just dug up my front lawn

[lynda66]

well 2 long trenches anyway, took the turf off, and turned it upside down between the trenches, and planted half a bag of sprouted potatoes that were in the back of the cupboard ......... the look on my neighbours face was priceless ..... i said you won't be laughing when you get fresh potatoes for your xmas dinner ..... he just went in the house with a smug grin(god i hope everything grows now, just to do his head in.

every time i go out he comes out to see what i'm doing ...... i think he preferred it when i just sunbathed in the garden

tomorrow, i'm going to dig a few more trenches and plant some broccoli and cauli seedlings, and some other stuff thats getting too big for it's pots.

it's really exciting

so today, as well as planting the tatties, i've covered the back lawn with some compost, and planted some seeds in the bare bits, and filled in the dents now it's settled ..... should look all beautiful and level again when it grows ...... now it looks like someones been playing football on it lol.

I've also created a cage compost heap, before it was just a heap, now it's all neat and tidy and snug and warm wrapped in plastic, with a cover on ...... it now appears to be my cats favourite place.

and i put one of the new poly tunnels i got from wilkies yesterday up over one of the veg patches .... it looks all dead professional

now i'm shattered and it's raining again i'm fed up of rain

got some more flowers though, clematis and some other things that i cant remember the name of .... so the rain must be doing some good

oh and i ordered a new birdie feeder, cos i'm sick of the one i have blowing over.

Lynda xx

[Cloud]

I grow veg in my front garden and the amount of people who think you are round the twist!!!!!!

[lynda66]

lol, most of my neighbours think i'm round the twist anyway ...... and i'm re designing the front garden at some point, so the lawn will all be dug up anyway, i just thought i'd take advantage of the space and improve the soil quality before i dig it all up. and as i've no idea when i'll get the allotment, i want to make sure i have everything planted.

[rainbowbrite]

i was thinking of growing veg in my front garden but was worried stuff might get nicked (am i being overly suspicious)

also how do you stop your cats killing the birds?

[Pootle]

Is this a return to 'The Good Life' - hurrah! The only decent thing I can remember about the 1970s...

[Cloud]

i was thinking of growing veg in my front garden but was worried stuff might get nicked (am i being overly suspicious)

also how do you stop your cats killing the birds?

As far as I am concerned,if they are that desparate to nick it then they are welcome to it!Most people wouldn,t know veg from flowers.

[deezyb]

i was thinking of growing veg in my front garden but was worried stuff might get nicked (am i being overly suspicious)

also how do you stop your cats killing the birds?

I think the same thing about veg getting stolen...my front garden is two small patches of gravel of covered earth...but I'm running out of space in the back garden and am considering the front garden!!! Also....I'm sure there are several threads about cats and them killing birds...I've 3 cats and I've got a similar problem, however if you do a search on the Vine, you'll get some advice...not all from cat lovers (even though cat lovers can be bird lovers) though I'm afraid so be prepared...! I've got one cat that tends to bring birds in...not often, but still happens - probably a collar with bell is a suggestion!

D

[Cloud]

I am a great cat hater.But her indoors insists we have 2.Collars with bells seems to be the answer.

[lynda66]

well i've left allsorts out in my front garden, and nothings ever been nicked, and actually i've never heard of any burglaries round here, we're kind of off the beaten track, a lot of people don't even know we are here, as mostly people only come up here if they live here or are visiting, it isn't a short cut to anywhere.

regarding the birds, he doesn't bother too much with them, he prefers just to sit and watch, though he has had a few, he has 3 bells on his collar, so they dangle and aren't quietened by his fur, i also keep him in at night when birds are roosting,

he doesn't go out early in the morning in spring, as this is when most birds fledge, and when the baby sparrows infiltrate the garden, (we usually get about 30 babies each year) i'm careful about letting him out too, i also got a flashing light for his collar, just in case he came across any so they can see him from further away and flutter to safety.

i also keep the lawn short, and have the food well out of reach, and away from bushes.

he may manage to get the odd one, but unfortunately it can't be helped, (other than by keeping him in all the time, which i think is unfair.) and it does make me sad, i do take them off him and hope they may still be alive, i rescued a robin earlier in the year this way, and it still comes in the garden, i know it's the same one, as it has a bald patch. He also craps on some waste ground at the back of the house every morning , and not as a rule in anyones garden, cats can be trained lol

now i just have to work on the kitten, she is enjoying her first week of freedom, on a harness and extending lead, she likes coming into the garden, eating soil, watching the fish, and our blackbirds.

[squashysu]

good for you for digging up the front garden, i would too, but the spade broke in the block paving lol!!

i have one border in the garden and it is a little flower oasis with bleeding hearts and other nice flowers, which were then when i moved in.

i hope the tatties grow, just to shut the neighbour up and if they do, then give him some wrapped up with a bow for christmas ha ha ha !

ss

[lynda66]

if everything grows, he's having 6 different veg for his xmas dinner lol, ........if they don't, i'll go buy him 6 different veg for his xmas dinner, and tell him i grew them on my allotment

i have a lovely flower bed down the side, with a heart shaped bush, and window boxes and hanging baskets, and a climbing rose in a pot by my front door ....... but the rest of it is awful, when i can afford it, it needs fencing, and i want to move the gate to the other side, so i may as well make use of a really crappy straggly lawn till i can afford to get it how i want it

[lynda66]

damn, i've just found out what the catterpillary things are in my front lawn, leather jackets so that's why the lawn has been bloody awful, and apparently they eat spuds and i've just planted a load ....... this isn't good is it

[Cloud]

I think you'll find thats wireworms????

[lynda66]

nope it's definitely leatherjackets i seen em wiv my own eyes, and wondered last year why there were so many daddy longlegs on my lawn

Royal Horticultural Society - Advice: Leatherjackets

[Cloud]

Leather jackets are more intrested in grass roots than spuds.Thats why crane flies[not daddy long legs ]lay their eggs in grass.