Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Can't make out the plants, but imo that wall is crying out for a nice rambling rose.

Funnily enough, the thing growing up the middle of the wire trellis is a white dog rose. There's a purple clematis to the right of it, and something else of a climby nature on the left. Honeysuckle, I think.

Lovely. Looks like a lot of work went into that

Quite a bit. Almost none of it by me.

Although I do have a fairly epic job when the new hedge arrives for the front/side gardens. 24 metres of hedging to plant in one day, 100 plants. It's going to be a long, long day. Even with one minion helping out.

I preferred it as it was.

I suspect the hedgehogs and some of the songbirds did too. I'm trying to compensate for that by having two hedgehog houses and some nesting boxes for the birds, and a bird bath. And the new hedge was going to be privet (boring but sensible) but I've gone for a bird-friendly native hedge mix instead. The starlings certainly seem to like the new bark/mulch. I just wish the hedgehogs would stick to the hedgehog houses rather than going exploring in the garage. And sitting expectantly on the doormat outside the front door, waiting for me to step on them when I remember I've left the garage side door open and go to shut it.

If you've bought bare root whips and prepared the ground 3 hours should get that lot planted.

One of the best things you can do for hedgehogs is make sure your boundary is permeable.

My neighbours recently replaced their fence and while the new one looks better and isn't likely to come down in a storm it also has concrete posts and gravel boards so hedgehogs have no chance to roam over the area they need :-(

At the moment, the side gate into the back garden has a hedgehog-friendly gap under it. It's also used by very unwelcome cats, but when I block off the bottom I'll add some hedgehog sized holes. At the moment there's plenty of hedgiepig action in the garden.

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And the garage.

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P.S. Side gate. Work in progress earlier today.

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Usual Brommers painting technique applied - minimal prep, slap it on as thick as possible. Many spiders died with their final thoughts being 'Why the fuck did he choose a walnut stain?...

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Awesome! Hedgehogs are my favourite but I haven't seen one in decades and my children never have. I keep meaning to put out some sort of footprint tunnel thing to see if they are about.

Does trying to block cats from going under do much? Wouldn't they just go over?

If you've bought bare root whips and prepared the ground 3 hours should get that lot planted.

Yep, bought bare root whips. Will be delivered in November when the plants have gone into winter hibernation. 3 hours seems very optimistic - that's one plant every 2 minutes! I can't dig the planting trench the day before - the spoil needs to go on boards on the pavement as I can't put it on the new turf, and it's a rather antisocial tripping hazard left overnight. And then there's the Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi dip to be applied to each plant. And the bonemeal layer. Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Awesome! Hedgehogs are my favourite but I haven't seen one in decades and my children never have. I keep meaning to put out some sort of footprint tunnel thing to see if they are about.

I do like the hedgiepigs. Even if I do have to evict them from the garage on a regular basis. They just love sniffing solvents. And eating spiders. I think I need another pair of welding gauntlets just for shifting hedgehogs. Of course I could just try shutting the side door to the garage at night, but history strongly suggests I just don't have the discipline to do that reliably. The only downside is that they are bloody noisy during mating season. Much snuffling. Very heavy breathing.

Does trying to block cats from going under do much? Wouldn't they just go over?

They do get over, but I'm working on that. Apparently putting shards of broken glass on the top of garden walls is no longer socially acceptable, but I view cats in the same way as I view burglars - you can't guarantee to keep them out, but you can at least make life hard for the evil little fuckers.

P.S. I've also bought as many plants as I can that are either friendly to insects - lavender and buddleias and the like - but also plants known to attract slugs. I don't really want ornamental plants eaten by slugs, but at least it'll make the garden a feast for hungry hedgehogs.

And for all the hedgehog fans, some hedgehog frisky sweet lovin' action from earlier this year.

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Blimey, life got more complicated. Myco-fucking-what? Planting trench? Dig in a load of good old (at least four years) horse shit, blood and bone if you must, lever spade front and back, shove bare root into slot, stomp either side, NEXT!

Horse shit is generally free from most stables and absolutely free on most forums. Keep up the good work on the hodgepigs!

Just following orders from the hedge company. It's not like I have a fucking clue what I'm doing...

Needs a swingball

One massive bag of manure and another of shingle has tidied the front garden up good & proper like

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Plus the other side, full of zinnias at the moment. Would recommend.

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Just got some zinnia seeds, love them

white dog rose

My 2p is it might be worth adding a complimentary white rose.

Dog roses generally have short lived flowers that can't be deadheaded. But you do get the benefit of nice red rose hips to give some extra colour into winter. Hence why I think the two together would work well.

Can you get hold of any aged/part rotted* wood chip?
That mycorrhizal fungi needs something to eat.
The fecundity of ancient woodland is due to the extensive network
of fungi in the soil, providing nutrients to the tree roots,
especially phosphorus.
Probably not much organic material for it to feed on +/-9 inches into suburban soil.
[* fresh wood chip needs nitrogen to start the decay process
so can deplete impoverished or unimproved soils.
Pissing on a stack or heap helps the decay process no end].

That's a great idea (also supported by all garden design experts I have read). I am fairly upset that we inherited a dead straight concrete path and cannot do it without mayor expense!

When the old hedge was removed the chap chopped up the roots of the old hedge and they're mixed into the soil. I've got 8 bags of manure which will be mixed into the soil before the hedge goes in, with some bone meal. I don't think the fungi will go hungry!

Dog roses generally have short lived flowers that can't be deadheaded. But you do get the benefit of nice red rose hips to give some extra colour into winter. Hence why I think the two together would work well.

Hmmmm, can't remember ever seeing any rose hips. Maybe it's not a dog rose. It's definitely a climbing rose with white flowers. It's fairly vigorous - grew to over 6 feet tall, pulled the old wire trellis off the wall, and then grew upwards by another 6+ feet. That took some shifting!