Does anyone know anything about gardening?

The blueberries are doing well this year

2 Attachments

don't leave it too exposed - they get hammered by strong wind...

New herb garden has really sprung into life over the past few weeks.

1 Attachment

My regular orange Croscosmia was looking nice today as I arrived home.

2 Attachments

Updates please.

👻

WUT?
Madness. Hope they are ok?
I need to really decide what I want to do with mine. May just copy yours, but different tiles.

??? who knows ! I've chased him but am not going to breathe down his neck, given I've not paid a dime. having a half-finished garden is sub-optimal but I'll live. will keep thread updated if he ever re-materialises

1 Attachment

Is that mint in a pot under ground?

The roots of it will strangle the rest of the bed pretty quickly unless you contain them....

Honestly, I would have sacked him off for the stone work alone.

literally impossible to get gardeners to even come quote never mind do the work + he is charging pennies. "beggars can't be choosers" protocol invoked !

Pleased with our Vegtrug- didn't have much luck last year with vegetables and cheap compost, much better now it's got the right mix in there despite being in a shaded spot.

1 Attachment

Fair enough!

Just for reference, that stone is supposed to be laid in a randomised pattern, the cardinal sin is to have four corners meeting in a cross. I will quote for forumengers South of the water, sorry N....

This is how a randomised pattern should look.

1 Attachment

How did you get into garden design / architecture?

I ran away screaming from a career in magazine publishing aged 40. At the same time I had bought a house with a 2 acre mud patch as a garden. I taught myself to do all the things properly on my own patch, then thought 'why not?'. The guiding principle has always been that if a fat builder can do it, I can do it better!

Do you have a website or examples of work? I'm really torn what to do with my small space...

@ColinTheBald is it also a cardinal sin to seal Indian sandstone like Cozeys?
I've not done it to mine but prefer the look of it darker / wet.

No website, 90% plus of my work is by recommendation. Plenty of examples of work, I rarely stop! If you have any ideas, I can almost certainly find something that corresponds. It would be rude of me to fill this thread with examples, there are enough already, I try to ration myself. Feel free to get in touch, either @stevo_com or @mashton can tell you what a useless bastard I am....

it's not been sealed, afaik - there are just some imperfections in the stone where the water has puddled. the rest have dried out because it's still pretty warm

Totally fucking useless. The retaining wall hasn't fallen down yet, even with my fence bolted to it and the recent weather.

I am not a huge fan of the finishes I have seen, they tend to wear through at the high points of the stone and subsequently look crap. For a glazed finish I would recommend porcelain tiles which are available for a similar price to sandstone and can also be randomised. They will cost a bit more to lay as they're a right sod.

For anyone wondering how I have time to answer fully today, it has been pissing down today and I have 16m of dark limestone I can't lay!

This puddling will inevitably happen with natural stone, which is why I always lay it with a fall of about 2 degrees to minimise the puddles. I would bet against that having been done on yours.

@ColinTheBald @cozey

I'm not going to do it to mine - as the stone is naturally porous it also seems a shame to seal.
Porcelain tiles are nice - have some on my front steps because I couldn't afford stone.

New house, new front garden. It’s an almost wholly paved over shitefest, which I want to do something about. The paving is laid in a pattern which means that my plan to rip some of it out and bang a bed in is going to be made tricky. Hoping to get away with pulling out a central area and the cutting the edges of the remaining paving (with an angle grinder?) to make it square, rather than having to do anything more radical.

1 Attachment

Re @ColinTheBald, I would recommend him, without reservation.

Although I strongly suspect that he was about a day away from eating one of my Guinea Pigs, Freddie Starr fashion.

If you don't have small mammalian pets, you'll be fine