My new garden - Great soil - no sunlight! Help/advice please!

[Victoria26]

Hi grapes - i'm back,

A few of you might know about my move...I've went from Yorkshire to Ipswich and brought my kitchen garden with me. However I've run into a few problems and was hoping for some advice.

• The soil is great quality but its time consuming getting rid of the grass. Would anyone advise just turning over the turf and letting it break down?
  
• I have a wee fart of sunlight in a wee area in my garden in the afternoon. Does anyone know if planting my onions, garlic, carrots, peas and beans will be a waste of time with no direct sunlight?

To be honest I still think theres a lot of potential here. I've already painted the fence and started on the borders. Plus my seedlings are coming on strong so I'm enjoying getting stuck in!

[lynda66]

sunlight this time of year is a different angle to what you get in summer, ..... if you want to plant in it this year, i would suggest removing the turf and sticking it upside down in a corner, makes lovely soil when it's rotted ........ unless you are really short of topsoil then you may find you lose a lot by doing that.,

[scarey55]

Hello Victoria, congrats on the move - hope most of your belongings are out of the removal boxes (I still have some things packed and I moved here nearly 3 years ago ) Is it the house blocking the sunlight or could you "trim" a couple of trees?

Otherwise, I would say have a go at planting something. The worst you can do is waste a couple of packets of seeds and if it works, you will have lovely fresh veg

[Victoria26]

Its a big fence which blocks the light - I tried to upload a photo but it wouldn't let me. I'd gladly rip the fence down however it devides my garden and next doors and I don't think i'll be popular if I did that! Lol!

I'll give it a go and see how I get on. Once I have finished some of the excavation I'll put up some more pics!

[lynda66]

yes but bear in mind at this time of the year the sun is very low down in the sky, in summer the sun will be higher up so you will get more sun, what direction does the garden face?

[Victoria26]

I'm not so sure as my hubbys compass is in a box........somwhere!

I've been out in the garden quite a bit as its a welcome break from unpacking boxes. In fact I've probably spent more time out there than in here. The only room completely unpacked yet is the kitchen.

Must drive around later and try and locate a supermarket.... Sigh - I don't think I like it here yet...(I'll just hide in my garden)

[SarzWix]

The sun will get higher in the sky than it is now, so the small patch of sunlight should expand a bit in the summer. You'll have to prioritise a bit with your crops and their sun needs;
1) fruiting plants like toms/courgettes/peppers need most (although cucumbers don't mind the shade)
2) roots like carrots/parsnips/potatoes, can cope with partial shade
3) leafy stuff like lettuces/oriental greens/cabbages/kale/spinach can go in the shade
4) OH's BBQ area

Some of the leafy stuff might even be happier in shade because they bolt in too much heat, like the spinach.

Good luck hun, I'm certain you'll manage to grow some stuff

[Eyren]

I'm not so sure as my hubbys compass is in a box........somwhere!

No need for a compass - just look up your address on Google Maps. That's what I did to double-check the orientation of my garden and lottie

3) leafy stuff like lettuces/oriental greens/cabbages/kale/spinach can go in the shade

True - I had fantastic spinach last spring despite my south-facing garden, as the weather was so cool and damp.

[womble]

No need for a compass - just look up your address on Google Maps. That's what I did to double-check the orientation of my garden and lottie

Or just remember that the suns comes up in the East and goes down in the west

[vicky]

Sounds like it faces north...so does mine, don't panic! This time of year there is no sun at all on the patio, come the summer it has sun most of the day and I easily grown tomatoes, peppers and other sun lovers. It'll be ok for veg in the summer.
I'd do the pile of turves ideas with the grass...maybe worth digging down a spade or two to check the topsoil goes down at least a foot. If it doesn't then I'd try to seperate the grass from the soil a bit more in order to keep more soil (or think about raised beds...actually these might get a bit more sun too?)
Hope you're taking lots of photos as you go!

[Victoria26]

Oh I am - I will get them posted as soon as I sort myself out.

I think its North east facing. All my photos are failing to upload.

Off to get lost around town now...better leave enough cat and dog food out incase I dont find my way home tonight! LOL

Thanks for everyones advice!

[lynda66]

my front garden is also north east facing, and in summer it gets sun from about 10 am at the front, then till the sun goes down at night, so basically you will get the sun on the whole garden in the afternoon and evening, makes for good BBQ's and it's where i grow my veggies,
my back garden loses the sun at the house end about 2pm, and the right hand side by just after lunch on the right hand side cos of the fence ....... i'd rather my house was the other way round, cos BBq's get cold

[JamesA]

Hi Victoria, sounds like you are having fun with the new place!

Ive just upoaded a couple of pics and noticed that the max size is very small, so this may be your problem if you are not editing your pics at all. My camera creates pics that are about 3.5meg and the max size on here is 20k, so i had to do a bit of editing!

May be quicker for you to upload them to something like Flickr and then post a link on here.

Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing

Hope that helps,
James

[Eyren]

Or just remember that the suns comes up in the East and goes down in the west

That works well enough at home, but as I'm seldom at my lottie either very early or very late, it's a lot harder to work out, especially as the route to walk there is somewhat circuitous!

[gojiberry]

If you can afford it you could do some raised beds. The higher the better but about 2ft would make a lot of difference.

Ian