just moved to Shetland

Hi

I have just moved to Shetland from the Midlands,

I have brought my plants from my old garden to see if they will live ...(you know the old 50-50 chance live or die)

but was wondering if anyone know what plants will grow well up here,

I'm also buying a small poly tunnel and was going to try and grow some dwarf fruit trees in it also some raspberries...does anyone know if i can do this

Many thanks for you time in reading and for any help

Hezzie.

I don't know anything about Shetland, but I can recommend this book.  I've found it very useful since moving to Scotland (Fife).  The book has extra hardiness ratings beyond those used in England, and it often mentions plants that thrive in particular places.  There is a list of particular shrubs for shelter in Orkney and Shetland.  It also mentions this book written by the creator of a Shetland garden. 

Hi Hezzie, living in the Outer Hebrides I generally do pretty well with veg crops, eg, onions, potatos, beetroots, carrots, spinach, and peas  are just a few of my successess. Never had any success with sweetcorn, just not enough heat I suspect!! 

 I've got a copule of raspberry bushes and strawberry patch which both do fairly well.

Not sure what your ground is like though? here in my garden it was very "peaty" just incorporated compost over the years seems to have helped.

Good luck with the poly tunnel!! Wind being the biggest factor for us in these remote far away parts, its hard enough some days just trying to stand up!!!   ( and thats without the wine)!!!

Good luck, keep us all posted.

x Miss B.

Hi Laura,

thank you for coming but to me, i will treat myself to the book and see what ideas it gives me,

many thanks for your time

Hezzie

Hi Miss B

thank you so your message,

i'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plants i brought with me will live i will keep a blog on here about how things go.

can't wait to get a poly tunnel !!! soil is peaty here to just got 10 bags of compost today and dug it in as the wind and snow was coming down as my partner said ...keen very keen.

okay off to bed now but thank you again for your kind words

Hezzie

Another thought: I don't know if you've caught up with Beechgrove Garden on telly yet - again, it's not specific to Shetland, but being made in Scotland it concentrates on the kind of conditions many of us deal with: rain, wind, late frosts, etc.  

Hi all,

Just a up date on my garden and how my plants are doing,

Most plants seemed to be finding they roots after <span>their big move, the weather had not been to bad ...<span>until last weekend we had heavy rain with very strong winds

As we live on top of a cliff the sea salt hit the new shoots hard and sad to say my plants are now looking sad.

But fingers crossed some will make it

I have been watching gardens world and <span><span>Beechgrove garden

I have decided to buy larger plants to give them a helping hand and trying some seeds to try help with the cost of things,

I have borrowed some books on coastal gardening but most are sand based soil and i have wet peat!!!

does anyone know if "Gardens World" have done a <span>programme about gardening in Shetland if not maybe they would like to i have a garden they could use LOL

okay off to pot up some seeds

thank you for reading and i will keep you posted

<span><span>Hezzie

I'm glad it's going well.  I have found that small plants work well - it seems to be less of a shock if they have to cope with the wind when they are small.  One thing that works well is planting shrubs/trees in tubes.  These provide a warm and sheltered microclimate to allow things to settle in.  A few years ago I planted some hawthorn (should be very tough) in tubes and some without, all in a very windy area.  The ones that were planted in tubes are now twice the height and width of the others.