Hi everyone! I was browsing through the internet seeing if there were any gardening forums...and I found this one!
I'm Gill,35 years old, married to Neil and I've been gardening on and off since I was about 5 years old.
When I was young I had my own tiny patch in the corner of my dad's garden in which I used to grow all the easy stuff like candytuft,nasturtiums etc. Then when I left home I had a second-floor flat so was restricted to houseplants...my indoor jungle!
But when I met Neil in 1997 he had a ground-floor flat with a tiny(15ft X 12ft!) front garden and I took over that when I moved in!!! I mostly grew cottage garden plants but as we were just 100ft or so from the sea front it was rather windy at the best of times....anything taller than a couple of feet just blew over...or grew horizontally!!!
Then in April 2002 we moved to our current address which is a couple of miles inland and I now have a back garden which is 25ft X 15ft. It was mostly lawn(with an awful lot of moss,creeping buttercup and dandelion!)as the previous couple hated gardening. I added a border around the edges and grew mostly annuals and a few perennials that my father-in-law gave me to give it a bit of quick colour whilst we were busy sorting out the interior of the house!
This summer it hasn't looked too bad and I've realised where I need to add a few things to give more impact/interest etc and I'm already planning next years show!
As well as my all-consuming interest in gardening I also enjoy reading, writing long letters to penfriends,painting & sketching,keep fit, listening to classical music,visiting National Trust properties and gardens for ideas and going for long walks in the countryside. I used to do a lot of birdwatching a few years ago as well but after an unfortunate incident with a weirdo(!!!) I don't get to do as much as before....still retain a keen interest in the natural world though!
I'm a member of the RHS, Cottage Garden Society, Hardy Plant Society and the Saintpaulia & Houseplant Society. I also belong to a couple of art societies.
I'm sure I'll learn a lot from this forum and look forward to many happy hours of posting!!!