Does anyone know anything about gardening?

...And don't forget to plant willow next to your house and close to your drains. Persian ivy is an ideal climber for the walls of your property.

Thank you.

Cut back our rambling rose at the weekend. It’s been long overdue and was getting out of hand.

Can’t say I’m entirely proud of my work but it will do until it regrows.

More bulbs in front lawn ready for wild flower seeds at the end of the month.

Stop this bambooist nonsense, they should be planted everywhere (beneath leylandii for shade and with eucalyptus and silver birch as specimens).

I've just re-read this... My garden contains bamboo (dealt with, hopefully), leylandii (about 1m away from my house, currently 1.5 stories high, needs dealing with) and also a substantial eucalyptus... Are they bad news as well?!

All of the above only become a problem when they are planted incorrectly and not maintained.

Eucalyptus in a galvanised water tank (holes drilled in the bottom) good idea or not?

there aren't any sensible use cases for leylandii in domestic gardens.

yes you can manage them as a hedge but it's labour intensive, the end product isn't attractive, they are non native, not great for wildlife and acidify the soil in the rest of your garden.

here's a nice one

pic?

eucalyptus have a habit of blowing over (some varieties are better than others).

leylandii needs to go - every year you put it off is just adding to the eventual bill.

I'm sure I've said on this thread that I once removed a massive eucalyptus which had fallen on a house, on Xmas eve. The trunk filled a tractor trailer but the rootball was tiny. I actually like the juvenile foliage which can be encouraged by pollarding EVERY year. The shed bark and leaves are a pain in the arse and nothing flourishes beneath them as they are so thirsty. In short, if I wanted one in an old water tank it would be in the form of woodchip.

I know of a 5' high leylandii hedge that is 50 years old, but it is trimmed monthly, ask yourself if you're prepared to do this before planting.

Bamboo, particularly large varieties, is lovely, if planted in containers of ferro concrete on top of an impervious patio and preferably in someone else's garden.

Stop this bambooist nonsense, they should be planted everywhere (beneath leylandii for shade and with eucalyptus and silver birch as specimens). Otherwise, how will poor landscapers and tree surgeons make a living?

I've already paid the tree surgeon (Billy The Tree) to remove the silver birch in my back garden. Now replaced by a Chinese mountain ash, which shouldn't require any attention from Billy The Tree for some time.

Clear the area from grass etc. and rake to a fine tilth.

Then gently press the seeds in with a plank or by walking over the area once, that should do it.

If you have hungry wild birds, add extra seeds :)

Daffs and ammonites.

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pic?

Here's my eucalyptus (I think). I'm guessing this one is pretty big as they go...

Do I need to be concerned? Previous owners have obviously had it attended to, the main limbs have been cut back.

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Repost an after picture in September…

Mulching. Do people do it? If so do people prefer nice compost type stuff or just chips etc? And where do you get bulk of it from (a couple of bags won't go far at all?!)

I've never done it but feel we could do more for our
plants... Pondering it for this spring

In the past I’ve got bulk deals from Wickes. It definitely made the soil a lot nicer compared to the arid brown concrete it was before.

as you say, it's recently been given a fairly severe haircut which will reduce the risk of imminent wind throw.

however it will now grow back in a slightly weird pom pom type fashion, and eventually need further costly attention.

if it were me, i'd get rid of it now and replace with something more suitable that isn't going to be a long term liability.

tl/dr - wrong tree for that location.

And this is the crux of my problem. It’s a shitty lawn I’m going to get rid of.

Trenching hoe plus a sore back if it's a smallish area, for a big area you really want to rent a rotavator :)

Or...grow out the wildflowers in 8 cm pots, and see if yellow rattle grows in the meantime to keep the grass down. Seeds for that must be stratified.

It never took for me so digging it out was the way :(

you want to consider how you're going to feed your koala if you get rid of the eucalyptus

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I managed to rehome the family of pandas living in my bamboo, koalas should be a doddle.

Hmm, right, thanks all, I'll investigate eucalyptus management now I guess. FFS, plants, eh?

Looks ok to me?

So it depends on what look and maintenance you want. Wildflower meadows do need time to establish/will need weed & grass picking every so often.

Looking at that healthy grass, I'm more seeing yarrow / ox eye daisies / cowslips / primroses / Cuckoo flowers etc. than annual cornflower meadows :)

Maybe get some more bulbs in there. Ti's the season to get discounted early spring bulbs.

Imo that grass looks too lush to allow much in the way of wildflowers. I'd look for flowers that look like wildflowers and fake it.

Paging @amey because he's into gardening now.