Gardening is so satisfying

Fortunately, gardening is our main hobby ( fortunately, because we have a large garden.)
It does take a lot of upkeep, as does the hard landscaping, cleaning the drive, putting up new fences, painting fences, gate and shed etc.
We are now running out of space for any new plants, so are buying more garden pots and tubs for those ‘have to have’ plants and shrubs.
On a sunny day, it does you good to spend an hour or two pottering, hear the birds etc.

Is bindweed another word for ground elder
Kim, no, it's also known as convolvulus - very pretty white flowers but it wraps itself round plants and strangles them so not such a pretty habit.
It's very difficult to get rid of as the roots go down deep and then it springs up somewhere else.

We're not allowed to put bindweed in with our garden waste so it goes in with the general waste.

Thank you for the tips on how to deal with bindweed everyone!

I like weeds which flower, such as aconites and bindweed. They are so pretty, What's not to like
Well, it does bind itself around other plants!

There are lots of Chafer bugs here, they have decimated lawns round the village, ours included. I have noticed a few people replacing theirs with gravel or artificial grass. Apparently these bugs are very hard to get rid of once you have them. Horrible little blighters they are.

Lisagran - beautiful garden, you can see it’s well loved!

I need to get cracking on my garden but it is very cold here at the moment and we have had a series of frosty nights, so I will leave what cover there is for another couple of weeks and then start looking to see what has survived from last year and is putting up shoots. At the moment I will content myself with sitting in the conservatory and drawing up mental ‘to do’ lists for when it gets a bit warmer!

Don't like to burst the bubble but I like a nice garden and doing the flower pots but the rest no thanks I find you can spend hours outside and not see anything for it. Give me a nice line of freshly ironed shirts anyday.

At one with MooMoo. Like to look; don't like to touch.

Give me a nice line of freshly ironed shirts anyday

But the shirts get worn and have to be washed & ironed again, so it’s not really any different from weeding!

My job has always been mowing the lawn for the last 35 years or more but things changed this year It started in January I renewed most of the larch lap panels around the garden the cleaned the borders started planting new rose bushes and trailers 20 + plants then a load primulas raked and fed the lawn aprox 200 sq yards also planting more rhodendrons plus ive started to grow plants from seed the garden has never been prioritised so much Ive never done so much gardening even started to plan what I want to plant I only do a couple of hours at time You might say Ive got the garden Bug
So keep planting its enjoyable

Nana3 - I'm battling celandines, there are several small clumps in the flower beds. Also lots of cuckoo pint has sprung up this year. I could live in the garden, it's a decent size (1938 semi) and the back garden faces south so quite sunny. Have just bought violas from the market to put in the tubs and troughs. Veg seeds are in trays in the lean-to greenhouse.

But it's a war zone. Ongoing battle with cats, there are lots of new ones on the block who try to catch the birds and they poo on newly raked soil. The blackies peck at newly planted pots and tubs and pull out the leek seedlings so I have to put a cage of chicken wire over the bed.

I buy windmills and sun catchers from Poundland to try to deter the birds.

My pride and much joy is my Bird if Paradise . I have six blooms on this year and I am very proud of it. It’s taken me years to get to this size in the UK bit I’m a very patient gardener. In the conservatory for winter but in the garden for summer. Getting too big for me to struggle with to get outside . But where there’s a will there’s a way!

I'm experiencing the same with Monarda, had no idea how much they would spread, even more than mint I think - But it's pretty- It's a wild garden anyway, survival of the fittest ..

Nanthewiser me too mares tail horrid stuff I just keep pulling it up whenever I see it same with bindweed hopefully I will win the battle

I used to love it. Now not so much. My garden sometimes feels like an enemy. Fences falling down. Expensive to repair. Honey fungus in tree and hedges cost me a fortune to remove. Neighbours rent and allow ivy and ground elder to go mad everywhere. Why would they care?! Would prefer just the patio and my pots. ?

Although I have always enjoyed gardening looking after DGC has meant it has basically become tidying, cutting back and scraping up the moss lately. Still good exercise though and out in the fresh air is much better than indoors. My neighbour and I have just had our Leylandi hedge removed and have planted laurels so looking forward to seeing those grow and experiencing more sunlight! We are also communicating more now that the 8 foot high, mostly brown barrier has disappeared!

I'm another who doesn't like it I'm afraid - especially when it's cold. We've been in this house 33 years this month and although the garden isn't huge it's a constant state of 'bothersomeness' as I can't seem to keep on top of it. Some years ago we had two very large poplars removed - they'd had a preservation order on them but were far too large and shaded the whole garden when in leaf and some of the neighbours too - they were completely hollow inside so not in a good state anyway. We cleared all the beds round them, put weed matting down and shale over the top with pots (which I don't mind doing). Over a couple of years all the plants which we thought had gone started to come through so now the whole area is overgrown again - a giant thing like a Yucca dominates the space as well as a huge rose bush and other shrubs. Poppies and ivy have taken over one corner. The clematis and 30 year old wisteria look beautiful when in flower but the rest just looks a mess

I have a largish garden by modern standards and a DH who doesn’t like to help. When I was thinking of the future when I couldn’t do so much heavy weeding and work I had areas cleared under the trees at the end and sides of the garden. At the side I had a lining and pebbles added, on which I have placed pots and an urn. At the end I had an extra 15 foot of turf laid.

Now I only have to cut the grass and attend to the many massive pots of blooming and lovely flowers I keep on my largish patio. It is neat and rather stunning with proper stripes on the lawn. I call it ‘lazy gardening’ but the effect is great.

I agree about the pleasures of being out in the open air engaging with nature. Nothing nicer.

For those who have cats using their gardens as toilets, I’ve found a harmless way of putting them off whilst benefitting the soil. It’s three suggestions that I heard of combined.
Mix together spent coffee grounds, some citrus peal and a teaspoon of vicks vapour rub. Then scatter it on the affected area. I did this with the daily coffee grounds for a week and the cats no longer use that patch of garden.
The grounds are good for the soil and the combined scent puts the cats off.
I love cats by the way.

Lisagran that is beautiful. I am relatively new to gardening and have grown loads of things from seed this year. A lot of the seeds have come from a weekly gardening magazine that gives a free packet of seeds almost every week. I have gained so much pleasure from sitting in my greenhouse with my little radio which is run with batteries or electricity, listening to radio 4 and planting seeds, pricking out and potting on. I wish I had realized years ago how calming and satisfying it is.

J52 I chop up old oranges and garlic to discourage the cats. It works for a while but has to be redone especially when it rains a lot and it doesn't look very attractive, especially when the mould sets in. I don't drink much coffee. Would instant do? The Vicks vapour rub is an interesting idea though! Dare I say it on here but I hate cats!! The smell of their disgusting poo knocks me sick!

I don't have much experience of gardening but now I have a moderately large garden, so I try, We had a long-lasting drought during the summer when we were banned from using not just hoses but watering cans too. I watered the most vulnerable plants with recycled water from the washing machine, washing up and even the shower.

I don't have much experience of gardening but now I have a moderately large garden, so I try, We had a long-lasting drought during the summer when we were banned from using not just hoses but watering cans too. I watered the most vulnerable plants with recycled water from the washing machine, washing up and even the shower.

What on earth happened there?

Anyway, we got some rain, but not much so it all set like concrete under the plants. I have now scheduled 1 hour a day per week – movable because I have granny duty and, anyway, it sometimes rains – for gardening, which at the moment, given we have had a fair amount of rain, is mostly weeding. It is beginning to look better; so far I have done 15 hours of weeding and it is so satisfying to see the beds become orderly. Unfortunately, there is probably at least another 30 hours to do.

MY garden is calling to me to get out there and do some chores.Just finishing off some housework chores then my plan is to be out there for as long as possible, hopefully it will be a bit warmer too.Happy Gardening everyone.