gardengirl6

garden is just grass!!!!

From my experiences, it will take a good two or three years of work improving the soil before it will be any good, but this should be a continuous process anyway.    If you have children then do not try to redesign the whole space, but allow it to evolve as the children get older and their demands on the garden change.     Or how about dividing the garden into 'rooms', to give the children their own play space, and have a space for the adults to grow flowers and shrubs?    By the way, roses love clay soil!

weed, plant or veggie?

I would say it is definitely a foxglove - and it looks as if the bud is just forming.    I love them and they self seed easily.     They grow one year and flower the next, so look out for babies later this year and, if necessary, move them to where you want them.

Spring Bulbs

If you really need the containers for vegetables, consider buying another set.    I have bulbs in pots, which I tuck away at the bottom of the garden and leave until the following year, using another set of containers in their place.   Some pots I empty out and carefully plant in the soil.    I don't usually dig them up, though, as I leave them to flower in place.    This is a useful way of filling gaps in the garden.     When you plant bulbs in the autumn you cannot always remember where you have bulbs planted.   By planting them after flowering, you can fill the gaps and not disturb the other bulbs.

Planting Lily plants in the border

If you have three stems you should have three bulbs.     I would tend to put them in the garden just as they are, as if you try to separate them you could damage the roots.   Remember to check them daily for the scarlet lily beetle.

weed, plant or veggie?

It is definitely aquilegia.   It readily self-seeds, but doesn't spread.   It makes a little clump and then flowers above it.   It is a perennial.

I love it when you get something for nothing!

decorative pots

I leave my agapanthus outdoors during the winter, but I do move the pots to a sheltered spot and cover them with fleece.   I just love their flowers.   I think they must take some years to grow from seed.    Better to see if you know someone who is dividing their potful.     Mind you, I have divided mine some years ago, and found it very difficult.    Once out of their pots, I tried the old back-to-back forks method, but it just didn't work.    In the end I got a saw, and sawed straight through the clump and then again, into quarters.    It worked, and all pieces grew and flowered again.

decorative pots

One plant that is ideal for pots is the agapanthus.   The tighter they are potted, the more they flower. 

Planting a Rambling Rector

Elsa, if you want to plant a rose in a pot, there are plenty of patio roses available which have been bred especially to grow in pots.

Talkback: Gardening disputes between neighbours

I just wish people would realise that when they plant a tree or a shrub right up against their fence, their neighbours will get half of the tree overhanging their garden.   People just don't think!

Tree Peony

Thank you, Paul N, that link has answered my questions too.   I planted a tree peony in the Spring of 2010, and am hoping it will soon start to flower.