Help!!

Why would you want to mix bonemeal in it?

I’ve got a compost question, too. My son has moved into a house with a fair sized garden. There are four compost bins with compost in them. It looks quite dry at the moment and he’s not sure what to do with it.

Do you just put it on the garden as it is, or what? If so, what time of year?

Hellebores are very good for a winter plant. Tough palmate leaves and flowers that can be out from february , depending on where you live. Can be planted in border or do ok in a pot. Winter flowering honeysuckle worth trying to have a perfume to cheer you. For smaller bulbs to go in pots you could have Iris Recticulata- blues and purples in colour, Iris Danfordie yellow. (not sure on spelling but you will see them ok) snowdrops , crocus. I find it a better show to do a pot of each different one , rather than mixing the colours as they can differ in flowering time, then you can move the pots around so that they give you a view of flowers that are looking good and then bring a different one to the fore. These can be followed by daffs like february gold and thalia and later than that small tulips like red riding hood etc. You are likely to do well with some if not all these and will be cheered when you look out to see something else coming up. Good luck, and find your local gardening club that you could join , where you will find lots of help and chance to buy or swap plants and gardening friends. In the meantime just take a walk in your local area and see what plants are doing well. It is worth doing a soil test in various parts of your garden, - not hard to do - and this will tell you the kind of soil acid or alkaline which will help you to choose appropriate plants that will like your soil. Happy Gardening

SueDonim. I would use the compost already there now as a top dressing on the flower beds to keep the weeds down. Over the winter it will be pulled into the soil by worms. He can then start from scratch making his own.

SueDonim

I’ve got a compost question, too. My son has moved into a house with a fair sized garden. There are four compost bins with compost in them. It looks quite dry at the moment and he’s not sure what to do with it.

Do you just put it on the garden as it is, or what? If so, what time of year?

It depends if it's well-rotted and looking like soil. If there are four bins they're probably at different stages of decomposition. They do need to be moist and he could check to see if there are plenty of worms in the bins.
Autumn leaves seem to take a long time to decompose but make a very good rich compost eventually.

To Sue
Re the compost bins , I would turn them over a little to see how they are doing in each bin and you should find they are at different stages of decomposition .If totally dry add a little water and then if the compost is a good dark colour and hopefully plenty of worms in it you can use that on your ground and continue to add all vegetable matter peelings,and grass cuttings etc in the newest bin to build up the next lot. Good compost is like gold dust and I envy him having 4 bins .

Germanshepherdsmum

Why would you want to mix bonemeal in it?

I read that bonemeal was good for plants, is that not the case?

Thank you for the replies, that’s all so useful. I’ll get him to check the condition of all the bins and take it from there. I did think worms would be involved at some point!

The garden is a bit odd at the moment, with a large area near the house that’s got gravel and crazy paving over it and bizarre small statues dotted about , a side lawn, a large brick outhouse and more lawn behind that. At the rear of it all is protected woodland - I think he’s got the makings of a wonderful garden.

Does he own the woodland? He could dot the statues around in the woodland ?

Yes bonemeal is good Shinamae but I just apply it as a top dressing when needed, for instance when my irises have finished flowering, to give them a boost. Fresh compost should contain plenty of nutrients.

I add a bit of grit to compost to help with drainage. And also put it round plants to deter slugs.

Ok, thank you GSM. My new plants are arriving today! Quite excited but hoping that I don’t kill them!!… I have a day off tomorrow so will be sorting out the plants I’ve already got and consigning some to my little sort of compost heap which is over my little fence… If it’s a nice day tomorrow I will really be able to get on with it…?????.. also I have got some gardening expert books and will be looking at each individual plant and the best way to pot it and look after it… what could possibly go wrong ?‍♀️???

???????

When my marriage broke down 20 or so years ago I discovered gardening and immersed myself in gardening books. There was so much to learn. I have to grow a lot of stuff in pots because I’m surrounded by trees and nothing grows in the soil. I’m going to buy lots of sedum for next year. Very colourful in autumn, great for bees and butterflies, easy to take cuttings of and they survive drought.

Try some cyclamen Maybee70, I’ve got the same problem with trees in one part of my garden, and they do really well, and are so pretty now.

This is the sedum

Beautiful, Maybe.

Casdon

Try some cyclamen Maybee70, I’ve got the same problem with trees in one part of my garden, and they do really well, and are so pretty now.

I have to be careful with cyclamen because it’s poisonous to dogs and whippets are terrible when it comes to eating dangerous things! I knew some people that were gardening experts and they advised me on plants that grew in dry shade and they recommended epimedium. Not many garden centres sell it because it dies back and doesn’t look very exciting but I have one in a pot that is doing really well. ( When I’m away from home I put most of my pots in a covered area and someone waters them for me).

Casdon

Try some cyclamen Maybee70, I’ve got the same problem with trees in one part of my garden, and they do really well, and are so pretty now.

The grass struggles in that part of the garden, too.

If I had my time again I would never live in a house surrounded by trees. The gutters are always full of pine needles, I have to sweep leaves and needles up all the time, moss grows on the paths and pigeons roost in them every night and poo everywhere. And everything grows sideways ( if it grows at all).

MayBee70

Casdon

Try some cyclamen Maybee70, I’ve got the same problem with trees in one part of my garden, and they do really well, and are so pretty now.

The grass struggles in that part of the garden, too.

Don’t let that put you off trying them, they like dry shade in the summer, but moist in the other seasons. They are quite shallow rooted, so they will be fine except if your trees are conifers, I don’t think anything will grow in the shade of conifers except very hardy weeds!

MayBee70

When my marriage broke down 20 or so years ago I discovered gardening and immersed myself in gardening books. There was so much to learn. I have to grow a lot of stuff in pots because I’m surrounded by trees and nothing grows in the soil. I’m going to buy lots of sedum for next year. Very colourful in autumn, great for bees and butterflies, easy to take cuttings of and they survive drought.

My soil is very clay and also I don’t have much actual ground to plant in so all mine are going to be in pots/containers..????

I was thinking maybe some of my plants that died,died because of the terrible deluge of rain we had. What can you do about that move them out of the rain? Poor plants, absolutely scorching hot for days and then absolutely flooded out with rain ??…

Make sure you have drainage holes in pots, especially smaller ones, and raise the pots up so water can drain away. You can buy little feet to slip under pots. There’s no need to move them out of the rain. Some grit mixed into the compost helps too.

Callistemon21

Does he own the woodland? He could dot the statues around in the woodland ?

Ha, no, it’s not his! Not sure who it belongs to, it might be a community thing. He does have a private gate from his garden into the woods, though. ?