Spoons & Forks! Worth the Crash.

Bonkers! Must be! Sunshine. Big lift for me doing the stuff in the garden today. Will bite me back. Always worth it though.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

I love to get out in the garden too, but since GCA and OA I have (eventually) learned to place myself. A little bit of weeding/pruning whatever, and then a short rest to admire what I’ve done!

Trouble is, it’s all too easy to say I’ll just “do”another pot, another foot, another plant...you have to be very strict with yourself!

Nice variety of shrubs!

[Hidden in reply to DorsetLady]

DL. Strictness is personal default for myself! ( Fantasy). What keeps us cracking on is what we love & enjoy. Slow learner here. Thanks. You are quite right.

[SheffieldJane]

Your garden certainly loves you back,beautiful!

[Hidden in reply to SheffieldJane]

Son of a gardener I was. Lucky lad seeing.

[SheffieldJane in reply to Hidden]

Can I just ask you what depth of soil Wisteria requires and space around it? My neighbour had the roots of a beautiful Wisteria on her side of the wall. I got the glorious flowers that I used to look forward to every year. She has chopped it all down to my dismay. So I want to do something on my other unshared wall. I think it will only take about 15 years to get the kind of short lived display I’ve lost. 😢

We can file this question under looking after our mental health with PMR.

[GOOD_GRIEF in reply to SheffieldJane]

With luck it will come creeping up on your side of the wall this year. Wisteria is a real bugger to kill when you don't want it. Maybe your welcome will bring it over...

[SheffieldJane in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

😀 I hope so. She’s probably trying to train it. She may not have seen the wonderful things it was doing in my garden. Her predecessor planted it. Grrrr. Her garden is a bit neglected, so why why why?

[Hidden in reply to SheffieldJane]

Think looking after our mental health is crucial in long term illness & the biggest battle Jane. Which direction does your wall face? Seems like you had the best of South facing side of your neighbours Wisteria.

[SheffieldJane in reply to Hidden]

It faces the sunset, so it must be West. It’s a sunny spot though and a very high wall, there was a stable next door in Victorian times. I only have a little walled courtyard. So I will need troughs or pots or a raised bed for it.

[Hidden in reply to SheffieldJane]

They do need sun to flower & a lot of root room. Always better with a raised bed. Pots need a lot of watering. Plus you need a structure to tie it to. A good alternative for walls (even in the shade) The climbing Hydrangea. (H. Petiolaris) Much less maintenance too with the pruning.

[SheffieldJane in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for the advice Pepperdoggie. I didn’t know that you could get a climbing Hydrangea.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Mental health is an absolute priority. Enjoying things releases endorphins. That's why humour on this forum is uplifting.

I have only ever grown vegetables and I miss that. If I ever get my garden sorted it will be raised beds.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Nothing like growing your own fruit & veg. Lots of miniature patio options now available. Got to be careful not to become a garden slave though! Easy not to sit down & enjoy! My neurosis anyway! Totally agree on the mental health aspect. Often underrated by the pro's who just see the illness they are treating!

[Hindags in reply to Hidden]

I spent the weekend before last harvesting arugula that had overgrown our raised bed I needed to prepare for tomatoes and squash. Pulled up four feet high plants and cut off the seed pods to give away and to replant. I also saved the leaves which last very well in the frig if you put them in some water. It was a big job, but I was (barely) able to pace myself and not hurt myself.

[Hidden in reply to Hindags]

The madness & beauty of it all! Nothing wasted. Bet you composted or dug in what remained! Never grown Rocket myself. Bolting plant seed is very tasty. I remember Sprout tops. Never see those now here.

[Soraya_PMR]

I felt better as soon as I drew the curtains this morning and saw blue sky. My hands are aching less too 👍🏼

Acidic soil? Pieris and camellia. My camellia (in a pot as we’re on solid chalk) is on strike this year, not one flower....yet!

[Hidden in reply to Soraya_PMR]

Blue sky & sunshine what a lift from grey wet. Yes clay acidic soil here. Hard as a brick in a dry summer.

[Hindags in reply to Hidden]

My Camellia were loaded with flowers this year. Bloomed early and forever. Just finishing blooming now. We bought our house 5 years ago. It is 60 years old as are the Camellias. Yes clay acidic soil.

We planted two wisteria. One lavender and one white chinese. Had to move them apart after three years. They are really aggressive growers, but I couldn't resist. I fell in love with Wisteria as a child and would sit for hours under the hanging blossoms inhaling the fragrance.

[Hidden in reply to Hindags]

Our Camellia is North facing in a sheltered corner. Seems frost & early morning sun are a bad combination for the buds round here! Good all round doer I think. Wisteria I love to see. As you say big grower. Great on a pergola too. Superb on old mansions in the UK.

[Hollyseden in reply to Soraya_PMR]

I really want a Camellia. Can I ask how long yours has lasted in a pot as I think that is the only way I could have one. Thanks

[Soraya_PMR in reply to Hollyseden]

Hmm, very good question, a long while. 15+ years? Yes at least 15. This is its third pot I think. Never will get as big as pepperdoggie’s but usually smothered in flowers in spring. I have found they don’t like hot and sunny first thing in the morning, but are happy to sunbathe for a while in the afternoon. Also only use rain water, particularly when buds are beginning. Obviously ericaceous compost. I ‘feed’ mine with used tea leaves ( tea bushes being camellias)

[karools16]

Lovey garden.

[GOOD_GRIEF]

How lovely. Can't believe you've already got roses blooming.

All my new garden plantings are still in the shipping boxes. We only just got the last of the snow melted off about 3 weeks ago.

But Thursday it's going to be 88 Farenheit - 32 Celsius!!!! I'm taking the day off to plant!!!

[Hidden in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

No roses yet in flower Good-Grief. It's a red Camellia. Very similar rosette type flowers. That's quite a change of temperature for your garden. Great putting new plants in & seeing how they go.

[GOOD_GRIEF in reply to Hidden]

Well, it's lovely. The only things in bloom here are tulips and daffodils. The cherry blossoms and the magnolias were due to bloom 2 weeks ago, and are just starting now.

[Hidden in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

I noticed yesterday that everything has blossomed in the past week. I wished my fancy car had a camera on the front to take photos. Mmmm dragons den. 😂😂😂

[SheffieldJane in reply to Hidden]

There are dashcams. Is that even a word? My bit of Sheffield is festooned with blossom too, worth a walk just to see it. It is spectacular where Pepperdoggie is too.

[Hidden in reply to SheffieldJane]

Yes ...do they just take video? I saw one that a drunken woman had on a journey and ended up crashing into a parked car. Bang goes my dragons den cash. 😂😂😂

I just want to press a button and take a picture. They never get further than my phone sadly I literally have thousands of them on there.

[bunnymom]

Lovely. I live for garden weather. I retire in a month and I will be in my yard. Maybe keep bees once I am well.

[Hidden in reply to bunnymom]

Now that's something to look forward to. Find pottering about a great stress reliever. When my own body clock is all over the place there's a natural seasonal backdrop to it all. Always an evolving & changing rhythm.

[Hindags]

Oh yes. The weather has been so gorgeous here in the San Francisco Bay Area this spring that I've been tending my garden every day, before and after work.

Can't stay inside. The air has been more moist than usual and the fragrance of the flowers intoxicating. Hard to tear myself away.