome

[bearded bloke]

Have you thought about not digging the existing clay, rather, you could use the decking you are removing to make frames for raised beds & fill them with better growing mediums like home made compost, purchased compost, farmyard manure, top soil , etc

[Yasai]

Hello You've definitely come to the right place. Lots of lovely folk on here ready to share info and help out. Neighbours aside, happy gardening!

[Alchemilla]

Thank you all for the kind welcome ,

Yes, Lumpy I do have a few big pots - which give much quicker results. Lovely mint tea! Although the dwarf sunflowers were a complete failure... But I don' think I would want to restrict myself to containers only. The soil here is very fertile and hasn't been grown in for over a decade (I never realised parsley could grow this big! ) it is just that the structure is so poor.

Like bearded & Martin recommend, I plan to grow in slightly raised beds, so the water can drain away somewhat. I have used the remains of the decking I ripped out to construct the sides and put the weed membrane and gravel on the "path" spaces. However, then I realised I would not be able to grow in the soil as it is (it looks a bit like a cross between the Lake District and Venice at the moment... All I need is a gondola.). So I decided I would have to remove one spade's depth of clay and replace with organic matter and then double dig it in. I rented a skip and dug out 6 tonnes of clay this winter, but it still wasn't enough. Once the weather dries up, I will have to get another skip in...

Muddled, keeping oneself going with flowers is a great idea! A colleague in work gave me a Sarah Raven catalogue last winter and I may have purchased a few things... What cheers me up most at the moment are the wallflowers. In work, I usually go for a lunchtime walk past an old churchyard, the only bit of green around, and their wallflowers were poking seedheads through the fence. Some may have found their way into my garden somehow... Mine started to flower in late autumn and have been in flower all winter - is that normal in the UK (South Wales)? (How do I make my location appear at the top of my posts?)

Martin - you are right. Alchemilla mollis certainly grows (and self-seeds!) most happily in my soil.

[Bigmallly]

Hello Alchy & welcome to the Jungle, you'll never feel lonely & isolated when your in nutty company.

[veggiechicken]

Hello Alchemilla and welcome from another South Walian. Croeso
My wallflowers are in flower too and they're 3 years old now. There are always flowers and the sun always shines in South Wales. Rumours of rain and wind here are just rumours
You'll be able to update your profile when you've made a few more posts!

[Verinda]

Hello Alchemilla, you are welcome to the forum

[Chris11]

Welcome Alchemilla.

Does everyone in South Wales still say 'Tidy!' all the time, as an all-purpose expression of approval?

They'll soon be saying it about your garden

[Guest]

Hi and welcome to the vine

No need to feel lonely here and as for your garden - it is just that 'yours', enjoy it and stuff the neighbours (to an extent anyway)

[Florence Fennel]

Hello and a very warm welcome to the Vine