"N. van Burgsteden" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Because of the lack of good newsgroups in the Netherlands, I have decided
to
see what this one could bring... the climate is comparable, maybe the soil
types differ, but I think that this newsgroup could help me in case of
plant
trouble. British ppl do have a name for good gardens!

As I said, my back yard is in Holland, in the city called Ede. Sandy
ground,
low ground water level and a very moderate climate, with quite a lot of
rain. Last november/december we put up a new fence around the garden, and
stripped it from everything, except for a trunk of Robinia Acacia with all
roots still intact. I plan to jerk that one out next spring.

So... I'll see if anything useful pops up, and let you know how my
gardening
efforts are working out. I won't be posting a lot, because I don't have a
lot of spare time.

Greetings,

Marco van Burgsteden (using the email adress of his wife)

Welcome aboard Marco

I have always admired the dutch for their gardening and particularly their
love of house plants. During the seventies I spent a total of five years
stationed in Osnabruck, not that far from the border, and we used to go to
places like Hengelo etc, as well as driving back to Hoek v Holland. Also a
few years ago we visited Keukenhof, which was fantastic.

You are quite right that the climate is similar, but how is it right now
over there, freezing? I went to my allotment today, and couldn't get a fork
in the ground. The water containers have 50-75mm (2-3") of ice on top of
them, and my broad beans have keeled over. And I live near Bournemouth on
the south coast, one of the "warmer" parts, at least in theory. I didn't
stay down there long.

Do I gather from your post that you stripped the entire garden and are
starting from scratch? That's something I never had the courage to do, I
always get "We'll just keep a couple of things so it doesn't look so bare".
Let us know how it goes.

Regards
Steve