Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Also, just to pick your brains, is there a practical reason for the wider grout(?) lines on external paving vs interior tiles?

With a porcelain tile narrower joints are possible, both inside and out. Natural stone is always slightly inconsistent in size and wider jointing allows for this while maintaining the pattern.

If you think about it, 1.5mm variance in stone size per unit adds up to one hell of a mess if the surface is 5m wide.

Cheers. Makes sense.

Looks OK, I suppose.*

I have neglected my garden for a couple of weeks due to rain and prioritising inside DIY. It's now very obvious where I didn't get enough of the bramble roots out when clearing. Fuckers are knee high already! Why doesn't my lawn grow as well as that when I actively try to.

*winkyface

winkyface

A bit rude.

Lawns are a bit of a long term thing. So keep at it.

We're incredibly lucky in that the previous owners were militant lawners. As a result I've never had to do anything but aim to mow once a week if I can. Our neighbours in contrast look a bit average.

That said, I've noticed our lawn seems to have multiple grass varieties, some of which are a bit tougher as well as plenty of clover. I'm sure this contributes to the nice green look vs our neighbours spindly patchy ones.

@ColinTheBald once upon a time ago you offered to check whether my plant list would be cheaper from a trade only nursery than e.g. an internet retailer. I didn't take you up on that at the time because I had a gardener - who has now of course dipped. is there any way for me to order plants from such a nursery or would I have to find another gardener first?

@cozey where are you based?

glasgow

In short no. I sort of thought you were a few hundred miles further south. If you can find a commercial nursery near to you I wouldn't mind making a phone call and using my company name, if you fail to pay your Internet death would be certain....

ah OK, sorry can't help

no worries; I'll figure something out. my usual nursery offers decent discounts on bulk buys in any case

It keeps pissing it down with rain when I want to cut my grass. Do I just bite the bullet at some point and cut it when wet or wait whilst it keeps growing?

If you think your mower will cut through it, I say go for it

Well it's a manual mower so I guess it depends how hard I push.

FYI - I ended up getting one of those cheapo german beer garden tables from the internet. absolutely fine imo. not super high quality or anything, with some blemishes in the wood and a general rickety feel to the legs.

you get what you pay for I guess but it's sturdy enough, doesn't bow when sat on etc. perfect for the few times I'll actually use it per year

1 Attachment

Blemishes and rickety legs? Sounds a bit like me.

How do I stop/help/prevent lots of the plants in my border leaning over/falling over happened to plants which I've planted and bulbs which have grown?

Monty among other have tips on plant supports, links to other sites here

https://www.homesandgardens.com/news/monty-don-plant-support-tips

Apparently the trick is to support them before they start to fall over, he makes his own supports out of bending iron rods.

The other thing that can work is carefully planning what goes next to what, some plants are plenty sturdy enough and the right size to support the plants around them. In general a really full border will support itself to an extent.

The curvey looped metal supports work well - eBay or wherever, or bamboo and string for cheaper. Or hurdles like these ones at the front of borders are nice but pricey:
https://shop.greatdixter.co.uk/products/hurdles?_pos=2&_sid=e4d07ab5e&_ss=r

You can also cut things back in spring which should mean they grow shorter and bushier, and less likely to flop.

If everything, even the things that shouldn't be, is floppy, did you overfeed them? Leading to too much weak, sappy growth?

nice - that deffo makes sense for things like foxgloves, delphiniums etc but for bulbs which are 2ft high Im less sure. I think they're maybe growing towards the light?

If everything, even the things that shouldn't be, is floppy, did you overfeed them? Leading to too much weak, sappy growth?

Surly that's just this years weather. I've had quite a few plants that have been 50-100% taller than normal.

If anyone knows where to get 6mm iron rods let me know. Those supports are expensive

Think I'm going to order 20 rods from here which seems to be the cheapest delivered

You can get 8mm steel reinforcing rods from any builders merchants. You will need an angle grinder to cut them to length as they are a standard 3m long, they should cost about a fiver each.