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selfsufficientish

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 364
Location: Bristol

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 05 5:00 pm Post subject:
forgot to say wrote this a while back it might help you out. https://www.selfsufficientish.com/container.htm

hils

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 05 6:18 pm Post subject:

your garden looks like my allotment did when I first got it - daunting! Brambles are B@@##*ds! My best bit of advice was from my allotment neighbour which was invest in a machete (sp?). Hack away like Ray Meres (do be careful of any treasures though).

Every time you go out spend a couple of minutes on bits you have already done just to keep it under control.

An egg timer is a good tool - set yourself 20 mins, work for that duration then set another 10 mins for a break. Repeat. Sounds a bit silly but when you have a big task ahead you feel guilty if you stop work. This way you feel like you can stop when you want to .

Try and clear a far corner so you can see your boundry and work to it.

Don't set yourself unrealistic goals, keep enjoying it.

I'll try and get some pics on which shows 2 years part time work under these pointers - it works - honest!

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 05 7:12 pm Post subject:
I'll agree with the timer tip- I do my housework (ha ha) that way and at least it keeps the basic jobs under control. Lots of good suggestions- thank you everyone

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 05 7:50 pm Post subject:

Now I've taken a look it looks about twice as steep as ours. We also had an overgrown area with raspberries. After the first year of fruiting I noted which areas had the best fruit and cut our the brambles and the poor raspberries. As the soil is poor they don't grow too tall so need no support. Now, after a few more years, I just cut out the old shoots and thin back some of the short new ones and have a good harvest of wild raspberries.

One thing I would say is not clear all vegetation from the garden at once or the top soil may wash down to your court yard.

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 05 7:53 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

One thing I would say is not clear all vegetation from the garden at once or the top soil may wash down to your court yard.

Ain't that the truth, we do have a funny 'hole' where there is a window in the pantry which looks at the garden wall all of a foot away (sort of next to the steps behind the shed), Gareth dug 2 foot of soil out of the hole a few years back and will probably have to do it again when we can get near to that bit of the garden again. Were planning a retaining wall to stop that happening hopefully.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 05 12:11 pm Post subject:

it looks a fascinating project. I'd be tempted to have a large barbeque one weekend, invite all your mates ( particularly strong ones) and have a day of work on it to clear it and see what you've left with. What direction does it face?

From a design point of view it would be a shame to loose that sense of wildness as your garden disappears in to the mountain, so I wouldn't be tempted to do anything too formal. Your coutyard looks a good sitting place, (and if its warm could be good for herbs and tomatoes - would a vine make it darker there?) but I'd also be tempted to have another one at the end of your garden so that you can enjoy the view of the mountain behind and your garden in front.

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 05 1:00 pm Post subject:

We managed another half hour out there today- got the courtyard tidied a bit and scrubbed out- amazed how many nice pots I had squirrelled away in a corner. then we reinforced the old compost heap, turned it over, picked out the lingering weed roots, black plasticked it and put the dead window on top for good measure- I'm hoping that if that heap can cook for a few weeks I can plant a marrow into the top, then at the end of the season the heap can be dug into the garden properly (and in the meantime the cat has a deluxe sunbed!

Did start digging over what was almost a flower bed last year but stopped when I accidentaly dug up a load of comfrey root- put the growing bits back in but an unexpected harvest of comfrey now, can't decide whether to dry the root for later or make comfrey oil now. Also a big bunch of cotton lavender- growing happily but lots of new shoots at ground level, so I hacked it back ruthlessly and now have a big heap of foliage for the airing cupboard.

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 05 4:48 pm Post subject:

La la la (happy singing) managed another hour in the garden today- have planted some pots with geraniums and african marigolds for a bit of foolproof colour, planted some herb seeds, got some tomatoes underway, cleared a small bed behind the raspbs and finally planted out some pyracanthas that had been languishing in pots for way too long, and planted some perpetual spinach, spring onions and beetroot and some nasturtiums in the recleared veg plot (soil was nice once I got rid of the light weed covering). Started some courgette seed and also bought a couple of lavenders and rosemary plants to tuck in next to the compost bin.
Feel rather pleased with myself- and- I'm not at work until tuesday so I might even manage a bit more over the weekend.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 05 8:11 am Post subject:

Just updated my snaps page with the latest work on the garden. Still got a long way to go but its looking better already. Added bonus, found a clump of garlic in a flowerbed- remember planting out some cloves a few years back and I had a whole clump of nicley growing bulblets which I've split up and put in the veg patch, with luck thy'll grow on quite well now. Going to have to have a bonfire this week to burn all the brambles
https://www.sallypointer.com/garden

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