You really need to have at least 2" of bark on the beds to make it affective Murray or it will simply let in too much light - which the weeds thrive on. In time it will break down and become part of the soil so you'll need to top it up every now and again. The other, far more expensive, solution is to put down the fabric I told you about and plant into it but then you have to buy gravel to put on top if it. The bark chippings also help to keep your soil 'sweet' so I think they're the best solution in the short term anyway. Not going to see the ospreys now as our eldest lad needed to be picked up in Edinburgh (so Ian is away to get him) after doing the West Highland Way - he's cream crackered and covered in midge bites. :cry: Just hope his partner has plenty of anti-histimine ointment on hand. Oh while I remember I spoke to Tom (my neighbour) and your right 'weed and feed' should only be put down on a new lawn after 6 months!! Just keep it trimmed short until then and you shouldn't have too much trouble with weeds.
Don't worry, it's all that power you have as moderator, it's just hard to control, like one of the x-men huh? lol Ok here's my post again.. I will need approx 40 bags of bark (100ltr) to do my whole garden so i think i will leave that just for the flower beds. I think ill scatter about 1 bag around just to add to the soil and bring it's level up. Ill mix the compost with the top-soil for the lawn to be sown into. Too much driving which isn't good in this heat* I'll get a bit of that weed and feed later then, once the grass is down. I should be cementing my wall a bit higer today too. Thanks for all the help.
Ok today i started cementing my wall at about 7/8pm. I got most of it done but it needs about 10 more bricks and we ran out of cement, i actually had to get 2 lamps from my room to finish off the last of the cement. I also managed to loose my keys and had to climb up to the 1st floor kitchen window to get back in. All in all we got the majority done so it's ok, i also had a go at cementing (myfriend is a builder and he showed me how). So next week i am going to cement in the seating area and put the rockery down and then lay the lawn at the end of it all. Finally finished just after 10pm. Off to B&Q again, ill try not too buy soo much this time There still seems to be SOO much glass and rocks in my garden ever after taking a lot out, oooh, it's hard work. How is everyone elses garden going? any big problems? Eileen i'm also curious as to how big your garden is. You say you have an organic garden which means that you have to pull those weeds out by hand and/or dig them up. The thing is as my garden isn't massive, 66sqm soil/soon to be grass area, i would have thought that digging a hole for every weed would make my garden look real patchy. Also what weed and feed do you use? if any.
Hi Murray, Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but for a change the sun has been out here. That meant getting on with lots of little jobs that needed doing in the garden. Really sounds as though your garden is beginning to shape now. Any chance of some more photographs so that we can see the progress you've made? Btw did you manage to find your keys yet? Hope so. I have 1/3 of an acre of garden space Murray and yes it is hard work as I'm not the 'low maintenance' type of gardener but I love to potter around in the open air so I really don't mind. Sorry but I don't use weed and feed at all and have to ask advice about it for you from my neighbour. A dandelion or whatever really doesn't take up much room as it has long, rather than spreading roots so our grass never looks too bad. If a large patch of moss has to be taken out then I simply re-seed that area and before you know it the bare patch has gone. So what did you buy at B&Q this time? Were you tempted by those low prices again by any chance? Right I'm off back to my patch to get a bit of cutting back done Bye for now.
No worries, the sun has been nice but we finally got the downpour while i was riding home from work on my bike in shorts and t-shirt. Erm, It really hasn't took much more shape, lol, but hoping to spend all of saturrday finishind the wall, cementing the seating the area, making the rockery and FINALLY sowing those seeds as i got myself a griddle to get those rocks out. Yes, i got the keys wow, big garden, i wish i had that much space. B&Q - I didn't get too much, mostly cement 3bags and sand 4bags, i also got myself a metal gridle and a bin to get rid of those rocks. Oh and 2 buckets to help with the cement. Yes i was tempted - VERY, but fortunatly i didn't as i have recently, slightly changed my garden plan meaning i will need much less roll out log fencing. Have fun. Bye For Now
Sooooo glad you found your keys - I hate losing things like that and am always relieved when I find them again. Typical that it should rain when you weren't dressed for it eh? If you'd been in a raincoat and wellies the sun would have been splitting the heavens!! KNEW you would change your garden plan Murray. As I said I changed mine four times and then in the end did something completely different. 1/3 of an acre takes a lot of work but thankfully most of my shrubs are evergreen and all the trees need trimming only once or twice througout the summer. The bark chippings help to keep the weeds down and the ten foot (circular) pond takes up a fair cit of space too. Our next project is to get on with the waterfall but my taddies still haven't decided to vacate the water. They do have back legs now and are showing signs of front ones too so it shouldn't be too lond now. Then when the fall it done with we have to get the solar lighting put in and think about where to erect a greenhouse. Phew there's always something to do in a garden isn't there!!! Just had a thought I do a lot of seed swapping with friends and have a bit of an excess at the moment. They should still be viable for next spring as they're all from good stock. When I get the chance I'll try listing them all for you and see if there's anything you fancy - FOC of course!! That should help get you going as they can easily be put into pots if you don't fancy them in the garden itself. Also saves you a fair bit of money 'cause I know you're on a tight budget. Right I'm off to have a shower and then relax for a while - my poor old back is aching!!! :cry: BFN.
Glad to hear you garden is coming along nicely Murray. Looking forward to seeing those pics Off topic for a moment, on the subject of seed exchange Eileen I had a thought to maybe implement a seed exchange area into this site in the future. It would take some time but I could definitely do it if you guys wanted. Of course I would ask for all the members suggestions as to exactly what they would love to see in it (will help me develop the area just right, first time ) What do you guys thinks?
Seed exchange sounds great, is it up and running yet? The site looks great btw and i like the changes. Sorry i have gone AWOL for a while as i decided to concentrate a bit more on my exams, got myself a BC yesterday, not great but it's all i needed. Anyway the garden has not moved on much at all due to all the effort with the college work. The weeds are smaller but still there and i'll try one more spray of weedkiller and if there are any left, i'll dig them up. I went to my cosins house yesterday for a BBQ so that has sort of inspired me to crack on with my garden! Nice weather for it too! How is everyone else getting on?
We were starting to miss you Murray. Nice to have you back. 8) Seed exchange is not up yet as I have been developing other features for GardenStew. Though Eileen performed a successful seed exchange by posting a topic ( http://www.gardenstew.com/viewtopic.php?t=316 ) and communicating through Private Messages so that may be an alternative for the time being. I glad you like the site design changes, I love them as well.. really brighten the place up. So are you going to work on the garden now full-time (that is after the effect of the weedkiller has worn off) ?? I am really looking forward to following your progress
#I wish i could work on it full time but i'm off to University now as to my suprise, my grades were ok. Also, this time next month i will be at Westbury on an RCB (army officer test) so i am still rather busy but i will get working on it and i will have some more free time. Good to hear about the seed exchange!
Great to have you around again Murray. Glad your grades were good enough to get you into uni. Well done!!! It's perfectly understandable that the garden has to take second place to your studies. All the seeds I had have now gone I'm sorry to say but I'm sure I'll have more soon. Just let me know if there's anything you fancy and I'll see what I can do for you. Congratulations again on your results - I'm really chuffed for you.
Thanks guys, been away for ages so not worked on the garden - had too much on at uni but will try and have something done by end of summer. I tried to post a little while back and wrote a big long post and then my computer crashed and didnt have the heart to write it again. Anyway here is a small update: http://www.gardenstew.com/viewtopic.php?p=8994#8994 and i will have some pictures up soon, including my new seating area.
