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Gardening

Help!!

(146 Posts)
Shinamae Fri 16-Sept-22 09:49:04

Nearly 70 I have only recently started taking an interest in my garden, it’s not huge but quite substantial and enough for me. I’ve bought some flowering plants earlier and a couple have survived ( I have no idea what they are by the way) anyway I really don’t know what’s happened to the ones look dead, is this part of the natural cycle has the vast amount of rain we had recently drowned them? what I would also like to ask is what plant I can get now which will be quite hardy and quite pretty for over the winter and beyond, I obviously don’t have green fingers so need something that doesn’t need a lot of attention.Oh by the way one thing I did do to those poor plants was accidentally put lawn feed in instead of plant food, would that have had this result? I hand this problem over to my very knowledgeable friends on this thread. Thanking you in anticipation…?? can anybody identify plants at the back that is going up the trellis? I bought it from Tesco reduced from £7 to £1.69, I won’t tell you what I paid for the others a couple of which I bought off the Internet, never again! ?‍♀️

Shinamae Sun 02-Oct-22 11:46:12

This is the nursery it’s got quite good reviews

Shinamae Sun 02-Oct-22 11:43:03

One in the big pot is a chrysanthemum…(I really don’t understand why just half of it is dead!) i’m seriously thinking of getting rid of all of it and starting again I have ordered some new plants from a nursery online..?‍♀️

Callistemon21 Sun 02-Oct-22 10:18:36

Is it a clematis? It looks as if it's got wilt, overwatering or under watering? It might be happier in the ground although it will lose its leaves naturally in the autumn.

The other looks like a Bellis Daisy? half dead on one side so it needs repotting and the dead part thrown away.

Germanshepherdsmum Sun 02-Oct-22 10:04:56

What are they? The taller one doesn’t look good.

Shinamae Sun 02-Oct-22 09:34:48

Is this the natural progression of these plants? ??‍♀️

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 29-Sept-22 10:48:23

I definitely wouldn’t order plants from Amazon! The online places I mentioned upthread are all good.

Callistemon21 Thu 29-Sept-22 10:33:41

Our garden centre delivers, hope yours does too.

Shinamae Thu 29-Sept-22 09:15:07

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I was going to order some plants online but was quite disappointed with the ones I’ve got from Amazon so might toddle over to the garden centre later.(I toddle because I don’t drive ?)

Callistemon21 Wed 28-Sept-22 23:28:49

Shinamae

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I want to grow shrubs in pots. if you see the photo of my garden you will see I have an area of lawn only a small area and I know my soil is very clay... so with those considerations I just want to grow in containers or pots

Winter jasmine (pictured) has lovely yellow flowers, a bright splash of colour in January but it is best grown up against a trellis.

Forsythia flowers early, often in February.

MayBee70 Wed 28-Sept-22 23:00:18

Skimmia are great in pots but need ericaceous soil. They have either white or reddish flowers in winter. They’re one of my favourite plants and wonderfully idiot proof.

Shinamae Wed 28-Sept-22 22:42:31

Yes I do have an outside tap

Shinamae Wed 28-Sept-22 22:41:28

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I want to grow shrubs in pots. if you see the photo of my garden you will see I have an area of lawn only a small area and I know my soil is very clay... so with those considerations I just want to grow in containers or pots

Esspee Wed 28-Sept-22 22:41:17

I have reread your OP and see that you want winter colour. I suggest Polyanthus, primroses, winter pansies, and wallflower Sugar Rush in that order of preference.

Esspee Wed 28-Sept-22 22:35:20

Those are not shrubs Shinmae the foreground is full of perennials such as hosta and heuchera. You can’t decide what you should grow based on what looks good in photographs. They might not suit your soil type, climate etc.
I don’t grow hostas because slugs love them and I live in a clay area with huge numbers of the pesky creatures.
I suggest you go for a walk and take notes of what grows well in neighbouring gardens. Find out what type of soil you have and work out the shady and sunny areas then plan what to get. Buying the wrong plants or putting plants in the wrong areas can be soul destroying when they don’t survive.
Are you up to heavy digging? Will you be able to keep the soil moist during the summer months? Watering cans are heavy. Do you have an outside tap?
I know you are keen to get started but unless you can afford to have lots of failures do take things slowly.
Why not plan on planting bulbs. Daffodils can be planted now, tulips a little later in the year. Always buy the largest bulbs that are firm and healthy looking and follow the instructions about depth of planting. Make sure the soil below them is well broken up to ensure good drainage. The Gardener’s World website has a wealth of information so dip into it every day. That’s how I learned.

Shinamae Wed 28-Sept-22 11:04:49

The way my flowering plants have turned out I have decided not to bother with them and I’m going to go with shrubs. I will post a picture and would be grateful if somebody could identify the shrubs in it please…

Shinamae Tue 27-Sept-22 11:34:50

Esspee

If this was summer Shinamae I would suggest any pelleted slow release fertiliser or regular watering with something like miracle-grow. However the last thing you want now that winter is approaching is to encourage growth as this will be susceptible to frost damage.
You could start making your own compost with grass clippings, leaves etc to be used next year once it has rotted down. If you are in the country manure might be available or mushroom compost but don’t fertilise until next year after all possibility of frost has gone.

Thank you…?

Esspee Tue 27-Sept-22 11:30:51

If this was summer Shinamae I would suggest any pelleted slow release fertiliser or regular watering with something like miracle-grow. However the last thing you want now that winter is approaching is to encourage growth as this will be susceptible to frost damage.
You could start making your own compost with grass clippings, leaves etc to be used next year once it has rotted down. If you are in the country manure might be available or mushroom compost but don’t fertilise until next year after all possibility of frost has gone.

Shinamae Tue 27-Sept-22 10:58:34

Esspee

Some commercial garden compost these days is absolute rubbish. I have 4 different heaps in my garden. Two receive weeds, grass clippings, vegetable and fruit discards, newspaper, tissues, cardboard etc. One is for autumn leaves for leafmould and another for soil such as turf which rots down to loam. I prefer to use a combination of these for pots and flower beds. So much better quality than some commercial brands.

Is there anything I can add to the compost I have bought to make it more nutritious for the plants? ???

Esspee Fri 23-Sept-22 14:06:08

Some commercial garden compost these days is absolute rubbish. I have 4 different heaps in my garden. Two receive weeds, grass clippings, vegetable and fruit discards, newspaper, tissues, cardboard etc. One is for autumn leaves for leafmould and another for soil such as turf which rots down to loam. I prefer to use a combination of these for pots and flower beds. So much better quality than some commercial brands.

Shinamae Thu 22-Sept-22 23:51:08

“Flower, plant soil mix”……… what even is that? I just use basic compost from the garden centre. Do I need to get some of this stuff?…?‍♀️??‍♀️??‍♀️

MaizieD Thu 22-Sept-22 23:40:46

MayBee70

Callistemon21

Germanshepherdsmum

Lilies are, I believe.

I used to grow lilies but realised if a cat got pollen on its fur then licked it off it could be dangerous.

Not that I have a cat but I wouldn't like to think a neighbour's cat strolled through the garden then died.

Mine always got lily beetle and didn’t last long anyway.

I grow lots of lilies, in pots because I find they do best in pots. I've always had cats. Never had any problems with them. The plants are too tall for pollen to get anywhere near the cat's fur.

You have to be eternally vigilant with lily beetles. I spend all summer hunting them and their larvae and performing prompt execution of both?
It's a shame that such a beautiful beetle is so destructive...

Shinamae Thu 22-Sept-22 22:51:52

PollyDolly

Get an app on you mobile named PlantNet - others are available. It is free to instal and you just take a photo of the plant/shrub/tree/flower etc that you want to identify and it gives the result.

Thanks so much for that. I have downloaded the app and there is a very interesting weed I want to take a picture of in the morning..?

MayBee70 Thu 22-Sept-22 18:16:13

Callistemon21

Germanshepherdsmum

Lilies are, I believe.

I used to grow lilies but realised if a cat got pollen on its fur then licked it off it could be dangerous.

Not that I have a cat but I wouldn't like to think a neighbour's cat strolled through the garden then died.

Mine always got lily beetle and didn’t last long anyway.

MayBee70 Thu 22-Sept-22 18:15:24

Spider plants ok for cats. Says they actually like it as it gives them a bit of a high ( might try it myself….)

Callistemon21 Thu 22-Sept-22 18:14:16

Germanshepherdsmum

Lilies are, I believe.

I used to grow lilies but realised if a cat got pollen on its fur then licked it off it could be dangerous.

Not that I have a cat but I wouldn't like to think a neighbour's cat strolled through the garden then died.