Gardens and beloved plants: thoughts, pictures, experiences, hopes for?

Losing your garden must've been tough, but it's great you're still so passionate about plants. Figs are such a rewarding plant to grow, especially when they thrive. I'm all about growing veggies too—nothing beats picking fresh tomatoes or herbs right from your backyard. I had this tiny balcony garden in NYC, which wasn't much, but it kept me connected to the green stuff. When I couldn't get my hands on fresh flowers, I'd sometimes use [Link removed by moderator] for a quick fix. It's amazing how plants and flowers can brighten up any space, no matter how small. 

you can get lid of the slug problem with Vaseline. as long as it doesn't directly touch the plant. It will keep ALL crawlies away. It also doesnt wash away with the rain like diatomaceous earth powder does. 

Lots of brassicas like a heavy clay soil, things like sprouts, kale, cabbages, purple sprouting broccoli which just sits in the ground for 10 months seemingly doing nothing and then gives such a gorgeous crop in early spring, beautiful stuff and it's expensive in the shops too.

Wildlife ponds don't need to be deep, you could make a very shallow one, more of a scrape with pebbles in, or a half barrel, ou can treat these like a small but normal pond, with an oxygenator, a lily and something like a rush, use bricks to make shelves for the plants and a place for creatures to get in and out and bobs your uncle. I think you can still get reasonably priced half barrels from B&M

I am not claiming credit for these. I just do assigned tasks in our garden, like weeding or cutting rogue branches.

A neighbor sometimes helps my wife in the garden, which means we can get surprise flowers.

I have no idea what these are and I don't normally like orange but I like these

lovely.

thank you dear. that place makes me feel very happy and calm. there is a lot of whimsy.

I love an herb garden and to wander in one and touch and smell them. I'm getting lots of ideas here!

I hope you can find some plants that will do well. Perhaps potted plants? I have done cherry toms in pots and they did very well. The raised veggies sounds like a good start. I like that you keep experimenting to see how you can work qith the space. Would love to see what youve come up with!

Those are two I have been successful with taking cuttings, so hoping for you too. 

It's difficult for me because I live quite high up and have heavy clay soil that gets waterlogged, as well as a lot of shade. So not a lot is willing to grow besides some very persistent weeds.

I am still trying though. I built a raised bed which I'm growing vegetables in, and that has been successful so I think I will do another one next year. I planted some trees which are doing OK but it will take many years before they're more than tiny saplings. Also planted some shade-loving plants which are supposed to have nice smelling flowers and like moisture, but I am not sure whether that will be a success.

Ultimately I would like to build a wildlife pond but it's a lot of work and the British weather won't co-operate with me (I can't dig unless the clay ground is not waterlogged and not baked solid).

For me what's next is to tend to this small orchid I was gifted. As I'm in a condo for a short time (emergency shelter via FEMA) and don't know were I'll be next or for how long. I do love and miss very much a garden and this threads will, hopefully get populated with  wonders. I thank all  fro sharing their pictures and descriptions. you have made my day! the pictures are fabulous! 

   ideas I have for later: more dwarf Figs, a few runners for japanese cucumbers build to make a shady archway to hang out under - a bower - lots of tomatoes, a little raised boxed bed of kitchen greens inside kitchen window if I have one. I would love to plant more papayas as the birds love them - and attracts some rare ones! I also love bumbebees and would create drilled out old wood homes for them and some sweet flowers for them to eat.

Also I love to build jungle gyms for birds out of thin, pliable bamboo and provide them with a big bath and feeder. that is endless entertainment!

I may end up where I have just a balcony and then it will be hanging joyas and orchids the dwarf Figs in pots. - I am thinking of working on a community garden too if the I can stay on Maui and have few gardening options. I would love to see what other living treasures you are all nurturing, vicarious me!

For now I like to go to that funky hippy plant nursery and sit with the lil darlins.

Here is my little orchid, her name is Lily and she makes lovely flowers for me once a year in spring.

I've just taken cuttings from lavender and rosemary, so hopefully new plants soon. I will also divide my ferns as a couple of them have got huge.

I have a bed that is shaded by a hedge. We planted some native hedge plants from small plants. I am hoping this year they might have berries for the birds as they are maturing. It has taken a while to find plants that cope with the shade. I now have among other things a variety of geraniums which have a bit of a wild look, but it suits this area as we have wild flowers nearby and a small pond which the birds like. I am hoping sometime I might see a dragonfly or damselfly.

This year my challenge was to see how many annuals I could grow from seed. A few failed, some took a long time, some were very tall and thin, until I heard you can pinch out cosmos, which are now shortish and bushy. Some of the stems on these and Zinnias grew bent over but now add interest to the pots 

A few weeks ago I decided my herb bed needed filling out with more variety. Unfortunately it was too late for much variety, then I had the idea to look at the supermarket. They had a lemon thyme that I wanted and as they were reduced I bought some other plants as well very cheap. When the rain stopped today I went for a wander and noticed how established the herb bed looks now. I find it a great source of relaxation to wander in my garden.

For next year I bought lots of reduced seeds in the sale on a weekend when they were offering free delivery, so I am ready for my next challenge. Right now I would like the weather just a little warmer and some dry days at weekends so I can enjoy the garden (as more plants come into flower) and the wildlife that visits.

Here's some of the potted plants sitting about outside the house. 

Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I am pleased with how they've grown this last year.  And then I've got these growing randomly.

And in/behind this wall I want to dig out and plant up with some vegetables as it's right outside the kitchen-would be very useful for my cooking I do. 

Still a lot of work to go before it starts to actually look good-but I feel for an amateur like me-its off to a good start. 

Your garden sounds like a beautiful and ever-evolving sanctuary! It's wonderful to hear about your redesign plans and the care you put into creating a space that not only thrives but also brings you joy. You sound like you really know what you're doing-I'm a complete novice with gardening though I am learning slowly but surely. The planning and designing is my favourite part of gardening, so many ideas-lots of plants, fruits and vegetables to choose from and all have their set season which I find intriguing. A lot of my garden is wild...

TheCatWoman said:

Weedy and overgrown or rewilded naure havens?

I think I might start telling myself that as well lol. Some parts I do like looking naturally wild, it sort of works-suits it-but other parts I'm determined to get looking nicer as some have nice flowers growing but are surrounded by weeds and the like.

Like this outside of the old kitchen.

I've got so many ideas for my garden and I'm hoping I can make most of them happen given a little time and effort. The sound of your garden is so inspirational, I wish mine was like it with all the different types of things growing in it and in such a pretty arrangement as well. Your attention to detail with the arrangement of flowers and plants, like the purple heuchra with yellow winter pansies and primroses just sounds fabulous. This is exactly what I want to do eventually-hopefully once I'm a bit more knowledgeable in the garden.

Out the front we have some tomatoes sheltering against a wall, there's nothing quite a warm tomato straight from the plant.

Your garden sounds lovely, especially like the flowers that have a strong scent. I have snapdragons now and wallflowers earlier that re seeded in a small bed with roses, so this year have been able to leave it. 

Sounds a good idea to plant things that like poor soil as I guess they might survive any hot weather if we get any.

It is lovely to see the fruits of your effort and fresh food from the garden always tastes so much better.

Weedy and overgrown or rewilded naure havens? Well that what I tell myself anyway. My gardens having a bit of a redesign, the pond is being rebuilt and the orchard/wild flower bit redone and I got new compost containers. I've not done any veg this year as I'm wanting to rework my veg plot and either have raised beds or go for forest gardening style, I have hazels that I planted as a hedge and I'd like to put the soft fruits such as raspberries and currants in front of them and then work downwards in size with veg. We get lots of strong and salty winds and a lot of stuff just won't grow., but soft fruit does really well, beans really badly, I've seen leaves torn off the plants by the wind.

I do love hydrangeas and roses, I have quite a few roses, a new one has started flowering, it's a patio rose, that I bought, for £1:50 in a sale, I put it in a nice pot with some nice soil and it's happy. I like quite old fashioned flowers, snap dragons, wall flowers etc. I also love my spring bulbs and primroses, I plant purple heuchra interspersed with yellow winter pansies followed by primroses, they really show each other off well. Another thing I seem to have a aquired a bit of a collection of are hebe's, they do really well here and seem to take anything the weather throws at them, all the polinators love them too and as they all seem to flower at different times of the year they're good nectar sources for early and late polinators.

There one bed that I'm seriously going to ovehaul this year, it's full of rubble from when the house was rebuilt some years before we moved here. Last year I thought I'd found archeology, but it was a load of bricks that I think might have formed part of a door arch? It's got very poor thin soil so I will either have to bring in a load of new stuff, or plant for poor soil, with loads of lavenders, rosemary and thyme?

Very beautiful pictures! Your garden is gorgeous.   I love the wellie boots as plant pots-might have to borrow that idea for my own garden.

What are you hoping to grow in your garden next? Next year I'd love to try some tomatoes in mine. 

Uhane said:

How about everybody else? Pictures? thoughts, experiences, hopes for?

Well I'd love to grow some strawberries that don't get devoured by the garden slugs and snails but let's not go there! 

I'd love a proper vegetable garden, complete with a beautiful flower border surrounding it. I can just remember my mums at our old house and it was so pretty so if I could get mine to that-or something like it that would just be perfect. 

I'll take some pictures tomorrow-though it's nowhere near as nice as yours is! Parts of mine are nice but other parts are weedy and overgrown. I'm trying to get it tidy and nice-though I do have some sweet looking plants just randomly growing-I'll take some pictures tomorrow, you might know what the plants are. 

Love this thread already thanks for making it. ️