[NMNeil]

Just finished with the rototiller and laying in the drip tape.
Got a greenhouse full of peppers tomatoes and marijuana that I need to get into the ground. Started way too early, as usual, and now the 'seedlings' are huge.
What are other members growing this year?

[Drivingforfun]

Since we've had a dog we don't grow anything edible (due to p*ss), and few small plants(due to digging), mostly trees and larger shrubs which don't really require much upkeep. We are looking forward to putting a bit of colour in soon, though!

[NMNeil]

It's very common here to grow vegetables in 5 gallon buckets due to the bugs and the drought. Perfect soil and easy to net to keep hungry critters away. And the taste of a home grown heirloom tomato can't be beat compared to those 99% water filled ones found in the supermarket.
https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2023...allon-buckets/

[Santa]

Our garden has got totally out of hand. The professionals are coming on Wednesday to make a start.

[Rolebama]

Our garden is quite small, maybe 20 x 30ft, so is quite easy to maintain. My wife does all of the flower stuff, and I just keep out of her way in my shed, mostly sorting out solar lights..

[NMNeil]

That's how our garden started, just a few herbs for the kitchen and a few tomatoes in buckets. But with the ridiculous price of vegetable in the supermarket we expanded it to around 400 square feet. It helped that a neighbour gave me a very old (1950's) rototiller. So now it gives us enough veggies to eat fresh all summer and preserve for most of the winter.
It's tough here because yesterday I planted out about 20 various tomato plants that were in 4" pots and about 12" tall, then the wind picked up to around 35mph, so I pulled them all up and put them back into pots before they were destroyed. Hey Ho pip and dandy as Rimmer would say.

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by Santa

Our garden has got totally out of hand. The professionals are coming on Wednesday to make a start.

Mine has been a little ignored, and I'm not blessed with green fingers - any advice is welcome - I've done little more than keeping the grass mowed over the last year or two.

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to put a dent in all the jobs i've been putting off. Jet washing the patio and removing weeds.

I still need to weed the driveway, and have been toying with the idea of growing something small, colourful, and low maintenance. Any suggestions? I'm considering Lavender as i hear it can also help keep the local cats at bay.

[Santa]

Originally Posted by Mark07

I still need to weed the driveway, and have been toying with the idea of growing something small, colourful, and low maintenance. Any suggestions? I'm considering Lavender as i hear it can also help keep the local cats at bay.

I read that lavender is toxic for cats rather than a deterrent. Assuming that you don't wish to harm them, I suggest an ultrasonic cat scarer. I have used them in the past with some success.

According to an article in The Guardian - "For my own back path I'm going straight and true (and cheap) with a packet of pink-flowered creeping Thymus serphyllum seeds. With seeds, the cracks must be prepared first: pour on a fairly fine and lump-free compost and brush it in. Then sprinkle the seeds along the cracks, water in, and remember to water every few days in dry weather until the plants are established."

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by Santa

I read that lavender is toxic for cats rather than a deterrent. Assuming that you don't wish to harm them

Good catch, I certainly wouldn't want to harm them.

The issue is that my house (and garden) seems to be a cut through for the cats to get home, it isn't the end of the world as i suspect they also reduce the birds pooping on cars or washing etc... the cats do leave their own calling cards though.

That thyme looks promising, something for me to look into. Does anyone else have any pet deterrents?

[XamSquishy]

@NMNeil I cut my grass last night for the first time this year 😁 The only thing I can seem to grow is weeds 🤷‍♀️

[NMNeil]

A Jeff Foxworthy joke, "If you cut your grass and find a car; you might be a redneck"

The sad part is I qualify as a redneck 🤣

[Rolebama]

A friend of mine, upon retiring, paid well over the odds for a nice house in Beds backing onto a wood. The back garden was around 80ft long, 60ft wide, and covered in lawn. He told me it was what attracted him to it, as it was just a matter of going out there occasionally with a lawnmower. He'd been there a few weeks, when, one day, talking to a neighbour, he was told that the fence at the bottom of his garden was just a divider from the rest of his garden. He also owned a further 150ft which was full of trees and undergrowth. When he went to investigate, he found two tractors and a barn hidden away. When he was telling us this, we all laughed and asked why he had not checked his paperwork, and he said it was the house and easy to care for lawn he had bought it for.