Things I have learnt about gardening this year.

Not sure about number 6. Why is it necessary to sit in the rain?

We haven't had any rain for several weeks before the recent inondation this week and my DH had been watering our pots twice a day. He's often said , when it's very hot, that when we get rain he's going to stand out in it, naked. So this week he took his clothes off, went outside for a few seconds and then rushed back in saying that it was too cold. We did have hailstones a little while later.

As for tips - if you don't already watch it, I'd recommend Gardeners' World. it's been good this series with the short films of other people's gardens, some of which are inspirational.

Good Luck

Dinahmo, sitting in light rain this afternoon watering pots with hosepipe. I hadn’t watered them yesterday because we had had some rain, but the soil in the pots was like dust. I must have looked a right idiot!

I would say:

1) Sow little and often of things like lettuces, radishes and beetroots (if you grow them) to avoid having them all mature at the same time and not being able to eat them all before they go past their best.
2) Only grow what you like to eat or look at! Sounds simple, but you'd be amazed at what I've grown in the past because I got carried away with the seed catalogue
3) Right plant, right place. Get to know your garden, the soil, the sunny bits, the shady bits and the bits in between. There's no point struggling to look after a plant that is in the wrong place or soil because it will never thrive.
4) There are loads of gardening forums online. Have a look at a few. You will get loads of advice and ideas and gardeners are usually very friendly people.
4) Just enjoy! Take time to sit and look at what you have created, even if it's still a work in progress.

Good luck with your new garden. Some pictures would be nice if you could post them showing your progress - I always love seeing other peoples gardens!

Sorry, that should be "people's gardens"!

I have learnt:
1) not to leave the greenhouse door open overnight. Because if you do, the wind may well whip up, cause the door to flap backwards and forwards, clip the edge of one of your tomato plants and topple it over onto the others.
2) When sprinkling lawn Weed & Feed, it's a good idea to check that there isn't a hole in the bottom of the box. Because if there is, it will leave a trail if the wretched stuff everywhere youve just walked. And in less than 3 weeks, your lawn will have died off in huge swathes and it will look like a demented crop circler has run amok on your lawn. 8 weeks later there is still no sign of the grass growing back.

I'll second that, Dinahmo - it's my favourite time of the week when I settle down to watch Gardeners' World!

Chewbacca, likewise I have learnt not to leave the greenhouse door open overnight, because the local cats find it a lovely place to sleep and often burrow into my growbags to do their business! Likewise the tortoise during the day, so I have to put a low barrier in the doorway when it is open.

Just been outside to check the greenhouse..thanks for the reminder

Thank you everyone. Some great tips and some good chuckles too. Will try and take some photos tomorrow.

I have learned never to water the garden using the hose for a good all round soaking.....it always rains the next day!
Also to make sure the hose is completely emptied before unscrewing it from the outside water tap ( you get an early shower.)
Never to forget to put garden furniture cushions away in the evening ( birds use them for target practise) or it rains.

We moved from our old house into a bungalow last December and for the first time I tried my hand at growing carrots. I was delighted when they started growing in abundance however I really should have thinned them out because a lot of them were growing around each other. Lesson learnt!

Also not to sow a whole packet of seeds at once.

One other thing that I've learnt this year: when you've bought a little plastic greenhouse, measuring 4'x6'x6', do not fill it with 2 grow bags of tomatoes, 4 pepper plants and a cucumber. You will not be able to reach the rear of the greenhouse to water the peppers because the cucumber will have crept up to the roof, along the sides of all walls, cling onto the tomatoes as support, wrap themselves around the peppers and crawl back out through the door. It looks like the Little Shop of Horrors in there. And I dread having to get the dratted thing back out at the end of summer.

Beechgrove is excellent. There are 29 episodes on iPlayer.

Water butts. As many as possible!

Compost area.

1. Speedy Seed (grass seed) is incredible
2. Water tomatoes and cucumbers regularly otherwise they shrivel up and die
3. Coriander can turn to seed quicker than a speeding train
4. Lockdown meant more wildlife in the garden. Hurray ? on now the pheasants are all the clematis and tulips and then dig up plants
5. FB Gardening on a Budget has good tips
6. Take cuttings in water and only plant ones that root

Sorry that should say “oh no, pheasants ate” “Dug up”

Halve the number of courgettes plants you think you will need

I have got what I call a ‘dribbly p hose’, one which is spongy and full of holes. Switch the water on and it will happily water the border for an hour, after which you move it... brilliant!

A lawn sprinkler is needed most years, but this year has been a godsend, both for the lawns and borders and for our younger grandchildren on a hot day?

Seed from Lidl for pennies are even better at germinating than the £3 packs from big name suppliers.
Always use clean pots or trays of bought compost for seeds.
If you have room inside grow seeds on your windowsills as early as possible gradually putting them into the greenhouse then outside or you will end up with beautiful large plants which haven’t flowered yet with the season almost over. ( yes I’m talking about you Cosmos)
Use the growing herbs from the supermarket to make an inexpensive herb garden. (Exception is mint which will take over so best kept in a pot.)
Dig in lots of organic material. Compost you make yourself improves the soil immensely. Waitrose gives away coffee grounds and the autumn leaves eventually break down if put damp in black bin bags with holes punched.
Many supermarkets get their flowers delivered in non returnable plastic buckets so you are doing them a favour to ask the manager If you can have them to grow plants in. Just drill some holes.

I’ve learned how quickly seeds germinate in the hot humid weather we’ve had recently.

They absolutely race away.

I don't have a vegetable plot so this year, Lock Down having brought out veggie growing instincts, I've been planting in trugs and buckets and boxes. Potatoes, tomatoes and salad crops have done really well, especially cut and come again mixed leaves, and the leeks are looking good. The climbing French beans like to be in buckets - deep enough but with no drainage holes but aren't thriving in Grobags. My big failure is the carrots. I thought they'd be happy in containers above carrot root fly height, but no. Not a single carrot has developed. Lots of greenery, but no root. But it has amazed me what you can harvest from a bucket!

If you grow tomatoes from seeds squished out of a cherry tomato, they may well grow like Triffids and produce masses of fruit, but they won’t necessarily taste as nice as the squashy one you got the seeds from.

With such Triffid-tomatoes, you only have to turn around twice and the buggers will have produced another 13 side shoots.

Great thread Bluebellwould. I've learnt:
~Never to leave soap in my shed (allotment) because rats steal it.
At home (patio with minimal beds):
~Cram plants in like nature does (Monty's advice).
~Plant white mint because it attracts insects I've never seen before.
~Even a teeny pond (plastic planter) will support water plants.
~Enjoy the unexpected - a pale pink campion has appeared where I least want it but it's beautiful.
~Don't expect poppies to grow where you want them to!
~Don't plant honeysuckle to cover a 6ft high trellis because it ignores the first 6ft and wanders off into the distance where I can't appreciate it!
~Sit out in the rain at night under an umbrella and smell the wet herbs.

Leaves turn to leaf mould even faster if you run the lawnmower over them before bagging them up (with the grass collector box on, of course) I learned that useful tip from Gardening Which a few years ago.

What I've learned this year is that animals of every kind are determined to eat (or destroy) my vegetables before we do ?